Switch Mode

WAN2B v2c1

※ The content of this work is entirely fictional and has no connection to any real history, places, people, events, or organizations.

One day, after finishing practice, I went to see Liam, and there was a dark bruise under his eye. Just as I was about to interrogate him about what on earth had happened, Aiden appeared with gauze stuffed in both nostrils and immediately started hurling crude insults at him the moment he saw him.

“You fox bastard! I don’t know what you’re scheming, but if you keep pissing me off, I’ll cripple you so badly you won’t be able to have any kind of athletic career or anything else in the future.”

“……Hmm.”

Whether Aiden was saying anything or not, Liam just let out a languid sound. Then he put his arm around my shoulders and started whining that we should hurry up and get out of this damn school and go somewhere, anywhere.

“Fucking bastards. Birds of a feather flock together.”

I watched Aiden for a moment as he cursed both Liam and me together, then judged it wise to leave and got in the car with Liam.

“What happened?”

Something that would make Liam and Aiden fight with their fists. It’s probably about Olivia, but I should wait and see until I hear what happened from his own mouth.

“You know. You know how desperately Aiden hangs on to Olivia. So he tried to hit me just because he felt bad about one or two rumors going around. Even when I said let’s talk it out, he wouldn’t listen, so I defended myself a bit violently.”

Liam spoke as if it was really no big deal, but somehow I didn’t like it.

“……”

“No answer. Why? Even so, was getting into a fistfight at school too much?”

“No. A fistfight with Aiden at school…… I’m the one who set that precedent, aren’t I.”

What if Aiden picks more fights with Liam from now on? When I touched my own bruised eye area out of worry, Liam willingly received my touch and hummed. Then he took my hand and kissed my fingertips.

“Your fingers are always so long.”

Liam held my hand and fiddled with it while muttering quietly. I nodded a couple of times to show I agreed with that statement, then shared my opinion with Liam that if my fingers are long, his hands are really big.

“They’re hands optimized for catching balls. But I don’t know if they’re attractive hands for a boyfriend to look at.”

I answered Liam’s words that they were plenty attractive, then asked him what he wanted to do today, where he wanted to go. Liam, who would normally be excitedly chattering about this and that according to his usual personality, kept his mouth firmly shut today and just stared at me.

“Why?”

“……I’m curious about something.”

Liam said he was curious about why I decided to tell my friends about our relationship.

“Given your personality, I thought you’d want to keep hiding it forever. I didn’t really care either way.”

“You’re right. If it were up to my personality, I would have wanted to keep hiding it. But I didn’t want to keep watching you being talked about in connection with Olivia or whoever, some random girls, at least not among the kids I see every day. That day too, watching Charlotte and Nathan talk about pairing you with Sophia or Alice or Olivia, it was hard. This is a kind of jealousy too.”

“Ahaha, that’s right!”

Liam laughed pleasantly and asked if I wanted to play catch at his house. He asked if we should bet on whether someone with long fingers or someone with big hands in general would have the advantage at playing catch.

“Even if they’re different types, wouldn’t someone who handles balls regularly have the advantage?”

When I responded as if the outcome was already decided, Liam said that skill alone isn’t everything that determines victory or defeat.

“I might handle balls better than you, but you handle me well. So couldn’t you also try things like psychological warfare?”

“Huh?”

“Of course, if I lose because you handle me this way and that way, I think I’d be happy in its own way?”

“That joke’s going too far.”

I barely stopped Liam from picking up his somewhat dizzying joke and drove the car to his house. Liam, who had been excitedly chattering about this and that until we arrived in front of the trailer, rapidly hardened his expression the moment he saw Ted, who had come home early today. Ted was busily working on something in front of the trailer.

“I changed my mind. Why don’t we just go to your house or somewhere else instead?”

Liam asked me while looking at Ted.

Liam doesn’t want to run into Ted if he can help it. When he talks about Ted, he makes a really complicated expression. An expression that seems angry, seems sad, and seems to contain affection all at once.

When Liam, who usually maintains cheerfulness, becomes serious, rather than hastily comforting him, I give him time to think alone. I just concentrated on driving next to the silent Liam. Then I drove the car to Peggy’s Diner.

I found out recently that Liam doesn’t like ice cream sundaes, cherry-flavored cream soda, or donuts covered with sprinkles. He prefers foods high in salt over foods high in sugar. He just pretends to like sweet foods to win my favor. There’s no need for that.

The problem is that I didn’t hear this fact directly from Liam himself, but figured it out as a result of observing him over time. So I haven’t yet let on that I’ve noticed this truth, but I’m planning to take this moment as an opportunity to say something. But how should I say it so Liam won’t be embarrassed?

At Peggy’s Diner, bustling with customers as always, I ordered the deluxe cheeseburger and crinkle-cut fries, which is actually Liam’s favorite menu. Then Liam asked why I wasn’t ordering an ice cream sundae.

“On a hot day like today, it’s weird not to eat that?”

“Up until now you’ve been accommodating me, so I thought from today it’s my turn.”

“……Huh?”

“I’m really slow to notice things.”

How many times did Liam eat ice cream sundaes he didn’t even like because of me? Thinking about it, I feel a bit sorry.

“But this can’t even be considered accommodating you. I like cheeseburgers and fries too.”

“Sorry, Cheick. I don’t understand what you’re saying right now. So could you explain?”

“I’ll apologize too. Right now I’m hoping you won’t understand what I’m saying.”

“Ah—huh?”

In front of the puzzled Liam, I took out a few napkins and made a swan. Then I poked the swan’s rear with my index finger—poke, poke, poke—and pushed it little by little toward him. He praised me generously, saying he didn’t know I had this kind of skill.

“You put your heart and soul into everything. That’s really cool. But……”

While making the second swan, I fumbled and spoke to Liam.

“I think I’ve said this before, but you don’t need to try hard for me too.”

“Mm?”

“I said it’s best when you’re just yourself.”

“You did. But you know me. How should I put it? If I don’t at least try hard, I’m a real mess.”

When I asked him what that meant, skeptically, he showed a slightly sad smile.

“It’s just a matter of nature. You felt it earlier, right? I don’t really like Ted. He only has me. Plus, that person isn’t well anywhere but keeps starting trouble, so really someone needs to keep watching over him. But even now I’m here with you avoiding that person. That person says the same thing when he sees me. That even if I leave him at any time, he’ll never find it strange.”

“……I can drive you.”

As I slid the second swan toward Liam, I told him.

“Whether we go back to your trailer, go to my house, or go somewhere else…… I’ll take you.”

“Thanks.”

Liam smiled broadly at me and put the napkin swan in his bag. Then an accident happened where the sloppily made swan got crushed.

“Oh, no.”

“This kind of thing is a bit hard to carry. So……”

I took a picture of the one remaining swan and posted it on social media. Then I gave Liam permission to save and take the photo anytime he wanted. Liam smiled broadly at me, then suggested we go back to his trailer once we finished eating all the food we ordered at the diner. And he said,

“Next time I really want you to eat an ice cream sundae. When you eat that, your expression gets really cute.”

As soon as I heard Liam’s words, I immediately ordered and ate an ice cream sundae. Then Liam laughed with an utterly satisfied face.

“What, you want to look cute to me?”

“No. Since you said it’d be good if I ate it…… And I wanted to eat it anyway.”

“So you had absolutely no intention of wanting to look cute to me?”

“I’ll leave that to your judgment.”

When I gave a truly ambiguous answer, Liam finally even clapped his hands and laughed. Laughing frantically, he asked if I would participate in a very big event he attends every summer as his friend.

“Leda invites friends to her family’s beach house on their private beach every summer for a big party, and I don’t want to go without you.”

“……Leda didn’t invite only you there, right?”

“Haha, of course she invited lots of different kids. Starting with Sophia and Alice, Charlotte and Nathan, Hazel and Blair said they’re going too…… Did she say she’s inviting Virgil and Juliet this time too? Anyway, if you get invited you can bring about one friend, so you might meet kids you don’t know well.”

The list of participants for the event Leda is hosting is enormous, and I asked if there wasn’t an option for both Liam and me to skip it. Liam said unfortunately there was no such option.

“I know there are a few kids coming that you’ll be uncomfortable with. But I promise. If you go, you’ll understand why I wanted to go even bearing with that. Playing touch football on that sandy beach is really amazing. And……”

WAN2B

WAN2B

Status: Completed Released: 2 Free Chapter Every Thursday
'Cheick,' a high jumper who is calm and mature but suffers from chronic lack of confidence. One day, at a party he attended with a friend, he becomes acquainted with 'Liam,' the starting quarterback of the school football team and the undisputed top popular guy. Cheick, who has a crush on 'Leda,' Liam's girlfriend and a promising ballet dancer, isn't entirely pleased with Liam's approach, but he hears from Liam himself that he and Leda are only 'pretending' to date. Liam, who keeps a certain distance from others but acts honestly only in front of him, seems strange to Cheick, yet somehow continues to occupy his thoughts. What should he call this feeling? * "Since I'm being honest, can I confess one more thing?" When Liam asked, I said he could go ahead. He smiled with a bright face, then propped his arms on the old table and looked at me from a little closer. "Earlier, when you asked me to have dinner together, I thought I was going to collapse from happiness." "Ah." "You have no idea how many times you make me feel this way. Like I'm going to collapse from happiness, then feeling depressed. Back and forth."  

Comment

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Options

not work with dark mode
Reset