--Author Intro--
Hello Everyone! Kei here, it's been a while since I updated this story, with how hectic things have been in the world and in my personal life, I haven't been able to work on the story as often as I'd like. However, these characters have stuck with me and I haven't forgotten about them. In order to refresh my perspective on the story I decided to write a few chapters of a prologue, describing how our couple came to be! I've done my best to explain some things, but if I've missed somethings, please feel free to let me know. A quick word to all those who have sent me encouraging emails, thank you so much! What started as a quick imagining, has become a little universe of its own, and I thank you all for experiencing it with me.
~Keito
--- Prologue--
I was terrified when I heard that I would be moving by myself to the United States. Though I was born there, the last few years of my life were spent in the UK, studying at a boarding school my parents worked their butts off to afford. Now it seems that I'll be spending my college years in the States after finishing my last year of high school.
"Excuse me, sir, would you like to change your meal preference before we begin serving dinner?" The hostess asked, and I jumped a little, shocking myself out of my thoughts.
"N-No, that's fine... I'm actually not that hungry, if there's someone else who would like my dinner, I'll just take whatever is left over" I smiled politely before turning back to look out the airplane window. It was a quiet flight, in the middle of the night and with so many seats you could feel drowned in all the space.
"Well, if you change your mind, dinner service will go on for another 15 minutes or so, just let one of us know okay?" She smiled back, the way all professionals that dealt with customers knew how. It was alien to me how nice she was, having only had experience sitting in economy, suddenly finding myself in first class made me feel very out of place. My father had insisted that I take the upgrade for the long flight. He had recently gotten a new job that paid quite handsomely it seemed.
Turning back to my pensive window, I continued thinking about all the things I'd left behind. The place I had become so used to over the last 12 years of my life suddenly seemed so empty, and I realized that though I had been there for so long, there was nothing there for me. When I was in the school dorms, I kept to myself, barely making any friends, and I rarely had need to visit anything outside of the school grounds since I had no family there, or any need to buy anything that wasn't already provided by the school. Perhaps it was this realization that made me think that this was a time to invent myself, a new person in a new place. I could do it... right?
"You know, the chicken really is quite good." Another voice said beside me, jolting me from my trance again.
"What?" "The chicken, it's really good, you should get it before dinner service ends." "Oh... uh... I don't really like airline food." I lied. "Oh, this isn't like the other airlines, this one's really good! Trust me, in all the flights I've been on, this one takes the cake...:" The young man in the row beside me smiled and nodded.
Taking the hint that he may not leave me alone until I tried it, I signaled one of the stewardesses and indicated my interest in one of the remaining chicken entrees. It looked like your standard fare airline food, a roasted chicken with lemon sauce that seemed oddly reminiscent of an Italian dish from a faraway memory.
"It's best when it's piping hot, so dig in!" He smiled. "Thanks..." I said, preparing to stuff a spoonful of the rice into my mouth. "Is it your first time flying in a while?" He asked. "Y-Yeah, how can you tell?" "Well, you're super jumpy and you keep staring out the window every minute you can. Sometimes people who are apprehensive about flying do those sorts of things..." "Oh... uh... I'm not scared of flying. I'm just thinking about a lot of.... erm... things."
The boy's eyes looked at me and though he didn't say anything, I knew he was waiting for me to continue.
"I'm moving to the states, to Los Angeles..." I started "Oh! I'm moving there too! My father's gotten himself a house there and I'm moving from New York over there for college." He laughed cheerily. "Me too..." I said quietly.
I don't really remember anything else he said afterwards, I ended up staring at him as he talked, and I pretended to eat more of my food, pushing things on the tray back and forth to make it look like it had all been touched. He was so cheery... his light brown eyes were so bright and excited, he had a chiseled chin that was so defined whenever he turned to the side to readjust himself as he lay across the two empty seats beside him. With short cropped black hair, he looked incredibly boyish, but none could doubt the firm tone of his body that while slender, was strong, likely from years of playing some sport.
"I'm Henry" He said. "I'm Aiden." I said, extending a hand.
He shook it heartily and smiled as he encouraged a bite of the chocolate cake that had been a part of the meal. It was.... only slightly better than I expected.
We spent the better part of the rest of the flight talking about the movie The Greatest Showman and our mutual love of swimming. Somewhere while recounting the last tournament we were participating in, we both fell asleep and dozed our way until landing.
A short groggy walk off the plane and to baggage claim later, I was now standing at the counter, wondering where my father was.
"Maybe I'll see you again?" I turned around to see Henry waving. I only nodded to him, and turned again to see if my phone would finally turn on. The instant the phone completed booting up, it started ringing. My parents were both excitedly awaiting my arrival. It'd been almost a full year since I had seen them, the busy term had kept me from visiting them like I usually would for my holidays.
"Aiden!" A woman's voice called and I turned around to find my mother hopping up and down. "Hi mom." I smiled as I walked towards her. "You're so thin now! What have they been feeding you over there? Why didn't you let us know we needed to send you more things to keep you warm, or more food to keep you full!?" She fussed. "I'm okay.... I promise! The school kept things warm in the buildings and I had those scarves that I bought from the school store." "She's right son." I looked up from my mother's busy hands straightening my shirt to lock eyes with my father. We were not the closest in terms of our father-son relationship, however we were close enough that I was happy to see him. I... always understood him. Our family was one that was not particularly well-off. My mother had insisted that they live a very spartan life just so they could send me away for boarding school, and my father agreed. He had been working job to job, trying to start and found businesses, to start and build his empire... but none had come to fruition.
"Hi Dad." I smiled again. He helped me grab my suitcase, and I helped him hoist the last of things into the back of the SUV they had brought. "New car?" "Not quite, it's on loan from the company, but Mr. Kim is generous enough to let me borrow it to help move you in." "Oh..." I nodded, piling into the backseat as my mom took the seat beside me. "Not coming up front?" My father feigned disappointment. "Oh I haven't seen him in so long, let a mother dote a little more." She laughed hugging my arm.
They spent the whole 40 minute ride from the airport telling me about what I had missed in the last year, a few ups and downs here and there, and even filling me in a bit on the school I would be attending. When the term starts, I would be in the 12th grade here and I would have to go through the same curriculum that they would. Though, from the counselor's own admission, the boarding school curriculum was already further ahead than what is taught there.
My new room in the house was quite large compared to the small dorm I was used to. It was painted white and seemed much too open a space for just one person, least of all for one person that was used to a small oakwood room that had been on academy grounds for years and years. They had decorated the room and furnished it with things I'd like, and things from my childhood.
"We'll leave you to get... settled in. Dinner is in two hours..." My mother said, backing out of the room, dragging my father behind her.
Dinner was uneventful, more catch-up, and more reminiscing about the days when our family was together. I would start school tomorrow, a little faster than we had hoped but wrapping up things overseas had delayed me a bit more than I had expected. Still... it was nice to finally.... Be a family again.
The next morning, I woke up to the sound of an unfamiliar alarm on an unfamiliar clock, in an unfamiliar room. It would all... take a little getting used to.
I brushed my teeth and did my business, finishing with taking a nice long shower. It'd been a while since I'd had the freedom to take long showers. In a small dorm bathroom with shared showering facilities, there was always another person waiting on you to get out. I let the water cascade over me for a bit, washing away all the suds on my body.
I stood in front of the mirror, wiping away all the condensation with my hands, and stared at myself. I had recently started jogging and working out on the school grounds, and it had shown in my slim figure, and abs that I didn't have a year ago. I had always been lean, but for the first time in a long while, I finally felt... content with my body. My soft features and now brownish-red hair stood out now. I had been so apprehensive about it, but during my last month on the school grounds I had the liberty to dye my hair. Staring at myself now, I realized I'd never really taken a good hard look at... me. Now that I had finally reached the body that I had dreamt of, I think I felt happy, and that happiness was going to carry into the new part of my life. I threw on a light V-neck shirt and a pair of jeans, though I admit, it was strange to not need to wear a uniform. Slinging my bookbag over my shoulder, I went out into the living room to find my mother busily setting up the table for breakfast.
"Sorry I can't stay too long Mom, I don't want to be late!" I said, grabbing an apple and shoving it into my mouth. "W-Wait!" She called but I had already gone outside, instead of finding my father there, as he had discussed, I found... another man.
"Your father was called in early, so I am here to take you to school." The man explained, opening the door to the car. Turning back to look at my mother, she nodded. "Oh..."
--
After a short 15 minute drive to the school, I got out of the car and was ushered along by the man into the principal's office. My transfer had been fast-tracked and I hadn't really been given enough time to fully look at my class schedule or the rule book they had given me.
"Mr. Park." A middle-aged man called from the door, gesturing for me to follow him into the room. The nice young lady came and helped usher me into the room. Taking a seat in one of the two chairs in the small office, I folded my hands and waited patiently, exuding the "politeness" that had been instilled in me during my time at the boarding school. Seeming to have finally arranged the folders on his desk properly, the man, Principal Harrison, finally spoke, producing a packet of papers as he did so.
"Now, here is your schedule for the day, you'll be a bit late to first period, but it cannot be helped I suppose. We have a few more bits of paperwork that we need you to go over, the formalization of the request for your transcription from your uh... academy, and the acceptance of the spot in the class, you know, those little details" He grinned.
I nodded, politely, of course.
After finally finishing the thick packets of words that I didn't quite understand, and nodding along to the dull and plodding welcoming speech the principal gave, I was finally given leave to go to my first class. The lady who was working at the front smiled nicely as she helped me through the twists of the hallways and to a classroom hidden in the back corner of the school.
"Alright class, please help me welcome a new student, transfering from uh... overseas." The young lady who stood at the front called. All the students were seemingly engaged in their own projects.
The greeting was half-hearted, as much as I could expect from a bunch of teenagers.
"Alright, for the project, everyone's already been assigned to their group, but our newcomer here could probably use a warm welcome, if anyone would like to have an extra member in their group." The teacher, Ms. Lanner announced.
Almost immediately a few hands shot up from a few groups in the crowd, I couldn't help but notice that almost all the members of the group were girls. I nodded politely to each who met my eyes and was assigned to the middle grouping of desks.
They were right of course, the staff and counselor, most of the classes glazed over things that had already been covered in my previous schoolings. I ended up coasting through the classes and when all of my transcripts had finally been completely sent over, I was finally allowed the option to participate in extracurriculars. It would be a welcome distraction from the boring nights at home.
"It may be good to join a club, I mean, it'll help you make friends..." My mother advised. "It'll be a good way to make you a well-rounded applicant" My father chimed.
Still, given the limited choices, I was still on the fence. Tennis had been an interesting first choice, but I was never particularly good at the sport. Basketball seemed something I would be suited for.... if I were taller. That left swimming, well... I did always enjoy swimming, and I didn't think I was a particularly slow swimmer either.
"Swimming" I said to the counselor overseeing my transition. "Swimming? Oh! Okay, that makes things a little easier, the coach is a friend of mine, even though they're not recruiting, I'm sure he'll let you join." She said, smiling broadly.
So it came, the next day the arrangements went though and I found myself in front of the swim team.
"Hi, my name is Aiden, I just transferred a few weeks ago, and finally got permission to join the swim team, nice to meet you."
In the crowd, there was one boy who met and locked eyes with me, and I smiled at him. I recognized him. He was the boy from the plane! Though, I wasn't sure if he remembered me. The coach set up my locker across from his in the small corner of the room set aside for the members of the team. Almost immediately I was pulled into their world of drills and relays, and for a good while during these sessions, I felt like I had finally found a place where I belonged. I wasn't just "The transfer student" or "that guy the girls are fawning over." How I craved being able to fit in, and not stick out like a sore thumb.
Things were going so well, I found myself volunteering more and more time with the team events. Strangely, Henry was always the one volunteering with me. He was so nice to me during my adjustment period with the team. He always offered to get everyone their towels, clean off their equipment and was always one of the last to shower, saying that he wanted everyone to finish first since he wasn't in a rush.
I did notice however, that for how exuberant he was in personality, he was seemingly exceptionally shy. Every time we changed, he would look away and fumble for things in his locker. Coming from an all-boys school, this wasn't anything strange to me, but I supposed for him, it may have been something quite embarrassing. Though, truth be told, from the way things were looking in his swim speedos... he had nothing to be ashamed of.
A flurry of tournaments and less than friendly competitions later, it was already the last practice before winter break and I had finally settled into a sort of.. position of sorts. While I was popular enough on the swim team, my position outside of the pool was a bit more precarious. Despite rejecting every advance, the girls in the class seemed to enjoy my company, and in turn the boys, more often the boyfriends, seemed to hate my guts.
"Hey Aiden, do you want to go with us to check out the new ice cream place?" A girl named Alyssa asked. "Oh... Uh... I'd love to but I have swim practice." I smiled politely and nodded as I walked by her. In particular, her boyfriend Sean seemed to have it out for me the most. I assume her intentions were all in welcome, but it did make things a little harder. As I passed her in the hall, I saw him turn the corner and "accidentally" bump into me with his shoulder...hard.
"Sorry about that." He said coldly before walking towards her.
Shrugging it off, I changed my clothes and went about my business. The practice was going well, I had gained much better breath control and was able to consistently beat my records. I was by no means the fastest guy on earth, but there was progress to be proud of.
"Not a bad day for everyone! I fully expect you all not to slack off during the holidays!" The coach shouted as he blew his whistle, ending practice. One by one the dozen or so boys that were littering the waters began to hoist themselves up and out of the pool. I noticed that Henry seemed to want to stay behind, probably wanting to practice a little more. With the school closed, the indoor pool was also closing and perhaps he didn't have anywhere else to practice.
Getting back to the locker, I shivered a little as a breeze wafted past me and grazed my still wet legs. Everyone had been rushing to get into the showers, and wash themselves of the pool chlorine smell. Unfortunately, with one of the shower stalls out of order, there was the odd man out who would have to wait. I didn't really mind, as I wasn't in a rush and kind of lazed around for a time before heading in.
I had underestimated the time that it takes for teenage boys to wash themselves, and saw each of the stalls still full with its individual occupant. Making my way to the back, I noticed Henry had just gotten into his stall and to my surprise his eyes locked on mine again, as they had been doing so for the last few weeks, and he gestured for me to join him.
"Uh... i-if you w-want, you can shower with me... uh... you know, since we're both guys... anyway..." He seemed to stumble over the last few words.
"Sure." The answer came by reflex. Living in the boys dorm with a communal shower, this was nothing new to me, though I was surprised that Henry would be okay with the same arrangement, he always seemed so shy.
The towel around my waist found its way to the hook and I stripped off the speedos around my hips.
"Are you... going to stand there and watch me?" I asked, noticing he hadn't moved. I must have caught him off guard as he dropped his towel into the water collecting at the bottom of the shower stall.
We washed ourselves in silence, borrowing space under the shower head when we needed. I was just rinsing the shampoo out of my hair when I could hear the other stall curtains opening, the occupants finally satisfied with their cleansing rituals.
"Oh, Henry! Are you coming to get pizza!?" Our teammate Patrick's voice came from the front of the room. "Sorry! Can't make it! I've got a flight to London to catch and need some sleep!" Henry called out in response.
Realizing he had practically shouted it into my ear he nodded apologetically and added, "Sorry."
"Aiden!?" The same voice called, and just as I was about to respond, Henry's body came flying towards me, pushing me up against the wall and his hand went over my mouth.
"Guess he must have gone home to shower then..." Patrick's voice trailed off as he probably walked back to the main locker room.
"S-sorry! Are you hurt?" Henry jumped back and stared at me, his eyes wide. "I'm... I'm okay..." I said, awkwardly turning around to finish showering. My body seemed to hold onto the feeling of Henry's body against mine for an eternity.
In the silence, I felt some... thick sense of unease and tried to lessen it with glances at him to see if he would meet my gaze, but his eyes were firmly planted, it seems, at the corner of the stall away from me.
"You're going to London too? I have a flight there tomorrow morning." I offered. "Oh! M-Maybe we'll bump into each other then." He chirped. "Haha maybe!" I I chuckled, relieved that he was able to relieve himself with a joke.
I got home and fell asleep instantly, thanking whatever motivation had incentivized me to pack early. In the middle of the night I woke up to find the sky completely dark and my own sense of restlessness at an all time high. When I drew the blankets onto myself I felt the fabric caress my skin and it seemed to remind me of Henry's touch.
Shaking my head, I brought myself out of that trance before I could get swept away in the memory. What was I doing? Ugh. I refused to do anything other than lay back down and force myself to sleep.
I was taken to the airport and found myself back in the business class area of the plane, it was a perk, my father said, of his new job. I didn't manage to see Henry though, and reasoned that he was probably on another plane somewhere, perhaps he had already left on an earlier flight. With the restlessness of last night, I had barely gotten much sleep, laying there for almost four hours... I was pretty beat and decided to sleep my way to London.
An unconscious flight later, I disembarked and trundled my way to the baggage claim to find my father's familiar form, talking to two people. I noticed he had already grabbed my suitcase and I approached him, patting him gently on the back before looking at who he was talking to.
"A-Aiden?" It was Henry! "Yes, this is my son, Aiden. He just started attending your school, do you... know each other?" My father looked puzzled at Henry's surprise. "Y-Yes Mr. Park, Aiden joined the swim team... and we've... become friends." "Hi Henry." I felt my cheeks flush red, though I'm not sure why.
We ended up at a small restaurant and on the short ride there, I realized that my father had landed a job working for Henry's father. They had evidently become good friends and decided to work together.
"Ah you two will have to entertain yourselves in London then, business calls and your father and I will be a bit longer until we return to the hotel. Do take care of Aiden for me won't you Henry? He's not used to all this traveling." My father nodded to Henry before gesturing to Henry's father, Mr. Kim.
"Uh... so... Aiden... how are... you?" He asked "I'm good, a little tired from rushing about to get over here... I didn't plan very far ahead and had to last-minute pack." I lied, covering up the real reason for my exhaustion. "Ah... well, if you need anything..." "Maybe... just some company for a walk?" I offered, the little restaurant was getting a bit stuffy and I wanted to get out and breathe the fresh air. "S-Sure."
We walked a bit down the streets and made small talk about how unseasonably cool it was. Henry pointed out some of the small food carts in the tourists areas and that's when I saw the one place I had managed to visit during my long tenure here. Without thinking, I grabbed Henry's hand and began dragging him towards the big building simply marked "Gymnastics."
Inside, I greeted the man who sat behind the counter, a friend of my father's during his last business venture. I took the key for the back room and smiled, feeling the blood beginning to rush in my body, waking me up.
"What... is this?" Henry asked, making his way into the room with me. "It's my favorite place to visit when my father comes here. I just found out about this place a year ago, but the owner is nice enough to lend me some time during the off seasons." I explained.
I did a few quick runs, flips and tumbles to warm up and then launched into a small floor routine I had made up during my very short-lived dream of becoming an Olympic gymnast.
"A-Are you a gymnast?" Henry asked, clapping at the small performance. "Haha no, just things I picked up when I was watching some of the athletes. With swimming gone now, I have to find things to do... and I've always wanted to do... well... this!" I did a quick backflip, sticking the landing and giving myself a mental pat on the back.
Henry disappeared to the bleachers and clapped as I performed small feats for him, and ultimately ended up jumping on the trampoline for a bit.
It'd been a few hours before I had finally had enough, or rather my muscles had. I wobbled my way towards him on the matted floor before my knees gave out and I plopped onto the floor, sighing deeply.
"I feel so tired... but... so good..." I smiled "You should be... just watching you made me tired." He laughed and sat down next to me. I think I fell asleep at this point, the next thing I remember was Henry shaking me awake.
"Aiden... we should go back to the hotel room..." He said gently and I remember feeling as if my entire body were a block of wood, stiff and unyielding. "Mm... too sore..." I wanted nothing more than to sleep and be left alone. "C'mon we can't stay here all night..." He pulled me up and I winced, my muscles protesting. "Sleep..." I mumbled.
Somehow under his care, we made it back to the hotel and I remember being helped into the elevator.
"Aiden.. do you know what hotel room you're in...?" I muttered some numbers that seemed right, but I couldn't be too sure.
Henry must not have understood me, because I remember him taking me to a room that didn't seem like mine, and guiding me towards the bed in the room. I shrugged him off and insisted that in his room, he should sleep in the bed and I plopped myself onto the sofa on the side of the room and closed my eyes finally allowing exhaustion to overtake me. I dreamt of the cute boy just next to me, remembering how he looked at me....
All of it.
--- Henry---
The next morning, I woke up vaguely remembering the previous night's events. SItting up, I noticed some movement out of the corner of my eye and turned to see.. Him. Looking at him laying there mesmerized me. His shirt had stretched a little to the side, probably during tossing and turning on the sofa, and now revealed just enough of his collarbone, the soft light skin underneath made me shiver slightly. His face was absolutely angelic. I wanted to sit there and stare at him for a little while longer. His hair was messy now and his lips showed just the slightest hint of red, and for a moment I touched my own, wondering what they might feel like pressed on mine. I knew that I was infatuated in that moment and nothing I did would dissuade me from believing that he was the one for me.
"Mmnhnh..." He moaned, turning again and I snapped out of my trance. "Aiden, come sleep on the bed, I'm going to get us breakfast, so you can sleep here for a bit." I said.
He didn't move. Not quite sure if he had even heard me, I gently placed my hand on his arm, feeling its firmness in my grip. I had seen him shirtless so many times but this was the first time I was actually touching him.
"Mmnnn...!" he groaned again, turning over.
I caught him mid-turn and pulled him up lightly, he seemed so petite in my arms, and guided him over to the bed, gently setting him down on the bed, which he immediately crawled onto and wrapped himself in the blankets. Before I could even think to ask him what he wanted for breakfast, he was out like a light.
Not knowing quite what he wanted, I decided to simply...... order everything.
Soon the smells of fresh pancakes, crispy bacon, juicy sausages, and crunchy waffles drifted through the room. Room service had brought three carts just to contain all the things I had ordered, including three carafes full of water, milk, and juice.
"Aiden...?" "Mmnff" "Aiden? It's breakfast time. It's already almost 10AM" "Sleep..y" He groaned, turning onto his back. "You'll have to adjust your schedule, otherwise you wont sleep well tonight. Trust me." I smiled at him.
He begrudgingly allowed me to help him sit up in bed and though I would never tell him, just being so close to him, feeling his body against mine... was electrifying. Aiden was adorable, his eyes were barely open, and his body was practically limp against me, but he steadily surveyed the spread before us. His eyes widened when the full enormity of the spread came to him.
"Henry! That's way way too much food!" "I uh... didn't know what you wanted, so I just told them to send everything up." "W-We could have just gone downstairs to the complimentary breakfast! It must have cost you a fortune to order all these things from room service!" He seemed panicked. "Oh uh.. Nah... my father's got a business account here, so it just all goes to the business, we hardly ever see a bill." I lied, partially thinking that if I had allowed us to go downstairs, I'd have lost my private time with him, but also because I was too ashamed to admit that I hadn't quite thought about the practicality of ordering the entire breakfast menu.
"Oh..." He seemed reluctantly satisfied with my explanation.
I learned that he loved eggs, scrambled, with just a hint of salsa on top; that he loved waffles more than pancakes, that he loved grapefruit juice over orange juice, and that he loved toast with just butter. Boring details that, were it anyone else, I would not have cared about.
"... and so I used to have gruel that was passed off as oatmeal every morning." He laughed cheerily, tucking into the plate of sausage and eggs he'd arranged for himself.
"Henry?" "H-Huh!?" "You haven't said a thing.... And I've been rambling on for the last 10 minutes... are you okay?" "O-Oh! Yeah! I was just thinking about what you said about the uh... oatmeal." "Oh?" "Yeah! I can't believe one of those fancy boarding schools didn't have a better dining service." "They probably did... but I never went out of my way to find it." He grinned.
The morning vanished and before we knew it, the clock showed that it was already two in the afternoon. We had been talking and laughing together for well over four hours already! Aiden's voice was so intoxicating, I wanted to hear him talk and for him to laugh so that I could feel that warmth that radiated from him when he was excited. I laughed so hard when he told me the story of how the laundry services at his old academy had misplaced his clothing order and he had to fish through his classmates' orders for his underwear. I teared up when he told me about the death of the school's mascot, a terrier hound that he had always been close to, the one living being on the grounds that he could seek out for comfort. Hearing him talk, staring at him, I realized....
I was pathetically in love with him.
--- Author:
Thanks for reading another chapter with me! Again, as this is my first time writing a narrative, any comments or feedback would be greatly appreciated! A great big thanks to those who have given me some great feedback! Please stay tuned as Im already in the middle of the next Chapter!
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Please feel free to email me any thoughts at Keito.Nakagawa@gmail.com.
Thanks!