All You Need Is Love II (MewGulf AU)

🌻Chapter 11

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But instead, through sheer force of will, he paid visits to several of the bank's best customers. Even after receiving an unofficial promise of a new investment, his mood just didn't improve.

He returned to the office just before closing time and killed a few minutes organizing his papers. As he stepped out into the chilly air, he turned up the collar of his jacket.

When he got home, he would take another hot shower, then climb immediately into bed and hope that tomorrow would be a better day.

He wouldn't be able to see Mew for a while. Once Mew's work was over, he would send Gulf a text message, just like always.

'I'm waiting at the hotel,' it would say.

Gulf tried to think about what he could do until then.

He would have to rehash the problem of staying with Mew.

Six months earlier, he had been absolutely sure that choosing to accept Mew's lifestyle was the right thing to do. Gulf wanted to spend his life with him and he would give him anything he was capable of giving.

Since then, he had begun to consider the idea of quitting his job at the bank if it was putting Mew in danger. But would that really make Mew happy?

Mew wanted him to do it. But Gulf wondered if his decision would hold up in the long term.

Even after so much had happened, these doubts haunted him.

Even assuming it was the correct choice then, was it still the right choice now?

His feelings hadn't changed, but the situation was changing. Stopping to take stock didn't mean his feelings were changing.

Gulf decided to accept that, as if he were making excuses for himself. Turning his eyes to the stairwell that led into the subway station, he stopped cold.

He had been there a hundred times. He was on a wide sidewalk beside a six-lane road. There was a divider into he middle of the street, and on the other side Gulf could see a park.

There was a lot of greenery in this part of the twenty-third district of Tokyo, and many skycrapers. A thicket of buildings stretched toward the blue sky like reeds, releasing streams of office workers in primly pressed suits who swarmed the station.

But in the throng was a man who stood out immediately.

It wasn't the color of his clothes that was so noticeable. He wore a solid black suit and a tasteful dark brown shirt, which wouldn't attract much attention. But the thing that clearly separated him from those around him was natural bearing, the dark sunglasses he wore despite the evening light, and his deliberate attempt to blend in. He wasn't noticeably on edge, but the man looked somehow tense.

He obviously didn't belong with these other people.

Everyone passed him at a distance, seeming to pick up on that.

He was smoking. His fingers were long and elegant.

Even from a distance, Gulf could tell immediately who it was.

"Mew."

Mew tossed what was left of his cigarette onto the ground, and distractedly swept back the hair that had fallen onto his forehead in annoyance.

His masculine features weren't completely obscured, despite his glasses. The corner of his lips quirked up ironically and the perfect line of his nose was more than enough to visualize the rest of his hidden face.

Mew always waited for Gulf at bars in Kabuki-cho or in his hotel room. He had never come to Gulf's office before. Gulf told himself that it couldn't be Mew, but he knew that it was.

Gulf stopped and stared at the man as people streamed past him on either side. Even when somone bumped his shoulder and knocked him off balance, he didn't move. Finally, Mew noticed him.

He looked over in annoyance and his gaze seized Gulf. His beautiful eyebrows twitched momentarily.

Gulf couldn't move, so Mew walked toward him. Within the bustle of the crowd, all Gulf heard was the sound of Mew's footsteps and his own heartbeat, pounding in his ears.

Step by deliberate step, Mew steadily closed the distance between hem.

He stopped in front of Gulf, right hand thrust casually into his pants pocket. His left hand reached up to the frame of his sunglasses and lowered them minutely. Mew's eyes were exposed, peering at Gulf's face over the rim of the glasses.

"Hey."

TBC