Sweet Admiration (MewGulf AU)

🌞Chapter 31🌻

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Mew's face hardened as he saw that Art was leaning against the door on their condo with his arms crossed. He had a bad feeling about this. "Art."

"You're really late."

"What do you mean? It's only nine."

"That's not what I mean. You've been gone ever since this morning." Apparently, Art had tried to visit early that morning. It was kind of scary to think that he thought it was normal to lay in wait for so many hours.

"You waited this whole time?" Mew asked.

"I didn't know you were going to be home this late."

"Well, whatever. You're probably tired, so come in." Since he had waited so long, they couldn't just kick him out now. Also, he had been standing around outside for hours with no food, they were worried about his weak body.

Mew unlocked the door, and Art followed him, with Gulf trailing behind, carrying the groceries. He put the bags in the dining room table.

Art stretched out on the sofa, exhausted. Gulf was about to boil some water when Mew looked at him with an uneasy look on his face. "Gulf, it's okay. Let me take care of Art."

"But..."

"Just get him some bread and milk. I'm sure he's hungry."

"Well, if it's okay. I can make something small. Eating just bread and milk won't fill him up. I'll make omelettes and soup or something."

Even though he didn't want Gulf to go to any trouble, Mew was happy at the offer. He himself couldn't cook, so he decided to take Gulf up on it. "Okay then, thanks." He returned to Art's side. The boy's eyes were closed in exhaustion, and Mew felt his forehead. It didn't feel like he had a fever, but he was definitely weakened by fatigue. "Are you okay?" he said gently.

Art opened his eyes slowly and gave an angelic smile. "Yeah, I'm okay."

"You always push yourself too hard."

"But I wanted to see you."

"You just saw me yesterday."

"But you left while I was sleeping. Even after you said we could spend the whole weekend together."

"No, you said that. You're really a pain, you know that? You're way too attached to me."

Ever since he was small, Art had adored his step-brother. He had no idea why. He didn't get along with Mew's brother, Bright. He was only close to Mew.

There were times Art's attachment to him annoyed Mew, but Art had to withstand so many surgeries and hospitalizations with his weak body. So when he showed Mew so much affection, Mew had to admit it was adorable. Even though they weren't related by blood, he felt like they were even closer than real brothers.

Gulf was busy in the kitchen preparing Art's food. Every now and then, he would cast a worried glance at Art and Mew's direction.

Mew indirectly looked at Gulf. They had come home after spending such a fun day together, only to have Art to take care of, and it made Mew feel bad.

He wanted to come home in the same mood they were in Odaiba. There were so many more things he wanted to talk about with Gulf.

As he stared at Gulf, he felt someone watching him. Turning around, he saw that it was Art, who was still lying on the couch.

"Where did you go today?"

Mew answered firmly, never taking his eyes off him, "Oh, Asakusa and Odaiba."

"With him?"

Him must mean Gulf. Mew nodded. "He hadn't been sightseeing in Tokyo yet, so I just showed him around a little."

"You were together the whole day?" Mew was annoyed at the emphasis Art put in the words 'the whole day.'

Without answering him, Mew calmly spoke. "After you eat, you need to go home. I'll drive you."

"No way, I'm spending the night here."

"I told you, you can't because this place belongs to the company. So non-employees can't stay overnight."

"But I'm tired already. And it's your fault. So you'll have to take responsibilty for it."

Why was he blaming Mew? Art was the one making unreasonable demands, yet he was telling Mew it was his fault?

"You know..." He couldn't put up with it any longer, and was about to scold the little brat when Gulf called out.

"The food is ready. Art...come eat while it's still warm."

"Yay!" Art must have sensed Mew's anger, because he leapt up in joy at the sound of Gulf's voice. He raced to the dining table, where the food was already set.

Art gobbled up the bread, soup, omelette, and salad that had been set out before him. Mew sat down at the table, as well.

After eating, Art who had obviously been starving, told Gulf it was delicious. Gulf put on some coffee for him, which made him even happier. "P'Gulf, you're a great cook. It was so good."

"Thanks."

"Did you take cooking classes or something?"

"Nope. My parents both worked, so I ended up helping with meals a lot. After that, I started to enjoy cooking."

"That's so cool! I've never even held a kitchen knife before!" Maybe it was because his stomach was full, but the usually shy Art was quite talkative towards Gulf.

Gulf, looking a little confused at Art's kindness, smiled shyly. He began to clear the dishes. Mew brought some plates and cups over to the sink to help him, when the phone rang.

"P'Mew, the phone's ringing."

Mew went to answer the phone. It was someone from work that needed to confirm the content of a certain document right away. Mew went to his room and pulled the document from his briefcase. He settled the matter in about five minutes.

Mew returned to the living room, but before he could return the cordless phone to the cradle, Art dropped a bomb on him.

"Mew, P'Gulf said I could spend the night."

"What?"

"He said I looked so tired that it was okay tonight."

"No, you can't."

"I don't care what you say. I'm staying." Mew bit his lip at Art's insistence. He glared at Gulf, but it looked like he already knew Mew would be angry, and was hanging his head. He looked like he was very sorry. Art had probably persuaded him with tears while Mew had been gone, or maybe Art had charmed him until he eventually agreed. The boy was the kind of person who did whatever was necessary in order to get what he wanted. He clearly took advantage of Gulf, but Mew couldn't help being angry with his roommate.

If Gulf said it was okay, there was no way Art would listen to Mew now. He tried anyway. "I'll drive you home, let's go," he repeated.

All the little brat did in response was to stick out his tongue at Mew.

TBC

A/N: Hi! Sorry for the late update, just something happened...