Uh Huh, Honey

A little bit dangerous

Which is why Sanemi isn't all too surprised when, just as he depletes the last of his cold coffee, Masachika sits back in his chair and clears his throat.

"...Sanemi."

Without looking up, he says, "Hmm."

"Is everything okay?"

Sanemi saves his work, then moves onto the next slide. "Yeah. Why wouldn't it be?"

Sighing, Masachika flips a page in his binder and picks up his pen again. He scribbles in the margins and taps the tip of the pen against his chin, frowning. To an outsider, he looks deep in thought. To Sanemi, he just looks like he's spacing out.

Scrolling through the elements he needs to build the online model, Sanemi tries to ignore him.

A few minutes later, Masachika says, "Well... You've been acting weird lately. Like, a lot of the time you've obviously got your mind on something else, but I feel bad about pointing it out 'cause it happens so often. And you smile a lot at your phone now. Also, I don't think I've seen you in this bad of a mood since, like... October."

Bullseye. Masachika rattles off the observations like it's nothing, every one of them deadly accurate, waving that stupid pen around like a magic wand that'll pull the answers off Sanemi's tongue.

Sanemi just shoots him a stormy look from over his screen. "Okay. I'm trying to work."

"And I'm trying to be a good friend," Masachika says, "and work at the same time. Besides, we've been at it for, like, an hour. We can take a small break."

"Later."

"Did you get a girlfriend?"

Sanemi's finger slips on the touchpad, throwing his chosen element out of frame. He re-selects and drags it back in. "What the fuck? No."

"Really?" The guy looks dejected, like a kid after finding out Santa isn't real. Like he'd figured it all out, was so sure of himself, and now has to go back to the drawing board.

Sanemi stiffens, breath locking uncomfortably in his chest. Is he really going to do this?

Downcast, Masachika pokes at the rings in his notebook.

Yeah, he is. Pushing the lid of his laptop halfway down, Sanemi abandons his work, at least for the time being.

"First of all," he begins, "I don't have a girlfriend."

Masachika's face droops.

"Second of all," he continues, "it's a guy."

And lights up. "So you have a boyfriend."

Sanemi makes a frustrated noise, pinching the bridge of his nose. Fuck, he can't do this. "No."

Masachika cocks his head to the side, confusion drawing his brows together. "Um. I'm stumped." Sanemi prepares to explain, only for Masachika to thrust an open palm out to stall him. "Wait, gimme a sec. I'll figure it out."

"It's not a fucking puzzle," Sanemi grumbles, but obliges. Briefly, he resumes his work, barely making any progress before Masachika's rapping his knuckles against the table to get his attention again.

"I got it! You're interested in a guy. You want to date him, but something went wrong. Am I right or am I right?"

Sanemi's silence is answer enough.

Grinning, Masachika folds his arms across his chest. Sanemi wants to punch the smug look off his face. "Checkmate."

"Fuck off."

"Why didn't you tell me, Sanemi? You've gotta stop doing that—keeping everything to yourself."

"Didn't think it was that important," Sanemi says under his breath, wiping at a smudge of Expo marker on his right thumb.