Hungry... Oh, boy. I was hungry.
I mean, I was 'my stomach is going to completely eat me from the inside out' hungry.
It also was not helping that I didn't manage to get breakfast before work and I still had a schedule to complete with Mika. Fortunately, we were on our way to lunch, but I'm pretty positive that it was not for me.
I slugged behind him, on the verge of death, while I listened to my stomach howl. I was still swooned by his "threats" of earlier that the amount of hunger I was truly feeling wasn't as severe as it should've felt.
I knew the relationship that Mika and I were growing could've been very bad if detected by someone else, but since he was practically the boss here, it didn't seem to pester anyone.
Then again, how did I even feel about it? I knew it was bad, but he made me like it. He was so damn attractive and alluring that I found it impossible not to give into his traps and fall guilty to him. As long as this little teasing game remained silent and just between us, I couldn't care less. I finally had a job and I was getting paid, no matter what happened between the work hours.
Okay, completely snatched from my thoughts, the smell of the cafeteria made my stomach nearly tear out of my body. I groaned feverishly, making Mika look over his shoulder oddly at me.
"What is the matter with you?" he murmured as he made his way into a large dining hall with fanciness beaming everywhere.
I shook my head, dismissing him with my hand. Should I have admitted my ignorance to not bring lunch? I guess it was better than dying. I should've been trying to be impressive, though, like I had everything under control. I was the ultimate man.
Although my stomach screamed otherwise.
"Ah, Jeunesse," a waiter had suddenly come from the adjacent door on the room, quickly bowing to Mika. I watched, the scents still mercilessly teasing my nose. "Good afternoon! We've prepared something for you; we hope you're in a perfect mood to eat."
"Definitely," Mika said with a light smile, taking a seat in one of the large dining chairs that reminded me of something in a medieval movie. What even was this place...
"Great. Your meal will be with you shortly," she said, and then she was gone. I leaned on one of the chairs, groaning lowly as I childishly swayed my arms. I would've shut up, but my stomach was winning. I could literally feel it eating away at my sanity.
"Yuu," Mika lowly spoke after an abundant series of noises leaving me. I looked over at him helplessly. "Sit."
I sat, not wanting to disobey. I perched myself in the chair, laying my head on the table with a loud thud, making him flinch. He sighed, preparing himself with a proper napkin setting. I knew I wasn't going to be fed, so I was hoping my little tactic was at least making him consider. My stomach was helping as well, growling lowly just within hearing levels.
I could see him side-eyeing me in irritability, at what point I gave him puppy eyes. He'd turn his head away, as if my stance on the verge of death didn't convince him to consider mercy.
When his food arrived, I nearly lost it. But I remained silent, unlike my stomach, and let my nose feed me the scents.
Mika ate food that was so fancy that I couldn't even decipher what it was, but I watched jealously, us clearly having a ridiculous eye game of staring. I wasn't sure why, but he looked super attractive when he chewed, like he was some smart ass, but he knew what he was doing.
Which is kind of what he was.
I gave in slightly, timidly nibbling on my fingernails as I stared at the dark red table mat on the verge of tears. How could I be so stupid to not consider carrying my own food?! What has this job done to me...
I lost our game. I had to ask.
"Mika," I pleaded through a cracked voice, "can you please buy me something to eat?"
He chuckled, crossing his arms as he looked down at me. I sat up, pouting slightly, although that just became my natural facial expression at this point in starvation.
"It took you twenty-eight minutes and thirty-nine seconds to finally solicit me for something to eat?"
He'd been counting this whole time? What in God's name was going on in that boy's head...
"I tried to hold it in! I wanted to keep myself professional, like I could totally survive a day without food, but..."
"You cannot." He bluntly muttered, wiping his mouth before scooting out of his chair. I looked up at him, him tipping my chin up with his finger. He loved to do that to me a lot. "Come. I will feed you something, child."
I felt humiliated, but at this point, I owed him my life.
"What would you like?" he asked as he lead me to a buffet of various foods that I wanted to scrounge down mercilessly with no regrets. Fruits, salads, pastas, pizzas - everything. This was heaven. I peered over to the fridge area, and that's when I was struck with its colossal magnificence.
There, jiggling bright and bold, was a beautiful tray of blue gelatin, heaven's light - the ceiling light - beaming down on it. I exhaled in awe at its sight, my mouth watering.
"Gelatin," I cooed in a swoon, my eyes following its every graceful jiggle.
"That is a very ignorant choice, Yuu. You should consider that as a dessert," he opinionated, crossing his arms as he peered around the large buffet area.
"I don't care!" I whined, stammering over and pressing my face into the cold glass down at the beautiful blue gracefulness. "It's so pretty..." I looked over at him ferociously. "I want the gelatin!"
He stared at me, an unreadable glance, then requested a slice for me to the service man in charge of the dessert station.
Before I knew it, Mika was holding the beautiful magnificence on a small plate out for me, and I was just about ready to tackle him for it before he retracted it back to himself, smiling lightly.
"You are much like a small child, Yuu. Dessert for lunch? No manners?"
Did we really have time for this while my stomach was starting World War III? I choked back my sigh, looking him in the eyes.
"My bad, Mika. May I please have the gelatin?" I could sense its candy-scented aroma, making me grow even more bestial.
He gave an unimpressed forced smile before rolling his eyes. "Let us get back to the dining hall."
I was already one step ahead of him, leading him there instead of him to me. I had no time to waste - my stomach was threatening my life.
He placed it in front of me, the blue delicacy jiggling about the plate just as excitedly as I was to eat it. I exhaled a tone of excitement, just about to help myself when Mika plucked my forehead. I wouldn't have cared if his pluck wasn't so strong. I peered over at him.
"Set yourself."
He pointed to the napkin around his neck, showing me the correct etiquette to eat in this place. I messily set myself, finally completely positive I was finished with all of my correct advances to eat and delved myself into the blue, jiggly goodness that exploded its sugary goodness into my mouth. I made a weird noise of satisfaction, smushing my face into the plate.
He laughed softly this time, a genuine laugh of amusement instead of utter ridicule at me. I smiled to myself, swallowing the phenomenal squishiness.
"Yuu, you are very strange," he told me through soft laughs. I peered up at him curiously.
I shrugged, licking my lips. "Hey, I was just starving. If you thought that was strange, wait until you see--" I trailed off, his pondering eyes too innocent to hear my next words. I shook my head, looking off awkwardly. "Aha... never mind."
We awkwardly continued to eat in silence for a bit longer before the doors burst open and a group of four crazy-looking people rushed over to Mikaela, bombarding him with 'Good Afternoon's and 'My! You look ravishing today!' I just continued to awkwardly sit, too delved in my gelatin to care.
"Oh, Mikaela, how is your day thus far? Your hair is shining more than ever!"
At first I realized that they might have been interrogators, at what point I froze and looked at him nervously as if I expected him to return the glance that asked for help. But it never came. He just smiled at them brightly, happily sharing the details of his morning. Then I became indulged in my gelatin again that never seemed to end.
After a moment, a few hands landed on me and there were odd strokes to my hair, back, and shoulders, at what point I looked over to Mika with wide, nervous eyes.
"And who is this?! He has magnificent hair, perfect bone structure..." said one of the males with dark green hair. These people looked something out of a children's show, with crazy colored hair and bright attire. I felt blinded - on drugs.
"This is my assistant, Yuichiro. Yuu, to me." Mika announced to them, his gaze never breaking with mine. "It is his first day."
"Ah!" chirped one of the women with bright pink hair as she gawked at my face. I apparently was like a new creature to these people. "He's striking! How does one achieve such features? You two would look amazing for the cameras; your features differentiate abstractly on a magnificent level!"
So many big words that wouldn't decipher in my brain because I was still focused on my gelatin. I wanted to keep devouring it but they were pinching and feeling up my face.
"Yuu," Mika murmured to me under their commotion. I helplessly peered over at him from the side of my eyes. "These are my stylists and beautists. They also fit me occasionally."
I nodded, under panic as my face was under Massage Hell from these people.
"Ah, Mikaela, I might just have to take him in for my own!"
I wasn't sure what happened in that moment, like a snap, but I was suddenly out of their grasps and Mikaela was snatching and clutching me tightly, my body pinned against his. I think I nearly ripped my pants in the maneuver, but I could hear his heartbeat through his chest and their surprised gasps.
"Mine." Mika suddenly lowly sneered. Although I could hear Mika's heartbeat, mine suddenly stopped then.
"Oh la la! He is yours! Oui oui! How cute! Make yourselves for the cameras, Doll! You two are divine!" cooed one of the men. He was strange but I liked his voice.
"I prefer to avoid publicity," he murmured, his fingers digging into my arm. Was this a cue to leave? Mika seemed to enjoy them, though. I guess I had to evacuate him very soon at the rate of these pervs.
"Oh, bad morning... Sorry! Our apologies. Return to your meal! We shall reunite again before your next big party!" one of them exclaimed as they all excitedly teetered out the door like dancing mechanic dolls on a trail.
Mika let me go, undoing his napkins and mine before double-taking at my face. I glanced at him nervously.
"What?"
He furrowed his eyebrows, leaning in towards me. "I wonder how that tastes," he lowly said into my cheek, making me fluster. Then he gently licked a spot around my lip which I'm guessing had a remnant of the blue gelatin on it. He pulled away, looking at me curiously. "Not bad."
I chuckled like a goofball, "Your eyes look like the gelatin."
He froze, his face heating up before he entirely covered it with his hands. "Do not compare my eyes with desserts!" he scolded embarrassingly, wiping at his face before dragging me out of the dining hall.
I laughed, following him along out of the same way we came. I wonder if I had earnestly embarrassed him like he made it seem. I wiped at my mouth as staff in the hallway glanced at us oddly. I was probably still smothered in the remnants of blue gelatin.
I could tell they weren't journalists for they weren't bombarding him. They just glared at us oddly, like we did not belong, which confused me because Mika was highly worshiped here. Maybe it was just me they were glaring at, and then disgraced at Mikaela for walking with such a fool.
"Damn," I muttered, making his arm stiffen. "Everyone in here is critical as hell..."
That earned us more glances as we walked. It seemed like the staff were generating out of thin air, more and more stares birthing towards us.
When we had finally rounded a corner of safety, I exhaled in relief, pursing my lips.
At least I presumed it was safety, until Mikaela pushed me up against a wall. He made me look at him, holding my face tightly. I winced slightly, but kept my gaze with him, although he seemed very angry at me.
"Watch. Your. Mouth." He strictly said to me, a voice so low and threatening that a nod was forced out of me in panic. "If you want to keep your job, you cannot keep your words that foul."
I didn't even realize I had swore that much. Had I? I believe I only slipped up twice, but it was enough to make him snap. I bit down on my tongue as he let go of me, and I followed him back to his office in silence. I suddenly felt the high rush of excitement for this position slowly downfall, all because of some words.
"I have my courses now, so..." he trailed off as we entered the room, turning around to glance at me. "You will be in the lounge. Doing whatever you wish. For two hours."
I nodded, planning to catch a nap in between. What was I going to do in there otherwise? I knew no one and I had no work to do. Mika would be away from me for those hours.
After collecting some folders from behind his desk, we were already on our way out back into the elevators. There was a painful silence before he asked me,
"Do you dislike me, Yuu?"
Of course I didn't. He got me a job. And gelatin! He did frighten me slightly, but I didn't dislike him. I shook my head. "No."
The elevator opened, and I followed him down the massive hallway that led to many activities. He opened a large set of doors to what I assumed was the lounge, which soon became Heaven.
Consoles. TVs. Food. A ping pong table. A hot tub! Dear goodness, what didn't this place have? And it was all unoccupied.
"Yours, for two hours." He told me as I gaped at the magnificent sights.
"Sweet mother..." I exhaled.
"I will come to retrieve you soon. Don't destroy anything, genius." He muttered, closing the door behind him.
How could I destroy such beauties? This whole room was filled with beautifulness that I couldn't even dare touch. But of course I went to the consoles, pigging out on video games for a majority of my time. I felt like I was being blessed by the luxurious gods themselves.
Then he showed up. Right in the midst of my fun.
"Wow," muttered Harvid at the sight of me pigged out on snacks, lounging on the couch with a game of football open. "How on Earth did you even land a job?"
I chuckled smugly. "Eh, you know. I'm pretty nice like that," I bragged, scoring a touchdown as if on cue.
"Right..." he muttered, getting a soda from the mini fridge.
"So what brings you here?" I asked through a sigh as I sat up.
"I'm on break," he stated, sitting on the couch next to mine. "And yourself?"
I smirked, "I am Jeunesse Shindo's personal assistant. Ha! I'm better than you," I cooed, eating another chip.
"Good luck." Was all he bluntly stated. I furrowed my eyebrows.
"For what?" I asked, pausing my game.
"That's all I'm gonna say." He gave me an odd look. I sneered at him. "So, are you going to pass me a controller or what?"
A mischievous smile crept its way onto my face. "You're on."
We spent the next forty minutes arguing over football and chucking food at each other - and nearly ourselves - before Mikaela interrupted, looking at us ridiculously.
"Yuu... It is time to go." Then he glanced over at Harvid who looked shameless. "Harvid..."
"Jeunesse," he awkwardly greeted back. I nervously stood up, sticking to Mika like a leech.
"We will be on our way now," Mika announced through a ridiculous sigh, waving to Harvid before we left.
"So," I began, cracking my knuckles, making him cringe. "How were your courses?"
He exhaled, shrugging lightly. "Very interesting. It fascinates me how the world works, but I will never understand calculus."
I sighed with a smile. "I remember calculus."
"Hopefully you can come to my use and aid me on it."
"Of course. I am your assistant, right? It's my job to assist!" I did a fancy pose, making him laugh.
"Alright, well, for today I've traded my leisure time to educate you on the pathways here. It will be very important for you to know for when I experience unwanted attention."
I nodded as we went into the elevator again. "Alright. Educate me, my lord."
I could tell he was exhausted from courses, probably crammed with a bunch of work since he didn't attend public school. I paid my best attention, occasionally asking questions just to clarify I was understanding him. I had to cut him some slack - he was a busy man. He had to explain to me some French words since most labels for the services were in French, and that experience brought a laugh out of him since it was the most tongue-twisting experience of my life.
I really did like Mikaela, and not because he was famous or rich or anything. He was actually very sweet and welcoming. Maybe it was because he was tired and was sleepy that he became more at ease and welcoming, but I still found myself enjoying his company.
I had followed him floor after floor, the building suddenly becoming more populated as he explained to me that there was a small shoot going on available for public view. We got to watch briefly, and I saw how the modeling worked. There was already someone posing for the journalists and the interrogations completely in French, everything happening all at once that I couldn't keep up. She was a Jeunesse model, very sexy and about Mika's age. She had short, pixie-cut brunette hair with golden eyes and high cheekbones. I guessed that the main necessity of being a Jeunesse Doll was being androgynous, and the two I've seen so far very much were. I'm guessing she knew Mikaela as they shared a small wave.
Then we dispersed back to his floor, my tour completed for the day. The rest was up to me to explore on occasions on my own time.
"You might want to go get yourself something to eat," he told me as he plopped down behind his desk with a sigh. "I'll have them ring it up to you if you order for a delivery."
I raised an eyebrow in impressment. "Cool! How the heck do I do that?"
He gave me the phone and dialed for me a service line, where I excitedly requested for some McDonald's. Mika had no clue what that was, thinking I was speaking a different language as I ordered into the phone.
Moments later, a deliverer buzzed for the door, which I happily welcomed her in as she pushed a fancy metal cart with the shining cases over the meals. Mika sat up respectively as he was served his food - some utterly ridiculously fancy meal that appeared to be pasta of some sort - and then my little tray was placed in front of me, and revealed - the wrapped cheeseburger.
Mika eyed me oddly, holding back a laugh as he thanked the deliverer and then she was gone. I hungrily dove into my burger as Mika calmly ate his all fancily and stuff.
"I have never heard of McDonald's before," he told me, taking a sip of his water. "I see their buildings everywhere, but I never understood the purpose of its edifice."
I chuckled lightly, "The most unhealthiest fast food place in existence. But I was starving, so I had no choice. What are you eating?"
"I think the server told me it, but it slipped my mind. I am so tired, forgive me. I believe it is an Italian pasta, though. I can tell by the sauce." He explained, the scent making me interested. I nodded, feeling like a peasant with my burger next to a king with his fancy foreign foods. He stood up after I realized this, and gently caressed my face that wasted no time burning a dark red.
"Open," he softly commanded me, and I grew excited because I knew he was going to feed me. I accepted the forkful of the steaming food that he slid into my mouth, exhaling in bliss as the amazing taste blessed my mouth. My eyes fluttered shut, and he chuckled slightly as he slid the fork from my lips. "So, is it better than McDonald's?"
I nodded, chewing on the heavenly substance. "Much," I whispered.
I couldn't even finish my burger the same after wanting to devour more of that godly pasta. We ate in silence although my mind argued that it wanted more of what he had.
Too bad, I told it.
After we finished, he set our dishes back on the metal tray and scribbled something on a sheet of paper with a pen. He then approached me again, gently taking my hand in his soft and smooth one and brought me to my feet.
Surprisingly, he pulled me into a slight hug, wrapping his arms around my waist and nuzzling his face into my hair. I loved hugs, so of course I snuggled into him.
"Well, isn't this just cuddly?" I murmured happily, swooning over how good he smelled. He chuckled, then whispered into my neck,
"Thank you, Yuu. You are an amazing personal assistant," and then he slid something in my back pocket. "I will see you tomorrow."
As I departed from our hug, we exchanged a small nod before I made my way over to his door. I paused, the realization clear to me that I did not want to leave. I looked over my shoulder at him, nervously biting on my lip at my next words.
"What are our plans for tomorrow?" I softly asked.
He gave me a small shrug, then half smiled. "I guess you will have to find out tomorrow."
Shskdjdkshdjjd long chapter rip.