Aki averted his eyes from Liam's intent stare and found himself staring at the bag beside Liam's feet. He blinked rapidly, directing his gaze once more to the other guy. "What is that? Where are you going?"
With a jolt, Liam glanced at his feet as if he had forgotten all about it. "Oh, that. I was on my way to catch the last trip so, um, yeah..."
"Last trip?"
Liam coughed and licked his lips before answering slowly, "I was hoping I could catch up with your bus..."
Something melted inside Aki when he heard it. It was as if the fog that clouded his eyes all this time was lifted, and if he was right, he was hoping he was right, he finally realized that he had been doing the same thing, causing the same pain he felt. It broke his heart to know that he did that to someone as good as Liam. But what broke his heart, even more, was that Liam was still so good after all of these.
Aki, subconsciously, took a step closer. But what could he say now? What could he possibly tell Liam that he would want to hear?
"Should we... go for a walk?" Liam asked.
"I was just in one, not too long ago," Aki said, not unkindly.
Liam looked down. "Right."
"But I don't mind walking some more. You know, exercise," Aki grinned and Liam grinned back.
The two of them walked around the town, settling in a comfortable silence between them. Earlier, it had been a normal place. Yet this time, it was as if everything was full of life. The stars shone brightly in the sky, and there was a faint smell of the sea in the air. They stumbled at the same program Aki had seen earlier.
"Do they always have that contest?" Aki asked as they passed through the crowd, craning his neck to see the stage close up. "I'm surprised people do stay up late for this."
"Yeah, it's a yearly event at this time of the year. Just for fun," Liam said with a shrug.
They watched the current performance for a while before deciding to move along until someone noticed Liam and approached them.
"I heard what you did to Nancy. Just between the two of us, I approved of what you did." The good neighbor left after patting Liam.
Aki raised his eyebrows to his roommate who looked grim beside him.
"Hmm?" Liam noticed Aki looking and massaged the frown on Aki's forehead. "Don't frown. I'll tell you what happened."
Liam told Aki what he told her and how Nancy thrashed their reunion as they walked around the town. The whole thing sounded disastrous, yet Aki could not help but feel happy for what happened.
As they moved away from the plaza, the town grew quiet and deserted. To be safe, their voices were down to a whisper, but Aki loved it because he had a reason to lean in closer and got to listen to Liam's voice loud and clear.
They arrived at the top of the hill just as Liam finished his tale of what happened at lunch. They found a place to sit and sat side-by-side. It was almost midnight, and the hilltop was dark and silent save for the post light not so far from them.
"I hope she won't make things difficult for you," Aki said.
Liam waved him off. "It doesn't matter. Sometimes I feel like we spoiled her. She grew up with people telling her that she is lovely. People can't say no to her. So maybe that's why." Liam turned to face Aki. "But enough about her. Why didn't you come back with Zy?"
"Did you want me to?" Aki lifted an eyebrow. "I think you are misunderstanding something."
"What's there to misunderstand? You like him." Liam let out a long breath and dropped his shoulders.
"I don't know how you knew that. But I'm telling you that's not the case." When Liam looked at him like he was about to protest, Aki cut him off. "Ask me who I love."