All You Need Is Love (MewGulf AU)

🌞Chapter 40🌻

PAST
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Once Gulf got home to his empty house, he sat alone in his room. As night fell and he gazed at the tiny light of his fluorescent lamp, he began to imagine tha it had all just been a dream. Mew transferring in after the vacation in May, their kiss the night before the test, the sex they had since then---everything.

When summer break was over and he went back to school, no one would remember Mew.

Days would go by without the slightest change. Gulf would take his college exams and pass them, he would live as a normal college student, and he would go on to an office job, and then...

"No---"

Gulf knew firsthand that it hadn't been a dream.

Mew's eyes, which seemed to penetrate straight to the soul, the warmth of his arms as he held Gulf, his passion---he remembered them all as parts of reality.

Gulf hugged his knees to his chest and pressed his forehead against them. He was desperately fighting back his urge to cry when the phone rang loudly. The noise surprised him and he jumped.

He glanced at the time and saw that it was nearing midnight. Maybe it was from his parents---but no, it wouldn't be them.

Gulf picked up the phone, filled with a faint hope. "Hello...?"

"It's me."

Goosebumps rose on his skin at the voice in his ear. He realized just how much he had been waiting to hear that voice.

"Mew? Where are you?" Gulf asked desperately, gripping the phone tightly.

"I'm still in Tokyo."

The voice was a little whiny---it was definitely Mew. Even the faint sound of his breathing filled Gulf with joy.

"Gulf." Mew spoke Gulf's name with a quiet sigh. The sound of it was ticklish.

"What?"

"I'm sorry about today." His voice was lower than usual. Hr was trying not to be overheard. "The talk came out of nowhere and before I even realized what was going on, they shoved me into a car and took me back to Tokyo. I asked AA to explain things to you, but I don't know. Did he?"

"Uh---yeah."

'Explain things'---all he'd said was that Mew had gone home.

"He's kind of antisocial and inflexible, but he's not a bad guy. I trust him more than any of the rest of my dad's men."

"R-Really?"

"I guess because I've known him all my life, he acts really full of himself with me, but he's a good guy. You can't just write him off."

Gulf couldn't say anything. Mew's home was clearly not a place where he had felt comfortable, and AA was important to him. Gulf would never tell him that AA threatened him, no matter what.

"And about tomorrow." Mew's voice was low. "It's all going according to plan, so don't be late."

The conviction in his voice made Gulf want to cry.

"I think if we can completely disappear for two or three days, they'll give up. Then we can enjoy the rest of the summer all we want, just the two of us."

"Okay."

"Gulf."

"What?"

"If I told you that I love you, would you laugh?"

Gulf's entire body quivered at Mew's hesitant words, confessed amid sighs. Mew had often told Gulf that he liked him, but this was the first time he's used the word love.

Gulf's heart squeezed tight at this first confession. He felt as if the emotion that the words 'I love you' implied had passed directly into his heart.

Affection, trust, devotion. Beautiful feelings filled Gulf's heart and swelled him up to feelings of joy that he knew could never again be equaled.

"I wouldn't laugh. I-I feel the same way."

"Sorry, Gulf. Someone's coming. I've got to go."

Suddenly, the line on the other end grew noisy. He wondered what had happened when he heard the word "Later" and the call was cut off.

Gulf clung to the phone, which only made a sterile beeping noise. He let out a small sigh.

'That was enough,' he thought.

When AA told him to distance himself from Mew, he resented it. Why did he have to pay the price?

Gulf and Mew were in love---that was all. They were both men. When they graduated high school, or maybe a little afterwards, it was practically guaranteed that they would break up. So then why did the two of them have to be ripped apart now, for a completely unrelated reason?

And, worst of all, Gulf had to betray Mew without ever telling him why.

The reason Gulf agreed to AA's plan wasn't because of his threats. Gulf realized, of course, that AA hadn't been bluffing when he said those things, and he was terrified of the sharpness in his eyes, like quick, cold blades. But later, he realized that the man was truly concerned for Mew, and Gulf's decision was based on concern for Mew.

Mew may not have been fond of the world he'd been born into, but he didn't hate it. Rather, he accepted it and decided to live the life of a gangster.

And from AA's point of view, after watching Mew grow up, not many people could carry on the organization like Mew. And since Mew was valuable, he said he didn't want to "inflict unnecessary wounds" on him.

Gulf didn't know the rules that governed their world, but he was sure that blowing off his induction ceremony would hold Mew back for the rest of his life. Gulf didn't like to think about it, but he could tell how bad things would be from the way AA acted.

Mew would probably consider him a traitor. He would call him a coward. But Gulf believed that he could handle it, because Mew made him so happy when he said he loved him.

TBC