Aesop And His Harem [OneShots]

The Matchmaker

Eli x Aesop

Modern AU

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Student life... It was probably the best time of a life for some, it represented freedom, independence, partying, finding love... This last point was very present on the Oletus campus, couples were flocking from everywhere and for a very precise reason. Indeed, the secret behind all these love successes was none other than Eli Clark, a sophomore in psychology.

The young man's hobby was to listen to everyone's heart problems and help them win the one of the person they were attracted to. The most amazing thing about this was that the dark-haired man was never wrong when he gave advice and everyone ended up satisfied in the end. Everyone... except him. Sure, he was bringing two lost souls together by playing cupid, but actually, deep down, all he was waiting for was for his turn to come too.

In the last twenty years he had only dated once, a blonde named Gertrude when he was still in high school but it didn't last long. Mainly because he noticed that women weren't really his cup of tea. Well, it's not like he was in a hurry either, he knew that this kind of thing didn't happen in a snap of the fingers. It would be too good to be true.

Eli was sitting at a table on the campus terrace looking around, sipping a bubble tea as he searched for his next target. His gaze then fell on a young man sitting on a bench further away, under the shade of a tree. Thin, hair tied in a low ponytail and a mask on his face. If his memory did not fail him, the male was called Aesop Carl and was a second year science student.

Their eyes then met and the gray-eyed man immediately stood up, his long white jacket fluttering behind him and his hands firmly holding the strap of his bag. The brown-haired man quickly finished his drink before throwing it in a nearby trash can and then running to catch up with the other student who was already starting to walk away. Just a few inches behind him, he decided to call out to him.

"Aesop!"

Fortunately, the boy stopped and turned shyly to him.

"Do we know each other...?"

Eli leaned on his knees for a moment to catch his breath, it had been a long time since he had run like that, and straightened up to look at the other.

"Ah, sorry, I tend to get a little carried away. My name is Eli Clark!"

"Oh, I see... I've heard of you..."

"Really!?" he said excitedly.

"Yes, and before you can say anything," the male cleared his throat before glaring at the other. "Do not meddle in my affairs."

"W-What!?"

"I don't need your stupid love advice, I'm fine on my own and I don't like to make friends either."

With that, Aesop turned on his heels and disappeared into the crowd. Eli was simply speechless. 'What the fuck!' he thought. 'He didn't have to be so rude!' To hell with his original goal, a better challenge had just appeared before him. Aesop Carl... So the young man didn't want his generosity? Very well, if that was the state of things, the brown-haired man was only more fired up at the idea of intruding into the student's life.

"I'll make him take back his words..."

Aesop walked quickly down the aisle, his hand holding his scarf over his nose as if to hide his face and avoid recognition. Unfortunately, the person he was trying his hardest not to run into was currently following him closely, very closely. A big smile hung on his lips as he looked at his phone at the same time, seemingly looking at something like profiles.

"What do you think about Campbell? Or maybe Subedar? Even Desaulniers? I'm sure you could get along with any of them!" he said with a silly tone.

"For the last time, Clark, I said I didn't want-"

"Watch out!"

The male with the mask had turned around at that moment to confront the brown-haired man, not noticing that he was rapidly dashing straight into the void above the stairs. Just in time, Eli grabbed onto the railing, his arm coming to wrap around Aesop's waist to keep him from falling over. He then sighed with relief before letting go of the other man when he made sure the latter was standing on his own two feet.

"It wasn't far... Are you all right?"

Receiving no response, the dark-haired man leaned in a bit to see that the other's face was completely scarlet. 'Damn, he's adorable!?'

"Y-Yes..."

The student then suddenly turned around, Eli now unable to see the latter's face, too bad.

Another month passed. Now the two men were surely close enough to be considered friends. Maybe it was because of this incident but Aesop didn't push the dark-haired man away anymore when he pestered him about his love life, less than before anyway, he would simply show his annoyance with a grunt or roll of the eyes.

"You really don't want to meet anyone?"

"No."

"Tsk, killjoy."

"Says the one who follows me around like my shadow. Why don't you look for someone? You're single."

"True, but it's a lot more fun to see your scowling face I think!"

"W-What..."

The brown-haired man let himself fall back against the grass of the park they were in, Aesop sitting right next to him scribbling on a sketchbook, another one of his hobbies. Eli looked up at the blue sky, someone... To be honest, he was quite popular with everyone with his reputation as a cupid but other than that, the young man didn't really have any friends. The gray-eyed male was the first to be around him for another reason other than his advice.

"Are we friends?"

"What are you talking about all of a sudden?"

Eli sighed before straightening up.

"I-I don't know..." the other replied, shifting his gaze.

"In that case..."

The cerulean-eyed male then bent down towards the ashen-haired one, lowering his mask then, his lips coming to meet his suddenly. Aesop widened his eyes but did not remove himself from his hold though. On the contrary, he returned his kiss, eyes half-opened. Their embrace seemed to last an eternity before one of them pulled back to catch his breath.

"Why not lovers?"

The other student's face then turned from pink to ruddy red at the dark-haired man's words, and he looked away once more.

"Y-You're stupid..."

"Does that mean yes?"

"Figure it out for yourself."

Eli chuckled before intertwining his hand with Aesop's, the latter not rejecting the contact. He was right, seeing the young man's furrowed brow was extremely entertaining and he could watch his expression without taking a break. Finally, Cupid too had been hit by the arrow of love.