linguaphile | bl | jjk | ✓

4: Salted Cod Roe (tarako)

4: Salted Cod Roe (tarako)

Shunshun
inumaki, tf is with your nickname?

Im not saying I'm homophobic or anything

But dang

Toegay
...

then

what's with yours

it's like a primary student made it

you're already in uni

but you're still called shunshun

The corner of one Inumaki Toge's lips twitched as soon as he tapped the send button. He and Ito Shunsuke exchanged numbers the day before shunsuke had to leave Jujutsu tech.

It had been a few weeks since that day. At first, Toge was a bit nervous about it, considering how much he wanted to be friends with Shunsuke.

But the other was just... way too friendly that it didn't even take ten messages between them to break the ice.

Toge liked this.

Exchanging words with someone, even if he wasn't able to personally say them himself. He liked elaborating what he felt, what he thought, and blurt out impulsive thoughts that came to mind.

There was a certain feeling of liberation in it that Toge craved.

His new friend was like how Toge used to be in person.

So bold and bright, with a charisma hard to resist. Toge used to be surrounded by people while he became the center of attention. He was like a flame, attracting moths on all sides.

Shunsuke was the same but different at the same time. From the short time Toge became friends with the other, he noticed how Shunsuke unconsciously pays attention to little details.

Sometimes, he could see in Shunsuke's eyes how he would ponder in the middle of conversation, trying to find the perfect word. There were also times that Shunsuke would quote foreign authors. He would say it in the native language of the author before translating it to Nihongo.

On the second week they became friends, Shunsuke admitted over the phone; he was a linguaphile who could not just shut up. He loved learning about languages, how they came to be, and how each word flows beautifully out of the mouth.

To Shunsuke, languages were like oxygen.

If he couldn't read a heart-warming short story in prose for a single day, the next day would be him acting grumpy and barely talking. After that, when he gets to bed, he would sulk and stay up all night to finish a book to satisfy his cravings.

Toge had to wonder, whenever he reads the messages Shunsuke sent him, if his friend truly was a university student.

Ito Shunsuke seemed to act like a child more than Toge could count on two hands.

But that was okay as well.

Because in that way, Toge knew just how important words were to Shunsuke like how they were to him.

In fact, every morning, Shunsuke liked to send him a word he never heard of before. It was followed after by its meaning and Toge's heart would tremble every time.

Vagary: a whimsical, wild, or unusual idea

Shunsuke would even send him a voice message. It contained where the word came from, how it came to be, and how it was pronounced.

Even though Shunsuke knew that he could only utter harmless words like ingredients, Toge appreciated the fact that Shunsuke did all that for him.

Toge, who disliked waking up early in the morning because class started at nine, changed his sleeping schedule. Each time, when the sun hadn't fully risen, Toge would already be awake. Sitting on his bed, with his comforter wrapped around him, only revealing his face and hands which held his phone; he would wait for a certain person to message him.

Behind his eyes was a bright eagerness he couldn't hide.

5:37 a.m.

The phone he held vibrated as a notification popped up on his lockscreen.

Shunshun sent a voice message.

The sorcerer quickly typed his password in and opened up his message app, tapping on the voice message without a single moment of hesitation.

"Good morning, Inumaki~"

Whether he was aware of it or not, the tips of his ears turned red the second Shunsuke's voice reached him.

Another voice message appeared.

"By the way, I'll be returning back to uni today so you guys should go to the store around... maybe four or five? Just know I'll be late. But if you guys don't mind, you can just wait for me there! I'll definitely treat you guys to some free food!"

A little frown formed on Toge's lips. The time he could personally meet Shunsuke was cut down just like that. A quite ting resounded in his room.

Shunsuke sent him a message.

Resfeber: the restless race of a traveler's heart before the journey begins; the tangled feeling of fear and excitement before a journey begins.

"I just came across this word last night, you know? I really like its meaning. It's Swedish origin, pronounced as reece•FEE•ber. I haven't had enough time to research about it but I'll give it to you when I have free time! See you later, Inumaki!"

Silence rang after the voice message finished playing.

Toge stared at his phone, lost in his thoughts. He had already grown used to seeing Shunsuke every day in a fixed amount of time. Though short, it was enough to satisfy his hunger for conversation.

But that short time was about to become shorter starting from now on.

And Toge felt a bit depressed the more he thought about it.

Of course he could also send Shunsuke a voice message like he does with him. However, Toge disliked not being able to hear Shunsuke speak in person. The voice messages only whetted his appetite; they only made him crave for more.

It didn't satiate him at all.

The sorcerer eyed his phone with a heated gaze before tapping the mic icon. The recording started playing but he couldn't figure out what he wanted to say. He had done it on a moment of impulse.

"... tarako?"

.

.

Ito Shunsuke had just finished washing his dirty dishes when his phone rang. Wiping his wet hands on a clean rag, he picked up the phone with a curious look on his face.

Toegay sent a voice message.

He blinked. I thought Inumaki didn't like sending voice messages? Even then, the linguaphile tapped the record, and upon hearing what it contained; Shunsuke couldn't help but chuckle under his breath.

Tapping the mic icon, with eyes glistening in amusement, Shunsuke parted his lips and answered Toge's question.

"Sure, you can pick me up at my uni, Inumaki."