A Mark That Lasts Forever

Sincerity｜誠 section 7

I hold Shun's hand all the way home. We get stares just as I thought we would, but I couldn't care less. If anything, it's actually kind of comical.

When we reach our place, I finally let go of his hand to unlock the door. Magnus, Junichi, and Daiki are standing around in the kitchen and turn their heads to look at us. It's clear they were mid-conversation, but there's silence and a strange tension in the air while we take off our shoes. I know why, but feign ignorance.

"Hey, guys." I greet them with a smile.

Junichi and Daiki's frozen expressions and Magnus's awkward handwave confirm something is off. Shun keeps his head down while we walk past our roommates, their eyes following us.

"Wait," Junichi orders before we can make it to the hallway.

I stop and turn to him.

"We saw your show," he says in the same way my mom would say she saw my bad test score. "Is it true?"

"Yeah," I reply nonchalantly.

"You mean you're actually dating?" He points between me and Shun.

"Well, yeah," I answer.

An awkward silence follows.

"So you're gonna move out now, right?" Daiki says.

"Huh?" I utter.

"It's only right that they do," Junichi agrees. "I mean, there's an LGBT whatever search option on apartment listing sites for a reason."

Before I can react, a clicking sound comes from the front door. All five of us turn our attention toward Kenji walking in. He looks stunned and quickly removes his earphones.

"Whoa. What's the occasion?" he asks with an uneasy smile.

"We were just talking about Makoto's dance show" Junichi answers. "Did you see it?"

"I wanted to, but couldn't," Kenji answers as he unstraps his boots. "How was it?"

"Well, Makoto here announced his love for Shun to the whole world," Junichi says with a sarcastic laugh.

Kenji freezes. He looks at me for a moment before entering the kitchen.

"Is that so?" Kenji says nonchalantly, walking straight to the counter and reaching for the cupboard. "Well, I wasn't expecting that to be the first thing I heard after coming home." He chuckles.

"This isn't a joke," Junichi emphasizes.

"Okay." Kenji pulls a bottle of tonic water out of the fridge, not turning to look at Junichi.

"So?" Junichi tries to provoke him. "Don't you have anything to say?"

Kenji shrugs as his cup fills with fizzing bubbles. "Not really."

"We're talking about a gay couple living under the same roof as us without our consent," Daiki suddenly intervenes. "How can you not have anything to say?"

I cringe at the insensitive remark, but hold my tongue, curious how Kenji will react. We all watch him expectantly.

"Like what?" He turns around, looking unamused. "What do you want me to say?"

"Don't you get it? They're causing trouble for the rest of us!" Junichi declares.

Exasperated, Kenji crosses his arms over his chest. "Who's causing who trouble now?"

"What?" Junichi's upper lip curves.

"I'm starting to run out of patience for the things you and Daiki get up to when you think I'm not looking," Kenji states icily. "Maybe it's about time I do something about it."