The Element Of Surprise

Something was off.

Langa had ignored it, convinced himself he imagined it, or tried to push it aside as one of Reki's moments when he felt down or depressed. He didn't want to confront Reki and hoped the problem would solve itself. Yet, it didn't.

First, he had assumed that they were both new to this. This meaning college life and sharing an apartment. They had just started college, and even if it was the end of the trimester and finals were coming up, they had also been dealing with new surroundings and a new relationship. When they had graduated, Langa had finally confessed his feelings to Reki. Of course, it hadn't gone as planned, and his confession had been way too blunt and straightforward. Still, it had worked out in the end since Reki's eyes had flowed golden with happiness before he had kissed him.

When they had both enrolled at college, they had decided to share an apartment. They wanted to live their lives, and sharing an apartment was cheaper anyway. Within time, they had also noticed that it brought them even closer together. If you lived together, you learned each other's worst habits and secrets were impossible. Or so Langa had thought.

Reki had enrolled in engineering in combination with art and graphic design while he had chosen culinary sciences. It was perfect for both of them. Reki always showed him his new inventions and tried his techniques and designs on their boards while he let Reki try his latest culinary creations. They both had made friends (of course, Reki was much better at that) and enjoyed college. They always met for lunch on campus and continued to skate in the evening or at S.

Everything was perfect.

Until something changed.

Langa had assumed at first that it was because their final exams were coming up, and, like back in their school days, Reki always grew nervous. He was fixated on studying and took it seriously now that he could learn something he was actually interested in. Since he was equally busy with studying, he had shrugged off Reki's odd behavior at first and hadn't thought much of it.

When his behavior didn't change after their exam week, he grew worried, mainly because it got even weirder.

Once, when he got home, he caught him sneaking a package into his room and hid it under the bed. When he asked about it, he said it was just for college. However, Reki usually took his technical equipment for designing or creating new assignments to a tiny storage room where he usually worked on them. And college ended with exams. There weren't any new assignments until the beginning of the new term. Even if he created new skateboards or something similar, why would he hide it from him? He also hid his mail from him and secretly wrote e-mails or messages while watching TV with him when he thought he wasn't looking.

That wasn't all, though. Reki was always busy and practically only came home to sleep. He ended calls as soon as he heard him enter and often wrote messages to a girl he didn't know. He often found excuses to leave their apartment and even turned down skateboarding with him at night or events at S. And Reki never ever turned down anything that involved skateboarding.

To top it off, Reki looked incredibly happy and often had a dreamy look on his face as if he looked forward to something. Sometimes, he had a mysterious smile on his face that suggested he knew something that he didn't. It slowly drove him insane.

Reki's behavior towards him changed, too. While they still cuddled while sleeping, and Reki gave him a goodbye kiss when he left because he knew he loved them, Reki distanced himself from him, often avoided eye contact or looked away if their eyes met. What the hell was going on?

What he found in Reki's room one day more than freaked him out. He had just wanted to return his laptop to him. His own had broken down the previous day, so he had asked him if he could borrow Reki's while his own was being repaired. When he put it on his desk, a slip of paper slid to the floor. Langa picked it up and was about to put it back where it had come from when he saw the letterhead and immediately froze up. It was a letter of acceptance from a college in Tokyo which included lodging and a plane ticket—a one-way ticket.