Junjou Possession

Chapter 13

Junjou Possession | Chapter 13| Haruhiko

My way to the office was full of rain, and regret. Every raindrop stuck to my skin, reminding me of Ryomei’s tears. I knew I should’ve brought an umbrella this morning, but something within me made me forget it once again, and I was too close to go to the convenient store and buy one now. Also, I felt I deserved to be caught out in the rain like this. I had caused my friend to be in so much pain because of my own hard-headedness, and I deserved to be punished for that. All I could hope for now was the chance that Ryomei might come back to the office, and that he might be willing to forgive me for the painful fact that I can never care about him in the same way he cares about me.

I keep hoping and praying that he will find someone, just as I have. Someone that makes him forget his unrequited feelings, and someone that is more suitable for him than me. The only person I could ever love, from this point on, is Minori. I know he must’ve felt the same way about me for all these years, and probably never even got into another relationship because of it, but maybe that was for the best. Someone like me, one who didn’t even acknowledge his feelings, is not suited to even be in the same room as him. There is someone waiting to love him like I cannot, and that person is special indeed.

“Mr. Usami!”

I walk inside the office doors completely dripping wet, and the secretary at the front desk has just noticed me entering the door. She strolls over to me with a worried expression. I can barely see her through my foggy wet glasses. “I apologize for the inconvenience, but could you bring me a towel?”

“Of course!” The woman quickly nods her head and runs back behind her desk to look for one. I didn’t know she kept such things behind that large desk, but if she did it was a good thing for me that she thought ahead.

I push my hair away from my face, trying my best to study the atmosphere around me. There are two gossiping girls by the elevator waiting for their lift. Another guy stands by the vending machine getting his morning coffee. Other than that no one was in the lobby that I could account for.

I can’t help but wonder when Minori would get here, and what I would say to him. I ran over a million times in my head how I would confess to him every day, but not once have I actually come up with the courage to do it. I just see a kid trying so hard to be independent, and I just keep backing out because I feel it might be troublesome for him. After all, I am his boss, so our relationship would already be scandalous. Would I ever tell him at all? What would he do if I did? Every time I feel like I have the courage I imagine him completely rejecting me, and looking at me with complete disgust in his eyes. I can honestly say that would be the only time I would ever call his eyes ugly.

“Ah! Here it is!”

Distracting me from my melancholic thoughts, the secretary walks over to me and smiles as she hands me the towel with her perfectly manicured fingernails. How she types so fast on a computer with those things in the way I’ll never know, and I’ll never ask. “Thank you.” I say as I take the towel.

I run the towel through my hair to stop the water from dripping from the shaggy strands of black. When I feel as if that was dry enough I remove my glasses and place them delicately on the edge of the secretary’s desk, roaming the towel around my neck and my face to dry any rain that had caught on my skin. When my face seemed dry enough I picked up my spectacles and dried them too, careful not to smudge or bend them as I placed them back on my face.

The secretary strolls back into her spinning chair behind her desk, but her attention is solely on me, not her work. “Mr. Usami, are you sure you’re alright? You’re soaking wet…”

In fact I was far from alright, but I couldn’t skip out on this day from work. There was too much to do, and we were already behind schedule as it was. I couldn’t push back the project any further just because I was a little under the weather. I hold up the towel and point towards the restroom across the hall. “Mind if I keep this?” After all, I assumed she would not want the towel back after I had used it to wipe my body.

The secretary shook her head. “I have plenty more where that came from.”

I wondered just how many she kept behind that desk, but I wasn’t going to ask that either. I stepped into the bathroom and went into one of the stalls. I took off my top layers and laid them down on the top of the closed toilet lid. Unfortunately, I would have to wear this soggy suit the rest of the day. I used the towel to wipe up my chest and back, hoping that I could get all of the excess water off. I let out an annoyed sigh. This was so troublesome.

“Haruhiko?”

I jump at the sound of that voice. I would know it anywhere, and I was surprised to hear it now. “Ryomei?”

I hear him let out a small chuckle, as if nothing’s happened at all. So, he was back to his normal self? “Last time I checked.” He stopped in front of my stall and handed over a dry suit that he must’ve brought with him. “The secretary said you’re in need of it. We can’t have you getting a cold.”

I take the suit from his hands and nod my head. Of course I was going to take it. “Do you want it back?” I asked him. I figured this was a pretty expensive suit, and that Ryomei might be in need of the money.

At this he chuckles once more and I imagine him smiling on the other side of the door. “Just keep it in your suitcase for next time.”

I nod my head once more as I began to transfer from my soggy suit, dry myself off, and then put on the new, dry suit. It fit just as well as my other suits, but it had Ryomei’s scent attached to it. I step out of the stall to come face to face with him. I bow my head. “Thank you.”

Ryomei gave me a bright smile and slid his hands into his pockets. He turned on his heel and began to walk towards the entrance to the bathroom. “No problem. It’s my duty to help take care of the president.”

I was happy to have such giving people working under me. But I was even gladder that Ryomei was back, he was his old self, and that he wasn’t holding a grudge against me. I suppose even a dark day can have its bright moments if you wait long enough to find them.

 I carried the soggy suit and towel back into the lobby, where I was fortunate enough to find out that the secretary also had her own collection of plastic bags. I took the bag she gave me and shoved the wet belongings into it. I would have them dried later, but right now I had work to accomplish. Before I got sidetracked again I went to the elevator and pressed the button to go to the floor my office was on.

When the third floor was reached I stepped off the elevator and went into my office to find Ryomei stacking and organizing papers that had piled on my desk. He had been gone a week, after all, and that was always his duty. The stacks would’ve been larger, even, if I didn’t have Minori helping me out every day. I placed my suitcase in on my desk and the bag on top of that so I would not forget to do something about it later. I hoped it would stop raining soon or at least that I could find an umbrella to use on the way home.

I turn on my computer and look out the window. Everything was going back to its proper order around here. The only thing that was missing now was Minori.