Yuna never shows up to school for the rest of the week. What's worse is that Yuele has stopped responding to Elise and it makes her think he's ghosting her. All of this pushes Elise's insecurities front and center and makes her depressed all week. Lonely, and even desperate, she accepts the offer from the guy who stood her up two weeks ago.

Nat can't stand watching her best friend lose her shine. She was actually hoping that Yuna was starting to like Elise. They were finally starting to get along. Yuele accepts the message request from Nat and agrees to meet her Saturday morning.

In person, Nat can't tell Yuele apart from Yuna. His stance and body language are completely different like they are actually different people. They meet at the pier closest to the aquarium. Yuele leans his body over the rail as he stares at nothing but the sea.

"Shit, you really do look like a guy."

Yuele doesn't look at Nat. "Thanks."

Nat leans on the rail with him. "Why are you avoiding her? It's destroying her. She's head over heels for you, and she even talks about how much she likes you as Yuna."

Yuele doesn't want to answer. He already knows this is why Nat wanted to see him and why he agreed to it, but it's hard now that it's here. "You were right. I don't want Elise to find out about me. It won't end well when she does."

"Hmm, what to do, what to do?" Nat sighs.

Yuele glances down at Nat and then back to the sea. She wears a smile that tells him Nat finds it amusing. "I'm cutting it off now so I don't hurt her like that."

"But that's not what you want, is it?"

"No."

"Because you're actually starting to like Elise."

Yuele closes his eyes when his heart starts to ache more than it already is. It's been like that ever since Monday, ever since Elise and Yune spent the whole day talking about their favorite series. He doesn't want to admit it. It would mean he has forgiven Elise and that his goal has changed. It would also be an admission of an emotion he's been hiding for far too long.

“You know how she’s sensitive about being stood up or ghosted? That’s what is bothering her so much. She thought things were going well.”

“Why does she, by the way? I mean get ghosted.”

“Honestly I don’t know,” Nat sighs. “I think it’s because they find her weird the second she starts to open up with her interests. They all expect her to be something she’s not. I think you’re the same.”

"It's kind of funny how I like her the most when she sees me as a girl," he chuckles. "It's less puppy dog and more natural."

"Is that a bad thing?"

Yuele shrugs, "I thought I liked how I am here more."

Nat laughs and turns to rest her back and arms on the rail. "I would ask why you haven't shown anyone, but I think I know why. For what it's worth, You and Yuna are the only ones I'll allow to date my Elise."

"Not that I could anyways. She'll never speak to me again when she finds out. She'll think I was just doing it to fuck with her again."

"Weren't you?" Nat laughs when Yuele stays quiet. "Well, well, well, if it isn't the consequences of your actions."

"Fuck off."

"Here's what you do so that never happens. Enjoy her as you have but make her fall in love with the Yuna side of you. That way when she finds out, it'll be easier for her to accept you."

Yuele turns his head to look at Nat for the first time. "Elise told me herself that she's straight."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that."

"Nat, why are you so invested? If anything you should be against me."

Nat looks over and gives Yuele the same welcoming smile she always does. "Let's just say I'm a fan of who you are as a person. With that being said, Elise is going on a date in a couple of hours because she thinks it's over between you two. If you don't want to lose her, I would stop her. Apartment 7 on floor 34."

Yuele turns his attention back to the water. “I’m really falling for Elise, aren’t I?”

Nat grabs hold of his wrist and grins, “As you should!”

-

Elise hasn’t been able to form a solid positive thought all week. She moves through the world as if it’s layered with a light static filter. It’s dizzy. It makes her nauseous. She doesn’t know what she’s done wrong to have Yuele ghost her. It was just after Tuesday when Yuna was acting weird.

That night keeps replaying in her head as she tries to figure out if there was something she missed. Yuna was clearly distraught about something and wouldn’t share. She even sounded a bit jealous of Elise. After Yuna agreed to tell her what it was tomorrow, she went up to her apartment building confirming that they do live in the same building. Elise received Yuele’s final text shortly after.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

She now stands outside her apartment building waiting on the guy who bailed on her. He told her he’ll make it up to her if she gave him the chance. This is what that is. Truly, Elise just wants to get fucked so she can forget about Yuele.

The car parks right in front of her and they both wave at each other. Elise moves forward to open the door but before she can her hand is grabbed. She doesn’t panic because she instantly recognizes who it is. She’s even unable to stop herself from grinning.

Yuele pulls her back inside their apartment building, only letting her go once they’re completely inside. Elise looks outside and grins at her date and flips him off. She’s the one who’s bailing now. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Elise wants to be angry. It’s all she wants since she’s been left feeling like she isn’t good enough because of him. The relief she feels overshadows any anger she might feel. “You stopped talking to me, so.” What the hell is he even doing here? This is straight out of a romance manga.

“Are your parents home?” He asks.

The question catches her off guard but shakes her head regardless. Yuele grabs hold of her hand and leads her towards the elevator where someone just happens to get off. “What are you doing?” She asks and then notices Yuele press her floor number. “Why have you been ghosting me?!”

Yuele presses his body against her and touches his forehead with hers. “Would you believe me if I told you I was going through something?”

“You could’ve just said that.”

“I didn’t want to make you worry.”

“Well, you failed.”

“Sorry. I won’t do it again.”

The doors open and Yuele once again grabs hold of Elise’s hand and leads her towards her apartment. Elise just watches in awe of this person. The second he showed up, the static filter in her vision disappeared and it was replaced with one that makes everything more vibrant. “Why do you know where I live?”

Yuele almost messes up and tells her the complete truth. “Your friend Nat messaged me and told me just how sad I was making you. She also told me you were going out with someone today. She sent me your address.”

“You just can’t show up and pretend everything’s fine. I thought I lost you. And why are we outside my apartment.”

“Open the door.”

Elise sighs and complies. Yuele doesn’t waste a second to push her inside and slam the door behind them. She’s grabbed by the waist and pulled into his lips. Every negative emotion and all the self-doubt disappears in an instant.

“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you all week,” Yuele gasps for air. “I want you, Elise. I want only you.” He pushes her down on the couch and grabs one of her knees to pull her towards him. “I’m crazy about you.”

Elise breaks free for a second. “I’m crazy about you too, Yuele. You’re all I think about.”

Yuele lightly bites her neck. “I want you to be my girlfriend.”

Elise is left a bit stunned after he backs up. She gulps down her saliva. “Please.” She sits upright and straightens out her clothes. “Yes! Yes. Uh. Uhm,” Elise laughs. “Where is this coming from all of a sudden?”

“This whole week I’ve been in denial about something I never wanted to admit. It scared me. It caused me to pull away from you and I’m sorry. Then I realized that when I’m around you is the only time where I can admit it.”

“What is it?”

Yuele leans in again to kiss her. “I want to tell you but we’re only known each other for a few weeks. Can you give me a bit more time? I want to be more comfortable around you when I do.”

“Yes.” Elise smiles and in turn, quells the ache Yuele has been feeling this entire time.

Yuele looks around the apartment for the first time to see how Elise lives. The first thing he notices is an open door where he can barely see inside. All he can see is a bookshelf. Elise opens her mouth to speak but stops when he jolts out of the couch and runs inside her room. She panics and follows him.

Not even her room is what he expected. Several bookshelves filled with manga. A tapestry over her bed covered with dozens of pillows. There are a few posters of Shonen and shoujo anime. “I wouldn’t be caught dead having someone over with this room,” Yuele jokes.

Elise shoves him out of the way and quickly grabs a notebook laying on her bed and shoves it into a drawer. “Exactly why I don’t invite anyone over!”

“What’s with the panic hide? Hiding more secrets?”

“It’s my dairy!”

Yuele walks around to examine the bookshelves. She’s read dozens of more stories than he has. He can barely recognize half of them. When he’s done, he finds Elise sitting on her bed embarrassed.

“You never cease to surprise me.”

“Why are you in my room?”

Yuele lays a knee on her bed and leans forward towards her. “I told you. I’m crazy about you. I want to know everything that makes you, Elise.”

Elise melts at his advances. She would be lying if she never thought about it. She imagined how he would act, what he would do, and what he would say. Everything is going exactly how she dreamed. She takes off her top as it keeps getting caught with his jacket. Her eyes don’t move away from his. Her hand moves towards his collar and he allows her to take off his outerwear.

Yuele becomes a bit insecure. The loose t-shirt isn’t enough to hide his frail body; his female body. But Elise doesn’t care.

Lost in the action, Elise manages to pull herself together for a second. “We can’t have sex,” she pushes Yuele away. “It’s too soon.”

“I didn’t have the intent anyways.”

Elise doesn’t believe him. All boys want sex. He’s no exception. “Then what are you doing?”

“Showing you just how much I want you.”

“I can at least give you a blowjob, to show you how much I want you,” she says crawling towards him.

Elise only manages to unbuckle his pants before he flinches and gets up from the bed. “Uh, shit. Sorry. That’s not what I want. I got carried away.”

“That’s okay. We don’t have to do anything until we’re ready.”

Yuele locks eyes with Elise again. There isn’t a thing she says that isn’t genuine. He can’t even believe that he’s even here let alone what he’s doing right now. All of this wasn’t supposed to happen. The emotions he has caught for Elise were not supposed to be real.

But they are. They have always been there. Even now he’s lying to himself when he admits he caught them in the library on Monday. He’s lying if he says it happened on their date or when she first met him as Yuele. It was long before any of that. Yuele has always been jealous of her. Jealous that Elise would never see him as he sees her. He’s even jealous of himself now. Jealous that it was he who captured her heart and not Yuna.

Elise stares at who is now her boyfriend. It’s all moving at breaking fast speed but she doesn’t care. He doesn’t talk about himself much and has lots of mysteries to uncover. He’s smaller than her but it doesn’t deter him from the staggering confidence he has. The things that he likes are all over the place and he does what he wants without a care in the world. Elise is jealous of that. She wishes he could be a bit more like him.

Elise grabs hold of his hand and pulls him down to her. She wraps herself around him tightly enough that she can hear his heartbeat when she presses her head against his chest. Her eyes close and for once feels there’s a person who accepts all the little quirks she hides. She’s safe here.

Yuele’s heartbeat rises. Not because Elise is in his arms admitting his infatuation with her, but because he’s afraid she’ll feel the fatty tissue of his breasts. He worries the tape around his chest and the sports bra he wears to make himself completely flat isn’t enough.

Elise closes her eyes and soaks in his scent as he embraces her.