In a fancy restaurant, Louis and Cecil were sitting at a table by the window. The glass spanned from the top to the bottom of the wall, offering a breathtaking view over the whole city. The countless lights sparkled like stars in the sky. On the table, a single candle flickered, as if not to outshine the city’s lights—a truly romantic sight that someone had put countless thoughts into.
But sadly, these sentiments weren’t appreciated.
While Cecil tried to engage Louis in conversation, telling him about the fun things he experienced abroad or how much he missed him, the responses remained lackluster. Even Cecil, who was usually a bit dull regarding the emotions of others, noticed that his beloved wasn’t paying him any attention.
Waving a hand in front of Louis’ face, which was almost plastered against his phone, he said, “Is something bothering you? Did I do something wrong?”
Louis, who was waiting for time to pass, answered absentmindedly, “No, no, I’m just busy at work lately…”
In fact, he was so distracted that he did not even notice Cecil turning quiet for the rest of the meal.
After they left the restaurant, they made their way downstairs to the garage. Seeing that Louis had finally put away his phone, Cecil’s mood improved considerably.
“Since we haven’t seen each other in so long, how about we go out this coming weekend? It would be a perfect opportunity to relax since you are so busy at the company lately. For example, we could go to the movies—”
“To the movies?” Louis laughed out loud. “Aren’t we a bit too old for something like that?” Walking past him towards the car, Louis continued, “It’s nice to see that you have kept your childish side, but I think it’s time to grow up.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Cecil answered with a forced smile. But wasn’t it Louis who promised Cecil he would go there with him right before he went abroad?
From the car, Louis shouted, “Cecil, if you don’t come, I’ll leave you here.” Seeing the serious expression on Louis’ face, Cecil knew he meant what he said.
Coming up with an excuse for Louis, Cecil nervously ran towards the car. Well, isn’t it only natural for him to forget about the promise since it had been so long?
“Wait for me, I’m coming!”
***
“Thanks for driving me.” Cecil looked inside the driver’s window and asked Louis sheepishly, “Is it okay if I continue to drop by?”
Thinking about how Cecil’s visits could impact his time with Silas, Louis wanted to refuse. But he knew that simply refusing him would be useless. “Hah, okay.”
“Good. See you soon, Louis.”
Watching the car drive away, Cecil performed a dance of happiness on the spot once the car was out of sight. Today was the best day ever!
Cecil skipped towards the entrance. What could possibly ruin that?
Once he entered his house, he knew what could ruin his happy mood.
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Everything in the house he had grown up in had stayed the same as in his memory; not even a piece of furniture was moved. So as soon as Cecil stepped into the living room, he felt familiar all over.
This feeling of familiarity only increased when he saw his mother and older brother sitting on the couch. Both had their arms crossed before their chests and looked at him with foul expressions.
“Well, well, look who is here. The ungrateful kid who would rather run to a man on the first day he arrived from abroad than return home.”
Cyrus gave Cecil a scornful look. “It seems like not even four years are enough to lessen your obsession with that son of a dog.”
Giving his brother a gleeful look, he said with a smile, “Our love is stronger than the obstacles you lay in our way. Even if you send me abroad for another four years, it won’t stop our love!”
“If someone heard you talk, they would think that you were a pair of lovers.” Cyrus stopped and then gave Cecil a pitiful look. “Oh, wait. He never even said that he loved you. Just taking your gifts and love without giving back. You are really stupid, Cecil.”
“Cyrus, you—”
“That’s enough.” Hearing the strong voice of their mother, both sons flinched.
Not wanting to stop, Cecil continued, “But mother, he—”
“I said it’s enough, Cecil.”
With a hand, she massaged her temples. “I’m really disappointed in your performance today. I thought you had grown up in the past few years, but it seems I was wrong. I really don’t know where I went wrong in your upbringing. Your brother was never like that.”
Hearing his mother’s words, bitterness welled up inside Cecil. Upon hearing the last part, Cecil’s bitterness turned into anger, and with the last word, he exploded.
“Maybe if you had visited me at least once in the past four years or had at least allowed me to return home, I wouldn’t have run to the only person who was always there for me!” Seeing the look of shock on their faces, Cecil felt strangely satisfied. Turning around to walk up the stairs, he felt like he had indeed grown up over the years because if it had been him from four years ago, he would have never been able to voice his opinion out loud to his brother and mother.
In the living room, a silence filled the room. Suddenly, Mrs. Althan sighed. “I guess he did grow up a bit—”
Suddenly, loud steps from the staircase could be heard, and a second later, Cecil’s head with his blond hair popped up. “And Cyrus—” Cecil gave his brother a furious look, “Louis is not a son of a dog!”
After these words fell, Cecil ran back up to his room feeling proud.
In the living room, on the other hand, a loud “Duck!” could be heard, and Cyrus’ angry voice sounded. “He has not changed at all!”
***
The next day, Cecil went to Louis’ company in high spirits. It felt so good to know that he could come and see Louis whenever he wanted, with them only separated by a journey of a few minutes and not by a few hours.
While taking the elevator to the floor where Louis’ company was located, Cecil checked in the elevator mirror how he looked. Noticing the silly grin on his face, he pulled it down with his two index fingers and left them there for a few seconds to prevent the corners of his mouth from rising again suddenly.
When the ‘ding’ sounded, Cecil hurriedly stopped his foolish actions and looked around to see if somebody had seen him. But no one was in sight, which may be contributed to the fact that it was rather late already.
Without delaying any further, Cecil walked towards the office only to be greeted by a half-open door and the sound of two people talking.
“Silas, why are you so cold to me? Didn’t I already explain it to you? Cecil is just a friend to me. There is nothing between us. Please stop being so cold, okay? Let’s reschedule our dinner, please?”
It was silent for a while until a cold voice answered with a swift, “We’ll see when I have time.”
The conversation in the office continued, but the next words did not enter Cecil’s ears. All he could perceive at the moment was a high-pitched ringing sound that drowned everything else.
***
After Silas closed the door to Louis’s office, he was suddenly grabbed and pressed against the wall. Feeling a hot body pressing against him, Silas became flustered. When was the last time another human being was so close to him? A sudden warm breath appeared against his throat, and he tensed up unconsciously. But when he had to look down to see the other’s face, his excitement calmed down and was replaced by amusement. Even the intended scary look on the other’s face evoked in him rather a feeling of cuteness.
Cecil, on the other hand, felt proud of himself. Thinking his move had intimidated the other so much that he dared not move, he felt like the winner in their match of scariness. See, even a scary face doesn’t help you, Silas!
If he had known Silas’s true emotions, maybe Cecil would have hidden in a corner and refused to show himself ever again. But Silas was a gentleman and didn’t want to destroy the other’s self-esteem, so he stayed quiet and waited for Cecil to finish whatever he was doing.
“Silas, don’t think I will give up on Louis. I will fight and win his love.”
Lifting his brow, Silas guessed what this was all about. “You heard us?”
“Yes.”
For a short moment, Silas contemplated telling Cecil the truth—telling him that he had already kind of lost interest in Louis after seeing what real love or rather real obsession could look like.
When it came to love, Silas was like a snail that would retreat inside its shell even at the slightest movement of the wind. So when he compared Louis and Cecil’s love, he realized that only such a heated love could truly make him feel at ease. What he needed was someone who was dedicated, who would give his all to reassure him and provide him with a safe space he would feel comfortable letting go. Like Cecil.
But looking at the shorter man in front of him, who was sadly completely bewitched by Louis, Silas could only sigh with pity.
So he chose to opt for the second best thing—keeping Cecil close to amuse himself.
“And what will you do if I also don’t give up?” Silas gave Cecil a provocative look.
“Then of course we will be love rivals! And the one who gets Louis wins!”
Love rivals? Silas was dumbfounded. This little cutie sure knew how to surprise him.