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Earlier that evening, Tanizaki had planned to come back to his flat, get into his pyjamas and spend the night under his blanket watching a movie and completely ignoring his roommate.
Because he’d encountered a problem.
Before moving here, had he considered the fact that he’d have an annoying roommate? An overly conservative roommate? A loud roommate? A complete weirdo? Sure. He’d thought and worried about it constantly.
But he’d never considered the fact that his roommate could be the most attractive and friendly guy he’d ever laid eyes on.
And that’s precisely what happened. It took him by such a surprise that despite living and sleeping together in the same room for almost a month now, Tanizaki had barely spoken to the boy and had avoided him at all costs. He was still processing everything. Like, what were the chances of this happening?
He couldn’t deal with the pressure. Tachihara was pretty, with auburn hair, golden eyes and freckled skin. Perfectly pink lips, a muscular, athletic build, muscles, and the most beautiful laugh that could grace anybody's ears.
It was pretty embarrassing how easily flustered the redhead got around his roommate, but there was no helping it.
Tanizaki had just finished a shift at the bakery where he was still in training to bake simple things, and like usual, he was carrying a box of scrap and unsold cakes and pastries that he had made earlier that day. He usually saved a lot of money on food because he had these to eat.
Tanizaki expects to open the door to his bedroom and perhaps see Tachihara sitting at his desk or on his bed, or maybe he wouldn’t be there at all. Tanizaki isn’t familiar with Tachihara’s schedule.
When he opens the door, what Tanizaki sees is the brunet, topless, with only a white towel wrapped neatly around his hips, showing his tanned, muscular torso.
Tachihara had clearly recently gotten out of the shower and was about to put his clothes on. His hair was still wet, the water was dripping down his face and onto the floor.
Tanizaki feels himself tense up, and they are both stand there still, as pink as the doughnuts the redhead is holding. Both of them are speechless.
“O-o-oh, uh, hey Tanizaki,” he forces a laugh, biting his bottom lip nervously. He looks away, holding together the towel tied against his waist, so it doesn’t fall.
Tanizaki can feel his heart beating so hard in his chest he thinks it may explode.
He tries not to think about anything too deeply, but his mind quickly goes astray.
He is only wearing a towel. I wonder what he looks like withou-... no. no. I don't. He really tries not to think about it.
“Hey.” he couldn't say anymore. It felt like he may throw up from all the butterflies flying around his stomach.
“You’re back early,” he says, gritting his teeth awkwardly.
Great, they’d barely had any conversations, and now Tanizaki had walked in on this, and it was totally embarrassing.
He gestures the cakes box towards Tachihara, who looks down at them, confused. “My boss said I could leave early. I brought home some doughnuts. You can have one.” Tanizaki offers the other boy a doughnut from the small box he held.
"Uh.... Give me a second. I’ll be right back. Lemme just put some clothes on. I was in the middle of getting dressed. I’ll do it in the bathroom from now onwards.”
“Okay. It’s fine.”
Tachihara exits to the bathroom with some clean clothes while Tanizaki stands awkwardly in the middle of their room, fiddling with his thumbs as he awaits the boy's return.
When he comes back, he’s not entirely dressed. He’s wearing black sweatpants, and only black sweatpants. The dark hair and dark colours made his amber eyes look vibrant and striking. Tanizaki feels like he could collapse to the floor and begin worshipping him right there.
“Thanks,” Tachihara finally takes one of the doughnuts Tanzaki was offering. “It must be difficult working in a bakery and also studying full-time at university. I don’t know how you do it.” He takes his first bite, and very quickly, his eyes go wide, and he smiles from ear to ear as he chews. “Dude! These are delicious!” he takes another bite, and another, until the doughnut is devoured.
Tanizaki can't help but blush once again, trying to look anywhere but his abs right now.
But they’re right there, and he can’t look anywhere else, no matter how embarrassing it would be to get caught or have Tachihara point it out.
“Th-thanks…”
“You’re so good at making these things.”
Tanizaki raises an eyebrow. “No, no, I'm not. I’m…” They stand there in awkward silence while Tachihara devours another doughnut. “It’s just a good recipe.”
The older boy seems unbothered by the lack of conversation, but Tanizaki gets increasingly uncomfortable. After a long pause, Tachihara points at Tanizaki.
“Hey, I was going to ask,” he steps closer to the redhead, leaning into his face as if to be looking closely. Tanizaki gulps as he feels the boy's warm breath dancing over his cheek. “Are those real ear piercings?”
Oh.
He nods quickly. Tachihara steps back again, thinking to himself for a moment.
“Does ear piercing hurt?”
“I didn't think so, but I have a high pain tolerance, so-”
“-so do I.” he cuts in, seeming determined. “Can you do mine?”
“Huh?”
“Can you pierce my ears?”
“Me? R-right now?”
“Yes.”
Another silence falls between them, and Tanizaki is shocked, but he wasn't complaining.
“Uh, okay.”
Tachihara smiles, his teeth showing, and the younger boy feels his heart race as he follows him into the bathroom.
He seemed to have the needle and the silver jewellery ready as if he’d planned this in advance.
“I was going to do this before you showed up, but I think it’d be easier if someone else were to do it for me,” he says, sitting on the edge of the bathtub. “It’s quite difficult to hold such a small needle so steadily.”
Tanizaki gulps, looking down at the blunt sewing needle placed by the sink. He picks it up carefully, inspecting it. It was unsharpened, thin, and obviously something he’d picked up from a shop without much thought.
This felt impossible, and there was no way this would work without some complications.
“No offence, but I don't think a regular sewing needle can go through your ear easily,” he says, turning to face the boy already sitting gingerly on the edge of the bathtub, waiting patiently for his ear to be pierced. He pats his finger around the tip of it to test it, and like he expected, it barely even hurt. It didn't even go through the layers of his skin, as if the needle was made for a child attempting to sew for the first time. “it might not be sharp or strong enough.”
“Nah, it will be fine. It’s all I have. Just put plenty of effort into it.” he seemed confident, so the redhead just nods nervously, walking over to the boy with the needle and an earring in his other hand. “How did you pierce yours?”
“I got mine professionally done when I was fourteen.”
“Your parents approved of that?”
“No, but I saved up enough money and paid for them myself, so they didn’t make me take them out.”
“It sounds like a waste of money to me.”
“I like to stay safe, but hey, this is your body, and I’ll do this for you even if I don’t recommend it one bit. You’re the one who will be paying the price if something goes wrong. If all goes well, you’re just lucky.”
“Ah, that’s very nice of you to say, Tanizaki.”
“Do you want me to sterilise this or something?”
Tachihara scoffs. “I washed it? And I bought it only yesterday.” It sounded like he absolutely was not joking. This man is crazy, or perhaps, just really stupid.
“Right…” Tanizaki nods, willing to go along with it anyway. “Are you ready?” He takes a deep breath, placing the needle in the centre of his earlobe, trying to keep the needle as perpendicular to his skin as possible.
Tachihara holds his breath, too, in preparation. “Yep.”
After some excessive force and trying with all his will to not look away and choke, Tanizaki manages to pierce through the boy’s earlobe.
“There… done.”
“Nice,” the brunet sings, breathing out some hot air as he tilts his head to the side, as Tanizaki pulls out the needle from the back of his ear, sliding the earring through the hole straight afterwards before the wound closed.
He puts the back of the earring on securely, so it doesn't fall out, and unsurprisingly, it really suited him.
The brunet flinches slightly as he feels cold blood travel down the side of his neck and onto his bare chest, the red liquid pouring profusely from the metal.
“Oh, oh, uh…” Tanizaki begins to panic, impulsively whipping away the blood with his white sleeve before it travels any further down the brunet's body.
Luckily he was reasonably okay around blood.
Tachihara just giggles and the redhead can feel his heart beat a million miles per hour as he caresses the boy's muscular body, soaking up the unstoppable flow of red with his sleeve.
AHHHhhhHHhhHhhhhhHhhHhhHHHhhHh!!!
“Sorry about this.”
"Look at you. You’ve gone all rosy." His voice was so charming, and his eyes watched Taniakis face as the redhead was still trying to deal with the issue. “How cute.”
Fuck
“How could I not? I’m trying to stop your ear from bleeding. And, you’ve got no shirt on, and you're making me do this as if it’s no big deal. How exactly did we end up in his situation?”
“It’s okay, just leave it. I’ll have another quick shower to wash off the stain. Just do the other ear, and then I'll get you a new t-shirt to replace yours.” A warm smirk was planted across his face as he tilted his head further back, showing his adams apple, and the muscles in his neck. His collarbones were on full display, as well as his broad shoulders and sharp jawline.
Shit shit shit shit shit shitshitshitshit
Tanizaki could barely breathe as he looked down at him from above, his whole body on display for him to see.
Those muscles!!! Oh god.
He wants to feel them properly.
“Y-you want another one?”
He nods. “Yeah. One on both sides. Just like you.”
“Okay.”
He holds his hand out below his ear, more prepared this time, and he catches the blood quicker, so it doesn't flow anywhere past halfway down his neck.
This was the most bizarre and intimate thing he’d done with another boy, and it made him want to scream. There's something about...
shit shit shit shitshitshitshitshitshitshit
It was merely just piercing Tachihara’s ear, but at the same time, their faces were so close, and Tachihara was putting so much trust in Tanizaki, it was hard not to get overwhelmed.
“There, done.” he gently dabs his sleeve against the boy's neck one final time, realising a sharp breath of air. The stress was over. Maybe now he could finally run to his bed and convince himself this whole thing was a dream.
He steps back and inspects the boy sitting shirtless in front of him, who was still grinning to the side smugly, his eyes narrowed.
He still had some blood on each side of his neck and chest, but by now, it was mostly dried, and the blood coming from his earlobes had stopped pouring.
Tachihara looked incredibly attractive like this. Tanizaki couldn’t exactly work out what was so arousing about seeing another body covered in blood, and to be honest, he didn’t want to think too deeply about it either. This was like nothing he had ever imagined before, but he was sure he would be replaying this image in his mind on repeat for the next few weeks, especially at the most inconvenient of times.
How often did Tachihara go to the gym to end up looking like that? Was he a professional athlete, or just a guy with a passionate hobby? Either way, Tanizaki was enraptured.
Tanizaki looks down to his hands, his pale skin and clean white shirt now drenched in the boy's blood after a bad do-it-at-home piercing job. If they'd used even a slightly sharper needle, they wouldn't have had this problem.
But still. The blood is… it’s nothing. His mind is straying to places he’d never imagined before. He feels a lump growing in his throat, and he has to restrain himself, so he doesn’t reach out to Tachihara and plead to take this further.
He looks back up at the brunet, trying not to overthink it.
“You look good,” he says. “They suit you.”
Oh god they really do.
Tachihara gets up from where he’s sitting and steps closer, so he's stood only millimetres away from the redhead. Their chests are almost against each other, and there’s the feeling of their warm breath mingling together. Tachihara is only a couple of centimetres taller, but it made Tanizaki feel so small. Much smaller than usual.
There's a subtle scent of fresh blood coming from the other boy, and it's intoxicating. Tanizaki wants... he wants... to be closer.
Tanizaki gulps, looking up at the taller boy. For a few moments, they hold eye contact, and the redhead feels like he’s infinitely getting smaller and smaller, tenser and tenser in the presence of the other.
“Tanizaki?”
“Y-yes?”
“Thank you. I suppose I owe you a brand new shirt now?”
Tanizaki just nods. The butterflies in his stomach are back like never before.
He can basically feel all the heat radiating off Tachiara’s body. It was captivating.
“No, It’s okay…”
He grabs Tanizaki's sleeve, inspecting it. His grip is gentle around the redhead's wrist, and their hands brush past each other. His skin feels so soft.
“That probably won't come out.”
“Yeah, I know.” his voice is quiet as he tries to conceal his shaky breath. He feels his knees get weaker and weaker, he needs to sit down as soon as possible, so he doesn't collapse. They're so close.
“Are you always this shy?”
“I am.”
“I think you’re only shy because you think you’re shy-”
“-You know nothing about me.”
Tachihara doesn’t respond, he just raises an eyebrow and waits for Tanizaki to know that what he said is probably true, and Tanizaki just proved himself wrong.
“Oh.”
“You don’t need to act shy around me.”
“I’m not.” Tachihara interlocks their fingers, and Tanizaki glances down at their hands. They’re both covered in blood. It’s... It’s... something. "I don't."
He guides Tanizaki to the bedroom and lets go of his hand so he can go into the wardrobe. He begins rummaging through it before pulling out a brand new short-sleeved black shirt.
“Here,” he chucks it over to Tanizaki, who catches it, trying not to let it touch his sleeves. “It's not exactly the same, but I don't have any white ones.”
He shakes his head in protest. “N-no, this is fine, thank you.”
It goes silent, just the brunet staring at the other boy, who's confused. They stare at each other blankly.
“So…” his eyes narrow. “Are you gonna put it on...?”
Tanizaki feels his face heat up. “What? Right here?”
“Yeah.” he nods like it's nothing. “We’re both guys, right? Unless you really don't want to. You know where the bathroom is.”
“No, no, it's fine. I don't mind.” he takes his shirt off quickly as if to be proving a point.
He wasn't as muscular as the brunet, but he was toned. He had an active job, and he walked from place to place as often as possible. He wasn't insecure. he just wanted to make a good impression.
He doesn't get a good look at Tachiharas reaction as he fiddled with the black t-shirt, sliding it over his head. It fit him perfectly since they were basically the same height.
It was freshly washed, and it smelt like Tachihara. It was nice. Comfortable. He wanted to sink into it and never take it off.
He nods in satisfaction.
“I like it. Thank you.”
After that, Tachihara goes back into the bathroom to clean up. Tanizaki takes this moment to finally get into his pyjamas (still wearing Tachihara’s shirt, nevertheless) and starts watching a movie on his laptop, oblivious to what was going on around him thanks to his headphones.
For a while, he’s alone, and he almost completely forgets about reality as he focuses on the movie in front of him. That is, of course, until somebody jumps onto his bed beside him and starts to get comfortable.
Tachihara.
Tanizaki takes off his headphones.
“What are you doing?”
“I love this film. I haven’t seen it in years.”
“Uh…” Well, now Tanizaki knows what he’s supposed to ask. Great. “D’you wanna watch it with me?”
Tachihara nods eagerly, so the other boy takes off his headphones and plays it out loud, moving to the side, so Tachihara has more room to sit on the bed beside him.
From then onwards, unsurprisingly, it’s much more difficult to be absorbed in the movie and forget about the world around him.
There was no avoiding Tachihara.
He can feel the warmth radiating from the other boy's body. Their legs are touching, and so are their shoulders. He needs to restrain himself from leaning into him and getting too comfortable with making things too weird.
He’s in love with the way Tachihara giggles at the least funny jokes, yet doesn't really understand the actual funny ones.
The way that he was startled at the weakest of jumpscares and put his thumb in his mouth to nibble on his nail when he was concentrating on the more intense parts of the movie.
And there were also the more obvious reasons why Tanizaki was absolutely obsessed with this man.
Like his collarbones, for example, that was on show because of the wide v-neck of his collarbones.
He’d even seen him in just a towel, and he’d stood millimetres away from him and felt his breath on his lips. But now that they were sitting together comfortably, relaxed, and in such a casual situation, this was somehow a totally different experience.
Those collarbones of his only accentuated his sharp, jawline and his perfect posture. His hair looked soft now that it had dried, pointing off into all different directions. Untidy, but it suited him.
Tanizaki doesn't realise that he’s starting until the boy turns his head, and their eyes meet. He swears that he sees Tachihara blush slightly in the dim lighting, and they both giggle to each other in surprise.
He tried to play it cool like he wasn't consumed by pure lust at that moment, but he quickly accepted that it was probably impossible.
“Are you okay?” he leans over to whisper into his ear. His bottom lip almost touches the bottom of Tanizaki's earlobe as he speaks. The hair on the back of his neck rises at an impossible speed, and his heart feels like it may erupt at any moment. “You’ve been staring at me for the last five minutes.”
Tanizaki can only nod quickly, having to look away for a moment, so the slight grin on his face doesn’t give away the fact that he’s a dirty lier.
He turns back to face Tachihara, who was looking at him, at his neck, his collarbones and his lips.
Their bodies seem closer than before, and the brunet is turned slightly to face him. The same smirk was across his face that was there when Tanizaki was piercing his ears, and he licks his lips slowly as if to moisten them.
“Oh, I'm not complaining. You can carry on. I did say that you don’t have to be shy.”
Tanizaki gulps. Unsure of how to act, the redhead just awkwardly sits there, glancing back and fore between Tachihara and the screen in front of them.
He’d really, really never been in a situation like this before. And this time, he was genuinely shy.
He knows that Tachihara is looking at him. But what’s he meant to do? Stare back at him? That’d be even worse.
The brunet scoots closer to the other, now resting his head on his shoulder.
Tanizaki looks down at him, feeling his heart flutter at the sudden unexpected embrace. Like his friends or his sister, some people often hugged him, but it was never anything like this. It didn't ever make him feel anything. This? This was magnificent, even though it was more simple.
They stay like this for a few moments, watching the film.
Well, he watched as much as he could while he wasn't distracted by the voice in his head yelling oh my god!!! He’s! Leaning! On! Me!
“I am tired,” Tachihara begins to speak, shattering the silence that they shared. Tanizaki can not stop looking at him once again when he glances down at the other boy gently pressed against him. He looked so adorable, yet so sexy. He wanted to pull him closer and never let him go. “And I'm so comfortable here.”
What is he trying to imply?
The younger boy finds himself running his fingers through Tachihara’s hair after he says that, massaging his scalp.
???
He doesn’t know where this sudden confidence came from, but it felt natural, especially now that he wasn’t under the pressure of someone actually looking at him while he does it.
“Y-yeah,” Tanzaki manages to choke out, even though it was pretty difficult because he felt like his whole body was in a minor earthquake of anxiety, anticipation and exhilaration. Could this man be any more tempting? “So am I.” This embrace was so intense it was criminal. “I can't keep my eyes off you.”
Tachihara looks up inquisitively, and their eyes meet. Time seems to stop for a second while they just inspect each other's faces, their lips slightly parted, desperate for something to start happening. Neither of them needs to say anything. They both seem to find each other leaning in closer to each other, breaking whatever distance was left between them as their lips meet for a warm, desperate, yet calm kiss.
It was fiery hot. He feels a tingling sensation travelling down his spine and stomach and a rush of dopamine, letting him sink into the kiss.
Before he knows it, Tachihara slips in his tongue, and Tanizaki is a bit taken back at first because he hadn't kissed like this in a few months, but his muscle memory soon kicks in.
Then, the older boy grabs him by the waist, pulling their bodies just an extra few inches closer, and the tension thickens, and all sounds from the movie fade into nothing, Tanizaki's mouth eagerly responding.
Tanizaki's hand made its way across the other boy's neck, his pale fingers entangling in his mousey brown hair as they melted together.
His tongue felt like velvet. His lips ache for the taste of the others, the softness, but also the intensity. Somehow it was both at once.
Tachihara is the first to pull away after a few moments, a string of saliva still connecting their mouths as they both quietly catch their breath.
“You’re hot as fuck. Has anyone ever told you that?” The brunet purrs, and this time, Tanzaiki has nothing stopping him from acting the way he wanted to the last time he whispered like that.
“Oh, shut up,” he groans, pulling him in by the back of the neck for another kiss, and this time he has the upper hand.
At least, he’s meant to because he’s the one who ignited it. But Tachihara is obviously cocky and slowly manages to push Tanizaki, so he is lying on his back, with his head on the pillow. The brunet is now on top of him, using one hand to hold his weight and keep him up. The other hand is cupping the redhead's jaw, bringing their faces together.
“I hate compliments.” Tanizaki continues to speak. Compliments did indeed make him nervous, and he hated how bubbly and rosy even the slightest bit of praise made him. “So don’t do it.”
This feels so good- he had no idea until how sensitive his lips were to touch, and even when it wasn't the most rushed or aggressive kissing- it was more on the soft and gentle side- it was still intense, and he found himself never wanting it to end.
Tanizaki could proudly say that, despite his shyness, he’d kissed three or four people before, of all different genders. But none of them was as memorable or captivating as this. This was on a whole new level.
“You're lying. You love them,” Tachihara says in between kisses. “I’ll give you more.”
His self-control had dissolved, animalistic qualities taking over, and he’s just lost it.
His hands, like they've wanted to do for the last two days, slide under the older boy's t-shirt to touch his torso and feel those goddamn muscles.
They're just as amazing as he’d fantasised.
Fantasised? Yeah, it wasn't until that moment that Tanizaki realised and admitted to himself that he had, in fact, been daydreaming about touching his roommate like this several times in the last month. Ever since they first met.
“Don't you dare,” They're barely words, they're so slurred with desperation, but it’s good enough.
Tachihara bites his bottom lip with greed, and the redhead can feel the boy smile against his skin as he thinks of the correct response to tease him with.
Tanizaki prays to whatever gods that are out there that his hands and lips are doing a good enough job so that the other boy can't think straight enough to come up with stupid compliment to give him just to mess with him-
“So perfect, Tanizaki,” he says, leaning in closer on top of the redhead, so it is easier for him to touch his chest. Tanizaki's hands are now making their way across the boy's hips and waist and onto his back, enjoying the sensation of his back muscles and smooth skin.
He digs his nails into his lower back ever so slightly as if to say “stop talking,” but Tachihara already has other things in mind.
“If you wanted to do this so much, you could've just told me, and I would have happily said yes.” The brunet starts gently kissing down the side of his cheek onto his jawline, smiling into each one of them.
Was it obvious that he was so desperate?
“I couldn't have just asked that,” he doesn't know why, but he's holding himself back a bit when Tachihara is kissing below his earlobe “that’s not something you just ask. I told you, I’m shy.”
The boy looks up, placing their foreheads together, and gives him a short, soft kiss on his lips.
“Just ask me.”
Tanizaki can feel his cheeks begin to warm up again, and Tachihara yawns, using his hand to cover his mouth.
“That won’t be happening. I told you, I’m shy. Are you still tired?” the redhead asks, placing his hand on the nape of the boy's neck.
Tachihara smiles, giving the other boy another soft kiss on the face.
“Yeah. I am. I've had a stressful week. I’ll get into my own bed now, so you can have your space.” after one last kiss, he sits up, so he is no longer towering over the more petite boy, then stands up beside him, rolling his shoulders and rubbing his eyes. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”
Before he can leave, Tanizaki grabs him by the wrist, pulling him closer.
“No, stay.”
Tachihara raises his eyebrows as if he genuinely wasn't expecting the other to say that.
“Are you sure? I-”
“Stay. You told me to ask, right? I’m asking. I’m asking you to stay and continue this with me.” the redhead pulls Tachiharas hand closer, placing the back of his hand against his cheek and leaning into it. “Please.” He looks up to the other boy's amber eyes and holds onto his arm tightly, interlocking their fingers.
He gives him a look that says “Don't go, you’ve only just arrived.”
Tachihara gives off what sounds like a sigh of relief.
“Well, I can't say no when you're looking at me like that,” he chuckles, “You’re unbelievable.”