Happiness: Chapter 1 - Stability

[bon_san]

 

It was a rather quiet weekend at the apartment, a contrast to the bustling scene outside the building.

Jun was in the kitchen, getting a head start in prepping for dinner, marinating the meat and cutting up some vegetables.

Meanwhile, Kazunari was slumped over on the couch, switching between his game and phone intermittently.

The two had met in high school, and took to each other almost immediately. They were almost always together, separating briefly when they’d decided to attend different universities, though they’d kept up constant contact through calling and messaging.

After graduating, they’d floundered for a bit before finding stable jobs.

Jun had a job as an event planner in a marketing firm, generally helping companies with promotional events, while Kazunari worked as a content editor at a video game company.

While pay was decent, they’d eventually found that it wasn’t enough to live in a comfortable apartment, as hard as they tried.

It was during one of their weekly chats that Jun had realized that they lived in the same area, and that finding a decent 2LDK was very much possible for them, and he set about searching right away.

They now lived together in a sizeable apartment, splitting the rent and bills.

They were much more comfortable with this set up, each getting their own room and being responsible for various household chores- Jun immediately took on cooking once he saw that if left to his own devices Kazunari would be satisfied with living off of instant ramen.

In turn, Kazunari agreed to take on dusting and vacuuming. The rest they settled on trading off every week.

Needless to say, the two were close friends.

“Do you want cheese in your patty?” Jun calls from the kitchen.

When Kazunari answers with a negative, he sets about cleaning up and setting all the prepared ingredients back in the fridge.

“You’ve been on your phone a lot lately,” he remarks, making his way out of the kitchen and into the living room.

“Not really that uncommon, though, is it?” Kazunari responds absentmindedly.

“Not really. But I’ve never seen you messaging this much. You’re on your phone almost as much as you play games nowadays,” Jun continues.

Kazunari tapped at his phone for a moment, looking for something. When he did, he turned and held out the device towards Jun, showing him the screen.

“I’ve been seeing someone lately. That’s him,” he says simply.   

Jun gaped at the photo, grabbing the phone out of Kazunari’s hands to look more closely.

“No,” he says incredulously. Kazunari glares at that.

“What do you mean, ‘no’?!” he grouses, snatching the phone back.

“He looks like a model!” Jun exclaims. “And you-you’re always wearing those tracksuits! And all you do is play games all day! When did you even meet him?”

Kazunari rolls his eyes and turns back to his Switch. Jun flops down on the couch next to him, easily accepting when Kazunari decides to use his lap as a pillow.

“What’s his name?” he asks, running a hand through Kazunari’s unruly locks.

“Aiba Masaki. He’s the owner of one of the newer publishing companies we’re partnered with”.

Kazunari giggles and the glum expression on Jun’s face.

“I can’t believe you got yourself a hot, loaded boyfriend. What do you have that I don’t?” Jun whines.

“I’m cute,” is the response he gets.

“And I’m not?!” Jun huffs and shoves Kazunari’s head off his lap, sending the cackling man sliding to the floor.

Kazunari calms his laughter, pausing his game to look up at Jun.

“We met at work. You’re always meeting rich people at your company, so find a cute one and snag him,” he offers.

Jun lets out a laugh at that.

“Kazu, most of the people who want our services are old men who don’t know how anything about marketing. What makes you think I’d want that?”

Kazunari just shrugs.

“You look like prime sugar baby material.”

Nothing could have prepared him for the force with which Jun pelted a cushion at him.