nanami kento had always thought there was no space left in his cramped heart for comfort, let alone love.

his soul was somewhat drowned with trivial responsibilities. the existence he bore was merely rooted in devotion for that he was rather terrified of scenes he couldn’t control. he thought of himself as a coward remarkably often. he lingered over his own life, never truly living in it.

his whole life was an epitome of repeated dullness. although it was secure, it was also, by all means, unsatisfying. it left a bland taste of nothing on his mouth, even sourness seemed far away. he embraced that comfort. the comfort of a monotonous life. he wore it every morning along with the suits with same cuts. same expensive ties with same colors. same nutrient breakfast. his favorite.

a spectrum of empty colors.

then you came in the picture. an enchanted rainbow trailing behind you.

it was barely a curiosity at first. his gaze remained on you. he studied you. curiosity vanished and envy dawned on his mind. envy of the things he’d never felt before. envy of being unable to live, untrained in living and witnessing another existing as if they’ve got the guide of life. rage blossomed somewhere inside of him. he watched you as if it was a duty. he memorized you.

envy turned into admiration. he couldn’t quite name how. your scent clouded his mind at nights. your hand grazed into his, and his hand twitched all through the day. a quiet souvenir he carried of you.

he crawled his way to your life with warm smiles and gentle words and lively flowers. with fresh promises which carried a tender smell. soft kisses and heated embraces. you allowed him to tangle his ivy with your roots. it seemed innocent enough.

you’d been to know ivies were impossible to control once flourished. his grew with an alluring fragrance and soft strands of blond hair caressing your neck and a gentle smile which bewitched your heart. a smile, stretched with crimson strings and measured inch by inch. a perfect smile for a perfect man.

“come on babe it’s gonna look so cool!” you pleaded, giving him your best puppy eyes in another attempt to convince him.

you’d been scrolling through pinterest, following your nightly routine, when you came across a really cute couple pic where the guy had lipstick marks all over his bicep, maybe an overly used idea but you still found it pretty cute. and well, safe to say the idea had been stuck in your head for a week before you finally decided to play dirty and convince him to recreate the exact same picture for your perfected instagram feed.

and in your book, playing dirty meant mean puppy eyes and pouty lips with glossy tears sitting tightly on the edge of your lashes, threatening to spill over them.

a sight you knew he was hopelessly weak for.

you grinned to yourself. he was as grumpy as ever, letting out a long groan before throwing an arm over his eyes in a poor attempt to ignore you. huge mistake.

you were sitting on top of him while he lay sprawled across couch with his legs hanging over the armrest. fond as he was of summer, he wasn’t exactly immune to the dry heat that came with it and now he was dealing with a persistent headache for days, causing him to lay in the same spot for hours until the sun went down. currently, he was in his fourth hour of the day.

“babee,” you whined with the exact pout you knew he could never resist.

he groaned again, one hand instinctively settling around your waist to steady you. “y’know you’re a fucking menace.”

you grinned. “does that mean yes?”

a tight silence stretched across his features. he sighed as his voice crawled up to a tone so defeated.

“do whatever you want.”

you let out an excited squeal, a scream of victory, before immediately reaching for the red lipstick.

ever since you’d started dating, you’d realized no matter how stubborn or intimidating he could be, never before had it seem as he had the determination to say a simple ‘no’ to you. at first he’d been genuinely confused by it, convinced there had to be some scientific explanation for why he was physically incapable of rejecting you. well, the explanation he came up with was that he was just a guy so in love. a guy weak and devoted in love.

he seemed to accept this half scientific explanation he had for himself wholeheartedly. he was a weak man.

“come on babe it’s gonna look so cool!” you pleaded, giving him your best puppy eyes in another attempt to convince him.

you’d been scrolling through pinterest, following your nightly routine, when you came across a really cute couple pic where the guy had lipstick marks all over his bicep, maybe an overly used idea but you still found it pretty cute. and well, safe to say the idea had been stuck in your head for a week before you finally decided to play dirty and convince him to recreate the exact same picture for your perfected instagram feed.

and in your book, playing dirty meant mean puppy eyes and pouty lips with glossy tears sitting tightly on the edge of your lashes, threatening to spill over them.

a sight you knew he was hopelessly weak for.

you grinned to yourself. he was as grumpy as ever, letting out a long groan before throwing an arm over his eyes in a poor attempt to ignore you. huge mistake.

you were sitting on top of him while he lay sprawled across couch with his legs hanging over the armrest. fond as he was of summer, he wasn’t exactly immune to the dry heat that came with it and now he was dealing with a persistent headache for days, causing him to lay in the same spot for hours until the sun went down. currently, he was in his fourth hour of the day.

“babee,” you whined with the exact pout you knew he could never resist.

he groaned again, one hand instinctively settling around your waist to steady you. “y’know you’re a fucking menace.”

you grinned. “does that mean yes?”

a tight silence stretched across his features. he sighed as his voice crawled up to a tone so defeated.

“do whatever you want.”

you let out an excited squeal, a scream of victory, before immediately reaching for the red lipstick.

ever since you’d started dating, you’d realized no matter how stubborn or intimidating he could be, never before had it seem as he had the determination to say a simple ‘no’ to you. at first he’d been genuinely confused by it, convinced there had to be some scientific explanation for why he was physically incapable of rejecting you. well, the explanation he came up with was that he was just a guy so in love. a guy weak and devoted in love.

he seemed to accept this half scientific explanation he had for himself wholeheartedly. he was a weak man.

“fuck is this about?” he asked as his gaze stayed on the screen, the camera already recording. you giggled, a sound he’d once admitted was his favorite with all its sweetness, and he sighed deeply, already accepting defeat. because who the hell did he think he was, before his sweet girl he’d certainly burn the whole world for?

“you’ll see.” you mumbled, a playful grin stretching across your face. the camera angle was already perfect, catching both his figure and every grumpy expression, but you kept checking it just to be sure.

you had stumbled across the trend while scrolling, knowing your boyfriend probably hadn’t since he avoided social media like the plague, claiming that place was full of dimwits. from the moment you’ve seen the trend, you’ve always wanted to try it. and now, quite late to the trend, he stood there with his hands shoved into his pockets, an amused look resting on his features, about to partake in a trend he wasn’t even aware of.

after checking the camera one more time, you made your way over, still giggling with a disturbingly joyous tone.

“you sound fucking evil.” he groaned at the sight of your grin since he was already familiar with the scene, aware that you were planning something.

you stopped in front of him, your eyes were sparkling with joy and you were barely containing your laughter. he, visibly defeated, also smiled warmly, a sweet gesture he only ever showed to you. the stretch on his lips could’ve looked unfamiliar to anyone else, but to you it was known and comforting. a gesture so unlike him yet so much of him. so much of a part of him only you knew.

you gently took his arms, lifting them above his head. “the hell?” he asked, but you simply shrugged, making sure he keeps them there. for a moment, you also enjoyed the vision, his tight tee clinging onto his huge biceps and stretching the poor fabric.

then you tangled your fingers into his short, pinkish hair, and rose onto your tiptoes to meet his lips. the moment your lips caught his, he let out a low groan, straight from his chest.

his hands dropped almost instantly. they smoothly found your hips, pulling you against him, his warmth seeping through his hands to your body.

you’d guessed he would probably lower his arms as he openly disliked listening to others, but then again he had built an habit of obeying you over the years you were together —and still, even if he did lower them, you hadn’t expected it to be this quick.

“kuna you are so weak-“ you barely breathed the words with a pleased laugh out before he cut you off, crashing his lips onto yours again with aggressive yet careful moves.

“babe, let me breathe— okay the trend’s over-“ you tried to speak, laughing against his moist lips, as his hands wandered all over your body.

“trend?” he muttered, merely pulling back as his lips still hovered over yours, his brows furrowing, and you laughed.

“mhmm, to see if you’d melt into the kiss. you are sooo weak baby.” he glanced at the camera, and rolled his eyes as he finally understood the situation. even so he kept his hands on yours again hips, his grip tightening just slightly.

“can you hand me the screwdriver?” your neighbor, nanami kento, asked. he wiped his sweat dappled forehead using his shirt that he’d tossed aside, standing across from you shirtless as sweat dripped down his chest.

you almost couldn’t hear what he’d said, way too busy staring at him because what the hell?

that morning, before you’d driven off to the cafe, with all the easiness of a deserved off day for you’d worked nonstop all through the week, you were happy and content and peaceful.

until your gaze caught up on the steam creeping across the cool floor beneath the hood. and let out a horrified scream loud enough to wake the whole neighborhood up.

which, was also the reason your neighbor, nanami kento ended up on your garage, shirtless and sweating.

“can you hand me the screwdriver?” your neighbor, nanami kento, asked. he wiped his sweat dappled forehead using his shirt that he’d tossed aside, standing across from you shirtless as sweat dripped down his chest.

you almost couldn’t hear what he’d said, way too busy staring at him because what the hell?

that morning, before you’d driven off to the cafe, with all the easiness of a deserved off day for you’d worked nonstop all through the week, you were happy and content and peaceful.

until your gaze caught up on the steam creeping across the cool floor beneath the hood. and let out a horrified scream loud enough to wake the whole neighborhood up.

which, was also the reason your neighbor, nanami kento ended up on your garage, shirtless and sweating.

he talked about some hose clamp and how it loosened, but honestly, you were way too focused staring at his biceps to comprehend what he’d just said.

as he tightened the clamp, he uttered a silent “fuck,” his knuckles splashed with coolant and the warm breeze upon his bare chest made him slightly shiver. ‘this,’ you thought, ‘is the hottest thing i’ve ever seen.’

“what can i help with?” you asked him, purely out of courtesy. kento breathed heavily as he leaned into the car, his arms tightening along. at the beginning you’d wondered if it was that necessary for him to take his shirt off, now thinking again, it certainly was needed. it was a necessity. your eyes lingered on his arms.

“nothing really— it’s almost over anyway.” he muttered under his breath, his muscles still flexing along his every move. “that must’ve scared you.” he added.

“yeah, honestly, once i saw that steam i almost thought the car was gonna blow up.”

he laughed with a strained voice, and you thought how the dry summer air must’ve been making it unbearable, let alone the heated breeze fluttering through the garage here and there.

“thank you, really, you didn’t have to do this.” you kind of felt guilty about how he was wasting his whole weekend morning on fixing your car, but then again, it was him who’d rushed out of his house once he’d heard you scream. with his mug full of coffee on his hand. and his surprisingly cute slippers.

well, you’ve always known that he had a rather unique approach on fashion.

“don’t mention it. i had nothing better to do anyway.” he smiled up at you, his cheeks reddened with a slight flush. his hair was messy in a way that made your heart throb.

“hmm.” you tilted your head to watch him as the leak stopped dripping and he slowly rose up, the warm breeze rippled through the branches across the garage and summer sun stretched across his flushed skin with a soft glow.

he was finished. probably.

“really, thank you so much nanami-“ you tried but he cut you off.

“kento. please.” the words tumbled out as he ruffled his hair with a nervous urgency. although you’d been familiar with each other through years of silent good mornings and shy attempts at conversation, you’d never crossed that invisible distance before. you smiled warmly upon his words.

‘fuck, just go for it,’ you cheered for yourself. there was no way you were letting that shirtless man leave.

“thank you so much kento. genuinely-“ you bit your lip, “actually, i was just about to get my morning coffee. there’s a really nice place i know nearby. how about,” you fidgeted with your hands. “a thank you coffee? my treat.”

you breathed out the last words with such haste that even you couldn’t comprehend what you’d said for a few seconds.

“well, that’s a bit generous for just fixing your car, isn’t it?” he laughed gently.

“a coffee?”

“you.” oh.

with heat creeping into your skin, you giggled, avoiding his gaze. “no, i think i’d say it’s exactly what you’ve earned.”