#enegi

Eging Jr. struggled to sleep. He tossed and turned. There was too much going on. He fucked up again, at training today. He never falls. He never trips. It’s all been going downhill since that match with blue team.

“Why am I so goddamn slow?” He asked himself quietly, smacking a hand to his forehead. He didn’t like letting his team down. “It’s like I can’t do anything right…” Mentally beating himself up was a normal thing for Jr to do when he was lonely. Whispering curses at himself for being a dumbass, making Pacer worry, or causing trouble for Emperor.

Yanking him out of his misery, his phone buzzed. Eging sat up, scrambling for his phone in the dark. Finding it, he unlocked it, and checked his notifications. Emperor had texted him.

“I’ll be coming over to discuss a few things with you. Please be decent when I come over. I don’t want to see you in your undergarments again.” It read.

Eging laughed shortly at the last sentence of Emperor’s text. He got out of bed, knowing that Emperor’s estate wasn't that far away from where he lived. He grabbed a sweater out of his closet, and slipped it on. He put his feet into some fuzzy slippers, and walked into the living room. The apartment was very empty when his dad was out, and his nanny was off.

He sighed, plopping onto the sofa. He pulled out his phone and decided to just be on social media until Emperor came. Actually looking at his phone, and paying attention, he noticed what time it was.

2 am? He rubbed a hand over his face tiredly. He had really not gotten sleep for hours. Another thing to think about, and punish himself for.

Before Jr could even drag out another long breath, there was a knock at the door. Emperor was here. A wave of relief rushed over Eging. ‘Finally, some human interaction…’ He thought.

“Hey, man!” Eging greeted Emperor cheerily, opening the door to him. “What are you doing up so late?” Emperor walked past Eging, huffing. He looked restless, and there were bags under his eyes. He didn’t look like this at practice earlier today…

“I’m just… I can’t sleep.” Emp put a hand to his temple, his eyes closed. He shoved off his jacket, and placed it on the coat rack. “I am aware of the fact that in my text, I told you I needed to discuss things with you, and I do, I swear, it’s just…” He sighed, opening his eyes. “Is it alright if I could have your… company? Just for a while?”

Eging was surprised. Emperor was bold but… He didn’t usually act like like this. His behaviour was all out of sorts tonight. “Y-you want to spend time with.. Me?”

“Of course I do. We’re... friends… right?” His face looked pained at the mention of the word ‘friends’. He was obviously trying to imply something. Taking a seat on Eging’s couch, he massaged his temples. He took a breath in, his usually regal posture sagging. He sat quietly, his eyes closed.

“Are you okay?” Eging asked, stepping closer to where Emperor sat. ‘Of course he isn’t okay! You fucking dumbass! He came here because he-’ Eging tried to ignore the voice screaming inside his head. “Do you want me to get you anything? A bottle of water? A snack?”

“No thank you.”

“Oh.”

The two stayed in silence for a few moments.

“What did you want to talk  to me about?” Eging asked, sitting across from Emperor. He didn’t want to think about it, really. No matter how anxious he was, he had to listen to Emperor. He was the team leader.

“Your performance at practice today.”

Ah shit.

“What do you mean?” Eging pretended to be oblivious. He knew that he was fucking his team over with his incompetence, he just… didn’t want to be confronted.

“You seemed quite out of it…” Emperor leaned forward to get closer. “Are you alright?”

The situation had changed. It was no longer Eging questioning Emperor’s mental health, but the other way around. Eging avoided eye contact. No one has asked him if he was alright in a long time. He didn’t know how to respond in this situation. And Emperor kept looking at him like that… It didn’t help Eging keep his composure or stay focused at all.

“I take that as a no.” Emperor sat back again, his figure wrapped with fatigue. He closed his eyes, trying not to fall asleep in the chair. “We’re all worried about you, you know. You don’t seem to be happy these days, and that’s not a good thing for our team.”

The yellow inkling sighed. “When was the last time you talked to your father, Jr.?”

“I… I don’t remember…”

“That’s no good.” Emperor scolded. “What about that nanny of yours? Have you been speaking to her? Or are you sitting in your room playing video games all day?”

Eging didn’t want to answer these questions. Every single time Emperor spoke, it just reminded him of how lonely he was. He didn’t have siblings like the rest of his team. Being an only child sucked. A lot.

“Jr., if you want to talk, you can always come to me.” Emperor sat up, leaning forward, trying to get Eging to look at him. He wouldn’t.

“Dude…” Eging crossed his arms, and looked away from Emperor to hide the tears welling up in his eyes. “There’s nothing wrong. I just… haven’t been feeling well. That’s all.” Crying in front of one of your childhood friends was the last thing he wanted to do, but he couldn't really help it at anymore.

Emperor noticed this, and his kingly facade faded. “Jr., is it something I did?” He looked concerned. “Is it because I’m too hard on you? I can lessen the time of our practices, or come over more often-”

“It’s not you, Emp.” Eging wiped his eyes before anything could slip out. “It’s... It’s me.” He slumped back in the chair, a sad expression on his face. “I’m not good enough compared to you, Prince and N-Pacer. Hell, how will I even fit the shoes of my dad? I’m not fast enough, I’m not smart enough, I’m not quiet enough… It’s like everything you guys do is better, and I’m just… me.”

“And that’s why you’re our friend, Jr….” Emperor replied. “Because you’re you. We wouldn’t want you any other way.”

Now the tears started to fall.

“You guys… You guys don’t think of me as a fuckup?” Eging asked, his voice cracking. “But- but everyone else says-”

“Am I “everyone else”, to you, Jr.?” Emperor furrowed his brows, his expression unchanging.

“Y-you’re not…” Eging cried. “You really mean a lot to me, and I- I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have you!”

Emperor blinked. He didn’t expect those words. Ignoring the small increase of his hearts’ rates, he patted the spot next to him on the couch. “Sit next to me,” He offered.

Still sniffling, Eging moved to sit next to Emperor. The boy plopped down on the couch next to him, wiping his tears from his face. He was surprised when the other boy enveloped him in a hug.

“I’m so sorry, Jr....” He said softly. “Please forgive me, and the rest of the team, on my behalf. It’s all my fault that this happened. A king should never forget the ones closest to him, yet I did. I really am ashamed of the poor way I’ve been treating you.”

“You don’t need to be sorry,” Eging breathed, his face now buried in Emperor’s chest. “It was my fault I didn’t tell you how I was feeling, and I let it get the best of me, and we lost to blue team, and-” He continued to sob into the sweater Emperor wore.

“Just let it out.” Emperor blushed, aware of the situation. He rubbed Eging’s back absentmindedly. “I should have done something earlier. You wouldn’t have felt like this if I had.”

The two sat there for a while, waiting for Eging to finally stop crying. His hushed sobs filled the room with a sad feeling.

“I’m sorry for making you do this…” Eging Jr sat up, his tears coming to a stop. He still avoided eye contact with Emperor. “I didn’t mean to break down… It’s just… Everyone else has siblings, or other friends, and I’m stuck home alone, with no one to hang out with… It sucks, y’know?”

Emperor nodded. “I understand.”

There were a lot of emotions being felt and the mood of the room was very… strange. And awkward. The two of them had not hung out one on one in a long time. It was relieving for them to spend time together, though, even if it was about a sensitive topic.

“I… guess I’ll be taking my leave.” Emperor stood up. He made his way to where he had left his jacket. “It’s already late, and I really must get back home, my-”

“Wait!” Eging called, stopping Emperor from making any other actions, or saying any other words. “Can you… stay with me a little longer?” He seemed sheepish, smiling awkwardly. “You did want to stay in my company…”

“Wh… what are you implying?” Emperor asked, confused. “Are you saying that I-”

“No one else is going to be coming over until next week.” Eging shrugged. “So I’ll be alone in here for a really long time. And I’ve slept in your bed before, so why can’t you sleep in mine?”

Emperor stuttered. “I mean, that’s preposterous, we can’t- That was one time...”

“I don’t think we’re “just bros” anymore, Emp. Isn’t that why you came over?” Eging tapped his temple, implying he knew the reason why Emperor would want to come to his apartment so late. “I might be an oblivious dumbass, but not when it comes to this stuff.”

“I don’t-” Emperor’s face heated up again. “I… I’m not- I didn't expect you to actually...”

Eging raised a brow. He seemed quite cocky for a person who just had a mental breakdown 5 minutes ago.

Despite Emperor’s rejections, he ended up staying anyway.

“How do you live like this?” Eging asked, slightly jumping at the touch of Emperor’s cold feet “You’re so cold! Are you okay?” He still didn’t move from the position where he had his arm wrapped around Emperor’s torso, even if Emperor's feet were practically giving him frostbite at this point.

“No, I just have a condition. It’s called, ‘walking in the cold for half an hour to get to your friend’s house’. And I don’t think it can be cured.”

Eging laughed, even if it wasn’t meant to be a joke. He pulled Emperor closer to him, nuzzling his face in the back of his neck. Emperor rested his hand on top of Eging’s.

“This is so gay.” Eging whispered, giggling to himself.