Sweeter than Cake [MxM] [English Version]

03 / Strange Behavior

"My mom is coming home tonight," I said as I locked my house's door and turned on the main light on the first floor. Then I followed Lynx, who had taken off his shoes first and exchanged them for house slippers on the shelf beside the door.

I took the first step up the stairs to my room and Lynx followed behind me. Once on the second floor, there is a short corridor of six meters' length with two adjoining doors. One to my room and another to the bathroom.

When I opened the door to my room, sunlight came in from the bedroom window and shone in part of my room, so I didn't have to turn on the light. A study table is located on the side of the room and has a window. Opposite the study table there is a wardrobe and on the wall to the left of the bedroom door there is a forty-inch television supported by brackets.

On the side far from the bedroom door, there is a bed measuring four square meters which fills almost half of this room. Of course, the size of the bed for two people is intended so that both Lynx and I can sleep comfortably when Lynx stays at my house.

To my mother and I, the Lynx is like a part of the house. It's not strange that there is a section of my closet that contains his underwear and his school uniform. Even toiletries and bedding are available for Lynx. Ahem.... I mean the bedding is a blanket. Lynx couldn't wear the light fleece blanket I used, so we also provided a thick cloth blanket that was always neatly wrapped when Lynx wasn't staying.

After putting down my bag and taking off my blazer, I turned on the television, sat on the wooden floor, then leaned back on the couch. My thumb pressed the button on the remote repeatedly while watching the image change on the television screen.

"Nothing interesting," I mumbled as I took turns looking at the television screen and Lynx positioning herself to sit down.

A few moments later, I heard the sound of heavy breathing from my left. I looked to the side and found Lynx closing his eyes, frowning and clenching his fists until they were shaking. From that lunch until now, it turned out that Lynx was trying hard to hide his emotions. I'm also quite surprised by his current expression because, no matter how difficult the problem he is facing, Lynx can usually still maintain a calm demeanor and an expressionless face.

"I'll get you a drink..." I said, patting Lynx's right shoulder.

Just as I bent my legs to get up from the seat, Lynx grabbed my left hand quite firmly. With a footrest that was not too balanced, my body was also slipped as my foot and almost fell on the figure in front of me.

My right hand was touching the floor and both legs are bent, indicating I was trying to hold my body so it didn't fall on Lynx's body. While my left hand, which was still gripped tightly by Lynx, made me unable to move freely when choosing a position to land myself. I tried so hard to keep my distance from touching. But Lynx pulled my back towards him with his right hand as I tried to get up from that position. With his enormous strength, I couldn't help but support my right hand and now my body was right on top of Lynx's body.

"Please keep it like this for a minute," Lynx said in a deep, low voice right next to my left ear.

I tried to free myself once more, but Lynx's hands were strong enough to hold my back. With this awkward position, I could hear the quivering breaths of the Lynx. As he was exhaling, his breath sounded choked as if he was holding back emotions that were almost out of control. My head is facing a different direction from Lynx, so I don't know what Lynx's expression is like at the moment. What was he thinking about hugging his same-s*x friend like that? Maybe today was hard for him, but still... why me?

Even though I still feel weird, I slowly try to adjust to this position by staying still because the Lynx doesn't let me move much. Seconds passed and Lynx's breathing returned to normal. Before Lynx took his hands off my waist, he took a deep breath and exhaled from his mouth until it hit my earlobe.

After being able to move my body freely, I immediately stood up from this strange position. My eyes and Lynx had met for a moment, then Lynx turned to his face. "I'll get a drink first," I said in an annoyed tone.

I walked in confusion remembering the scene that happened just now. Ah.... he must have gone mad. What was he thinking? Is he out of his mind? Did something happen to make him lose his sanity? Did his head hit the wall hard when he was on the toilet for a long time?

I don't know how many times I shook my head as question after question came to my mind on the way to the kitchen. If the monologue in my mind is translated into a chat, it seems like the question I'm asking myself is already over whole cellphone screen.

I took an empty glass from the dishwasher, filled it with mineral water and took a quick gulp. Not only did Lynx want to calm down, but I also needed to calm down from him. I decided to close my eyes, take a deep breath and exhale, then repeat it over and over again until I felt calmer.

"Aaaaah!" I screamed when I opened my eyes and Lynx's face was fifteen cm in front of mine.

Just now my feelings are more stable, now my heart is beating really fast because of the increased adrenaline. With his expressionless face, Lynx took the glass from my hand and drank it.

"You took so long to drink," Lynx said flatly.

In addition to being confused by the strange events in my room, I was also confused about how Lynx could return to his normal condition after doing things that I thought were unusual for fellow men.

"You are... what are you thinking?" I asked in disbelief at the expressionless creature in front of me.

"I was thinking too much but I can rest easy because of you. Thanks," Lynx said as he approached the dispenser to refill the glass he was holding.

"Lynx... I can see from your behavior that you're in big trouble today, but still hugging the same s*x isn't normal. Is..." I suddenly stopped my sentence because I saw a sharp gaze from both of my irises, the dark brown one right in front of me.

"What makes you think it's unusual to get a hug from me?" asked Lynx with a questioning face, different expression than usual.

I could feel the seriousness of his eyes that seemed to penetrate into my eyeballs and made me forget to blink in a few seconds. Even with Lynx's gaze like that, I couldn't think of anything else but to answer his question.

"I... just felt weird and wanted to get out of your arms right away..." I replied a few moments after the scene in my room has been replated and tried to relive what happened.

Impatiently waiting for my other explanation, Lynx approached where I was standing without even taking his eyes off me. My eyes briefly avoided Lynx's as he got closer and closer, but Lynx suddenly grabbed my left shoulder and my gaze reflexively turned back to him.

"Rui.... What we did earlier wasn't wrong, you're just not used to it. Just like people aren't used to seeing the two of us together," Lynx said, trying to reassure me.

I swallowed hard and tried to nod in response to Lynx's words. Lynx smiled. He tapped my shoulder and took a sip of the glass in his right hand.

I nodded because Lynx's words actually made sense. Whether it's unusual or not, based on current social norms, it's not wrong to hug your best friend. It's even common for women to hug each other. So when it comes to gender equality, it shouldn't be wrong for men to hug each other, especially when it's caused by a serious problem. But why do I still have this feeling inside of me?

My eyes followed the movement of Lynx, who was opening the refrigerator in the kitchen and looking for something. Seeing Lynx's calm face from the side, I started to feel that maybe my feelings were wrong. I shook my head as a sign to try to forget the bad feeling that hadn't gone away and followed Lynx who was crouching in front of the refrigerator.

"The last one, I'll give the rest to someone else," I said, taking one box of tiramisu which was located at the front of the five boxes of tiramisu.

"If you make it I'll take all the boxes home," Lynx said, looking at the tiramisu box one by one in front of his face. "Except for this one." Lynx pointed to a very messy box of tiramisu in the right corner.

"Yes....that's the first attempt. The whipped cream was stirred for too long until the water and oil components separated and melted again. I'm trying to finish it and I want to give the rest to the mini market clerk," I said while scratching my temples that didn't itch.

I turned to the right because it seemed Lynx was watching me talk. Lynx smiled and patted my head with his left hand.

"Nice effort, Rui. I'll still carry everything except that one," said Lynx, getting up from his position while taking the box of tiramisu from my hand.

Lynx smiled twice on the same day. Is the world coming to an end soon? I mumbled a hyperbole rhetorical question because Lynx's smile was too rare for me.

Lynx put the box of tiramisu on the wooden table, pulled a chair from the dining table and sat down sweetly watching the cake in front of his eyes. Like any culinary influencer, Lynx fiddles with the positioning of the cake box and checks for the right light for his impromptu photo studio. While Lynx was busy with his activities, I chose to sit across from his seat in silence.

"Why take a photo if it doesn't always taste good?" I asked after Lynx had finished producing the photo he felt was sufficient.

Since Lynx is a perfectionist, it's not surprising that it can take more than 5 minutes to produce an acceptable photo.

"Because this tiramisu is the result of days of your work," Lynx replied, which made me spontaneously thank him for considering the effort I had put in. "Of course, Rui is someone who follows me wherever I go. But he accompanies me from the side, not from behind," Lynx said before he took the first bite of his tiramisu with the small spoon I had provided on the table.

"You... really listened to Kai's words this afternoon."

I was giving the sentence half surprised, because it turned out that Lynx was really angry when Kai informed me about issue that happened between me and Lynx. Lynx nodded as he chewed on the cake.

"Actually the taste is ok, but it's not rich enough. There is only a sweet and savory taste, the coffee is barely tasted," said Lynx, like a judge in a cooking contest.

I tried to jot down the comments Lynx had in mind. And after Lynx finished tasting my cake, I tried to take advantage of the moment by speaking my mind that was stuck.

"And... anything else that makes you angry?" I can finally get this question out after holding back from asking it a few times before.

"Do I look like I'm angry?" asked Lynx with an expressionless face.

I also expected an answer like this, so I've prepared a neutral answer. "I just found your attitude unusual. Well, maybe I'm not used to your attitude yet," I quoted Lynx's previous words when talking about whether or not it's common for men to hug.

"Yes, those are indeed your words."

Lynx's words made me roll my eyes in thought. Why did he turn his words back? Or... when did I ever say that?

Before I tried to dig deeper into my thoughts, Lynx had already continued his sentence, "My dad's just trying to meddle in my personal business. Maybe he'll do some weird stuff for the next few days." Lynx finally answered my question even though he evaded as if he could read my mind that I really needed this explanation.

"Like locking you up at home for the holidays?" I said by giving a real example of an experience that happened several years back.

As long as Lynx and I were friends, there were periods where Lynx couldn't be seen at all because he was ordered by his father to stay at his house for one week to two months. I didn't get to see Lynx during those periods, as if he had to go back to him home in some unknown country, even though both our house and school were in the same city. And to be honest, I've never been to an Olivine house. I can only see the view of the hedgerows from the gate, which is very high and majestic.

"It's not that. Maybe my dad will send someone to watch over me."

Lynx's replied made me even more confused about his father. I thought confining his own child was strange enough. It turns out that there are even weirder actions that the Olivine family can still do.

"I still can't figure out what your family could have done," I said with a sigh.

"Rui.... I just want you to know that I've always believed in you. And I hope you can believe in me too." I could only stare at Lynx in silence when I heard his words.

Lynx's eyes barely blinked as long as we stared. This scene of mutual glances is not what most people do. Many describe this kind of activity as a sign of mutual liking or as a sign of disliking. For me, I feel more comfortable, neither less nor more. I never judged that Lynx's gaze was cold, unlike what everyone said. Intense. Yes. Sharp. Yes. But it didn't feel cold, instead his gaze was warm enough for me.

I've never looked at anyone this long enough for anything other than a Lynx, nor have I ever had this hard-to-describe look other than a Lynx. A lot of information about psychology says that sincerity can be seen from the way they look at the other person. I can also see Lynx's earnestness in his current gaze in reassuring our trust in each other. I just hope that our trust won't be lost.

Lynx ended the conversation with his third smile in a day. Then he took a cellphone with an apple logo on the dining table and called someone from the gadget. "You can come in now," Lynx said curtly before hanging up the phone.

I thought for a moment about predicting who Lynx was calling. But some time later, someone opened my door and the answer was there. Since I already understood what Lynx was planning, I approached the fridge and took out three boxes of tiramisu and a plastic tote from there.

A man with short hair in sunglasses and a suit he was wearing was walking towards the dining room where Lynx and I were. The man named Jonathan bowed his head at me then turned to his master to receive further orders.

"Just give it to the head chef. He already knows what to do," said Lynx, pointing to a carry-on that had four boxes of tiramisu filled by me.

"Okay, young master," said Jonathan, taking the carry-on and leaving the dining room.

"I didn't even realize your car was parked in front of the house," I said, picking up the pin and spoon that Lynx had finished washing, "He should have gone straight to the dining room."

"Don't worry, he's used to waiting. He's almost always waiting for us when we're at school."

Lynx's answer left me speechless. How could he tell someone to wait for about seven hours every day? Ah… I forgot that a young master like Lynx used to solve problems with things that a commoner like me would never think of.