Lollipop

09 - Gratitude And Lollipops

Corey

If Corey had a shovel right now, he would probably dig his way out of this place. Immediately, in fact.

His emerald iris scanned around the living room as his new found boyfriend, Jun, sat calmly beside him on the ground. He tried to nudge the younger man with his elbow, but Jun only responded with a calm and assuring smile.

"It's okay," Jun whispered into his ear and he returned back to his original position.

Corey wished that he could believe Jun that things would turn out right.

He knew that in some point of life, provided that their relationship had worked, he would have to face the parents of his lover. And vice versa.

But never in his entire life had thought that the moment would be now.

Especially when he had just reconciled with Jun.

"Sorry for taking a long time," a woman who probably was around Corey's height apologised with a weak smile as she strolled into the living room. Seeing the older woman carrying a tray containing tea cups and a kettle, Corey rose up and offered a helping hand to her.

"I'll help you," Corey said as he gestured her to hand the tray to her. However, she shook her head with a brighter grin this time. "I can manage this, thank you for the offer." After hearing her rejection, Corey decided to let it go and returned back to his seat.

When both of them settled down, she proceeded to pour the beverage into three tea cups. Immediately, the mildly sweet flowery smell of what seemed like a chrysanthemum tea escaped from the kettle and filled the air surrounding them.

"The tea smells nice," complimented Corey as he eyed the woman in admiration. That statement earned Corey a small chuckle from the older female as she said, "Arigato". 'She seems nice,' Corey noted at the back of his mind.

His attention was pulled back when a conversation sparked between his boyfriend and the said boyfriend's mother. At this very moment, he desperately wished he understood Japanese so that he could understand what the mother and son were talking about. And also to watch anime without subtitles.

Corey gazed discreetly at his boyfriend with butterflies fluttering in his stomach. If he had to describe Jun with one word now, that word would be cool. His eyes continued to stay on the side view of the younger male's face and unknowingly, he twisted into a small smile. He still looked the same, even after they had not seen each other for months. His eyes weren't as soft as compared to how they were when they first met. Despite that, a sense of gentleness could still be felt when he stared into his eyes. Notably, his muscles were more developed now. 'Damn, he really looks like someone who just pops out from a men's magazine. As someone who is older than him, I have to step up my game.' Corey decided.

"...Corey!" The voice of his lover cut his monologue short after a while. He looked up and met the eyes of both the mother and son. If there were anything that stood out to Corey about the similarity of their appearance, it definitely would be their eyes.

"So, from what I've heard from Jun, both of you had just reconciled?" The older woman asked as she stared hardly into Corey's eyes. 'I should feel intimidated by her now, but I find her amusing for some reasons.'

"Yes."

"I finally get to meet you, Corey," she said warmly but the intensity in her eyes didn't waver. "Sorry for not introducing myself properly earlier, I'm Jun's mom." Her eyes narrowed as she took a sip of her tea. "Corey, so you're my son's boyfriend, and also the one who caused him to be in such a shipwreck right after he returned to Japan." 'Guilt-tripping. . . Well, it is my fault in the first place. . . What should I say?'

"Y... yes." With that, the silence followed back and engulfed Corey as a whole. His heart felt heavy as he struggled to swallow the lump in his throat. Soon after, his hands became sweaty and he could feel his shirt dampened as it clung onto him as if its life was dependent on it. He knew that he had hurt Jun, and of course it was a no wonder that the older woman would dislike him. If his son were to get hurt the same way, he would be incredibly pissed too. Period.

There was no going back now. He couldn't just escape and lie to Jun that he had a stomachache as this would just prove his cowardice. He had just reconciled with Jun and he would not go back without fixing their relationship. There was no way he would allow their relationship to fall apart again, especially right after Jun decided to give him another chance. If anything, this was a good chance for him to show Jun his sincerity and prove to him that he indeed loved him. 'I have to do this, I can't back out now,' Corey took a deep breathe. He shifted his body back a little and knelt on the ground. Then, he bowed his body, his head touching the ground. It felt really uncomfortable, but he knew that he had to do it. For himself, for Jun.

"I'm sorry for hurting your son!" Corey apologised, as he did the entire action again for two more times. His forehead remained on the ground, anticipating their reaction. 'I read somewhere that this is one way to apologise when you do something terrible in Japan... right?' A second had passed, and there was no response or anything. Corey bit his lips as he thought, 'Did I do something wrong...? Why aren't they saying anything?' A short moment after, a feminine laughter erupted.

"Get up, get up!" He heard his boyfriend's voice shaking as he urged him to do so. He followed what he said, and turned to his boyfriend's direction. He could tell that the other male was trying not to laugh, yet failed miserably, so he pinched his thighs and glared at him. Afterwards, he faced the teary faced woman who continued to laugh her heart out. He could feel heat rushing through his cheeks and his ears reddening. 'Why is she laughing?' Imaginary question marks popped on top of his head as he refrained himself from scratching his head in confusion.

"Sorry, sorry. But I can't, you know? Dogeza? Are you serious? I mean, yes you did hurt him but you don't have to go to that extent, you know?" The said question marks dissolved after the laughter was replaced by what she said. 'Internet lied to me,' he bit his inner cheek in embarrassment.

"I've always thought that Jun and Aimi were dating each other," the older woman told him as she drank her tea to calm herself.

"That will never, ever happen," Corey heard the other male groaned.

"Hush, Jun. They are really cute together, you know? Jun and Aimi," Jun's mother smiled dreamily. "But Aimi has a boyfriend already. A weird one, to begin with. What a shame, I've always wanted her to be my daughter-in-law." She continued.

"Don't worry about her, she's in her own dreamland," Corey heard his boyfriend whispered worriedly to him. Before he could assure Jun that he was not disheartened by what his mother said, a fake cough from the female disturbed their mini conversation.

"And then he told me he has a boyfriend. That moment all of my hopes of having a grandson smashed into pieces. If Jun's happy, as his mother, I guess I have to be fine with it. I mean, he's my son at the end of the day. All I want is to make him happy. And he told me that the said boyfriend is a foreigner. Lucky his father and I are fluent in English, otherwise we wouldn't know how to communicate with you. Then the said boyfriend hurt my boy. What am I supposed to feel? How am I supposed to react to that? I don't know. But when I walked up to his room, I heard your conversation with him. You love him. He loves you. If so, who am I to stop? Love is love, right?" She stood up and move closer to Corey. Then, she gave Corey a light pat.

"Jun don't tell me much about himself, so I have to observe him in order to understand what had happened to him. He told me about you, but he did not tell me that both of you had broken up. He has his fair share of relationships in the past, but he has never talked about someone with such eagerness to me before. You're special to him, you have to understand this. Now that both of you are back together, I want you to promise me that you will not hurt him. I don't know how long this relationship will last, but I don't want him to get hurt like this again," she told him with softness in her voice. Jun, who was beside him, moved over to his mother's side, pulled her into an embrace and mumbled something in Japanese in her ears. He didn't catch what he said, but from his expression, he could guess what Jun had told her.

Returning his eyes to Jun's mother, he gazed at the woman in awe as he tried to process what he had just heard. When everything became clear to him, his eyes lit up. 'So they accept our relationship.' That moment, he felt a sense of slight nostalgia towards his family. His family was not perfect. They were ordinary beings who wanted the best for him. Even if his sister partly caused this entire misunderstanding to happen, it still showed him that she really cared for him.  Tears began to blur his vision as he realised that he had never thanked them for what they did for him. 'Guess I gotta buy some souvenirs for them when I return home,' he thought.

Suddenly, he felt someone enveloping him into a warm hug. He looked up, and his forest green iris met the onyx one. Jun flashed him a warm smile and mumbled in his ear, “This time, I will not let you leave me anymore.”

'And I love him the most,' Corey smiled.

-

Jun

"Wait, so Levi and Eren actually loved each other, but Eren did not want to accept the fact he loved Levi?" Jun raised his eyebrows as he scrolled through his phone. A day had passed ever since their encounter with Jun's mom. Right now, they were in Jun's room to spend some time together before they went out. It was his birthday today, so his mother invited Aimi, Kei and Corey to dine with them to celebrate Jun's birthday.

When Jun did not receive a reply from his boyfriend, he poked his shoulder playfully and whined, "Tell me, I don't want to wait for the next chapter to know!" In irritation, the older male cupped Jun's mouth with his hand and hushed him.

"You have to be patient, I'm still writing the next chapter. And nope, you're not getting any spoiler from me."

One thing Jun liked about Corey was his writing talent. He had read many of Corey's work, and he had to say that the latter was good in conveying emotions through his works. Even in Japanese, Jun could not write a decent essay to save his life. Let alone writing one in English. Jun's eyes lingered on Corey's freckled features as he watched the older male typing on his phone. Chuckling to himself, he took out one lollipop from his pocket and unwrapped it.

"But it's my birthday? Come on! By the way, take the lollipop," Jun offered to Corey.

"Doesn't matter, you have to wait. A lollipop again? By the way, you haven't told me why you give lollipops to me whenever we meet. It's time for me to know, don't you think?" Corey took the lollipop and put into his mouth. He then sat up straight and looked into Jun's eyes. 's**t. Well, there's nothing for me to hide,' Jun smiled.

"When I was young, I cried a lot. Then one day, mom brought me to the carnival. I guess I was nine then? Right after we bought our tickets, we separated and I couldn't find her. So I cried. A lot of people approached me and offered to bring me to the customer service counter, but I refused to go with them. Suddenly, a man called out to me." Jun smiled upon remembering the past. "He was in a bunny costume. The bunny had disproportionate eyes and it looked really scary! I wanted to run away, like who wouldn't?

"But I didn't. When he reached me, he gave me a can filled with lollipops and asked for my help. 'Give these lollipops to other kids you see, okay?' was what he said. I was crying, yet he asked me to do something for him. How untactful. Yet, I helped him out. I went around to give lollipops to other kids, and they smiled and thanked me after. You know, when the kids received a lollipop from me, they were exhilarated. Man, the sadness I felt was replaced by an indescribable emotion. I was confused, yet elated.

"The lollipops were gone after two hours. When I found my mother along the way, I saw her talking to the bunny man. They spotted me, and my mother hugged me tightly, telling me not to wander about on my own without telling her anymore. I wanted to thank the bunny man, but he was gone.

"Later, after a long search on the Interest, I found out that he was a failed comedian who had just lost his career due to a false scandal. I wanted to express my gratitude towards him, but it was all too late. He had committed suicide five years after he had given the can of lollipops to me. So, in order to feel the emotions I felt back then and express my heartfelt thanks to him, my mother and I bought a bunch of lollipops and we gave them away every month to the Children's Home. The first person who I gave a lollipop to by myself was Aimi. That time, when we met, you were crying too. So I gave one to you. And then we became friends and I made it a habit for me to give out lollipops to you.

"So there you go. This is my story. Inspiring, right?" The sides of Jun's lips tugged and a lopsided smile appeared on his features.

"That's why. . ." Corey's voice trailed away. Out of the sudden, Corey put his phone down and grabbed the Doraemon he bought for the younger male to hug. Then, he plucked out the lollipop in his mouth brushed his lips against Jun's lips. Jun's eyes travelled up Corey's face and they made eye contact.

Corey's lips were sweet. The closest flavour he could link the taste of Corey's lips with was strawberry. 'Maybe it was because he was eating lollipop earlier,' Jun pondered. He parted his lips and captured the older male's lips with his own. It was slow, yet passionate enough for them to immerse themselves in the kiss. 'I guess I'll never see lollipop the same way again,' Jun smiled.

When they finally pulled apart, Aimi's voice boomed into their room. "Come down already! We are waiting for you!" They gazed at each other again, and Corey looked away with an obvious blush on his face. His mouth parted as if to tease Corey for blushing madly. However, before he could do that, Corey swiftly planted a chaste kiss on his lips.

"That's a wonderful story. Thank you for sharing it with me. Happy birthday, idiot." Corey pulled Jun towards him and hugged him.

'This is the best birthday ever,' Jun thought, with pink shades tinting his cheeks shyly. With that, they left the room together and their fingers laced together.

THE END