Lollipop

06 - Kisses And Lollipop

Jun

*In the video call, Jun and Aimi are conversing using Japanese*

"When the f**k are you returning?" Aimi spatted as she fiddled with her brown fringe. An avid K-Pop fan that she was, she wore a Jungkook Varsity Jacket with the song, Spring Day playing in the background. Like always, her dyed gradient blonde long hair was tied up in a ponytail and her fringe framed her face nicely. Medium sized eyes, small but pointy nose, ample red tinted lips and light freckles peppered around her cheeks area, she had some makeup done on her face. Ever since high school, she stopped wearing glasses and replaced them with her favourite contact lenses. There were speculations that she didn't care about her appearance due to her big frame, but Jun could guarantee that those claims were wrong--in fact, his friend is one who takes too much care of her appearance that she would frequent the makeup retail stores every week to replenish her stocks. She would never - Jun repeat - never step out of the house without her makeup done. "Auntie has been asking me the same question again and again despite me telling her that I ain't your girlfriend. And why the heck is she asking me that question when she is the one who video calls you every day?" She continued and cupped her face in frustration. Through his laptop screen, he could tell that Aimi was at her boyfriend's house right now.

"Chill down, bro," Jun tried to comfort her. Did anyone mention to him before that Scorpios were hard to handle? If not, well the Scorpio he made friends with was.

"Whatever. You better come back this week, get it? I know you feel reluctant to leave that sanctuary, but you have to come back to reality. Not only that, you have to f*****g practice for piano too and I'm pretty sure that you didn't bring your electronic piano with you. Yes I know, you are switching major to Conducting but-"

"Wow, what a beautiful watch! Did Kei give you that? He has such great taste!" Jun changed the topic before his beloved friend could go on and on. Kei was Aimi's boyfriend and they have been dating for a year now.

Initially, he had been suspicious of Kei as there were many instances where some boys would pull a prank on her by confessing their love and then laugh in her face when she fell for it.

However, Aimi wasn't some damsel in distress, either. She would kick them in the balls and gave them some nice punches in the face. That was what Jun liked about the girl. She might seem like a potential victim of bullying due to her size, but she could give good punches when needed. And that trait of hers was what Kei fell for, at least that was what Kei told him when he fanboy-ed over her. Kei's attractiveness was at the level of a less well-known model, but he fell for Aimi the first time she glared at him. 'What a masochist,' he thought initially but that opinion changed after he got to know him more. Still a masochist, regardless.

"Yeah, Kei gave me that-No, you don't change the topic. You have to stop doing th-"

"Is that the new necklace you were talking about two days ago? How cute!" A sigh escaped Aimi's mouth when she realised that Jun wasn't going to listen to her nagging. They spent a few minutes in staring at each other through the screen before Aimi broke the silence.

"Is there anything bugging you? You seem weird."

"Aww, the love is strong. Do you miss me that much?"

"Couldn't care less about you to be honest."

"Don't be a tsundere, baby. I know you want me-"

"Shut up, Jun. Stop evading the question."

"I'm returning tomorrow at around 10 pm so be there," 'and tomorrow is the day that I would be talking to him,' he stared blankly at the screen.

Corey. He did not know why, but he felt an instant attraction to the older man. Their encounter was sort of depressing since Corey was having his heartbreak when they first met. Who knew that such encounter would lead to a strong friendship he had not expected for? For the past week, he spent his time hanging out with Corey and getting to know him. Needless to say, it had been a while since he had so much fun, especially with someone other than Aimi. A smile tugged his lips as he took out another lollipop and gazed at it dreamily.

He loved the way Corey would react when he gave him a new lollipop each day. It was hilarious, which intrigued him to tease him more, just to see his facial expressions. He loved the way Corey would bite his lips when he was nervous. He loved the way Corey's forest emerald eyes shone when he was talking about the things he liked. And guess what? Corey loved cats too. Maybe to others, Corey was nowhere near perfect, but to him he was. 'And I have to ruin it all with a kiss,' he laughed sardonically.

"What are you laughing about? You're so creepy. I got to go now, tomorrow when we meet you're so gonna tell me everything--when I say everything, it's everything." With that, she went offline and Jun was left alone with his train of thoughts.

-

The pitter-patter of the falling rain increased while the dark grey storm clouds gathered, shadowing the golden sun. Puddles of rainwater were formed as the rainfall became heavier, causing the outer layer of Jun's sports shoe to be dampened. The moisture that dripped onto his umbrella created a tune of nature, in turn, tempted him to remove his headphone from his ears. They had to change venue due to the sudden rain, and hence he was heading to a nearby cafe to meet the older man.

The strong coffee aroma filled the air as he pushed open the door of the cafe. His eyes glanced the surrounding as he walked towards the man who he might have feelings for. What would he say to him? Sure, he summoned all of the courage he had to talk to him, but what would he say? Sorry for kissing you because you are irresistible? Sorry for kissing you even though I know you just had your heart broken? He didn't know.

"Yo," Jun waved at Corey as he sat opposite to him. Corey took multiple sips of his cappuccino, but Jun spotted the nervousness in the older male’s eyes. 'How adorable,' he smiled. They spent a few seconds in silence before Jun decided to break the ice.

"Do you hate it? The kiss," Jun looked at Corey with a straight face.

"Do you?" Jun asked again, this time with more anticipation. Without waiting for his reply, he continued. "Regardless, sorry for the kiss. I shouldn't have done that. I would say let's forget about the kiss and continue being friends, but it would be a lie if I said I don't have any feelings for you. I'm sorry for the kiss, but I don't regret it," Jun took a deep breath after telling Corey what he wanted to say. For some unknown reason, this situation made him look back at his high school days. He was rejected by a senior he had a crush on 3 years ago. Too bad, she was one of those girls that he actually really liked. Her kind demeanour was what attracted him to her - he was always into girls who placed others before themselves. He knew that he wouldn't stand a chance with her, but he confessed anyway. He did not want to leave regrets, after all.

"Thank you for liking me. I really appreciate it, really... You're a really nice guy and I believe that there's someone out there for you. Also... I have someone I like so... I have to turn you down..." That was what she said before she left. Dealing with rejection to him back then was painful. With the help of Aimi, he got over it and waved goodbye to his immature self. He knew it himself--he was one to fall in love easily. His past breakups were either mostly initiated by the other party, or him ruthlessly cutting off ties with them after he found out that they had cheated on him.

"Why are you apologising? I don't hate it. The kiss indeed surprised and confused me, that's why I pushed you away and ran off..." Corey said frantically as he bit his bottom lips nervously. Jun let out a small laugh as he heard the response Corey gave.

"You have to stop being so cute at the wrong time. Like now," Jun reached out a hand and poked Corey's cheeks tenderly.

"I have wanted to tell you this but something is wrong with your eyes. How am I even cute? I'm a male. And stop poking my cheeks," Corey deadpanned as he swayed Jun's hand away.

"Who cares if you're a male or female. Heck, you can be a gorilla and I'll still call you cute," Jun said with a wide grin. At such times, Corey's reaction managed to make him smile like a Cheshire cat. "Let's take it slow, okay? I'm not asking you to get into a relationship with me now. I mean, after all, how long have we really known each other? It is difficult to maintain a long-distance relationship, and some more I'm leaving today..." He let his voice trail away as Corey raised an eyebrow at him. 's**t,' he realised.

"What do you mean by that?" queried Corey, with a frown on his face. "You're leaving today? Why didn't you tell me... is it my fault? Or is it because the time we get to know each other is short, that's why you couldn't trust me?"

"No! I was going to tell you two days ago when we went shopping, but I just had to kiss you and couldn't find the chance. I said before, length of time doesn't matter as long as the friendship is real. Even if I felt nothing but platonic love towards you, I would have told you anyway. Also, you're the one that ran away when I kissed you." Jun asserted.

"..." Corey peered down.

"You know, you have to stop looking down when you're talking. I know that you're quite an awkward person, but it's not good to look down when something is not going in your way. This just reflects your low self-esteem." He said as his eyebrows furrowed. Corey widened his eyes as if he did not hear that clearly. Realisation hit Jun hard--he had done it again. Since young, some of his friends would leave him because some of the things he had said were too harsh. They said honesty is a beautiful thing, but he was told that the way he expressed his thoughts was untactful. There was once when he made a girl cry because she called Aimi a fat pig. In return, he called her a fake bimbo and told her his true opinion about her being an attention seeker and always removing the ribbon on her uniform to show her cleavage. Not to forget, her obvious crush on him.

Since then, that girl evaded him like a plague.

"You're right, Jer kept telling me the same thing, but I guess old habits die hard," a soft laugh escaped Corey's lips as he gazed at Jun. "But you should have told me that you're leaving earlier. I didn't even prepare any farewell gift for you. So technically it's your fault. Actually, it's your fault. How would I know that you would kiss me? That was sudden, even if you had asked that time. Wait, why are you looking at me like that?" Corey stood up and closed the distance between them. The table was obstructing them but it didn't seem like Corey cared. Jun shifted back, trying to hide the blush on his face. 'Why am I having this sort of reaction?' Jun contemplated as he tried to cup his face in embarrassment.

"Look at me, Jun," Corey attempted to remove his hands from his face but Jun's shield was quite strong. "You're always calling me cute, now I think the cute one is you," he smirked as he sat back on the chair and added, "Seems like the table has turned, huh."

"That's why I call you the 'passive-aggressive' type. You evil, always making me flustered unexpectedly. Never mind, it's my fault for what happened last time. Next time, I'm going to say, 'Mr Corey, may I kiss you?' while kneeling down. Is that better?" Jun suggested. Corey snorted at how ridiculous Jun was and he took the last sip of his coffee.

"Nah, that's too ridiculous," the shorter man retorted and rolled his eyes. This time, it was Jun's turn to stand up. He moved nearer to the older man across the table and they stared at each other through the eyes in silence. Jun's eyes shifted down to his lips--his lips were moistened by the cappuccino. "Can I? Think properly before you answer, I don't want to say sorry again for kissing you when it's mutual. Or should I kneel down now and pop the question again?" This statement made Corey guffaw until his cheeks were flushed pink. When Corey was done laughing, he grabbed the menu on the table and obscured the view of others. Then, his hands grabbed the collar of Jun's shirt and his lips pressed gently on Jun's. Needless to say, Jun was speechless.

Utterly speechless.

"I'll take back everything I said earlier. Corey, will you go out with me? Even if we are countries apart? I know that this is a whole new thing for you since you're straight. This is new to me too. I'm a little scared that we will drift as time passed, but I want to be closer to you. I want to be the person you go to when you're happy, sad, angry, excited, frightened--everything. I know that we've only met for like a week or two? But, the connection I felt between us feels like we've known each other for ages. If you're reluctant to start this relationship with me... let's at least be friends? I think it will be hard for me to go to your wedding, see you hug another woman and have a kid with her, but since we're friends, I'll giv-"

"Are you dumb? I'm surprised that you have my future all planned out before I even say anything," Corey rolled his eyes.

"Well, of course you would be with a woman since you're straight, so going along with that route makes sense," Jun shrugged. "I'd rather you be with a woman if you're going to reject me. Selfish pride, I guess."

"What if... I don't want to go along with that route? I-" His words were interrupted as he heard some cheering behind them. They turned around and were faced with thunderous applause.

"Just kiss already!" was the cheer that those people yelled in exhilaration. Both Jun and Corey were as stunned as a vegetable--Holy f**k? Some girls could be heard saying, "Oh my god, they are so cute!" while the minority just rolled their eyes in annoyance. They faced each other, blinked a few times before giving each other the signal to leave the cafe. In embarrassment, they took their belongings and left the cafe.

"Let's spend the rest of the time now before you leave for the airport," Corey said. Despite them leaving together, Corey walked faster than Jun, which made Jun quicken his footsteps to catch up with him.

"Walk slower! What is your response to my confession? Is this a date?" Jun's question was left hanging in the air when Corey made no reply.

The older male then came to a halt suddenly and faced Jun with obvious confusion written on his freckled features. When Jun covered the distance between them hastily, his lips parted, as if he was about to ask Corey the reason why he had stopped walking all of a sudden. Of course, he was disrupted by Corey's sudden eureka. The Cancer dug into his bag and a rainbow lollipop magically appeared on his hand. In coyness, Corey shoved the lollipop into Jun's hand.

"Good thing I have bought it before I meet you. That was supposed to be my snack later, but since you're leaving already, I'm giving it to you. And I think it's pretty obvious what my answer is," With that, Corey took Jun's hand and their fingers entwined. "Get the hint already, idiot." Corey gave a small coy grin before continuing walking, pulling Jun along with him. Feeling the texture of Corey's hand, Jun gave a small chuckle before following him. 'Ah, this is the reason why I fell for him,' Jun chuckled at the back of his mind.