MY RIVAL BECOME MY LOVER

Chapter 9:The Almost Kiss

The chicken was truly cold now. And soggy.

But neither of them cared.

Jay was sitting on the floor, eating it anyway. Brian was sitting across from him, still in his sweaty #14 jersey, eating like he hadn't eaten in days.

"You won the finals and you didn't even tell me," Jay said, pretending to be angry, mouth full of chicken.

"I wanted to tell you after we won. If I told you before and we lost, it would be embarrassing," Brian said.

"So you only tell me good things?"

Brian looked up. "I want you to only see good things about me."

Jay stopped chewing. That was... that was such a strange thing to say.

"Bri, I see everything. You leave your wet towels on my bed, you snore when you sleep on your back, and you steal my socks because you think I don't notice."

Brian choked. "I don't steal your socks!"

"You do! The black ones with the little dinosaurs! They disappeared last week and now they are in your drawer! I saw them!"

Brian's ears turned red. "They were... they were comfortable."

Jay laughed. "See? I see everything. You don't have to only show me good things."

Brian was quiet for a long time, picking at his chicken. "What else do you see?"

Jay thought about it. The real things he saw.

"I see you stay up late helping your little brother with math on video call, even though you say you hate math. I see you give your lunch to that stray cat behind the library. I see you practice free throws for two hours even when it rains because you don't want to let your team down."

Brian's eyes were wide now.

"And," Jay said softer, "I see you look at me when you think I'm not looking."

The air in Room 14 changed.

Brian put his chicken down. "Jay..."

"I'm not stupid, Brian. Maya said I'm oblivious but I'm not. You look at my lips. You did it in the bathroom, you did it after the presentation, you did it on the court tonight."

Brian stood up. He was nervous. He paced to the window and back. "Okay. Yes. I do. So what?"

"So what? Brian, so what? You keep looking and then running away! It's confusing!"

"Because I'm scared!" Brian shouted, then immediately looked shocked that he shouted.

Jay stood up too. "Scared of what?"

"Scared of this!" Brian gestured between them. "Scared of us! Scared that if I do something, you'll move out! Scared that Room 14 will become awkward! You are the first roommate I've ever... I've ever liked living with!"

Jay's anger melted. "You like living with me?"

"Isn't it obvious? I remembered your coffee, Jay. I know you hate tomatoes but you eat them if they are in fried rice. I know you hum that same stupid song when you shower. I know you sleep with one leg outside the blanket. I notice everything about you because..."

"Because what?"

Brian took a deep breath. He walked up to Jay until there was only a foot of space between them.

"Because I like you. Not as a roommate. I like you like... like Maya likes gossip. Like you like instant noodles at 2 AM. I like you more than a roommate should like his roommate."

Jay's brain short-circuited.

Brian likes him.

Brian Kim, the Ice King, campus heartthrob, basketball MVP, #14, who rejected Sera and every other girl, likes HIM.

"Oh," Jay said. It was all he could say. "Oh."

"That's it? Oh?" Brian's voice cracked. He looked hurt. "I just told you I like you and you say oh?"

"No! I mean... I... oh wow? Is that better?"

Brian laughed despite himself. A sad laugh. "You are impossible."

"No wait! Let me think! My brain is buffering!"

Jay grabbed Brian's jersey. Because if he didn't hold onto something, he would fall.

"Say it again," Jay whispered.

"Say what again?"

"The like part."

Brian looked down at Jay's hand on his jersey, then at Jay's face. His eyes were so sincere. So scared. So unlike the cold Brian everyone else knew.

"I like you, Jay Lee. I have liked you since you moved in and complained that my alarm was too loud and then fell back asleep on my bed with your mouth open."

"I do NOT sleep with my mouth open!"

"You do. It's cute."

Jay was red from head to toe. "You think I'm cute?"

"I think you are... everything."

That was it. That was the line that broke Jay.

He didn't think. He just pulled Brian's jersey.

Brian stumbled forward.

And Jay kissed him.

It was clumsy. Jay's first kiss ever. He missed a little, landing half on Brian's mouth, half on his cheek. He tasted salt from sweat and chicken.

But Brian froze for exactly one second.

Then his hands came up, cupping Jay's face, and he kissed him back. Properly.

It was soft at first. Then desperate, like they had both been waiting for weeks and didn't know how to wait anymore.

Brian's back hit the wall. Jay was on his tiptoes, hands in Brian's sweaty hair. Brian's hands were on Jay's waist, pulling him closer.

Room 14, which had been so cold, was suddenly on fire.

Jay pulled back to breathe. His lips were swollen. "Oh my god."

"Yeah," Brian breathed, his forehead against Jay's.

"We kissed."

"We did."

"In Room 14."

"Where else would we kiss?"

Jay laughed, giddy, nervous, happy. "So... what does this mean? Are we...?"

Brian kissed him again, quick and sweet. "It means you are officially not allowed to move out. Ever. And you have to wash my jerseys because you got chicken grease on #14."

Jay hit his chest. "Brian!"

"And it means," Brian said, quieter, tucking a piece of hair behind Jay's ear, "that tomorrow, when we walk to class, I don't want to use a small umbrella. I want to hold your hand. Even if people look."

Jay's eyes filled with tears, but happy tears. "Really?"

"Really. Let them look."

They stood there hugging in the middle of Room 14, with cold chicken on the floor and a basketball rolling in the corner and a yearbook photo being printed somewhere of them almost kissing on the court.

Then Jay's phone buzzed.

Maya: DID YOU KISS??? THE PHOTO I TOOK LOOKS LIKE YOU WERE ABOUT TO KISS IN THE COURT!!! TELL ME EVERYTHING!!!

Jay showed Brian the text. Brian groaned.

"She's going to be so annoying about this."

"Let her be," Jay said, and kissed Brian's cheek. "We have an A to celebrate."

Brian smiled, that real smile only Jay got to see. "We have more than an A to celebrate."

He picked Jay up - actually picked him up - and dropped him onto his own bed.

"Hey! That's my bed!"

"Our room. Our bed. Same thing."

Jay threw a pillow at him. Brian caught it and fell on top of him.

And Room 14, for the first time since Jay moved in, didn't feel small at all. It felt exactly the right size for two people who liked each other more than roommates should.