CH 6.2 - Karaoke Doki (PU)

Trigger Warning: Homophobic remarks

"Where's Terminal 2?"Aki asked around until he finally got around to where he needed to be. Sumi was here. Here to visit him. He'd be here to meet Jaehwan too. He couldn't contain his excitement and his nervousness. It had been a while since he'd last seen his eldest and only brother. He waited at the airport for him so that he could greet him.

Jaehwan was at work so he couldn't come and see Sumi. Aki sent Jaehwan a couple of selfies while waiting and they were replied with "My handsome man~" and a bunch of kaomojis. He giggled to himself, still feeling incredibly lucky to have landed someone as cute and understanding as Jaehwan. Aki asked Jaehwan to send some selfies back to him and when they got to him, he fawned over him as well.

A tall figure started approaching Aki, the same brown hair and green eyes. His hair was messier than Aki's. He laughed to himself seeing his younger brother cooing over cute photos of his boyfriend. He watched from over his shoulder before tapping it. "My my, I never thought I'd ever see you so happy over a few photos,". Aki looked up, blushing but his older brother caught it. "I'm here to see you, Aki. But most importantly, I want you to introduce me to your lover. You seem heads over heels with him,".

Sumi bent over and looked at the photos, a little surprised. "He's quite handsome, isn't he? Look at those facial features. He looks right up your alley,". Aki frowned at his brother, standing up. "Sumi...We both have the same type...."

His head and hands shook fervently. "Ahh, I'd never steal my brother's boyfriend. That would break the principles that I have as your brother,". Aki began exerting a dark aura around him, his brother could see it. "You'd better not, you punk. You're here for a visit, not to make eyes at my lover,". Sumi patted his head and nodded. "Yeah, yeah. You know I won't do anything to steal him from you. I'll probably dote on him, even though your previous partners hated it when I did,". Aki clung onto his arm, leading him out of the airport. "He has a master who dotes on him constantly. He should be fine with it,".

That made Sumi stop in his tracks. His brother's boyfriend had a master? What? "He has a...master?" He asked and Aki nodded, scrolling on his phone to find a taxi from a ride-hailing app. "Yeah, I already met him. He's not a bad sort, a little possessive but I don't blame him. His Master's just as handsome as he is but a lot colder,".

Waiting for the app to load, Sumi crinkled his nose. "I see..You're okay with that?"He asked as he typed his destination out. He had booked a room at a hotel near the city but it was also near where Aki lived so he could visit him whenever he liked. "I'd given up on relationships before I met him. I'm willing to accept anything that comes my way. Plus, he seems genuinely happy to be with me. I don't think I would have wanted any more than that,".

Shrugging, Sumi patted him on the head. "Aki, you're easy to please aren't you? As long as he's by your side, it already makes you happy. You're quite simple," He laughed and Aki glanced at his older brother. He had always been observant, reliable. But he'd never thought that his brother would ever be so accepting.

Helping Sumi settle in, Aki waited for the clock to hit 6:00pm before bringing him over to Jaehwan's café. The dark haired boy was already waiting for Aki at the café with a freshly brewed latte in his usual spot. When he saw his partner emerging from the front door with a taller figure behind him, he grew nervous. "Jae~~" Aki cooed and hugged him from behind, kissing him on the cheek affectionately.

"Meet my brother, Sumi! He came all the way from America to visit us,". Jaehwan blushed but leaned into Aki's warmth. He waved shyly at Sumi, who was instantly captivated by his adorableness. "Aki, he's so cute!! He's practically glowing with cuteness!!" Sumi squealed, his eyes sparkling. Aki nodded and pushed his doting brother away. "Don't get too close, Sumi,".

Sumi grinned and watched his little brother cuddle his partner in front of him. "He's really handsome in person, Aki. I can see why you love him so much,". The older brother extended a hand to Jaehwan so he could shake hands with him. "Nakanishi Sumi. If you'd want my english name, Simon,"He said cheekily. Aki frowned at his brother but Jaehwan still shook hands with him shyly. "Ryu Jaehwan. Your brother has been very sweet and protective with me,". Sumi felt his heart explode from Jaehwan's cute but simple response.

'Gosh, he has the power to snatch hearts so easily and he's not even aware of it. Damn...'.

Bonking his older brother on the head, Aki let Jaehwan nuzzle into his chest. "Like I said, don't go around making eyes at my lover. Even if you fall for him, crawl back out and get as far away as possible. Got it?". Sumi groaned in pain but the puppy-like energy was probably genetic. He looked up and showed his younger brother his eye smile. "Roger that!".

The younger of the two brothers sat down and stirred his coffee. "It's only you working today?". Jaehwan nodded sheepishly, grinning a bit. "Yamato-kun had something to do. Manami-chan is visiting family. Chisako-chan is sick. So yeah, it's just me. Don't worry though, it's been a pretty slow day,". Sumi took a seat too and was surprised to hear that it had been a quiet shift for Jaehwan.

"I'm surprised that girls don't flock here with gifts and stuff, given how handsome you are,". Jaehwan looked up from behind the black marble counter and scratched his head. "They do come here bearing offerings like I'm some kind of god, but really I just turn them all down,". Aki smiled at him and Jaehwan came around to hug him from behind. "I told them that I'll only accept gifts and affection from my beloved,".

Jingles from the bell at the front door rang through the café. "Ryu-kun~~"An older woman called out and Jaehwan let Aki go, repeating the café's greeting. "Murata-san, welcome back to the café!"He chirped and sat the woman down at a booth. "Ryu-kun, you're always such a gentleman. Just the kind of person I'd like my daughter to be with,". She giggled to herself, and smiled at him. "I'll have the usual please,". Jaehwan nodded and went behind the bar to fulfil her order. While Jaehwan busied himself, Sumi could hear the old woman talking on the phone.

Unfortunately, she spoke loud enough for Sumi to listen in on her conversation. "After he serves me the drink, walk in here. Bump into him. Then I'll introduce you to him and he'll become your boyfriend soon enough,". Hearing her say that made Sumi feel mildly uncomfortable. He sipped his hot coffee quietly, watching Aki scroll on his phone idly. Sure enough, Jaehwan served the old lady her beverage and while walking around her table to get to the counter, a young female bumped into him.

Luckily, Aki's quick reflexes allowed him to catch Jaehwan by the waist. "Watch where you're walking!"He growled at the girl, baring his teeth. His partner smiled, petting his shoulder gently. "It's not worth getting angry over something small like this. I'm okay,". He helped the girl up. "Eh? Mom? What are you doing here?". She flounced over to her mother's table and plopped herself down. "I'm here to see Ryu-kun of course. Aren't you here for the same reason, Rai?".

Rai blushed and Jaehwan walked over, hearing his name being mentioned. "Ryu-kun, this is my daughter, Rai Murata,"The old lady grinned. The young female ducked her head shyly. "Sorry to bump into you, Ryu-kun." Jaehwan shook his head, adjusting his apron. "It's completely fine. Sometimes, things happen,"He laughed and failed to notice the smug glint in the older woman's eyes. "Now then, Ryu-kun, why don't you go out with my daughter?".

'What? Really? Right in front of me?'.

He was in such a shock that he didn't notice his brother's hands clenching into tight fists. "Murata-san....I'm sure she's a lovely lady and all....but I just can't. I've already told you four times,". Jaehwan looked down and the older woman made a "tsk tsk" sound.

"What? But the last times we asked you, you said you weren't seeing anyone. What's wrong with Rai? We'll fix it,". Jaehwan couldn't look them in the eyes. Usually when she came over and tried to guilt trip him, Manami would drag him away saying that the machine had malfunctioned or something along the lines of that. But no one was here to help him out of this now.

"I'm already in love with someone..."

Exasperated, the old lady was sighed. "If you can fall in love with someone else, you can fall in love with Rai. Don't make it too hard for me now, I have to see her happily married so I can live the rest of my life in peace,". Jaehwan covered his face and squatted on the floor, stressed. "N-No..It's not that. I know that you love your daughter very much...But the person I'm in love with....he..he's a guy,". Rai looked up and glanced at her mother's face of disgust.

Squinting at Jaehwan, the pitch of her voice increased. "Really? What a waste of a handsome face. Do you realise the path that you're going down? Do you know how painful this weight will be to bear in the future?". Jaehwan burst into tears, shaking. He knew that he lived in conservative Japan. He already knew that dating Aki had its own societal burden to it. How could he not? The old woman tapped her foot impatiently. "Make your life easy and go out my daughter. We're not a bad family. We'll treat you well,".

"P-please..I can't marry her. I don't even want to go out with her...I've made up my mind." Sumi began gritting his teeth, annoyed. The old woman sighed and leaned back in her seat. "Ryu-kun. You're already a foreigner. An orphan. You didn't have a lot to begin with but now you're a homosexual? You really are finding the quickest ways to get to hell,". Aki's heart was softened when he heard his partner sobbing. He wanted to get up and comfort Jaehwan but Sumi got up first. "Listen up! I don't like the nonsense that you're spouting from your mouth!".

Aki was surprised to hear his brother shout; Sumi never really raised his voice with strangers. "Stop trying to force him to date your ditsy daughter when he's going out with my little brother!". He pulled Jaehwan up gently. "He's been going out with my brother all this time. So please stop bothering him about this,". The old lady squinted at him but Sumi continued blasting her by ranting at her . "Do you know how many youths are prejudiced because of shallow-minded people like you?! I understand that I have to respect your opinion but when your opinion hurts someone else then $*%#@&#!!".

To comfort Jaehwan, Aki took his hand and pulled him closer. Murata grunted in annoyance when she heard Sumi venting at her. "A café full of homosexuals? Disgusting,". She grabbed her daughter's hand and caught Sumi's deathly glare. "If I hear that you've been disturbing him once more, my lawyer in the States will be over the moon to fly here and deal with you,". Both of their figures disappeared in a hurry and Sumi sat back down. You could see the steam coming off of him. Aki wiped Jaehwan's tears tenderly, hugging him tightly.

Crystal clear tears dampened Aki's shoulder. "There, there. You rejected it for me. Even if you knew the response would hurt you. I know that you truly love me, don't cry,". Jaehwan hugged him back, tears still streaming down his face. "I love you Aki...I really do...I-I..don't want to go out with anyone else in this world,". Aki truly fell in love with Jaehwan and to hear him deny a relationship offer in front of him made him glad. He was glad that Jaehwan was honest even when under pressure. He knew that the pressure of being a homosexual could get to him sometimes, but he'd never cried over it before.

Usually Shujin would diffuse it and make him feel better but Shujin couldn't always be with Jaehwan 24/7. Aki just hugged him even more warmly, soothing him by petting him along his back. "Hey, Sumi, you were pretty angry there. I've never seen you so angry before,". Sumi looked down shyly, slumping in his seat. "I can't help but get angry when I see him being bullied like that. He's your boyfriend,". Aki nodded and patted his brother on the back. "I'm even more surprised that you got angry to protect him. That's my job but I guess you stole it from me,".

Cupping Jaehwan's cheeks, Aki squeezed them tenderly. "Enough crying now. Why don't I take you somewhere to help you unwind hm? You can close up early,". Sumi nodded and collected their cups. "I'll wash these. Put your uniform away, Jaehwan. We'll go out together,". Jaehwan took off his apron and folded it neatly, putting it in the cubby hole underneath the counter. Soon enough, he took Aki's hand and was led away to a karaoke bar. The employees were surprised to see how tall Sumi was. But when he asked them for a room, they didn't hesitate to find the perfect room for them. Jaehwan had only been to the karaoke bar once, with his Master, so he was pretty excited to go with Aki this time.

"I'm not the best singer," Aki laughed and pulled Jaehwan onto his lap. "What do you want to sing though, Jaehwan?". His partner shrugged and looked at the tablet given to them. "This new one...Guitar Strings,". Aki seemed surprised that Jaehwan picked a japanese song. "You can sing in japanese? I'm impressed,". The other male scratched his head shyly and Sumi handed him a microphone, smiling. The song began. Jaehwan's voice was soft yet sweet. Aki didn't think that he'd be that good at singing, in fact he quite liked it.

Closing his eyes, Aki was taking it all in. He liked the way Jaehwan sang. He had a soft voice in a nice falsetto. It was almost like a lullaby. "You sound really good! Is this what heaven sounds like?" Aki whispered in his ear and made him giggle. Sumi clapped when the song ended. "Jaehwan, you should sing more often,". The dark haired male laughed and handed Sumi the microphone. "My master used to sing to me all the time. He was the one who taught me how to sing,".

Both of the brothers nodded and seemed impressed by that. Sumi scrolled through the tablet and picked a song. "It's kind of dark and creepy though. Is that fine with you guys?". Jaehwan squeaked and hid his face in Aki's chest. "Okay okay. Sumi, you can sing first. I'll be taking Jaehwan to the bar,".

.

.

.

They ordered some drinks from the bar. Jaehwan's were non-alcoholic because he had to drive responsibly. Aki on the other hand had a glass of vodka. Jaehwan wasn't really a big fan of alcohol so he just tried to cut back on Aki's intake to prevent him from being completely wasted. A man looked across the room and seemed captivated by Jaehwan's clean cut features.

It was a bar after all, it was bound to happen. Aki noticed him approaching and instantly wrapped his arms around Jaehwan's neck possessively. His partner, oblivious about someone approaching him to hit on him, just giggled and pecked him on the cheek. "Take it easy now. You're already flushed. I'll take you back to the room if you're dizzy,". Aki glared at the man silently, who got the message and backed away nervously.

As they made their way back to their room, Sumi had already sung three songs. "You two took quite a while. Alright then, Aki, it's your turn to sing. I'll head to the bar,". He handed his younger brother the tablet and left the room. "Jae, come here and choose a song for me,". Aki clutched the microphone as he stared at the tablet. He didn't know what to sing. Jaehwan sat beside him and tried to look over the categories.

"Genre?". Aki shrugged and scrolled over the song titles until he found one that he liked. "Shadow's Kiss. This song is catchy,". Jaehwan had never heard of it but he nodded enthusiastically. "Sing it then,". But, his partner couldn't bring himself to do it. "I suck at singing. In second grade choir, I was the kid who sat at the sidelines,". Jaehwan pecked him on the lips gently. "But I want you to be happy. I'll always accept any flaw of yours,"He grinned.

Oh dear. Aki began singing and Jaehwan realised that he was probably tone deaf. He sounded extremely off-key and his voice was probably not meant for this. He tried to hold his laughter. He covered his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt and grinned.

'Oh my god, he's really that bad. But it's kind of cute in a way'.

Then came the chorus and Jaehwan felt a laugh about to burst. He couldn't help it, Aki just didn't possess the talent.

"Kiss in the shadow-"

Yet every time the song mentioned the word 'kiss', Aki'd gaze into his eyes. Even though he was horrifically bad at singing, Jaehwan could tell that he was singing for him. In a way, it made him feel special. Feel loved. He blushed and rested his head on Aki's shoulder, letting him sing until the end. He sounded a little drunk but oh well, he did do his best. Aki put the microphone down the second the song ended. The room was dim enough. Sumi still wasn't back from the bar.

Leaning forward, there was a wide grin on Aki's face. "Did you enjoy it?". His partner blushed and looked away. "You're not that good, but it's really cute that you wanted to sing for me,". Aki was happy that Jaehwan appreciated his sentiment. He showed him his eye smile and laughed. "Yay~~". Jaehwan's heart thumped. '

He really is genuine. I'm glad that I fell in love with him'.

The gap between their faces closed in. His hands cupped Jaehwan's cheeks and made out with him on the sofa. His partner could still taste the lingering taste of the vodka and moaned into the fiery kiss.

'He's really passionate tonight. Guess it must have been the alcohol...'.

Planting a drunken kiss on his cheek, Aki's crimson burning cheeks reflected the passionate fire ignited in his heart. "I love you so much, Jae. I'm not even saying this drunk. I genuinely love you more than I'd ever loved someone,". Jaehwan laughed and kissed him back. "Aki, you're wrong. I'm the one who loves you more,".

___________________________

"Dear journal,

Aki tried to sing for me today. He didn't sound that good but not everyone is ever good at it. I found it cute that he wanted to sing for me. He comforts me in such low times. He really helps me feel like I can do anything. Even though he sounded like a strangled bird, the smile he had on after I told him that I appreciated his singing is just irreplaceable. I'm incredibly lucky to have fallen in love with such a sweet and genuine person. Journal, please continue keeping track of every lovely memory I've ever had with Aki. I love him so much and I hope to continue growing with him.

-Jaehwan"

Feeling satisfied, Jaehwan shut his journal. He clicked his pen impatiently. He had the itch to bake. He switched on his phone and searched for recipes. He looked to Aki, who was in a deep sleep beside him and his lips curved into a smile. He pushed Aki's messy bangs aside and planted a kiss on his forehead. "Thank you for bringing me out today, my love,".

He shuffled back to his side of the bed and continued searching for something tasty that he could bake together with Aki.

_φ(･ω･ Author's Note

I wonder how Aki's drunk singing would sound like. Did you like this chapter? Voting is appreciated! Thank you for reading this chapter of A Heart To Heal! ♡