3.1 Fear

The days went by in quick succession, plunging Yomo into a student routine that lulled him to sleep. Many people mistook Yomo's liveliness for a carefree attitude that he had the luxury of indulging in because he was so well-to-do. The young man was not just any student: he was the top student in his year. But what few knew was that Yomo worked hard to achieve these results. His academic success gave him a great deal of satisfaction, which allowed him to take full advantage of his free time. Free time was scarce between his study hours and his part-time job.

This balance he had found gave him confidence that could be misunderstood. Far from sitting on his natural skills, Yomo was a hard worker, determined to succeed. He had to succeed. He had no choice as he had decided to leave his aunt's flat as soon as possible, hopefully, next year if he got an apprenticeship. He had been living with her for eight years already, providing him with the necessities of life and more, and he refused to live off her any longer. Even though he had always taken part-time jobs on the side to support himself, he felt infinitely indebted to his aunt and refused to impose himself any longer. But to get a scholarship or even an apprenticeship as soon as he finished his Master's, he had to be a top student. And for that, he had to study. It was simple, there was no way around it. Yomo knew this and did what he had to do to achieve his goal.

Taking advantage of his hard-earned free time, he was currently in the bathroom of a hotel room. He ran water over his face and sighed. He had not had a great time. This was at least the third person he'd slept with in the past ten days and none of them had satisfied him so far. He thought that maybe he should take a break for the time being rather than continue to have bad experiences. There was nothing worse than bad sex, and it made him crankier more than anything else.

It had been almost two weeks since he had seen Rau either. The memory of their last encounter was still vivid in his mind, and he couldn't understand why he was thinking about him in this situation. He tried to shake these thoughts out of his mind, without much success. He sighed. None of it made sense. It was as if the reason for his bad mood was the fact that he hadn't seen him for so long, and especially that he hadn't kept his promise to have a drink together. What an idiot not to have asked for his number at that moment! He surprised himself with his irritation. Shaking his head again, he tried not to think about anything, which put him in an even worse mood.

In a hurry to get this over with, he pulled his shirt over his smooth, satiny skin, grabbed his jacket, and walked out of the bathroom. He was greeted by a warm embrace. His partner seemed overjoyed, which added to his already bad mood. He refrained, however, and forced a smile on his lips to get out of the situation as diplomatically as possible.

"I've got to go, I've got an early class tomorrow," he said, unclasping the hands that had been crossed around his waist.

He saw the disappointed look on the other's face as he protested, trying his best to make him stay.

"I had a great time, won't you stay a while?" he insisted, trying to soften him up by rubbing his cheek against his shoulder. Yomo pushed him away gently but firmly. Taking his bike helmet, he headed for the exit.

"Let's do it again," said the young man whose name Yomo couldn't even remember.

He scratched his head in embarrassment.

"Look...I'm sorry, but there won't be a next time," he said with an apologetic look. "Please don't contact me, I'll have to block you... And I'll pay for the room."

With a sorry look, he left and closed the door behind him, moving quickly towards the stairs in case he felt like running after him. He left behind a poor guy who was depressed by the turn of events. Yomo ran down the stairs before pushing open the door that led outside. Once outside, he filled his lungs with fresh air. Night had long since fallen and the city was now quiet. He unhitched his bike and rode it across the black asphalt, eager to get home. He was exhausted! Between his job and that short night that had ended rather badly, all he wanted to do was go home and curl up under his duvet.

The days had already become shorter and the air had become colder, especially in the middle of the night. Yomo shivered under the bite of the cold wind that penetrated through the collar of his jacket. He would soon have to wear a scarf. October was already well underway. He was about to turn onto the avenue that led to the street where his destination was when a group of drunken students ran into the street in front of him. He braked hard, narrowly avoiding them.

He was about to shout at them to get out of the way when he recognized one of the heads rolling on the tarmac. "Rau?" he thought. He got off the bike and put his crutch on, then walked forward. The students were trying to get back on their feet as best they could. Holding the one he thought he recognized by the shoulder, he realized on closer inspection that it was indeed Rau. Rau also recognized him and a silly smile appeared on his lips as he pointed at Yomo and let out an "Oh!". The latter supported him as best he could so that he wouldn't collapse on the ground again, but the animal weighed his weight! He was in such a wasted state.

Yomo was about to lead him back to his group of friends when the least drunk of all apostrophized him:

"Ah, you know Rau? Great! Can you take him home, please? I have to take care of the other three," he said without giving him time to say anything. "Thanks, you're a lifesaver!"

As Yomo called out to him, protesting that he didn't know his address, the student quickly walked away, trying to gather the three friends who were no better off on their legs. Yomo glanced defeatedly at Rau, who was pressing his index finger against his cheek, his stupid smile still on his lips. Yomo sighed and smiled back. Why did he always meet this idiot in the most unlikely situations? Surely an inexplicable twist of fate that he would never know the answer to...

He led the drunk student to his luggage rack and sat him down with difficulty. He climbed onto his saddle and hooked Rau's arms around his waist, trying hard to force him to stand on the rack. Fortunately, he was not far from home. Given the boy's condition, he had immediately given up trying to ask him for his address. He pedaled carefully, making sure every five meters that the drunk was still behind him. Yomo finally arrived at the flat, making a five-minute ride in almost twenty.