5.2 Confrontation

"Damn, finally done with it!" exclaimed Jin, stretching as they finally exited the university library. "Why do teachers always give us shitty subjects for assignments, seriously..."

Yomo didn't answer. He was looking at his phone anxiously. Rau hadn't answered his message from last night, and he was getting worried. He reopened the conversation for the umpteenth time and read his message again: "Hey Rau, it's Yomo! Don't forget you owe me a drink (｡･∀･)ﾉﾞ ".

He closed the conversation and put his phone back in his pocket. Had he been too direct? Had he not been friendly enough? Had he done too much? Or not enough? Why wasn't he answering him? Had he changed his mind and not wanted to talk to him after all?

Yomo shook his head. All these questions were beginning to give him a headache. He inwardly lectured himself. Since when did he bother to send a message to a friend?

"Yes, that's it," he said to himself. "Rau is just a friend, nothing more. He's got other things to do than answer my message at the moment, he'll probably answer later, that's all. And then he might have just forgotten, and he'll think about it next time we meet, that's all! Stop overthinking it Yomo, you're hurting yourself for nothing!"

Angry with himself, he walked briskly without listening to a word his friend had been saying for several minutes. He was brought back to reality by Jin shaking his shoulder and calling out to him.

"Everything okay, man? You've been looking out of place since we got out of the library," he asked.

Yomo looked at him, a little confused, before coming to his senses. He had to calm down. There was no way he was going to lose it like that, just for a message.

"Yeah, don't worry, I'm just knocked out after our day, I'll be fine tomorrow," he replied with a forced smile.

Jin didn't insist. He knew very well when Yomo was lying, he had known him for long enough, and he also knew how stubborn he could be when someone tried to pull the wool over his eyes. He would see tomorrow if he was still like this.

The two students finally reached the big front door of the college.

"Let me know how your conversation with Nils went and if we go to the police station tomorrow," Jin stopped and faced his friend with an apologetic smile.

Yomo nodded.

"I'll try to see if we can go tomorrow morning since we don't have class until eleven for once," he replied.

Jin nodded.

"Well, I'm off! See you tomorrow!"

Yomo waved back, and they split up, one heading for the underground, the other for the bike park.

Yomo was about to unlock his bike when his mobile phone started to vibrate. Controlling his lack of patience the best he could, he grabbed it with one hand, the other undoing the lock on his wheel.

"Hello?" he said a little curtly as he struggled against his lock that wouldn't come off.

"Hey Yomo! Are you available right now?" came an excited voice, which Yomo was slow to recognize.

"Rau?" he thought, going into panic mode.

"Hello? Yomo?" repeated Rau's voice over the speaker.

"Yes... yes, yes, I'm here..." the third year stammered, trying to regain control of his emotions which suddenly overwhelmed him. "I mean I'm free! Right now I'm free..."

He hurriedly put the lock back in place with his available hand, struggling as much as he had to remove it a few minutes earlier.

"Great! Can you come and help me carry some equipment for the drama club? I have at least five boxes to carry around and no one to help me..."

Yomo laughed. As usual, Rau had this magical power to make him forget all his dark thoughts just with a few words. It was a unique feeling that Yomo had already become addicted to.

"I'm coming. Tell me where you are and I'll meet you.

"In front of the dance club room," he replied.

Yomo hung up the phone and walked to the designated area with an energy he didn't think he had in him yet, so tired was he from his day of intensive study. A few minutes later, he found a smiling Rau with a pile of boxes at his feet.

"Hey Yomo! Thanks, man! You're a lifesaver again!

The third year returned the smile.

"Do you spend your time carrying boxes around or what?" he teased gently.

Rau, with his arms full of boxes he had just picked up, pushed him with his shoulder to protest. Yomo laughed and pretended to be in pain and followed him with the rest of the boxes. They walked to the club room, chatting excitedly.

"Are you the only member of the club? There's never anyone in this room! And you're always alone with your boxes!" asked Yomo.

"Ah, no, the others have very different schedules so we often bump into each other, and then they spend most of their time rehearsing the play. I'm often alone here making the costumes, which is why I took the liberty of sending you a message," said Rau, scratching his head. "With the debt I already owe you, a little more or a little less..."

Yomo couldn't help but laugh at the half-apologetic look on the young man's face as he laughed at his own remark. With a spontaneous gesture, he ruffled his hair with his free hand, telling him that it was nothing and that he was happy to help him.

"Did you put me as Mr. Box-carrying in your phone?" he joked, a fond smile on his lips.

Rau broke free of his grip and gave him a defiant look.

"I've registered you as Idiot number one," he replied in the same tone.

Yomo gave him a sharp look. He didn't expect the first year to be so teasing.

"Watch out, I'm going to turn into the number one creditor if this continues..." he threatened.

"Don't worry, as long as you take something other than money as payment!" he replied, confidently.

"I'm not against it, but things like that can get out of hand..." Yomo had spoken without thinking.

His provocative side had taken over without him realizing it, and he had come out with the first nonsense he was used to in this kind of situation. He realized what he had just said when he saw Rau's frozen stare, his mouth half-open, apparently unsettled by what he had just said in such a casual manner. He swore inwardly.

An uneasy silence ensued and Yomo straightened up, losing the charming air he had adopted for the remark. He cleared his throat and quickly looked for something to say to change the subject.

"Erm... so what are you going to do with all this fabric?"

"Oh...I...uh...I-I think I'll mend them...and see if I can reuse some of the parts... the dancing club gave them to us so..." Rau stammered and couldn't even finish his sentence properly.

He ducked his head into a box and began to quicken his pace, showing his back to Yomo who watched him do it while cursing himself inwardly. If only he could hold his tongue for two minutes! Rau must have been uncomfortable because of his remark, that was for sure! He knew he was gay!

Yomo began to think of a way to apologize when they arrived at the clubhouse. Rau turned the key in the lock and opened the door.

"You can put the boxes there," he told Yomo, who complied.

Rau watched him. Yomo sat up, rubbing his hands against his jeans. He still hadn't found anything. Nothing that would really put an end to the unease that had set in. They stared at each other for a while, not knowing what to say, when Rau finally broke the silence.

"Thanks for your help, and sorry I called you just for that," he said.

"Don't worry, I'm happy to help you!" Replied the third year with a smile that was meant to be reassuring. "If you need help with anything else..."

The first year smiled gratefully at him. To Yomo's relief, the uneasiness had subsided.

"That's nice, but I'm going to start making the costumes, I don't know what time I'll finish,"

His warm smile finally reassured Yomo, who was still feeling a little insecure about the outcome of their discomfort. "Good!" he said to himself, "I won't have to apologize and make this situation even more uncomfortable than it already was!" He sighed inwardly.

"Okay then," he finally replied. "I'll leave you to it." He headed for the door, and Rau went with him.

"You owe me two coffees now," he grinned, his teasing smile back but without the undertone joke.

"Okay, okay, are you free this weekend?" laughed Rau.

"Mmmh Saturday afternoon, yes." he thought for a moment before answering.

"Saturday it is then! I'll let you pick the place though, I'm so bad at this sort of thing," concluded Rau.

Yomo had to contain his excitement. Had he just gotten a date with Rau this weekend? He wanted to slap himself in the face as he realized what he had just thought and forced himself to come to his senses and not do anything weird in front of the first year.

"You're in a hurry to settle your debts I see," he teased him again with a smirk on his lips.

"Go before I change my mind!" Rau pushed him out.

"Saturday three pm in front of the Amarillo," Yomo shouted through the doorway that Rau was forcing shut despite the weight the third year was putting on it.

"Yes, yes, send me a message or I'll forget about it!" he warned him.

Yomo let himself be chased out of the room without resisting. With a satisfied smile on his lips, he walked back to the front door in a very good mood. As if by magic, his long, tiring day at school had turned into a good, not-so-tiring day after all. He needed to see Rau more often, it would increase his happiness quota without a doubt! Once outside, he walked towards his bike, shaking his head.

Once his bicycle was completely free of the many locks he had put on it to make sure he would be back in one piece by evening, he grabbed his phone and called Nils.

"... Hello?" came a tired voice.

"Nils, can I come over to your place now?"

His friend muttered into the speaker, which made Yomo smile. He knew that I'm-still-angry-but-I'm-happy-you're-coming attitude. He shook his head. His friend was incorrigible.

"I'll be there in about twenty minutes, just enough time to ride my bike down the street," said Yomo, who didn't need a clear answer to understand what his friend wanted to say.

"Take your stuff to stay in, I don't want to be alone tonight," Nils ordered grumpily.

"I'm too lazy to go back to my place," replied Yomo. "You can lend me a pair of pants, and I must have some clothes lying around your place. We had so many parties there with Jin! "

"Do as you like! But hurry up or I'll start a series and fall asleep in front of it before you arrive!"

His friend's deceptively angry attitude made him smile. Nils was the kind of person who refused to admit that he had forgiven his friends a long time ago when they had fallen out during the day. But this side of the little brunet was also what made him endearing.

"Okay granny, don't drink too much herbal tea in front of your show or you'll pee all night!

"Come quickly or I'll leave you standing at the door!"

Nils hung up. His smile had still not left the tall, dark-haired man's lips. Good old Nils! Yomo had the key so he could go home as he pleased, surely his friend had forgotten about it.

Nils had lived alone since his father had learned of his affair with Inja. Ashamed of the situation he had put himself in, for which he felt he was solely responsible, his father had forced him to leave the family home and move to the city on his own, with strict control over his finances.

His family was wealthy, so in reality, this posed no practical problem for the student, but the psychological blow had been strong. It still was, in fact. Jin and Yomo had been very present for him since he had developed a sort of phobia of loneliness if he stayed alone for too long.

Nils' flat had become their HQ for all their parties and meetings outside of college. Jin and Yomo both lived with their families. It was easier for them to have a place to meet without being disturbed, at any time of the day or night. That's why they both had a spare key to his flat.

Yomo got on his bike and rode off into the night that was beginning to fall. All in all, it was a good day that was coming to an end. For one should never judge the turn of a day before the end of it. One could always have good surprises...