Sorry I'm Late

Val replied almost instantly. "I bought a liter of chocolate ice cream, boss, for movie night tonight."

Jason smiled and replied, "Sounds good. I ordered fried chicken; we can eat with that. Oh, and this restaurant has amazing mochi, kind of like the ones I bought you before. You like those. I ordered some to go."

"Awesome, thanks, boss! Buy more; Violet's here, and she'll love it."

"Who's Violet? She's not joining our movie night, right?" Jason asked.

"Nope, boss. She'll be leaving soon."

Jason smiled so wide he didn't even notice Juwita was back and sitting down across from him. The pretty girl frowned, seeing a side of Jason she'd never seen before – so cheerful and beaming.

Soon after, Jason finished and looked up to see the young woman sitting neatly across from him. He raised his hand to flag down a waiter.

"Um, excuse me, I'd like to order another set of mochi, please. Assorted flavors, no peanuts."

...

It was very late when Jason got back to his apartment. He hadn't expected the roads to be so chaotic; a trip that usually took an hour ended up taking three, stuck in traffic. After dropping Juwita off at her house, Jason had to sit through a quick chat with her family before they finally let him leave—it was past midnight.

Click.

Jason opened Val's bedroom door. The young man was already in bed, his desk lamp still on.

"Val," Jason whispered, softly entering the room. Val was sleeping sprawled out, not even covered by a blanket, the cold air from the air conditioner blasting.

"This kid," Jason muttered.

The young man was lying on his side, his hands propping up his head. He looked exhausted.

Jason smiled. He quietly grabbed a blanket and carefully covered Val, being careful not to wake him. Jason sat on the edge of the bed, looking at Val's cute face. He couldn't help but smile.

"This kid," he said again.

Val had grown up so fast, into such a handsome and sweet young man—he is such an adorable.

"Let's play!" shouted a group of teenagers, carrying out balls that Mr. Tyus had just unloaded from his car. Jason was fifteen at the time. His grandfather, who was out of town on business, had asked him to deliver donations to several orphanages outside Argent and the surrounding areas. That time, Jason was visiting an orphanage a bit further out of town.

In the small town of Karby, he first saw the sweet face of a child, about seven years old, sitting alone in a corner, looking sad. He wore a gray beanie, his curly hair poking out from under it. With his large, non-expressive eyes and chapped red lips, he looked like a sweet little girl. But he wasn't; he was little Val, living in an orphanage after his parents died in a single-car accident, leaving him so shocked he couldn't even speak.

For a while, Jason kept coming back and watching him from afar. He was afraid of strangers and only talked to his caregiver, Mrs. Jema. Eventually, Jason couldn't come anymore. He heard he'd been adopted by a family outside Karby—great news. Then, one day, he saw him again. He almost didn't recognize him, but it was him, the sweet young man.

Jason accidentally touched Val's cheek, waking him up.

"Boss," he mumbled.

"Uh, sorry, did I wake you?" Jason whispered.

He went to pull his hand away, but Val held onto it, his small, cold hands gripping his large one.

"Boss, you're back."

But the young man didn't open his eyes; he continued sleeping, clutching his hands. Jason smiled.

"Yeah, I'm back. Sorry I'm late, traffic was terrible. Did your friend wait long? I think the mochi will last until tomorrow; just give it to her tomorrow morning, okay?" Jason whispered.

Val didn't answer right away; he seemed very sleepy, and Jason's words were half-heard, half-missed. But the young man nodded gently.

"Yeah, Boss, tomorrow's will be fine. She will come again. Hey, Boss."

Jason gently brushed the hair from Val's eyes. He was charmed by the sleeping young man who still responded to him.

"Yeah, what is it, Val?"

"If you get married, will you forget about me? Can I still stay here?" he asked. 

Jason fell silent, then smiled amusedly. 

"Hey, did I say anything about getting married? Why are you asking that?" 

Val shifted his body, wrapping his arms around Jason's upper arm as if he wouldn't let go, resting his head on the bulging muscle from Jason's white shirt. 

"Well, because you're dating, right?" 

Jason pulled his lips, holding back a laugh that was already at the tip of his mouth. He lowered his head to check on Val, who had fallen into a deep sleep, his grip seeming to loosen; the kid might be dreaming now. 

"This kid." 

Jason lowered his head, quietly stroking Val's forehead, brushing aside his bangs, and kissing his forehead. Jason smiled; he had wanted to do this for a long time. He then tried to pull his hand away from Val's embrace, turning off the reading lamp beside the bed, and plunging the room into darkness. Just as Jason was about to stand up, he heard Val scream. 

"No!" 

It was loud enough. The kid is up, sitting in bed. 

"Val, what's wrong?" Jason asked, surprised when the kid suddenly woke up and hugged him. 

"Don't, please don't!" His hug was so tight it felt like he was gripping Jason's arm hard. 

"Val, what's wrong?" 

Jason felt a strong tremor in Val's body; the young man closed his eyes tightly and held him so close as if he was scared of something, his breath coming in gasps. 

"Val." 

Jason tried to loosen Val's grip and check his face, but the young man wouldn't let go. Jason finally turned on the reading lamp beside the bed to see Val more clearly, and shortly after that, the young man began to calm down again. 

Jason released Val's embrace and checked on the young man, who had fallen asleep again and slumped on his shoulder. Suddenly, all back to normal as if nothing had happened.

"Val" Jason whispered, checking if the child was asleep. Leaning down, he saw Val's face from very close. Jason smiled; his lips were very close to Val's peach, slightly parted lips, revealing adorable front teeth like a cute bunny rabbit, tempting him to get closer. It wasn't his fault that he kept getting closer until his lips touched his; it wasn't his fault that his lips accidentally kissed him lightly.

"Chup"

Jason smiled, blaming his mischievous lips.

"He"

"Mmm, Boss, the ice cream's delicious," Val murmured, taking Jason's hand and hugging him tighter.

"Yeah, of course it is" Jason whispered.