Haru's Love

Noah still hadn't utter a word by the time we settled down for dinner, and none of us wanted to bother him, since he looked ready to chew our heads off. And of course, dinner was, once again, as rowdy as usual, especially with Isaac.

"It totally sucks that none of my friends are coming along for the trip, but I'm so pumped and ready for it," he said, beaming. "Like I heard hot springs are crazy awesome in Japan. And Hokkaido is especially beautiful in the winter, with all the snow and stuff."

Reo said, "Hokkaido is beautiful in summer, too, with the blue sky and the sea."

"And the seafood," Isaac said as he eagerly picked more pieces of chicken from the tray in the middle of the dining table. "I can't wait to eat a load of seafood."

"Me, too," Mason said. "But I heard winter is really cold in Japan, right? Especially in Hokkaido where we're staying with Uncle Jin?"

This conversation regarding our trip to Japan continued until dinner was done, by which time Noah had silently disappeared to his room, probably to have a good night's rest and recuperation. Jess decided to leave as well, since she had a few things to do, and Reo had offered to drop her off in a used car he had just bought a month ago. Before she departed, Jess explicitly reminded me again at the door to take heaps of photos. She had insisted that most of them were to be of me and Aiden doing lovey-dovey stuff, and she especially stipulated at least a few of them should be of us wearing kimonos.

After convincing her that I'd fulfil her request, I shut the front door and returned to my room to retrieve some clothes. Then I headed into the bathroom and took a shower.

Done and dressed in pajamas some ten minutes later, now feeling fresh and clean, I returned to my room, only to see Isaac there. He was taking out my clothes from the drawers and leaving them on the bed.

I asked, "What are you doing?"

Isaac looked at me for a moment and then said, "Exam period is over, isn't it?"

I raised a brow. "Yeah. But what does that have anything to do with you doing that?" I pointed to my clothes on the bed. "Or are you so pumped for the trip that you decided to help me pack? But seriously, I don't need that many clothes for the trip. We're only going for three weeks."

Isaac laughed as he waved my reasoning aside. "That's not it, Haru. I'm helping you move." He grinned cheekily. "Aren't I a great bro?"

I still didn't understand what he meant and asked, "Move?"

"To Aiden's room," he said. "You guys are practically husband and wife now, so it's strange for you two to sleep in separate rooms."

Heat rushed to my face and I stammered, "It's not strange. We're only dating. We're not a married couple."

Isaac rolled his eyes. "If you're so traditional about it all, then you should just get married so you can move into Aiden's room. I know he wants you to move in with him since you guys announced your relationship."

Really? Aiden had wanted me to move into his room since we started dating? I didn't know that.

I picked up my clothes from the bed.

"What are you doing?" Isaac asked.

"I'm putting these back into the drawers," I said. "Even if I decide to move into Aiden's room, this room is still mine."

"What? No way!"

I chuckled. "So, is that why you took the initiative to do this? Because you think you'll get this room as your man cave?"

"Damn right, you little rascal!" He wrapped his arms around my shoulders tightly and teasingly rubbed my head with his knuckles. "I want this room, you hear. It's your job to give it to your big bro."

"Ouch! Ouch!" I g.r.o.a.n.e.d loudly, chuckling at the same time. "Let go! Let me go!"

The door flung opened then, and Noah's roaring voice came, "For f.u.c.k's sake! You two are too loud. Keep it down, will you!"

Isaac and I froze in our spots and we stared at the disheveled-looking Noah. His complexion was damn pale. There were shadows under his eyes, too.

"Sorry," I said.

"You okay, bro?" Isaac asked. "You look like shit."

Isaac got that right. Noah looked like shit, not only tonight, but for the past several months. His mood seemed to have gone from jovial to moody to plain exhaustion and a roaring demon since he started work six months ago.

Noah raked his fingers through his messy hair. "Work! I'll be fine once I've gotten some rest."

It was then Aiden appeared at the door, along with Mason and Reo.

Aiden asked, "Is everything okay?"

Noah nodded. "Sorry, Aiden, I was just…"

Aiden patted Noah on the shoulder and said, "Get a good rest. I know work is stressing you out, but for the next three weeks, you don't have to think about it. Let's enjoy our vacation."

Isaac nodded. "Starting now."

Noah raked his fingers through his hair again and then nodded, too. He said, "Good night," and then left again.

Mason said, "I'm worried about him. Isn't his boss putting too much pressure on him? He's basically doing another man's job as far as I understand."

"And stealing all the glory after the grueling work is done, claiming it's his work and his ideas," Reo said. "That's some f.u.c.k.i.n.g shit going on there. Noah needs to either report what's happening to the higher-ups or just quit completely."

Wow! That was news to me. I didn't know Noah was dealing with shit like that at work. No wonder he always seemed so pissed off and tired. Then again, Noah wasn't the type to just put up with that sort of thing, and I wondered why he hadn't given that bastard his piece of mind already? Or better, quit like Reo said. Was he worried about something?

Reo turned his attention to me and Isaac and asked, "And what are you two rascals up to? Being so loud?"

Isaac said, "I was helping Haru move." He shrugged. "But apparently, he's not ready." He turned to Aiden and pointed a finger. "It's your fault, Aiden, for not putting a ring on Haru's finger. Go figure he's so f.u.c.k.i.n.g traditional. Won't even move into your room until after marriage."

Aiden raised a brow while I stammered, "Shut up, Isaac. Aiden and I have been dating for only six months. Who gets married after dating for only six months?"