"So… No hot pepper chocolate today?" Isaac asked with a wry smile, eying the cup of hot chocolate on the table.
…Should he pour it over Misha's head or throw it out of the window? Whenever this server was in charge of his order, he'd always bring him a weapon of mass destruction instead of his actual order. It was no wonder Isaac was debating how to get rid of it.
As an answer, Misha shrugged, "Drink it, and you'll know."
Isaac let out a sigh before pinching the bridge of his nose. "Why is it always you who serves me…? Couldn't it have been Vanessa for a change?"
"The café has a policy that prevents us from mixing work with our personal lives."
Isaac pulled a deadpan face. Who was Misha trying to fool when he was always heel over Gabriel whenever the man came to fetch him, forgetting everything about work? If there was one person who didn't give a damn about mixing his private life with his job, it was this teen. The thing, though, was that pointing it out would do Isaac no good. If he were to, he knew Misha would deny it no matter what proof he brought up. He could already see the cocky grin he'd flash at him, too. This guy had no shame when it came to annoying people.
"You know what," Isaac felt his mouth twitch, "How about you take a sip first? Maybe then I'll feel at ease."
"I don't do indirect kisses."
"…"
A stunned look passed through the teenager's blueish-grey eyes, making Misha's smile deepen. Lately, he was starting to understand why Stephan loved to spout nonsense. People's dumbfounded faces were the best.
"Don't worry, darling," Vanessa's amused voice traveled to their ears—she was cleaning up the table across theirs. "I won't take it as cheating, so go ahead."
Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, Isaac pushed the hot chocolate toward Misha, gesturing for him to drink it. Misha looked down at it before bringing the cup to his mouth. He took a sip, swallowing and smacking his lips, before cocking an eyebrow, "See? Harmless."
A sigh of relief escaped Isaac as his tense shoulders finally relaxed. These past few weeks, he had fallen for Misha's scheme so many times that seeing a cup of hot chocolate provoked reactions akin to PTSD. But since the server drank the beverage before his eyes, making sure Isaac saw him swallow a mouthful, it should be safe to assume that his hot chocolate hadn't been tampered with. The teenager's face didn't so much as twitch, after all.
With this in mind, Isaac took a sip.
Which he immediately spat out while coughing his lungs out.
"What… What on Earth did you do with this drink?"
"I might or might not have mistaken vinegar for water. I'm so sorry."
"You don't seem sorry at all!" Isaac cried out. "For goodness's sake, didn't you just drink it…?! How the heck did you manage to keep a straight face? It tastes so disgusting it makes me want to puke my guts out!"
"Yeah, my stomach is rumbling," Misha nodded, smiling even more brightly, "but it was worth it."
"You should give up," Vanessa shook her head, chuckling at her boyfriend's misfortune. "That idiot is the prime example of bringing others down with himself. If need be, he can shoot himself alongside his target. Playing board games with him is like playing with a kamikaze."
"I can see that…"
"And Misha…"
"Yeah, yeah, I know! Upstairs I go to nag Stephan for a gift card."
Misha tugged his tongue out like a child, then went upstairs to Stephan's office to claim Isaac's compensation. Sometimes, he wondered if the teenager didn't just play along with his pranks to get the gift cards in return. According to him, his sisters were crazy about Dereck's pastries, and he always exchanged the cards for a plate of said pastries…
Well, whatever. As long as he could torment him, the reason behind it didn't matter.
.
.
Although Stephan seemed about to cry, he still handed over a gift card to a smug Misha.
"You know that this makes it the fifth time?"
"My grades may make the math teacher want to cry, but I still know how to count, thank you."
"…"
Stephan sighed but didn't comment. He seemed too tired to even whine at Misha's antics today. The dark circles etched under his eyes dug into his skull, darkening his skin into a bluish-purplish hue. He appeared utterly exhausted, but it didn't prevent Misha from being a nuisance. What did his boss's exhaustion have to do with him? Instead, he should count himself lucky not to be the target of his pranks.
However, deep down, Misha was a little curious. He had never seen Stephan exhausted, even in his first life. The guy could be out partying until the wee hours, then go out on dates during the day, and yet he'd still be full of life once night fell and work started. There was even a time when Misha thought his boss was closer to a robot than a human, as he did not seem to need sleep. So, why was he dead tired when his day-to-day life wasn't as eventful as before? He'd say his current life was pretty peaceful in comparison.
"By the way," Misha finally couldn't reign in his curiosity and asked, "Why do you look like a zombie? If I didn't know better, I'd think you're about to drop dead."
"…Do I look that terrible?"
"Did you look at yourself in the mirror lately?"
A laugh was Misha's answer. Stephan let himself fall backward on his chair, staring at the ceiling. He wondered for a moment whether or not to confess to Misha before smiling. Well, if there was one person who could probably understand him right now, it was the teenager.
"You know, you don't look that much better yourself."
Misha grimaced. His dark circles were indeed no better than Stephan's. He squinted his eyes, seizing the man up and down before snorting. Was starting this conversation really a good idea…? It felt like it'd be akin to twisting the knife in the wound. He might be dense, but his instinct was often spot on, and he had a hunch that his boss was worn out for the same reason as him.
Should he, or should he not?
In the end, Misha was still Misha, and he couldn't help but throw a snarky comment, ignoring the nagging voice in his mind.
"What? Is keeping it in your pants that difficult?"
"Well, yes," Stephan chuckled. "It wouldn't be that difficult if I wasn't sleeping almost every night in the bed of the man I love. It's torture to have him in my arms and not be able to do anything."
Since Jake had given him the get-go to sleep in his room, Stephan rarely went home. His father often joked that he was living with a ghost, as he had not even seen his son's shadow lately.
"Did you finally find yourself a lover?" Harold teased on the phone whenever he managed to get in touch with his son.
"Not yet, but I'm trying hard!" was Stephan's answer. "I'm not gonna leave their side until they surrender."
"Son, please don't go overboard!" Harold's exasperated voice always drew a smile on Stephan's lips. "Try not to suffocate them, and let them breathe! Don't stick to them like glue; you'll only get on their nerves."
To that, Stephan had nothing to say, for he indeed stuck to Jake like glue. Thus, he could only laugh it off. At any rate, he couldn't very well tell his father why he was being a good, darn leech; neither could he tell him who was at the receiving end of his affection.
On the one hand, he knew that if he left Jake alone, even if only for one night, Angela would take the opportunity to throw her son under the bus. With Stephan around, she had no choice but to push aside the schemes twirling in her nefarious mind. She was the one who had asked Jake to keep Stephan under wraps, and the more time they spent together, the better.
On the other hand, Stephan feared that letting Jake alone with his thoughts would throw him into a vicious loop of bad memories. Jake did his best to hide it, but knowing what he went through, he couldn't be okay. He was just putting up a brave front. Stephan couldn't forget that one night, when Tristan woke up in tears and told all the nightmares he had about his brother. It had shaken Jake to the core.
They hadn't talked about it afterward, however.
Jake knew Stephan was awake and listened to their conversation, but both men pretended it hadn't happened. This time, Stephan decided to wait for Jake to organize his thoughts and open up to him of his own volition. All he could do was be there for him and distract him whenever he was about to lose himself on memory lane.
So, yes, Stephan was being an annoying leech on purpose.
But… sticking to Jake was like a double-edged sword. Stephan's lower half was protesting every night, throbbing in pain. Everyone knew he had never been a chaste man and was honest to a fault about his desires. Hugging Jake and kissing his neck, leaving trails of hickeys on his smooth, warm skin, was a major turn-on for Stephan. He loved how Jake flinched in his arms or how he pinched his lips to keep himself from letting out small moans, his shoulders and back tensing up. And whenever Stephan peered at the man, his mouth turned dry at the sight of the slightly embarrassed, self-conscious look on his face.
God, did it make him hitch for more.
Still, Stephan knew better than to cross the line and never went overboard. Thus, the nights were long and uncomfortable.
Stephan smirked to himself. It seemed like, one way or another, Jake did manage to wrap him under his little finger, just like Angela wanted. When did it start exactly…? It was hard to tell. Of course, Stephan had always been attracted to the man. He had a fine body and a handsome face. Even when he acted like the biggest asshole in town, Stephan never hid the fact that if the chance ever arose, he'd love to pin the man down and have his way with him.
And now that he knew the real him…
How could he not have fallen in love?
"Anyway," Stephan smiled, amused at Misha's pouty look. "I believe it's as hard for you as it is for me, no?"
Misha grumbled some unintelligible things before snorting, "Well, duh! I'm going through puberty if you haven't noticed yet! Of course, it's hard on me. I'm pretty sure, had you been in my shoes, you wouldn't have been able to control your lower half!"
Stephan blinked at the sudden outburst. It seemed like he had poked at the hornet's nest. Thinking back on his adolescence and how out of control his hormones had been back then, he couldn't help but nod.
"You're probably right."
They stared at each other for a second before letting out a wry, self-mocking laugh. How much longer did they have to wait before finally spending a night with their beloved? Misha knew he still had at least two years to go, but as for Stephan…
Well, he didn't even know if he would ever get the chance to.
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Edited by Clozed! ♥
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