Haruki felt the urge to walk away as he stood weighing the meanings that could be read from any of the reactions. If he stands there watching the man, he might appear to be a childish, if he walks over and sit down like the man wants him to, he will appear to be overly docile, but if he walks away, it will make him look . . .
Walking away was perfect, that will show he did not care but . . . he bit back a sigh and walked to the nearest stool and sat down. The man smiled warmly before handing over a glass of water to him and said, "It is warm, you should drink some."
Haruki quietly reached for the glass and took a sip. The water was warm as he said and had a relaxing effect on him as he watched the man continue the meal preparation. The man would occasionally glance at him and smile while the rest of the time, the man was focused on the meal he was preparing.
The man laid out the dish on the island in front of Haruki and laid some for himself opposite Haruki. "Bon appetit," the doctor said with his hands together and a slight bow before he reached for his chopstick.
Haruki watched the man dig into the bowl of donburi (rice-bowl dish). The doctor raised his head and met Haruki's gaze wearing a questioning look as he could not speak with his mouth full of chicken. When the man was done hurriedly chewing and swallowing, he asked, "Why are you not eating?"
"Who asked you to use my kitchen?" Haruki blurted out seriously. He wished he could take back what he had said as the man had taken his time to prepare something for him but he could not understand why he felt pissed.
As much as that made him sound like a housewife rubbed off her kitchen, he did not take back his words meeting the man's gaze firmly.
"No one, I just wanted you to eat, you have not eaten anything good since you passed out in your bathroom," the man replied bluntly. The man reached for the chopsticks in front of Haruki and gestured to him to take them. "Please eat, I can't imagine how weak you must feel from not eating for so long."
Haruki swallowed and reached for the chopstick. Without proper traditional etiquette, he reached for a vegetable on the side of the bowl.
He was reluctant to bring it to his mouth but when the fresh vegetable touched his tongue, he chewed and reached for a slice of meat and he did not stop reaching for something else to chew on until the bowl was empty.
When he was done, the man held forward his bowl of food to him and asked, "Do you want more?"
He shook his head but the man still reached to put a few pieces of meat in his bowl and smiled when Haruki raised his head to look at the face of the daring man. He ended up eating under that warm gaze.
"You cook good," Haruki complimented when he was done. He would not mind eating more but he held back from requesting more seeing that the man had not eaten much.
"Thank you very much," the man appreciated with a slight bow.
The man seemed to get very humble when normal conversations go on between them. Haruki concluded that he was only overthinking to have felt that way but that made him want to confirm that thought or simply cancel it so he asked, "Where did you learn to cook?"
"My mother taught me," the doctor appeared so excited about his question as his smile broadened. "Do you want to learn; I could teach you."
Haruki stood up silently and walked out of the kitchen without a response to the man's question. He wondered what that was as he walked back upstairs.
He could not say the man was disrespectful with that conversation they just heard but he could not see much respect either, it was as though the man considered him to be a friend, or more like they have known each other for a while.
It made him annoyed that the man happened to be the first person he could not evaluate based on what he learned from his mentor. When he returned downstairs after his assistant arrived, the doctor was gone leaving a set of pills for him to use on the dining table.
"Where did he go to?" Haruki asked as he glanced around before walking to the couch and making himself comfortable on it.
"Doctor Yamamoto left just now, he said he had something to take care of in the hospital," Kiyoshi replied.
"So, what did I miss out on in the past two days?" Haruki asked seriously going into his work mode.
They were barely done with their work when the doctor returned, this time, he came with a few bags of groceries. Haruki was busy and he barely nodded to the man's greeting but he could not ease that jumpy feeling it all caused in his chest. Even despite having work on his mind, he would occasionally raise his head and glance in the doctor's direction.
The sky was dark when they were done with the work and his assistant left. He was left alone with the doctor who was done with the dinner preparation and walked away from the kitchen towards him.
"Dinner is set on the table for you," the doctor told him gesturing to the dining table.
Haruki stood up and walked to the table without a word, the aroma was already inviting enough. He sat down and the man did the same just like when they ate earlier. The man dug in first and nodded at him before saying, "It is good," as though he was tasting the food for Haruki.
Haruki held back an urge to smile at the thumbs-up gesture the man made before he lifted his chopstick. He ate the meal until his plate was empty.
"How was it?" the doctor asked for feedback when Haruki was done.
"Good," Haruki replied bluntly. He leaned back and looked at the man carefully. He had never hesitated to be with anyone in his life but the man was the reason his heart raced, as someone who has had a steady heartbeat as nothing has excited him in a while, he could only point at the man as the reason he felt that way.
He could not call it a bad feeling, in fact, he only hated how much he liked that new feeling and his desire to feel more of it, that perhaps had to be the reason he felt threatened by the man.
The man was tall and handsome and there was something about his lips that had Haruki focusing on them to occasionally glance at his brown beautiful eyes.
"Do you have a girlfriend?" he asked the man bluntly.