One afternoon, Julian had just finished shopping at the grocery store for dinner. As usual, he would do the shopping and Arcane would cook, although he would help him.
Because Arcane hadn’t finished teaching yet, he would go shopping since he had nothing else to do.
Carrying two large paper bags in his hands, Julian walked home while looking around. The snow was starting to melt, slowly melting as if spring was about to arrive.
He couldn’t wait to feel the warmth of the sun again, if it meant the end of winter.
"Today Arcane is going to cook grilled salmon and mashed potatoes. For dessert, I bought two caramel puddings to eat together. I’d better hurry home and put these puddings in the fridge so they’ll be cold when we eat them later," he muttered happily.
He walked along humming happily, and when he arrived at his front gate, he saw a motorcycle parked there.
Julian was a little surprised and confused because he didn’t know whose motorcycle was parked in front of his house. But he felt he recognized the motorcycle as belonging to one of his friends.
Sure enough, as he entered the gate, he saw a man sitting on the chair on the porch. It was Ryan, Arcane’s friend who had also become his friend.
"Hey Julian! Happy New Year!" Ryan said enthusiastically.
"Ryan? What are you doing here?"
He didn’t expect the man to come to his house without telling anyone. Although Julian was still a little upset with Ryan for gave him a dare to wear a maid costume.
"Visiting my friend, of course. Is there something wrong with that?"
"Nothing’s wrong. Did you tell Arcane about this beforehand? Because obviously he hasn’t come home from teaching yet. He’ll be home in 1 to 2 hours," replied Julian.
However, that didn’t seem to be Ryan’s intention for coming there. He approached Julian and put his arm around his shoulder.
"Besides, he’s not my only friend. Now you’re my friend too, right? I can wait for him to come home."
Julian didn’t suspect anything because they often met together with Marshal and Hans. So he thought Ryan had just come to visit his friend as usual.
He let Ryan into the house and gave him a glass of cold juice to drink.
"Are Marshal and Hans coming too?" asked Julian as he drank his juice.
The orange haired man shook his head. He said he hadn’t invited his two friends to come along. His intention in coming to Arcane’s house was only to see Julian.
Ever since the day he witnessed Julian making love to Arcane in the living room while he and Hans pretended to be asleep, something inside Ryan wanted to experience that for himself.
He wanted to experience making love with Julian, who had such a sweet voice and cute face. Without Julian knowing his evil intentions, he let Ryan in.
"You know they must be busy with work. Especially Hans, who can’t leave the house too often because he has to take care of his daughter and wife. So I thought I’d come here alone," Ryan explained.
They then talked about several things while waiting for Arcane to return so they wouldn’t get bored.
At first, their conversation sounded normal, with Ryan asking about Arcane’s visit to his parents’ house last month and their plans for the new year.
However, their conversation suddenly turned into something more intense and intimate. Especially when Ryan asked about Julian’s body count.
"Body count? You mean how many people have had sex with me? None. Only one, Arcane. Besides, why are you asking me that?" Julian asked in surprise.
He knew that body count questions were now common for people, even though he himself still found it quite strange to ask.
Because, what’s the point of knowing how many people have had sex with them?
"I’m just curious. But as I suspected, you really are very innocent. Arcane is very lucky to have someone like you," said Ryan, who meant something else when he said he was jealous and wanted to be Julian’s second body count.
The man thought, it must feel amazing to do something like that with someone so innocent.
But Julian was sure this question sounded strange to ask.
"Are you happy with Archie? Living with him in a house like this for a year," Ryan said again, this time asking about his happiness.
"Huh? Of course I’m happy. Why are you saying it as if I’m not happy with him?"
But his answer was just a laugh, as if the question was just a joke.
"Nothing. Because I’m sure Archie is very boring. He never dates anyone or has a romantic relationship with anyone."
Julian, feeling uncomfortable, immediately gulped down his juice and went to the kitchen. He made up an excuse that he wanted to refill his glass because he was thirsty.
"I’ll be right back. Just wait here," he said as he immediately stood up from his seat and walked quickly to the kitchen.
In the kitchen, Julian sighed deeply because he felt uncomfortable with his conversation with Ryan.
Usually, he felt normal and comfortable chatting with Arcane’s friends. But being alone with Ryan felt so strange.
"Is it because Marshal and Arcane are usually with me? So I feel comfortable when I’m with them. Or is it just Ryan’s questions that make me feel uncomfortable?" he muttered.
He sighed again, glancing at the clock on the kitchen wall, which showed that it was 4:07 p.m.
He hoped Arcane would come home soon. If he came home on time, that meant there were still almost 30 minutes before 4:35 p.m. He didn’t want to talk to Ryan alone again if he asked questions like that.
"He even asked me how many times I’d done something like that with Arcane in a week? I know we’ve been pretty close friends for a year since I met Arcane. But that doesn’t mean he can ask me something like that, does it?"
Trying to distract himself, the man took all his groceries out of the paper bag he was carrying and placed them where they belonged. He also filled the empty egg carton and put the salmon they were going to eat near the sink.
The point was to avoid being alone with Ryan, using the excuse that he had to organize his groceries.
He opened the top shelf in the kitchen and put away the flour and other groceries he had bought. As soon as he raised both hands to put the items away, suddenly a pair of arms wrapped around him from behind.
"Huh? Arcane?"