Revelations

Despite the loud background music hadn’t stopped sounding in the bar, Eloy could only notice the silence that had fallen on their table, together with the general surprise that the others were showing, including Cara, who hadn’t foreseen that he would come out in such a way. However, without a doubt, the one who looked more shocked was Genta, who was staring at him with both his eyes and mouth wide open.

Eloy swallowed discreetly, feeling his heart hammering against his chest. He was starting to regret his decision when Mako broke the silence with a loud sigh, before going for her purse.

“I’m sorry, Narumi, I wish I didn’t have to pay you,” she said while Narumi extended a hand with her palm facing up towards Mako.

“Wait a minute,” Eloy blinked with confusion while Mako handed ¥1000 to Narumi. “Did you suspect it all this time?”

“No, no, no: what I bet against Narumi was that she’d actually have a chance if she dared to ask you out,” Mako rapidly said, causing Eloy to look at Narumi with surprise. This one displayed a soft, resigned smile before talking.

“And I told her that I wouldn’t stand a chance, but I didn’t tell her why I thought so.”

“But then that means that you suspected it,” Genta exclaimed in a tone that sounded betrayed. “Damn, Narumi, and you didn’t say a thing even if I–”

Eloy’s eyes rapidly shifted towards Genta as he shut up while tensing.

“Even if you what?” Eloy pressed, causing Genta to swallow slightly before meeting his eyes.

“Even if I’ve always shared everything with her. I mean, it’s not cool leaving a friend in the dark with those things, right?”

It didn’t look as if Genta was lying, and he wasn’t having any trouble in sustaining Eloy’s gaze, so Eloy eventually nodded with a bit of disappointment. After all, one thing was that the rest didn’t seem to have any trouble with his orientation, and another one that Genta happened to feel the same for him. There was a huge difference.

“See? I was right,” Cara said in a triumphant, happy tone while shaking Eloy’s arm softly, effectively interrupting his thoughts. “I told you that they would be okay with it.”

“Wait, did you think we wouldn’t?” Genta asked while frowning.

“It’s not that. I just didn’t find the right time,” Eloy said, smiling then with irony. “I mean, what was I supposed to say? ‘Hey Genta, I’m having trouble playing the score. By the way, I’m gay.’”

His comment made the others laugh, including Genta.

“In any case, I know a certain judge that would be very happy with this revelation,” Mako commented teasingly, causing Eloy to sigh with resignation, and Genta to snort loudly.

“I’m starting to suspect that you don’t like King very much, Genta,” Cara commented with a playful tone that made Genta click his tongue.

“No, I don’t. He’s arrogant, full of himself, and I get second-hand embarrassment when he acts all seductive and flirty, which is basically 90% of the time. I mean, he isn’t even that handsome, so I don’t get why everyone is so crazy about him–” Genta shut up while staring at Eloy, who had really done his best in keeping a completely neutral expression. “Oh, fuck me, do you think he’s hot too?”

“Well, I mean, he’s not ugly,” Eloy said while adjusting his glasses, ignoring the girl’s terrible efforts at suppressing their chuckles. “Also, he really knows how to sing and dance, and his performances are always really good–”

“And sexy.”

“...Thank you, Cara.”

“Okay, so your type is the typical sexy, flirty idol.” Genta whistled and tilted his head a bit while crossing his arms, leaning back against his chair. “I didn’t know that you were that superficial, Mr. Glasses.”

Eloy’s mouth fell open while the girls only threw more wood to the fire by exhaling provoking ‘uuuh’s. Eloy then exhaled an incredulous chuckle and grabbed his drink before fixing his eyes on Genta. Well, two could play that game.

“I’m not, Glaring Dude: King may be hot, yes, but what I find more attractive about him is the confidence he has in everything he does. Maybe when you grow up, you will be able to understand it.”

Eloy finished his sentence by taking a casual sip, and he didn’t bother to hide a satisfied smirk when his casual remark caused Genta to stare at him in complete shock while the girls started applauding.

“Sorry, Genta, you lost this battle,” Mako commented, patting Genta's shoulder.

“Shit,” Genta cursed, his eyes still fixed on Eloy. “Okay, I admit I started it, but you still were a jerk, man.”

Despite the comment, Genta had an impressed smile on his face that made Eloy chuckle.

“Oh, speaking about the devil!” Cara exclaimed one of King’s songs started to sound at that moment, causing everyone in the bar to become more animated. “Come on, we’ve been sitting for a while now. Time to dance!”

“Finally someone said it!” Mako exclaimed while standing up with Narumi. “We’ll open a way. Follow us!”

“But wait, Cara, you haven’t played your turn of the game yet,” Eloy said, causing the girl to sigh with impatience and wave her hand.

“Okay fine: I’m blonde, I’m Irish, and I had a super crush on Eloy before knowing he was gay.”

“What the–are you serious?!” Eloy exclaimed, looking at his friend in disbelief, but Cara simply stuck out her tongue and started to walk her way through the crowd, following Mako and Narumi.

Eloy was still a little shocked by that new revelation when Genta placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Come on. Let’s go with them.”

Harmony wasn’t a very big bar, so it didn’t take them much to pinpoint the girls dancing with each other to the rhythm of the music.

“We still need to have that conversation,” Eloy told Cara, causing this one to make a playful thumbs-up gesture towards him before going back to loudly singing the song alongside Mako and Narumi.

Eloy noticed then that Genta was looking at him without bothering to hide his amusement, so he sighed in defeat.

“Go ahead, you’re dying to say it.”

“Saying what? That you’re a heartbreaker in disguise?”

Eloy chuckled at Genta’s choice of words. “Yes, well, it must be the foreigner effect.”

Genta snorted. “Oi, if you’re fishing for compliments, you’re not getting them from me.”

Eloy was about to say that he wasn’t doing that when a guy that was enthusiastically dancing next to them pushed him accidentally, causing him to be on the verge of bumping into Genta. In response, Genta automatically placed his hands on Eloy’s hips while Eloy’s hands ended up against Genta’s chest.

“And now making the ‘i’ve tripped trick’, huh. You’re on fire tonight, Eloy.”

“And you're in the mood to be annoying tonight,” Eloy replied with a small hint of exasperation and a good dose of embarrassment, causing Genta to start laughing. He didn’t remove his hands from Eloy’s hips though, so Eloy also also kept his where they were.

“Sorry, I’ll stop now,” Genta smiled. “But it’s not my fault that you’re so funny to tease.”

Eloy rolled his eyes, but he was pretending to be annoyed because he deeply enjoyed that kind of dynamic with Genta. And also the way Genta’s hands felt on his hips. And the way Genta was smiling at him.

And as it had been happening lately, Eloy couldn’t help but wonder if Genta would follow if he dared to start reducing the distance between them in order to…

“Well, well, well, I’m glad that my hunch was correct.”

Eloy felt Genta tense instantly against him upon hearing that voice next to them. Eloy turned towards it, and his eyes opened wide when recognizing the owner:

It was the guy who had been chasing Genta the day they met at that 7-Eleven.