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Saturdays were their day offs and the day meant for cleaning up. It was something they built as a routine together.
But Kei was hanging up his freshly pressed clothes, his eyes wandered around and noticed a glaringly obvious oddity that didn’t catch his attention until right now. He remembered that among his collection of stuff he liked to wear was his old college jersey, a purple hoodie with a moon embroidered on it, and a few more shirts here and there. But they weren’t there in the closet like they were supposed to be.
He stared at the empty spot on his side of the closet and wondered if he misplaced his other clothes. That is until he thought of another reason why this glaringly obvious oddity existed.
Dropping his garments back into the basket, he picked his phone up and quickly dialed a number.
The clock had ticked after noontime and there was a seven-hour difference so Kei should be expecting the other to pick up as soon as there was ringing.
“Kei! Good morning.”
Right on time.
Tobio, still a week fresh in Italy, sounded so bright—or as bright as someone like him could be—as he answered the phone. There was definitely a smile on his face that left the sparkle in his eyes that Kei loved seeing. Feeling his heart soften, Kei said, “Good morning, king.” Then, remembering the reason he called so early, he continued, “Wanna know how my day’s been lately?”
“Okay, sure.”
“Of course, now that you’ve left me for Italy and I’m all alone in this home we were meant to share” —He heard Tobio lightheartedly snickering— “all of the housekeeping is left to me and I had to make do with only pair of hands.”
“What, are you going to say you’ve burned the kitchen in the one week I was gone?”
“Oh, this is much worse than that, your majesty,” Kei shot back. “You see, as I had finished my laundry and was hanging my clothes back in my closet, I’ve noticed something really strange. Really strange that it’s bothering me so much that I decided to bother you when you just woke up.”
“But I like it when you bother me,” Tobio chimed in. “Well, sometimes.”
“Tobio,” Kei lightly scolded and the other man giggled. “Anyway, the strange thing about my closet is that it’s missing a few or a couple things in it.”
“Oh?”
“What’s even stranger is that those missing stuff just happen to be something a certain someone likes wearing. Well, Tobio? What do you have to say for yourself?”
On the other end of the line, Tobio sighed and said, “I can’t believe you noticed.”
“Tobio, just because you decided to monopolize them, those are my clothes,” Kei chuckled. “Of course, I’d notice.”
“So what now? Do you want them back?”
“Obviously, I just said those are my clothes.”
“But I thought what’s yours is mine.”
“We have never decided on such an agreement, Tobio.”
“But I love wearing these. It’s like having you here with me.”
Kei choked, feeling the heat travel to the tip of his ears. Amazing that after all these years of being together, the king can still summon a reaction like this out of him. Almost immediately, Kei could see the pout on Tobio’s face, and he terribly wished that Tobio was in front of him, and talking to him instead of speaking through the phone.
“You…” he said, his voice terribly laced with fondness and affection that it would gag the younger him.
Well, the younger him was dead and long gone anyway and there was only the Kei who’s hopelessly gone for the man who had stolen from his wardrobe.
“If you really want these back, then you could come get them yourself,” Tobio suggested.
“Is this your way of telling me to come visit you there?” Kei shook his head as a dumb smile shone on his face.
“Yes, you should come here,” said Tobio almost demandingly. “The air here would be great for you, and we could go visit the museums and try out the deserts here!”
Putting his phone on speaker, Kei went back to arranging his ironed clothes back in his wardrobe. “I’m surprised you didn’t say anything about us playing volleyball on Italian soil.”
He could practically envision Tobio arching a brow as he said, “I thought that was obvious. Of course, we’re gonna play volleyball here when you come visit.”
“God, king, it’s only been a week since you settled in.”
“Yes, but I want to see you again.” Kei could swear that he could’ve melted right then and there. “And also because I want you to bring more of your clothes here.”
“Yeah, and how is that supposed to convince me to fly there?”
“Well, I’m here, isn’t that enough?”
“You sound so sure that I’d fly out to that one-bedroom apartment of yours there.”
“The bed is big enough for the both of us, by the way.”
“You little…”
As they playfully bickered back and forth over the phone about whether or not Kei should fly out to Italy so soon, Tobio was already preparing his breakfast before deciding which place he should try and visit while Kei was looking up flight details to Italy scheduled just three months away.