“Oh, well… alright then—”
“What about your parents?” I ask, realizing I need to lighten the conversation. “Are they proud of their vampire-doctoring son?”
“Um, well actually my mum also passed away a long time ago. When I was still in secondary school. My dad is in South Korea with his family. He’s fine with what I do. No strong opinions from him either way.”
I pause, picking up on something odd. “I’m sorry about your mother. You said your father is with his family? Are they not your family, too?”
Jae takes a deep breath over the line. “Technically. By law and genetics? They don’t recognize me as one of them. Messy business with my parents getting married without my grandmother’s approval. But it’s not a big deal. I talk to my dad pretty regularly. It’s alright.”
I can hear the shrug in his voice, but I’m sitting with my face scrunched up in disbelief. It definitely doesn’t sound alright. “Understood. Is your mother’s family more accepting of you?”
“Mum grew up in the foster system in London, so no relatives to speak of on her side. I’ve heard it said that relatives are a pain anyway, so I’m not torn up about it.” It doesn’t escape me that he’s attempting to make light of the fact that he essentially has no familial ties. He’s trying to sound breezy about it, but something in it makes my chest tight.
“Have you met people in moving to Japan?” I ask. Living in a new place can be lonely as hell all by itself, but not having family back home to reach out to either? Where is his tribe? His community? No man is a fucking island.
“Not really—but Sora had me over for dinner a couple of times. And I’m really rather busy with this new patient load and taking on the surrogate project. This is just how I operate best. I’m pretty well accustomed to handling things on my own—have been for years now. It’s really not as bad as it probably sounds. I’m not some loner… How did we get here? Christ.”
“Maybe when I’m back, I can take you to Okutsukei Valley before dinner? It’ll be beautiful by then with all the fall colors—since you said you haven’t done any sightseeing. Or maybe Himeji Castle?”
I can almost hear the relief in his voice when he responds. “I’d like that a lot. It sounds fantastic. Sundays are my days off.”
“What do you usually do on Sundays?” I ask.
“Hm, I mostly catch up on household chores. I also play shōgi at the local temple for fun.”
I pause, my eyebrow raised. “You play Japanese chess with old men for fun on your only day off?”
He laughs. “Well, they’re a kind lot. Very welcoming, and they like to bring me snacks and souvenirs any time they return after a holiday.”
“Alright, well, if you’ve got your eye on any of them, tell me now and I won’t intrude.”
Jae snorts. “I don’t!”
“If you’re into older men, I’m probably twice the age of anyone in there. I’ll bring you better snacks, too.”
Jae keeps laughing, and it’s a happy, open sound from his chest. It’s nice. I can feel the walls coming down just a little bit more.
October
Eleven
Jae
[I’m not walking. That’s not what I do.]
I smile. I’ve been smiling so much this past week that my cheeks are numb. I can’t remember the last time I felt this excited about something in my personal life. It’s like there are stars floating around inside me. Wonder. A child on Christmas Eve.
My fingers move swiftly across the screen before I hit send.
[You could model. Of course they want you to walk. Legs for days.]
The bubbles immediately pop up in our chat, and Junichi’s response soon follows.
[If you keep this up, I’ll get the wrong idea about your intentions.]
I laugh, feeling wicked as I type.
[Please get the wrong idea. Terrible, very bad, no-good ideas.]
[You’re a tease, Doctor Davies. Will you be shy when I get back home?]
[You’ll just have to see, won’t you? Good luck with your negotiation today.]
“Five minutes,” the elderly man at the front of the room calls out. Before I put my phone away, it buzzes once more.
[Thank you. Shall we talk later tonight?]
[Yes, absolutely.]
[Perfect. Enjoy the old men… but not too much.]
I shake my head and tuck my phone underneath my folded legs against the tatami and sit up straight. God. I cannot wait until Junichi gets back.
We’ve talked and texted every day for the past week. I’m learning so much about him: how he really likes classic jazz and it’s what he and Haruka instantly connected over. How he played kendo in high school and won a championship (at a prominent high school for vampires only, no less), and how he loves to travel but hates flying, because he says it’s like being trapped inside a human-stuffed can for hours and he can smell everything, like, humans past and present… I know I’m human, but I wasn’t even offended by that because it honestly sounds like a nightmare. Just thinking about that perpetual fart smell mixed with dead skin cells and stale armpits is enough to make me gag with my meager senses.
Fart smells aside, Jun’s smooth, cool voice is becoming like an aphrodisiac. We talk late, and I’m such a slag because I keep wanting to say dirty things to him about my cock, or his cock and what I’d like to do with it.
If I go down that path, though, I’m not sure he’ll follow me, so I keep it light and flirty and he doesn’t dissuade me. When he comes back next weekend, it’ll be all I can do to not wrap myself around him and lick him the moment I see him.
