(BL) Mafia Love; He who falls the hardest loses-Chapter 136: Friends?

Moments like this made him feel like the richest man on earth. Haruki had reached out to him first, and it was obvious that the reason Haruki had not done so all along while he waited was that Haruki was too busy and in a position where he couldn’t.

It made him feel like the man’s priority. Haruki could have gone on without making this call, but he called him nonetheless.

He wore a bright smile for the rest of the day at work and when he got back home, he wished he could call Haruki but he gave up knowing the time difference could make things difficult for Haruki.

He cleaned up and got into his bed. Looking at the empty side of the large bed, he could only sigh. He picked up a book and began reading when he didn’t feel sleepy after lying for half an hour.

The phone on the nightstand rang startling him. He could easily guess who it was on the other end as he picked up his phone. He answered the call without bothering to check the caller’s ID.

"Hello," Haruki’s deep rich voice came from the other end.

Hiroshi closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. This was the most beautiful sound in the world and he wanted to hear more of it forever.

"Hello, I wanted to call you so badly but I knew you had a schedule I don’t want to disrupt," Hiroshi said softly. He wanted the man he loved to know he was yearning to hear his voice just as much maybe even more. He didn’t want to be the one without any effort made.

"Whenever you want to call, just call me. If I am too busy to pick up, I will call you back as soon as I get the chance to call you," Haruki told him warmly.

This was a great permission he was given. It was as though he had won a lifetime free ticket to a very expensive show. He swallowed and his grip on the phone tightened as he slid down and pulled the covers over his body.

"You’ll be late for work tomorrow if you don’t sleep now," Haruki warned him when he heard the rumpling of the covers.

"Okay. Thank you. I will call you or text you tomorrow morning," Hiroshi told him as he closed his eyes to turning to the side of the bed where Haruki usually sleeps.

"Good night," Haruki prompted the doctor who already sounded sleepy to go to bed.

"Good night," Hiroshi murmured as his eyelids felt heavier and his eyes closed with his grip on the phone loosening.

Haruki hung up when the man on the other end didn’t say anything else. He could easily guess the man had fallen asleep with the gentle sound of his even breath.

***

There was something significantly energetic about Dr Yamamoto this morning. Compared to yesterday. His smile was broad and he seemed even more jovial than his usually warm and quiet self.

His younger colleagues felt the need to comment but since they had not voiced their opinion on the obvious hickey on his neck he had since yesterday wish he hadn’t bothered to cover up, they could all guess he was a man in love without his verbal confirmation.

The quiet always single doctor had finally found a lover. It might not be very conservative to many who weren’t exposed to such a type of relationship but he was the son of the head of the hospital.

Those who weren’t very happy about it, could only gossip in whispers among themselves and said it to people they could trust keeping it among themselves for fear of getting punished for spreading rumours.

"Dr Yamamoto," his younger colleague walked to him and cleaned his hands against the counter close to Hiroshi and murmured softly, "A lady is looking for you downstairs. That lady."

Hiroshi was taken aback by those words as he looked a bit confused at first. He passed the chart he held over to his colleague and walked away.

As he walked out of the elevator he could not help but wonder what she wanted. He had made it clear he wanted nothing to do with her repeatedly but seemed to be very persistent about him.

With a sigh, he approached her when he noticed her figure in the lobby.

"Hi," she raised her hand with a carefree smile that ended up looking a bit awkward.

"Hi," he said as he sat beside her. "Why did you ask to see me?" he asked her seriously because he didn’t feel the need to beat around the bush with her.

"I came to visit a friend," she replied a warm less awkward smile on her face.

"Who?" Hiroshi asked looking around perfunctorily.

"You," she laughed lightly at his action and pointed at herself. "I have decided to keep my feelings in check and be your friend. Isn’t that something I can do?"

"It is something you can do but I don’t feel comfortable having you over at the hospital," Hiroshi told her sincerely. She made him so scared that he would lose Haruki. She almost made him lose the man he loved more than life itself.

"Why? It is a very public space," she said looking around as though she could not believe a word he said.

"I know," he agreed with her. "Do you know how much I love Haruki? I love him more than I love myself. I will gladly die for him if I have to."

"I think that is an obsession," she murmured looking down at her fingers. Her voice was slow Hiroshi almost missed what she said as she raised her eyes to look at him again.

"I am okay being obsessed with him. Being obsessed with him brings me joy. I thought I could escape. I tried to use you to escape at first but I have and need no escape," he confessed without hesitation.

"You admit that you tried to use me to get over him?" she asked laughing softly. "Wow then I guess I have no reason to apologise we are even aren’t we?"

"I don’t hold it against you," Hiroshi told her truthfully. The things people do to get someone they love are endless and simply telling them not to does not mean their heart will let them obey you. "However, I can’t put you through the pain of liking me by being your friend."

"Don’t worry, I have gotten over it. I am here because I don’t have any friends in this field. I could use one. I bet you have a few friends, you could introduce them to me."

Hiroshi sighed. He didn’t have enemies but he wouldn’t be confident enough to say he had close friends who worked in the medical field. He had a lot of contacts from networking in conferences, fundraisers, and others but he didn’t have a close friend among them.

"I guessed. Then you and I could be very good friends. Maybe together we could make more friends."

He sighed. He thought of rejecting her. He had forgiven her and felt no need to keep his distance from her. With those thoughts on his mind, he nodded to her.

"Fine if that is what you want but I am in a relationship I have no intention of ending."

"I know and I know how strong your bond is. I heard the audio before it was taken down. I could easily sense how close you two were."

"I thought people thought it was a simple conversation between a doctor and his patient?" Hiroshi asked a bit confused.

"What doctor calls his patient beautiful?"

"Oh," Hiroshi murmured and bowed.

"I am open to any invitation you offer me. I will clear my schedule and accept it. Work has been a bit too monotonous for me of recent."

Hiroshi smiled at her trick. She wanted him to invite her but she didn’t want to make a direct invitation. Her tone sounded carefree. He could believe that she had seriously gotten over him.

With that on his mind, Hiroshi said, "Sure. I will play golf with my younger brother this weekend. Do you want to join us?"

"Mhh," she murmured nodding. "Sure, why not?" she sounded excited at the thought of meeting Hiroshi’s brother. "Your brother, what does he do?"

"He’s an artist."

"A popular one?" she asked curiously. When she realised her question might not be very proper, she bowed slightly and said, "Oh sorry. No need to respond."

"Yes, you can search for Hiroaki Yamamoto." Hiroshi looked down at his wrist watch knowing she was neither done with work nor on a break so he had to get back in as soon as possible.

"Ah! I know him. I bought one of his art pieces a couple of years ago when I travelled to Europe. This weekend will be fun. Thank you for wanting to remain friends. I was not very confident about it when I decided to come."

Haruki nodded. Having a friend was not wrong especially since he could sense that she had no romantic feelings for him anymore.

"Text me the location on time. I will see you this weekend." When Hiroshi nodded in agreement, she said, "Get back to work then, I won’t hold you back."

Hiroshi rose up. She might have left work just to talk to him. He thought of how hurtful it would have been if he had refused to be her friend.

With that thought on his mind, he exchanged a few words with her and headed towards the elevator.

***

-I spoke to Miyoko today. She came to the hospital. I invited her to join Aki and me this weekend.

Seeing the string of text he typed, Hiroshi nodded and sent it to Haruki and got into bed.

Haruki didn’t respond to the message instead he called Hiroshi.