Chapter Text
Once again, Isagi had a long workday, from the train station to the house he shares with his boyfriend, which is almost an hour apart. They are still saving to buy a car, but lately there have been certain expenses that limited that possibility. Not long ago, Itoshi Rin, Isagi Yoichi's boyfriend, had an accident at work. As a photographer, part of his job is traveling. On one of these trips, he returned with a dislocated shoulder. The good thing is that Rin is now recovered.
Isagi enters the house, leaving his shoes at the entrance. He felt so relieved and comfy. It was around nine o'clock, and due to the absence of Rin's shoes, he assumed that maybe his partner had some extra things to do at work. It wouldn't take long to arrive anyway. Isagi walks into the room they share with a smile of being finally home when he suddenly notices the messy bed.
They hadn't spent much time together before going to work in two weeks when Rin recovered from his injury, but being so neat, he's surprised to find the bed like this. Rin always makes sure to leave everything ready before leaving. It doesn't bother him, though; maybe he was in a hurry. It's just that now he'll have to make the bed himself when the last thing he wanted to do was lift a finger.
Picking up the clothes scattered on the floor and lifting the sheets, he noticed a piece of black cloth stuck under the foot of the bed. He thought it was a shirt, but it was a different fabric. It took a few seconds for Isagi to recognize that type of material. Immediately felt nauseous and took a few steps back from it. Isagi didn't want to believe it; maybe it was a bandana, or that's what he wanted it to be. Yet he had no idea how he was able to get the stuck item out; when he did, he only confirmed what he feared so much.
His hands were shaking; it was lingerie.
It wasn't the first or the second time the same crap happened, but this was outrageous. A fourth time? Did Rin cheat on him again?
Oh God, he can't understand what's happening. While Rin was hurt, Isagi even felt that they grew closer. Yes, they didn't spend as much time together as before moving, but he thought everything was fine; they had been able to strengthen their relationship.
Right?
He could already hear the "I told you so" from his best friend Bachira Meguru; he wasn't ready to call him and tell him. Not when his vision was becoming completely blurry from the stupid tears that kept falling from his eyes.
What a bummer; now he would have to deal with the pain in his chest one more time.
It's ten o'clock, and Rin still hasn't arrived; Isagi hasn't received any messages, nor is he expecting one, because he swears on his life that if Rin crosses his path, he's capable of hitting him. He feels so embarrassed that Isagi began to imagine scenarios where Rin was laughing with whoever the person was that he cheated on, mocking him and his naivety.
What a joke, nothing more than that. A joke.
To his dismay, his phone rang. Isagi, hugging his legs against the wall, had to get up to pick it up. It was Mikage Reo, his other best friend, completely out of his expectations. Isagi didn't want to deal with him and open the message; he just threw the phone angrily at the bed, where it bounced back and fell directly onto his leg. At that point, any exterior pain was nothing compared to how he was feeling inside.
He is seriously so pathetic. He could still remember what his friends told him back then.
—"Isagi, I wonder what you have in your brain, maybe shit or something like that."
—"I love you too, Bachira."
—"No, like seriously, Yoichi, how is it that you've forgiven two affairs? That's wild and pathetic too, not gonna lie."
—"Why are you two against me? I don't even know why I came for, but definitely not for judgment."
—"What do you expect us to do? Cheer you up to forgive that son of a respectful mother and motivate you on this craziness? No way in hell!"
—"I cannot deny my anger too. Even if I try to feel sad for you, it's crazy how you say this happened two times already, not counting the current one. Do you really hate yourself that much? Where's your respect, man? It's a no-no for low self-love."
—"Listen, Yoichi, do what you wanna do. But deal with the consequences later. A cheater will always be a cheater."
—"Do you really never think about hitting him back? I mean, I would have left him in one-"
—"Bachira, that's not... ugh, sometimes your mouth is full of wisdom, and yet you ruin it with the same amount of bullshit. Yoichi, don't listen to him."
Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea if he could stab him back.
An affair with another man.
If he had a fake romance with someone and then confessed it to his face, what would his reaction be? Would he cry like he did?
Now he practically wants to kill him from the inside, in the cruelest way, so that Rin feels the same or a thousand times worse than he felt. An affair, just one capable of surpassing the now-fourth time he shatters his soul. He is going to make him beg for mercy; he is going to destroy him.
That night he went to bed alone and woke up with a message from Rin saying that he had left early at his superior's request.
Liar, he stayed awake all night waiting for him to arrive, but he never did. Does he really think of him as being that naive? There was no time to spare; he had to start preparing his plan.
If he were to choose any man off the street, he wouldn't feel comfortable. It repulsed him to imagine it; his chest ached at the thought. How could Rin do something like this?
Enough; he didn't want to think about it anymore; at this point, there's no love left. Because if Rin truly loved him, he wouldn't have hurt him like that.
Isagi had always been so focused on others that he ended up forgetting about himself.
—"Do you really hate yourself that much?"
He can't forget those words that Bachira said to him that time.
Maybe he could take advantage of the opportunity and have a bit of pleasure, he thought; they hadn't touched each other in months, and whenever he wanted some intimacy, Rin always pulled away. When it was the other way around, they often argued about it because he was tired.
Finding someone for casual sex, not just once but for a short period, would be enough to try to make Rin interested in him again. That way, the impact of the betrayal would be even greater. He picked up his phone and started texting everything down in notes.
Everything had to be perfect.
He couldn't look for a nobody, neither someone within his social circle. Only someone outside of Rin's suspicions and who was willing to keep their word.
Isagi works at a Japanese company that specializes in human resource management and offers staffing services. In his office, there are many men who openly flirt with him, but most of them are married or have families.
He didn't want someone like that; he wanted someone who wasn't committed and wouldn't complicate things, who would fit into his scheme and help execute it without involving feelings.
Inside his floor, there were two guys who could be possibilities due to their close age gap, Julian Loki and Kurona Ranze, who joined as part of their training group when they entered the company along with his best friend Bachira.
Both had good physiques and were certainly nice, but Isagi didn't want to get anyone from work involved, as it could become awkward once his venture was set in motion. Besides, there were rumors that Loki was interested in the girl from the 12th floor who worked in the Konbini area, and Kurona seemed very uninterested in men.
Seven in the morning and already ready, he left his house for work, thinking that later, after finishing his shift, he could organize himself better.
Isagi and Rin didn't work at the same company; their offices and buildings were right across the street. Isagi remembers when they started living together while finishing their studies to graduate in the fields they liked. Rin loved taking photos and going out for walks, and over time, he brought many friends home to study.
When the first infidelity occurred, it was when Rin and his classmates gathered at a bar to celebrate their good grades. Isagi received a call from one of his teammates at four in the morning and went to pick him up. When he arrived, he saw Rin and one of those guys kissing as if the world was about to end.
Isagi will never forget the mocking smile that guy directed at him when their eyes met. That guy immediately excused himself, saying that the resemblance between him and Isagi was so similar that Rin could have been mistaken.
The next day, Rin apologized, and despite how badly Isagi had felt, he decided to forgive him, believing what his boyfriend and "supposed" friend said.
For a while, things got better until, on another occasion, not long after, while Isagi was taking a shower, he heard Rin talking on the phone in a very affectionate manner. That same afternoon, while they were having sex, Rin moaned the name of the same person he was talking to on the phone while cumming inside.
Never, ever had he felt such deep pain. Isagi felt his soul shatter because Rin never moaned his name; he only called him by one or another nickname, kissed him poorly, and treated him roughly. There were few times when they had tender moments after sex, almost none. That night, when Rin wanted to touch him, he went over to Reo's house and stayed there all night crying until he fell asleep.
Rin searched for him for days, entered his workplace, and sang to him in front of everyone, something Rin hated, but did it for his forgiveness. Isagi found it enough and managed to believe him when he said it was an accident due to all the work that had to be done with a very annoying colleague. There was no explanation about the call that day, but he decided to let it go; maybe everything would change and be different this time.
Reo, who works in the same building as Rin, was the one who delivered the bad news of his third infidelity after finding him kissing one of their colleagues in one of the offices where he was supposed to deliver some packages. Isagi had no choice, so he told his friends about the previous incidents when he found himself cornered.
If you're wondering what the reason was for forgiving him that third time, it happened when he ran into Rin and Sae, Rin's brother, at a mall. Almost two weeks trying to find him, to finally break up and forget about him, when suddenly Rin is in front of Isagi, down on one knee, swearing eternal love and saying he wants to marry someday.
That ring he still had on his finger was a symbol of a promise to exchange their vows someday outside Japan and to marry despite all adversity.
What a nerve.
And what a mess. He feels disgusted; he had never truly confronted him. Isagi had always run away at every opportunity, and like an abandoned dog or a prince full of false promises, Rin kept coming back, wrapping Isagi in his lies.
This time would be different.
He arrived around eight in the morning, with plenty of time to organize his workplace. A few minutes later, the daily morning meeting was about to begin.
Everyone stood up from their seats, ready to listen to what the CEO had to say.
—Good morning, esteemed employees. Before we start our general meeting, today I would like to introduce a new member of our company. From Germany, Michael Kaiser. He will work in the Public Relations department as the group leader.
Isagi recognized the name immediately of the new member, but he didn't want to check if it was who he thought it was. He wanted to discreetly hide behind Bachira to avoid being seen. Even though he knew they were going to meet again, because the Public Relations department is the area where he works.