Chapter 2

When was the man last seen? Eiji barely even remembers it. Maybe two or three weeks ago. He only stopped by briefly and returned to say goodbye to go out of town. So when Eiji found a very familiar pair of shoes after opening the door to his apartment, he rushed inside. He was happy, the man finally came home.

Eiji checked his room with lips that wouldn't stop smiling. He was a bit disappointed when the man wasn't there. He thought the man would wait for him to come home. Eiji's smile slowly faded. He took off his jacket and left his short t-shirt attached. Eiji stepped into the kitchen.

"Are you home?" The man's voice sounded normal. There is no longing in it or just worry.

"I should be the one asking that, right?" Eiji asked back. He gripped the edge of the plate in front of him tightly. Eiji was quite disappointed by that sentence, as if he was the one spending most of his time out there. Eiji took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He smiled as he turned around.

But that smile only lasted a few seconds when he found the man in front of him already well-dressed. In the end he mustered all his strength so that the bitterness that was slowly creeping up in his heart wouldn't spread, "You're going again, Kei?"

"There's another problem at city branch A. So I have to go." Kei answered lightly. As if the guilt for having left Eiji never existed, "last flight in an hour."

Eiji couldn't help but laugh bitterly in his heart. He felt more and more that his lover had really gone too far. He was gone for almost three weeks and came back only to say that the man was leaving again.

"You're even just an ordinary employee, but how can the company treat you like you're a boss." Eiji's patience just evaporated. He wasn't as stupid as Kei thought. He knew that a lowly employee like Kei would never get a chance to solve problems in every branch. Bad thoughts started to cross his mind.

"We discussed that, right? That could get me a promotion."

Eiji didn't want to believe it. He knew that the man in front of him had lied to him. He turned and turned his back on Kei. He looked down only to find another white plate that hadn't been filled with any food.

"You're not in a relationship with the daughter of a high-ranking company, right?" in the end, everything that was blocking Eiji's heart just came out. Eiji's eyes slowly turned red as he tried to keep his tears from falling.

But Kei didn't try to deny it and said something so cruel to Eiji, "a success requires sacrifice."

"What's all this?" asked Eiji with his tears spilled and fell onto the plate under his face, "what are you looking for? Is all this still lacking? Do you have to exchange our togetherness for your ambition?"

Eiji's memories replayed and fell back in the spring of that day. If only he could be more honest and say that he was from the Sato family, would Kei leave him for money? But he was too afraid of any eventuality. He was afraid that Kei would distance himself from him when he found out that he was the youngest heir of the Rokkotsu Group. Everyone was too scared to deal with his youngest brother. Then he said that he was just Eiji.

Eiji blinked his eyes to reduce the water that was blocking his view. But it all returned to normal and his eyes were still filled with tears.

'You won't be happy. Remember Eiji, in the end you will come back here to cry over everyone.'

Eiji thought back to the swearing his youngest brother had uttered. That day even his eldest brother did not try to stop the vile words to curse him.

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Eiji is hurt. Compared to the stress Yukihiro said, it was more of a mental stress. Eiji has gone through difficult times during his five-year relationship with Kei. In his sophomore year, he has to learn how to take care of a dilapidated flat while Kei comes home and sleeps comfortably. Eiji even has to work anything to pay the rent, while Kei only focuses on his studies. Didn't the relationship look unhealthy from the start? Kei said he loved Eiji, but the man didn't even try to let Eiji share the work.

Then, when their finances improve, Kei locks him up in a luxury apartment and doesn't allow him to go out freely.

"You are back?" Eiji looked up and found a pair of black eyes staring into him. A spark of hope seemed to appear and warmed his heart. His relationship with Kei can still be saved. Kei will definitely come back to him and make him a treasure like the first year they were in a relationship.

But the man was silent. The man looked at Eiji's flushed face. Then his eyes stared at the empty bottles where the luxurious drink had been finished by Eiji.

"Why did we have to end up like this?" Eiji could only mumble while his body was completely exhausted, "If only. If I had a lot of money, would you still be by my side?"

The man didn't utter a word. He walked over and grabbed Eiji's arm. He stared into those turquoise eyes before he finally kissed Eiji passionately and led him into the room.

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"So this is what you were doing behind my back?"

When morning came, Kei's angry face was the first thing Eiji saw after he opened his eyes. The man is seen throwing the newspaper in his hand. While his big body still feels comfortable on the sofa in their room. His dark eyes stared at Eiji coldly.

"What are you talking about?" Eiji tried to get up even though his head was throbbing again.

Kei smiled sinisterly as he lifted himself up from the sofa. His two long legs stepped closer to the bed where Eiji was still trying to gather his consciousness.

"Who are you sharing the night with this time? So is this what you do whenever I'm not around you?"

Eiji was still silent holding all the pain that gathered in his head. He couldn't even catch what Kei was saying.

"Hey, how many men have replaced me-"

"What are you talking about?" Eiji was only able to interrupt with that sentence.

Eiji didn't understand why Kei could say such bad things. He could still remember Kei's dark eyes staring at him lovingly last night. But after time has passed, how can Kei accuse him of having an affair?

"I prefer to cancel my flight and rush here because I'm worried about you." Kei looked at Eiji's bare neck and chest which were covered in red blotches, "but what is all that?" there was an unpleasant tone to the sentence, as if Kei was so disgusted to see it.

"I don't know you forgot or pretended to forget how you kissed me last night." Eiji tried to hold back the pain that shot through his heart again, "and now you're asking like there's another man here."

Buaagghhh..

Eiji couldn't parry Kei's blow that came so fast. Eiji could only feel the pain gathering on his cheek again. He found the taste of iron mixed with water in his mouth. It was possible that the corner of his inner lip had been torn off.

In the end Eiji's stubbornness collapsed. He could accept that Kei had other relationships out there. But accusing him of having an affair is too selfish.

"Hey, Eiji. Let's just end this relationship."

Eiji swallowed hard and let the tears fall again. He couldn't imagine that the man he had loved for five years could sincerely throw him away for the sake of ambition. What is the man looking for? If only Kei had said that money was the goal of his life journey, maybe Eiji would have given it from the start. In fact, even without working he has accumulated a lot of money. But one day Kei said that he didn't need anything but Eiji's attention.

"Stay here. I will still fulfill all your needs."

"Why are you treating me like I'm your mistress?"

Eiji was too tired to just roar. He knew Kei more than anyone. Either way, if that man had made up his mind, things would still be like that.

"Then you can stay on the streets if you want."

Eiji wiped the tears that trickled down his cheeks when Kei walked away leaving him in the room. Perhaps Kei had forgotten that Eiji had been living on the streets for a long time since leaving his two older brothers' house.