loadchaudâ:
                 lan wanted to kiss him. it was hard to wrap his mind around this being real. yet, at the same time, it was such a lan thing to do. to not realize his own feelings until after heâs kissed enzan, and not even realize until after how awkward the situation might become. except it wasnât, because enzan felt the same way towards lan. for much longer than heâd like to admit.Â
                         it wasnât as if he was waiting for lan. it would be pathetic to wait on someone for four years, especially someone who couldnât recognize romantic intention if it was smacked across his forehead. heâd simply forced himself not to think about it, until the feelings would fade to a residual ache, then heâd see or hear from lan again and the cycle would start all over. but it was different now, because lan apparently reciprocated his feelings â even if he hadnât realized it himself until a few moments ago.Â
                          â donât jump to conclusions when you havenât given me a chance to respond. â normally, words like that would have come out harsher, but he was so flustered by the situation â and what he was about to say next â that his tone was uncharacteristically soft. â ⊠which is hypocritical of me, since i feel the same way about you. â
                          enzan paused, face heating up and feeling the room start to close in on him â he had never spoken these feelings aloud, not even to protoman ( though heâd figured it out regardless, which was another matter entirely ). he had never had feelings like these for anyone except lan, nor had he ever shared them. he wasnât sure what he was doing. he just didnât want lan to think that he would hate him, especially when the opposite was true.Â
                           â what i mean is ⊠i ⊠i like youâ i have liked youâ for a while. i didnât want to make things awkward between us or between hub and protoman, so i kept quiet. if anything ⊠i thought you might think those things about me. â
                ây-you what--?â upon hearing those words, his head shot back up. enzan felt the same? really? he hadnât expected this. even if he only just figured out his feelings, he never expected enzan of all people to like him. after all, enzan was out of his league. he could do so much better than lan.Â
                 âm...me?â he pointed at himself in disbelief. all of this was making his head spin. enzan liked him back, and heâd liked him for awhile. how long exactly? no, he shouldnât ask that. enzan may not tell him anyways and lan might just explode at enzanâs answer. he would tuck that question away for another day.Â
                  âyou like me?â he felt like a broken record, just repeating the things enzan was saying. but he couldnât help it! he was shocked by all of this! he wasnât sure how he expected this conversation to go, but it certainly wasnât like this. of course, he wasnât complaining about this. not at all.
                    i thought you might think those things of me. lan shook his head, âno, i would never think that about you--!â even if he hadnât liked enzan, he would never think he was gross or anything like that. and he definitely wouldnât hate him. no, he couldnât even imagine hating enzan.Â
                    a smile tugged at his lips before he started to laugh and said, âwe were both worried over the same thing, huh?â in the end, they both defied each otherâs expectations. lan reached out slowly, taking one of enzanâs hands into his own. âi-i really like you too--! so um...can we try that again? the kiss, i mean. if thatâs okay with you...â














