Page 59 of Out of Nowhere

“Oh, I figured it was something about fire. It was cool the way she had her red hair standing straight up like that.”

Dex yawned, rolled on his side, and laid his head on Seo-jun’s chest.

“Hey,” he said softly. “You know when we did it in the shower?”

“Yeah,” Seo-jun responded curiously.

“I liked it a lot.”

“Me, too,” Seo-jun said, smiling.

“If I wanted to fuck you that hard, would it be okay? I mean, would it remind you of…before?”

Running his hand down Dex’s back, Seo-jun said. “No. Nothing you could ever say or do would remind me of my past. You are so different from Haru, Dex. You can put that fear out of your mind. Okay?”

“‘kay,” Dex said sleepily before pressing a kiss to Seo-jun’s sternum. A minute later, he was asleep.

Seo-jun lay there for awhile, listening to the sound of the ocean in the distance and the occasional creak of the house. Finally, when Dex seemed to be deeply asleep, he slipped out of the bed and sat down in the chair beside the balcony doors, feeling inexplicably restless. He spent a few minutes on Instagram and then Tiktok before opening up the Facebook app. He rarely posted there, maybe a dozen times over the past decade, but since he’d started seeing Dex, he’d changed his relationship status with a funny little leap of his stomach and started posting pictures of them. Several from when they were in Fresno, and quite a few since, including one of them in their Halloween costumes before the party. All the team members had liked the pictures and posted comments, and Seo-jun found himself smiling as he read each one. Dex was a good influence on him. He was happy.

He stilled in his scrolling when a message suddenly popped up in the upper righthand corner of the screen. Opening it, he stared at the name: Harry Izumi. “Speak of the devil,” Seo-jun said softly. “Why the fuck are you contacting me after all these years?”

Annoyed but too curious to ignore the message, he opened it.

Johnny, bet you’re surprised to hear from me after all this time! I’ve been thinking of you a lot lately and decided to look you up on Facebook. Imagine my surprise to learn you are in North Carolina—I will be attending a conference there in November. Must be kismet! Meet up for drinks?

Stunned, Seo-jun reread the message, then closed the app. Putting his phone on the nightstand, he climbed back into bed with Dex, scooting as close to the other man as he could, breathing in the clean smell of his hair. More than a little disconcerted by Haru’s unexpected message after so long, he lay awake staring at the far wall. That nickname—Johnny—he hadn’t thought of it in years.

Would he agree to meet Haru? No. Should he even message him back? Seo-jun thought not, but he didn’t want Haru showing up at his door. With a yawn, he decided he’d consult Dex about it in the morning.

Chapter Thirty-five: Dex

Dex sat looking at the message Seo-jun showed him. From Haru, Seo-jun’s ex-boyfriend. If you could even call him that. Thegroomer.

“Come on. He expects you to believe that right after you change your relationship status he just happens to look you up?” Dex said irritably.

“You don’t believe it?” Seo-jun looked at him over the small dining room table in their apartment, where they were having lunch. He’d waited until they got home to bring the subject up, so they’d have privacy.

“No way. He’s definitely kept tabs on you over the years. You said he was controlling, right? I’m willing to bet he liked thinking you were still pining away for him. Now that he knows you aren’t, he’s got to see you.”

Seo-jun nodded slowly. “You’re right. That sounds like Haru. So, I’ll ignore him.” He took his phone back from Dex.

Dex’s gut churned at the thought of Seo-jun interacting with that man, even through social media.

“Do you think he’ll leave it at that?” he asked doubtfully.

“Probably not. But maybe.”

“You should send him a cavalier message saying hello, you hope he’s well, and you’re sorry, but you can’t make it.”

Seo-jun agreed, and that was that.

Or so they’d thought. Dex really wasn’t surprised when, a week later, Seo-jun told him he’d gotten another message from Haru that morning. Going to sit beside Seo-jun on the long couch in front of the window that looked overlooked a park, he read over Seo-jun’s shoulder.

God, he really hated that Haru called Seo-jun “Johnny.”

Johnny, I know you said you couldn’t make it, but can you work something out? I’m in Raleigh now. The conference lasts for three days, and after that I could meet you halfway. I’d love to catch up.

“Do you want to see him?” Dex asked Seo-jun. Maybe he shouldn’t have assumed that Seo-jun didn’t.

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