The sun rays peered through the gray curtains, shedding some light on the king-sized bed where Teran and Rawanak lay fast asleep. “nu-gestu...nu-gestu…nu..nu..” Rawanak shook his body while muttering the words that filled the silent room. A sleeping Teran rubbed his face groggily, trying to deduce where the sounds were coming from. After a few seconds, he managed to open his eyes and looked to his side, where he saw Rawanak’s scrunched-up face with eyes still closed. He was muttering words that didn’t make any sense to Teran, who now stared at him in confusion. He had never seen Rawanak look so distressed, he thought to himself as he stretched out his hand to brush the hair off the sleeping man’s face. He then laid his hand there for a while, hoping to calm Rawanak down, and in just a little while, his breathing slowed down, and his body relaxed.
Teran smiled slightly at seeing Rawanak’s now calm face, which made it easier to admire his features. He had such milky, beautiful, soft skin that seemed delicate enough to tear at even the smallest impact. Teran shut his eyes and let out a loud breath when he remembered how hard he had beaten Rawanak the last time he was here. He felt so sorry as he opened his eyes to search Rawanak’s face for any scars, but there were none. He was surprised but relieved at how well he had healed up. “Sorry for hitting you.” He whispered as he looked at the sleeping man. He looked at Rawanak one last time before finally getting out of bed gently so he wouldn’t wake him up. The door shut behind Teran as he left the penthouse, leaving a soft echo that filled the room where a ‘sleeping’ merman god lay, letting out a satisfactory smile, before opening his eyes to face the ceiling.
---
“No! Don’t put that down.” Teran yelled in frustration at the now scared young guy, putting a painting on the wall. “Why am I doing your work for you?” Teran turned to face the middle-aged man next to him.
Teran was preparing for his long-awaited June art showcase, and it had been keeping him so busy over the past few days. This was evident by the bustle of activity that filled his mansion, where cleaners flooded the area trying to make the place as spotless as possible, gardeners mowed the lawns, and Teran and his manager, Danny, tried to make the art gallery downstairs as perfect as possible.
“Don’t shout at me,” Danny said sassily as he put a hand in his ear to show his irritation with his perfectionist boss. He then headed toward the young man Teran had yelled at and shooed him away, before coming back to face the clearly stressed man standing in the middle of the gallery. “Cool down boss,” Danny said cheekily as he patted Teran’s arm lightly.
“Nothing can go wrong this weekend.” Teran barked orders at his manager. “I don’t know why I feel like something is missing…” The perfectionist’s voice trailed off as he looked around the gallery, hoping to find the missing piece. “Figure it out before this weekend,” Teran told his manager and walked toward the exit. He passed the cleaning ladies who filled the living area and walked towards the backyard, where a few gardeners worked tirelessly to get everything right. A sigh involuntarily left his mouth as he tried to come up with more ways to make the showcase better than it already was.
“Hey, handsome.” A low, deep voice echoed behind him, pulling him out of his train of thought. He didn’t need to look behind to know who it was, because no one had such an accent other than Rawanak. He turned a little just enough to get a glimpse of the guy and said disinterestedly, “Oh, it’s you.” He then directed his gaze toward the yard, as if to continue with what he was doing, but he could feel Rawanak’s eyes boring into his back.
Rawanak tilted his head slightly at the man’s attitude, but he wasn’t offended, instead, he walked closer to get a good look at him. He had missed looking at his beautiful face. “You don’t answer my call. I call you many times.” Rawanak spoke with slight disappointment as he tried to get a read of Teran.
“I’ve been busy…haven’t had the time to look at my phone.” Teran lied through his teeth. In reality, he had seen Rawanak calling, but he didn’t know what to talk to him about, and he was also so busy planning the art gallery that he didn’t want to be in any way disoriented. “I didn’t even know you had a phone. Thought you were like a caveman or something,” Teran lied further to the blue-haired guy, who clearly heard his heart racing, an indication he was not telling the truth.
“Michael. He help me.” Rawanak just decided to go with it because all he wanted was to maybe have a conversation with Teran. Since that night, they had not seen each other, and he could feel like Teran was pulling away from him, and it terrified the sea god more than anything.
“Hey man, I’d love to chit-chat, but I have a lot of things to attend to,” Teran said as he turned to walk away, but Rawanak hastily grabbed his arm.
“Are you okay?” Rawanak asked with a sad look in his eyes.
“Of course, why wouldn’t I be? There’s just a lot going on…As you can see.” Teran stretched his arm slightly to show Rawanak the bustle of activity happening around the house.
“Boss…boss…” Teran heard Danny’s voice heading toward them. He immediately shook Rawanak’s hand off and started walking back into the house, but Danny reached him before he could take three steps. “I have an idea. I think you’ll love it.” The middle-aged man said in high spirits to Teran. Rawanak looked at Danny with probing eyes, trying to deduce who he was. He had never seen him before. He wore colourful attire and a lot of accessories, his hair was gelled up, and he had make-up that made him look a lot younger than he probably was. He didn’t seem like a threat, Rawank thought, but he wished Teran would put his attention on him instead.
Rawanak felt out of place, so he decided to walk away and brushed past Teran and Danny, who looked at him until he disappeared out of sight. “Mmmmh…Who. Is. That?” Danny turned to ask his boss with a sort of interested look.
“No one. He’s not important. What were you saying?” Teran cut the conversation off as he tried to bring his focus back to the showcase. The occurrence between them confirmed to him why he needed to stay away from Rawanak, especially now, even a second of seeing him clouded his mind so much. He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts, as he listened to Danny.
---
Rawanak’s head lay low as he went deep in thought about yesterday’s occurrence with Teran. He sighed heavily for almost the hundredth time and looked out at the glistening ocean. He loved coming down to the beach when he felt burdened or stressed about something because it always calmed him. The waves beat a little violently at the waters, matching Rawanak’s current mood as he walked around the shore trying to release the ache in him.
While walking, Rawanak suddenly got shocked by the buzzing in his pants, it was his phone. He sighed in relief and disbelief at himself. He was still getting used to it, and he also barely used it unless he was communicating with Michael. He wondered who was calling him as he took out the gadget from his pocket. He couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw the number on his screen. He had looked at it so many times, so he knew instantly who it was. “Hey, caveman. Come to my house. Now. I mean…if you’re not busy of course.” Rawanak didn’t need to be told further before he started making his way from off the beach.
He hailed a cab at the roadside and directed the driver to Teran’s house, which wasn’t very far away, as the side of his lips arched slightly, letting out a smile.
---
Teran watched the setting sun in the expansive front yard as he leaned on his black BMW, waiting for Rawanak’s arrival. Yesterday, after Rawanak’s departure, Danny had mentioned to him about adding a performer to the showcase, and the first person that came to Teran’s mind was the man he’d just ignored. He cursed at himself at first, but realized there’s nothing he wanted he can’t get. A smirk formed on his lips as he saw the blue-haired guy walk into his compound, confirming his assumption. The man seemed to really be into him. ‘This will be easy.’ He thought as he approached the smiling man walking towards him.
“Thank you for coming man,” Teran wrapped an arm around the man as he led him toward the house. “I have something to show you.” Teran continued as they diverted toward the entrance to the art gallery. Teran finally let go of Rawanak when they reached the staircase, and Rawanak sighed loudly. He didn’t even realize how long he’d held his breath for. “Follow me.” Teran looked back at Rawanak as he walked down the vintage-designed staircase.
“Where are we going?” The sea god asked as he followed Teran with hesitation. He was acting aloof yesterday, and now he was all up on him? Strange. He thought as they finally reached a huge room filled with paintings. “Wow...” Rawanak let out his surprise as he scanned the area with his eyes.
“You like it?” Teran seemed almost proud of himself when he saw the man’s surprise. “It’s for my art showcase this weekend. You can look around if you want.” Teran continued, but Rawanak was already making his way to see the art pieces on the walls.
“Michael said you paint…You are very good.” Rawanak said as he continued marveling at the art pieces hanging on the walls. He could see the detail that went into them, how most were heavily inspired by the ocean, something he took great amusement in. He walked around the gallery until he reached a narrow path that didn’t have paintings on it, but at the end, there hung something much bigger than the rest, which was covered in a white cloth. He headed towards it, but Teran immediately stopped him. “That is a surprise. I will reveal it at the showcase.” Teran said as he ushered the curious man down another narrow hallway filled with more pieces.
Rawanak was puzzled by this part of the hallway when he saw the paintings hanging on the walls, and it showed all over his face. “Oh, these are old paintings. I did them when I just started out.” Teran said when he saw Rawanak’s reaction.
But that’s not what concerned the sea god. It was that the whole collection was filled with merfolk. Of course, he had seen a lot of merfolk pictures or statues since he came to this world, which people got all wrong because they all looked like human beings, but with a fish tail. Sometimes he would laugh at himself at the inaccuracy, but this, this seemed too real. One piece just showed some merfolk swimming underwater, another showed one jumping out of the water, and there was even one that showed one being caught in a fishnet. He averted his gaze immediately from that piece as he felt the discomfort stir in him, when he was met by the painting at the end of that hallway.
This was the most detailed of all. Unlike the rest, which seemed a bit more distant, this was so upclose. He walked closer to it to see a mermaid, who was definitely inside what seemed like a large container with water. Her facial features were a bit blurry, apart from the eyes, which were so clear you could feel the emotions emanating from her. “What is all this about?” Teran, who was quietly watching Rawanak very closely, was pulled out of his gaze by the man’s question.
“It’s just paintings. Inspiration, I guess.” Teran said as he returned his gaze to the blue-haired guy watching the paintings with what seemed like…concern? The artist wondered as he grabbed Rawanak’s arm and led him towards the main part of the gallery. “That’s not what I wanted to show you. Come and see.” It’s as if he suddenly remembered why he had actually brought the guy here.
