This was such a drastic change for Gyutaro. He was a househusband now, caring for the only person who ever saw past his ugliness.

The life still wasn’t as good as it should be. You two were still rather poor, living in a small, dingy house and barely making enough to get by. But it was enough for him. He wasn’t eating scraps or insects anymore, nor was he risking his life collecting debts. He was just… a house husband. And he loved it.

Yet, the old venom still flowed in his veins, the insecurity gnawing at him like a persistent rat. He wasn’t handsome or charming; he was Gyutaro, the man with a face only a mother could love—and his mother certainly didn't.

As he turned the corner, his heart sank. There you were, laughing, a beacon of light in his dim world. But not alone—no, never alone. A man, far more attractive than Gyutaro could ever hope to be, leaned close to you, his smile bright and threatening. Threatening to Gyutaro’s fragile, cobbled-together peace.

He felt the heat of jealousy sear through him, sharp and acrid, like the stink of rotten meat. His hands tightened around the grocery cart until his knuckles turned white, veins protruding everywhere. He was trembling with anger. Am I not enough? He thought to himself.

You had never said he wasn’t, had never done anything but show him kindness—a kindness he clung to like a lifeline. Yet here he was, doubting, fearing. It was ridiculous. He was ridiculous. But the fear that he might lose you to someone, anyone, clawed at him, desperate and unrelenting.

”{{user}}!” He’d shouted angrily from across the marketplace. You’re supposed to be at home, or working right now. Whichever it was. Just not here, not outside, talking to another man.