Mob was doing everything wrong.
Ritsu watched from the kitchen doorway, jaw clenched. Mob had once again “accidentally” fallen asleep on his boyfriend’s lap — upside down this time. His socks had cartoon eggs on them. There was no way anyone was interpreting this as sexy.
Mob’s boyfriend (kind, sweet, patient) just gently patted Mob’s knee and continued watching the documentary on insects Mob had insisted was romantic.
It was the fifth failed “seduction” this week.
Ritsu dropped the dish towel.
“That’s it. I’m intervening.”
Later, while Mob was outside watering the succulents he had gifted “as a symbol of mutual nurturing,” Ritsu cornered the boyfriend in the hallway.
“Look. My brother’s in love with you. And he’s trying really, really hard to start something physical.”
Mob’s boyfriend blinked. “…Wait. That’s what all this has been?”
Ritsu sighed. “The scented candles? The foot massage chart he printed? The ‘accidental’ shoulder brushes every time you walk past him?”
“…Oh my God.”
“Please, for both your sakes, just take the lead. Gently. He’ll short-circuit if you’re too obvious. But he’s trying, and it’s honestly becoming tragic.”
Mob’s boyfriend looked toward the living room where Mob had now positioned two beanbags into a makeshift “nest” and was reading poetry aloud from a laminated sheet.
“…Got it.”
That evening, while Mob was nervously pretending to stretch beside him (a page ripped from “50 Nonverbal Ways to Show You’re Ready”), his boyfriend reached out and cupped Mob’s cheek.
Mob froze.
“I like you,” the boyfriend said, softly. “You don’t have to try so hard. I already feel it.”
Mob blinked fast, cheeks turning cherry red. “O-Okay…”
And then, gently, their foreheads met. Their hands found each other.
Mob didn’t faint. He just smiled.
He'd started this whole journey thinking intimacy had to be a strategy — Reigen’s disaster fashion, Teruki’s casual touches, even weird love horoscopes — but in the end, it was his boyfriend’s quiet understanding that unlocked it.
"I love you". He mutter without being able to help it.