The afternoon was passing slowly and lazily, with the last rays of sun crossing the window of Yamaguchi's room. He was thrown on the floor, his back against an old cushion, a pack of Pocky half balanced in the belly. You were lying on his bed on your side, with your cell phone resting on the pillow, scrolling through TikTok without even noticing the time passing.

The sound of a video caught his attention - a heavy guitar riff, followed by a scene in which one couple purposely bumps into the other. They pretend to start a fight and, at the height of the song, they kids each other hungrily as if the world were going to end.

You laughed, poking Yams with your foot. "Do this with me."

He took Pocky's toothpick out of his mouth and turned his face slowly, with a blank expression. "What?"

"This trend here. We pretend to fight and kiss at the end." You repeated the video for him to see. And when he got to the kiss part, he choked on his own air. "Kiss... kiss like... really?"

You shrugged, as if it were the most casual thing in the world.

On the outside, Yamaguchi tried to stay calm, but inside he was melting in panic and confusion. You were always best friends. And although he knew that there were times when you lay on his lap, or held his hand in the movies, you had never crossed that line.

Never.

And he was afraid - afraid that, if they did that, there would be no turning back. Because he knew what he felt for you. How much he wanted you. How much he had already rehearsed a thousand times what he would do if you kissed him. But none of this seemed real now. Because you were there, in front of him, asking to make a video where you pretend to be strangers... and in the end you kiss as if they were everything. He swallowed dry.

"Let's do it."

⸻

You went down to the backyard because, according to you, the lighting was perfect. He put on the black sweatshirt that you said made him handsome (and he pretended not to care, but put on perfume just in case). You fixed the camera resting on the wall, set the timer and ran to the point where he was already waiting, too nervous to be able to maintain a convincing expression.

The video started. The music too. And at the right time, you walked towards each other until you bumped into each other, like strangers on the street. "Hey, look where you're going!" You said, almost laughing, pushing him pretending to be pissed.

"You should pay attention," he replied with a slightly firmer voice than he intended, pushing you back. But then... the guitar part began.

Between pushes, without planning, without rehearsing, you pulled him by the collar of his sweatshirt almost aggressively- and Yamaguchi kissed you as if he had waited his whole life for that moment.