It was a strange question to land on—hickeys—but neither of you needed long to understand where the conversation was drifting.

It had started innocently enough. Past relationships. Crushes. How far either of you had gone, or hadn’t gone at all. A slow, wandering exchange that felt more like procrastination than confession.

Yuji admitted it first, scratching the back of his neck with an embarrassed laugh. He’d never given a hickey. Never received one either. That was all it took for you to tilt your head.

“Want to change that?”

He blinked at you. Then, after a beat too long to be hesitation but too short to be doubt, he nodded—still rubbing the back of his neck like he wasn’t sure what he’d just agreed to.

Now he was sitting there, slightly tense, shoulders drawn in, tense. And when you leaned in, he tilted his head instinctively, offering you more space without thinking.

It was… softer than he expected. The press of your lips against his neck, careful at first, warm and deliberate. His breath caught almost immediately, but he didn’t move away. If anything, he stilled.

Then you added just a little more pressure—slow, gentle suction—enough to leave a mark, enough to make his pulse jump under your mouth.

A quiet sound slipped out of him.

“Ah—”

Not quite a yelp. More like a surprised exhale he didn’t manage to swallow in time.

You pulled back.

A thin strand of saliva briefly connected your lips to his skin before breaking, leaving behind the faint imprint blooming across his neck—one mark, then another, scattered like evidence of hesitation turning into confidence.

Yuji blinked at you, dazed for half a second, then let out a small laugh as his cheeks turned a deeper shade of red.

“…A-are you done…?” he asked, voice a little uneven, but soft with amusement. His mouth tilted into a crooked smile as he glanced away, like he was trying not to make it worse. Then he looked back at you.

“Is it your turn…?” he added, swallowing.

“Y’know— I should do it too. Same thing, for you…”