Jewel Candle (Junba)

[lilly0]

Title: Jewel Candle
Pairing: Junba
Rating: PG-13
One-shot
Genre: romance, fluff, AU in which everyone lives in a tiny, overly romantic, snowy town.
Summary: The owner of the new bookstore has caught Aiba's eyes.
Notes:  This is a gift for yukitsubute We had a little secret santa exchange within our friends, and this is for her :D  Hope you will like it!! Merry Christmas! ♥

 

Aiba roams through his favourite shop in awe. There are new books and new decoration everywhere. It’s his favourite shop, a bookstore actually but the owner has a habit of decorating the place perfectly fitting to the season and the holidays. So everything now is Christmas. Also he sometimes makes candles and soaps himself and sells them too.

 

“Masaki-san,” the owner of the shop steps in. He was just outside it seems, wearing his hat and jacket. “I’m sorry I had to take out the garbage.”

 

Aiba blushes when he looks at the handsome man. His stupid body always gives all the reactions away. “No need to apologize Jun-san, I meanwhile took the time to look at all the new things.” He points at the candles in a thick glass. “They are new, aren’t they?”

 

Jun nods with a smile. “I made them yesterday night.”

 

“Shouldn’t you sleep at night,” Aiba jokes.

 

Jun chuckles. “It was a full-moon night, and I got inspired.” He tilts his head. “They are special candles, you know. You have to light them up and wait until they burn down to realize why they are special.”

 

“They are so beautiful. I want one now,” Aiba says, as always Jun’s pretty creations are making him curious.

 

Jun smiles softly, a hint of a blush on his cheeks. “I made one for you.”

 

“Really?” Aiba’s eyes light up. He follows Jun to his counter where Jun roams in one of the cupboards until he hands Aiba a beautiful candle. It’s marble coloured in green and violet, the colours swirling around. There are fruits in the candle and glitter, making it look so pretty. “It’s too beautiful to light it up,” Aiba whispers.

 

“You have to though,” Jun urges. “You have to light it up.”

 

Aiba nods at the request, still kind of reluctant to use the beautiful candle though.

 

 

~~~

 

“So, was your day as shitty as mine?” Nino’s voice draws Aiba out of his daze.

 

He rubs his tired eyes. He is in the middle of grading the last literature homework of his students, and they all did so badly. Apparently the fact that the holidays are coming didn’t help their concentration. “These are horrible,” he whines.

 

“Tell me about it!” Nino groans. “I wrote a test with them for my chemistry class. They are all so stupid! It’s an insult to chemistry!”

 

Aiba grins. Somehow hearing Nino complain makes him feel slightly better. “Care for a drink? We can grade the rest of these in the pub.”

 

“Best idea you ever had,” Nino states with a grin. “With five beers it might be easier for me to go through these horrible tests. Let’s go.”

 

 

They settle for the pub down the road. As they are living in a small town, there is basically only one shopping road, Jun’s shop is there, and further down there is the High School Aiba and Nino are teaching at. Next to Jun’s shop there is a huge garden, a park, and behind the High School there is a forest. Sometimes in winter there is so much snow that the roads are closed for cars.

 

“Sa-chan!” Aiba waves happily when he sees Ohno, the bartender of their favourite – okay only – pub in town. Ohno and Nino are probably Aiba’s oldest friends, they know each other since they are babies. Ohno’s mother was Aiba’s mother’s neighbour and best friend. And then Aiba’s mother and Nino’s went into labour at the same time in the next town which actually has a hospital.

 

“The usual?” Ohno asks them.

 

“Yes please, Satoshi!” Nino nods with a smile, tugging Aiba along to an empty table. “Sit with us?”

 

Ohno swiftly provides them with two beer and some sandwiches. “On the house,” he says with a chuckle before he sits down next to Aiba. “Looking forward to the holidays?”

 

“You don’t even know how much,” Nino grunts. “I’m so glad I don’t have to see the kids for two weeks.”

 

Aiba giggles. “You always say that but secretly you love your job. Besides in your class everyone is always listening to you, you have a difficult subject. Luck you. They mess around much more in my class.”

 

“But they love you the most,” Nino points out. “Who was voted most favourite teacher of the year again?”

 

Aiba blushes slightly, a warm feeling filling his chest. Despite his complaints sometimes he loves his jobs and the teens in his classes. The school is rather small, but not as small as people would imagine for their tiny town. That’s because it’s the collective school for all the kids of the neighbouring towns too. Aiba actually did his internship in a school in Osaka, and he is glad he is not teaching in a big city. It’s different here in their small town, when students have to take the bus for one or two hours to arrive at school, there is so much less bullying and more friendship going on. He likes the atmosphere of their school.

 

“Look.” Ohno nudges him with his elbow and points at the door. “The new pretty guy.”

 

The new guy is actually Jun. He is in their town for two years now. For everyone here he was and still is the main attraction.

 

Nino chuckles. “He is the only sight-seeing spot we have,” he jokes, making Ohno crack up too.

 

Jun looks at them and waves slightly towards Aiba with a smile. Aiba waves back.

 

“Oh, look at that,” Nino teases. “Lucky you! But don’t steal our sight!”

 

Ohno pretends to sigh heavily. “And here I thought Jun-san belongs to the whole town.”

 

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Aiba stutters. “I’m just his main customer, that’s all.”

 

“I’m buying from his shop too, regularly,” Ohno states. “He has the perfect decoration. Just bought a bunch for the Christmas holidays for the bar. But he doesn’t smile at me like he does at you.”

 

“If you start dating,” Nino points out. “Don’t forget to go on a walk with him here and there, so that the rest of the town can at least see him occasionally.”

 

“No one is talking about dating,” Aiba mumbles. “I’m sure he has a boyfriend anyways.”

 

“Jun-san!” Nino waves like crazy. “Come and join us!”

 

When Jun looks at them in surprise and approaches them, Aiba feels like punching and hugging Nino at the same time.

 

 

~~~

 

 

“How are you feeling here in town?” Ohno asks while providing them with a glass of whisky each. The initial stiffness when Jun joined them wore off soon enough and they are all engaged in a lively conversation.

 

“Good,” Jun smiles almost shyly. “I wasn’t used to being in such a small town first, but…”

 

“Oh, you originally lived in Tokyo right?” Aiba asks curiously.

 

Jun nods. “For almost twenty years. My parents divorced when I was small and I actually went with my father back then. He moved to Tokyo.”

 

“And you didn’t like it there?” Nino asks curiously.

 

“First I did, but then…” Jun’s voice trails off.

 

The others share a curious glance. “And then?” Nino urges.

 

“Things happened,” Jun admits quietly. He looks almost a bit sad for a moment, but the expression only lasts a moment, soon he is back to smiling and chatting.

 

Aiba frowns in confusion. What kind of things did Jun mean?

 

 

~~~

 

Aiba and Jun walk home together, their houses are close by, and even if they weren’t Aiba would have joined Jun on his walk home. They are halfway when Jun suddenly looks up at the sky, reaching out his hands. “It’s snowing.”

 

“Yes, finally!” Aiba reaches out his hands too, looking in awe how the snowflakes start tiny and turn bigger and bigger until there is so much of them coming down on them that Jun’s hat and the shoulders of Aiba’s jacket are already slightly covered. They both exchange a look, laughing.

 

“I love snow,” Jun admits.

 

“Me too!” Aiba smirks, a sudden idea hitting him. “We need to build the first snowman of the season!”

 

“Now?” Jun asks in surprise.

 

“Of course! It’s the first snow, so if we don’t do it now, it won’t count,” Aiba grabs Jun’s arm, tugging him along. “Besides tomorrow is Sunday, and your shop is closed.”

 

Jun seems to think for a while, then he smiles too and nods. “Let’s do it!”

 

They build a huge, chubby snowman with a smiling face and a fir cone as its nose since they don’t have a carrot with them. “Let’s make a photo,” Jun says before they both make a silly pose in front of the snowman and take a selfie with it.

 

“I will use this as my background picture.” Jun looks at the picture with a fond expression and somehow his words send tingles of joys through Aiba’s body.

 

It’s when they walk back to the town that Aiba realizes Jun’s hands are shaking from the cold. “How about you come to my place and I’ll make us some hot chocolate?” Aiba offers.

 

“Is that really okay?”

 

“Of course,” Aiba smiles. “I am freezing cold too. And I love to have company.”

 

It’s the best evening ever, Aiba thinks, when he and Jun sip at the hot chocolate and chat. Jun tells him more about Tokyo, and how he wasn’t truly happy there, how missed his family when he moved with his father. Apparently he studied literature, similar to Aiba, and found his love in books, but his father wanted him to join him in his company. At one point Jun broke free and decided to live his own life. That’s what happened, and that’s how he came to this town.

 

“Why here?” Aiba asks curiously. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love this town. I love how it’s small and I know everyone, but also how we are connected to the other towns around us. It’s a charming beautiful place, but…”

 

“It’s my mother’s birth town,” Jun says with a chuckle. “That’s why. I wanted to start over, you know? So I came back to the roots.”

 

Aiba nods. Makes sense.

 

At one point it’s so late that Jun decides he has to go back home. “I had fun tonight,” Jun admits before he leaves. He squeezes Aiba’s hands, blushing slightly. “Thank you.”

 

“Let’s meet again,” Aiba offers hopefully. He doesn’t want to let go of this charming man so easily. Everyone just sees Jun’s looks, but he is so drawn to his kindness and his little quirks. He is cute.

 

Jun nods. “You know where I live and work,” he jokes. “We can hang out any time after work.”

 

~~~

 

 

“Why are we here?” Nino complains.

 

“It’s a Christmas party!”

 

“Yeah, what’s more beautiful than a Christmas party shared with a whole town,” Nino grumbles.

 

Aiba elbows him with a grin. “Come one. There is lots of good food and mulled wine and cake and music. It’s perfect.”

 

His gaze shifts to one of the stands where Jun is currently buying some chocolate fruits on a stick.

 

“Oh my god,” Nino breaths out. “He is here!”

 

Aiba is confused. Jun being here is not that much of a surprise, so why is Nino reacting like that? It’s only when Nino tugs at his elbow and points at a direction that Aiba sees who he actually meant. “Sho,” he mumbles,

 

Ex-boyfriend encounters are always bad, he thinks. But it hurts a lot less than it did before. He actually feels no regret or bitterness anymore. He and Sho were together for three years, but Sho was a workaholic and Aiba got sick of him neglecting him and their relationship. At one point they were more like acquaintances towards each other than lovers. That’s why they broke up.

 

To his surprise though Sho heads directly to Jun, laughing, a happy expression on his face when he hugs him. Jun hugs him back too, smiling brightly.

 

 

~~~

 

“What are we doing here?” Ohno whispers when he joins Nino and Aiba at a small table, hidden in a corner.

 

Aiba still carefully watches Jun and Sho together, something in his stomach tugging painfully.

 

“Oh,” Ohno blinks. “Sho-kun!”

 

“He seems to be Jun’s boyfriend,” Aiba mumbles. “Hopefully he has learned to manage his time better.”

 

“Do you really think they are together?” Nino asks doubtfully. “I mean, they could be old friends for what I know.”

 

“But look how personal their interaction is and how much Sho smiles at Jun.” Aiba shifts around nervously, chest tightening at the thought of Jun already being with someone.

 

“But why was he never here the past two years?” Nino continues.

 

“Maybe they met recently?”

 

Ohno blinks. “Why don’t you just ask?”

 

“What!?” Aiba squeals. “How can I just ask? I mean, it would be super awkward and impolite to just ask!”

 

Ohno shrugs. “Really?” He gets up. “I’m going to say hello now. Haven’t seen Sho in ages. You know, he is…”

 

“I  know,” Aiba rolls his eyes, grinning slightly. “You don’t need to explain to me why you want to say hello to your closest friend. I’m not that dramatic.”

 

Nino giggles.

 

They both watch Ohno joining Sho and Jun, and soon engaging in a conversation with them. Unfortunately Ohno doesn’t return to them later, which means Aiba still doesn’t have any idea what Jun and Sho are to each other.

 

“Did you light the candle?”

 

Both Nino and Aiba spin around in shock when they hear Jun’s voice behind them all of a sudden. They have both bought some cotton candy and mulled wine and decided to distract Aiba from his bothersome thoughts. “Jun-kun?” Aiba asks in surprise. “Aren’t you here with-“

 

“Light the candle,” Jun says. “I’m sorry I’m in a hurry. But just light it, okay?”

 

“But it’s so pretty,” Aiba stutters.

 

“I’m making you an even prettier one.” Jun looks down at his shoes nervously. “Light it, please.”

 

With that he hurries away.

 

“Interesting,” Nino states. “And very confusing. I love it!” He grabs his cotton candy and Aiba’s arm. “Let’s go.”

 

“Where to?”

 

“Buy some more food and go to your place and light that darn candle of course!”

 

 

~~~

 

 

They are at their third plate with fried noodles that the candle is burnt down half way. Nino groans. “Why does it take so long?”

 

Aiba takes a toothpick, poking the wax slightly. He blinks when it hits something hard. “There is something…”

 

“Really?”

 

Aiba carefully frees a little bag from the wax, eyeing it in surprise. “What is this?”

 

Nino frowns, checking the candle carefully before chuckling. “We idiots didn’t even read the name of the candle properly.” He grins. “It’s called Jewel Candle. So I assume every candle holds a little present.”

 

Aiba swiftly takes the little bag, opening it curiously. It’s a little charm inside, with a small silver bracelet to attach it to. The charm is in the form of a heart. “There is something engraved into it.”

 

“And what?” Nino asks curiously.

 

Aiba blushes. Do you want to go out with me? “Maybe it’s the same in each candle?”

 

Nino laughs. “Yeah, right!”

 

Aiba smiles all of a sudden, attaching the charm to the bracelet and wrapping it around his wrist. It sparkles slightly in the light of the room. “You know… I think I’m going to head out for a moment.”

 

“Sure, you do,” Nino states in a matter-of-fact tone.

 

 

~~~

 

 

Aiba meets Jun in front of his shop. “You aren’t working today, are you?” he asks in surprise.

 

Jun smiles. “Definitely not. I just wanted to grab a few books. Sho wants to have something to read.”

 

“Say, about Sho…”

 

“I know, you two used to date,” Jun blurts out. “Sho and Ohno-kun told me about it, but it doesn’t matter to him. And to me it doesn’t either. He said he would love for the both us to become happy together!”

 

Aiba lets the information sink in. “And Sho is your…”

 

“Brother,” Jun states like it’s the most normal assumption in the world.

 

“Brother?” Aiba blinks. “Brother!” Right, Sho lived in this town for a while with his divorced mother. He told him once he has a younger brother in Tokyo.

 

Jun points at the wristband Aiba is wearing. “So, what do you say?” he asks shyly.

 

Aiba smiles happily, his whole face lightening up in joy. “Yes. Of course I want to go out with you!”