They are not lovers. Not even friends. They are simply co-workers who would exchange smiles when they meet at Johnny’s hallway. Or they would bid each other if they happen to meet at some restaurants. It wasn’t the heated dangerous encounter the fans usually think of, but not all that friendly either.

They are both idols, they are both musicians, and they both love music to the bits of their souls. But they never deliberately find any reasons to hang out around each other. Ueda was so much into boxing, Ryo preferred surfing. Even when the night fall when they could simply sit together talking about music and drink till they drop, Ueda never enjoyed getting drunk. Not even when Aiba offered him after a few plays at their own house.

Ryo wasn’t the type who would discuss personal problems with anyone. It’s not that he enjoyed bottling everything up, he just simply cannot voice them. Whenever the news of devious gossips and scrupling controversies weld him up in Japan’s tabloid magazines, he would shrug it off across his friends’ face. Deep inside, he wondered why he became the target when everybody else is not as much different as himself.

Ueda wasn’t the type who would spend his time in a bar. “You always drink the cute wine. You should try the strong beer sometimes,” Taguchi once complained. And Ueda sent dangerous glares at him when he mentioned that in one magazine interview. But whenever he flipped open the gossip page and a familiar face adorned his sight, he decided he wouldn’t mind skipping his muscle training and stayed at the bar for the whole night. Maybe because the man is so much alike Jin. Or maybe because Kame liked him. It was a very rare occasion anyway.

“Just drink,” Ueda would just sit a few chairs next to Ryo. “If you got completely drunk, I’ll send you home,”

They would sit there all night long, though they didn’t talk to each other. Ueda would simply drink some light wine while composing some songs. And Ryo would slump himself, drinking to drown out his thought.

They are not lovers. Not even friends. They are simply co-workers who are willing to watch each others’ back.

~The End~