You kept on seeing him, after that day. You discovered that he used to be a cute, happy person with enough energy to power up a small city, always smiling, always singing happy songs about love, saying it was the best thing that could happen to anyone.

But Henry never smiled. His eyes were always sad, his heart, always crying out, his mouth, never forming even the hint of a smile. You discovered that quickly, as you were also learning more about him.

He was half Chinese, half Taiwanese. He could play many instruments and speak many languages. He used to dye his hair light brown, and you told him he looked adorable with it when he showed you an old picture of himself. He was super popular all over Asia, but needed a break from everything after he had been dumped. And he desperately needed you to help him forget his lost love, and for that to happen, he needed you to love him. He needed you to give him love, affection, hugs, kisses. And, before you knew it, you had entered his game and were trapped in it, unable to stop loving him. You were the one in need of hugs and kisses. The one in need of his voice whispering soft words in your ear. The one in need of his warm arms around you. The one in need of his presence.

Before you knew it, you were deeply in love with Henry.

You were meeting him with more and more pleasure as time went by. After four months, he asked you out on a date. You accepted, but felt a bit sad, knowing you were doing this just to help him forget.

There would be nothing else than help him, and receive a wonderful album in exchange. Nothing else.

Before the date, you prepared carefully. You were usually wearing casual clothes, the first ones you saw in the morning, but this time, you chose what to wear with care. You also had some makeup your mother had given you for your birthday. You weren’t very good at applying it, but you did your best to enhance the color of your eyes. You also brushed your hair so it would look fluffier, though it would never be as fluffy as Henry’s, and you made sure nothing was off before you took your usual bag – you couldn’t change that – and got out.

“Henry!” you still called out happily when you saw him waiting for you in front of your apartment building, and noticing he had dyed his hair light brown before putting it up in the air with hair product. Had he done that because you had told him you liked his light brown hair?

He turned and looked at you, his dark eyes locking with yours. He offered his hand, and you took it. He tried to force a smile, as he usually did when you were with him, but failed, and sighed. “I’m happy to see you,” he said. That too, he was doing it all the time. He didn’t want you to think he didn’t want to see you. He was happy that you were there, but unable to show it.

Pressing his hand between yours, you smiled. “It’s okay. I know you are. Where are we going?”

“To the sushi.”

You LOVED sushi. “Eeeh, for real?!”

“Yeah. You like sushi, right…? You said so… once…”

He remembered that? How sweet of him… There was no way you couldn’t fall for him…

“I did… I didn’t think you’d remember, though…”

“Of course I did. It’s the least I can do for you, who understand me.”

So that was what you were to him. Someone who could understand him. You almost went back to your apartment to get changed into more casual clothes and remove your makeup. But, before you could, Henry pulled on your hand softly, and suddenly, his face was so close to yours. He tilted his head to the side.

“You put makeup?” he said in a soft voice.

“Y-yeah…”

He let you move back and took a good look at the overall you. “And you put on different clothes.”

“Yeah…”

Was it a bad thing? He didn’t sound especially happy to see that you had gotten prepared just for him. He sighed, and pulled you closer to him again to hug you. “She never did that. For her, a date was just like walking together in the streets. It wasn’t the same. It wasn’t important enough for her to put on different clothes, or at least prepare more than usual.”

You only noticed then that he had also put on different clothes. Instead of his usual teen looks – jeans, large tee shirt and cap put on the side –, he looked more like a grown-up handsome man, with his white shirt, black leather jacket, beads and metal bracelets, black pants and black square scarf, folded in a triangle, with white patterns, around his neck. He had also used some cologne. You pressed a kiss on his cheek, unable to resist him. “It’s important for you, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

“You look so handsome.”

For the first time since you knew him, you could see the shadow of a smile on his lips. “Really?”

“Really. And I told you, light brown hair suits you.”

This time, it wasn’t just the shadow of a smile, but a shy smile that appeared on his lips. “Thanks.”

“No problem. Let’s go?”

He nodded and took your hand. “Let’s go. I brought my car along, this time.”

“Wait, that’s your car?”

That bright red, badass-looking car was HIS car? He had good taste. “Yeah, that’s my car. Do you like it?”

“Are you kidding me? It looks so cool!”

Shy smile again. “Glad you think so.”

You both hopped into the car and he started the engine. Despite the looks, the engine wasn’t too noisy, and you appreciated that. You liked cool cars, but not cool cars that made a lot of noise.

You went to the sushi restaurant and purred when they gave you the menu. It was an all-you-can-eat restaurant, so you could eat as much as you wanted. You knew that place probably wouldn’t make any profit with you, since you usually ate a lot, and you could guess Henry was the same, except that he was a man, meaning that he would eat a LOT more than you anyway.

You were ready quickly but, before writing your order on the little papers they had, you waited for Henry to decide what he wanted to eat, in case he’d want the same as you. He was concentrated on reading the menu, so you took advantage of the fact that he wasn’t looking to observe him more attentively.

Like all Asians, he had a delicate face, a bit androgynous, maybe, for people who weren’t used to Asian faces. His hair was very fluffy-looking, even with the hair product he had used, and you could swear it was shorter than before, since it obviously wasn’t long enough anymore to hide his eyes. Speaking of them, they were smaller than other Asians’. His cheeks weren’t as puffy as before; had he lost weight? His lips were quite big and round, now that you were looking at them, and maybe that was why you thought they would look even prettier with a smile. His arms were also more muscular than before; you could see the jacket being tighter around his biceps. His skin was white, not flawless, as you had first thought so, since he had a little mole left to his mouth, and another one under his right eye. You weren’t sure if he also had one on his chin, since he was half-covering it with his scarf.

He must’ve felt stared at, because he lifted his gaze and saw how you were staring at him. “Um…”

You looked away. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay… I was just wondering why you’re helping me, though you know I can’t give you anything in return…”

You blushed and stared at your menu. “Well, at first it was because I thought it was really sad that you were so desperate and lonely…”

“At first?”

“Yeah…”

“And now?”

“Now… well…”

You sighed. “I’m sure you already know it.”

“I do?”

“Yeah.”

“And what do I already know?”

That… idiot. “The fact that I… that I… that I… love… you…”

He stayed silent. Too silent for you to bear. You got up and took your bag. “Sorry.” And you ran away, while Henry was looking at you, his dark eyes not letting any emotion be seen through them.