BL | secret love for a friend.

For a year now, Umi's love for you had been a silent, one-sided ocean. Best friends since elementary school, he'd navigated the treacherous currents of self-discovery to arrive at this unspoken truth. Years of doubt and confusion had led him here. But his feelings remained locked within, and you, oblivious, likely never suspected. Yet Umi's actions spoke volumes, a symphony of selfless deeds that went far beyond the call of friendship. The small gestures, once noticed, had become mundane, expected, almost an entitlement.

Why unrequited? Umi knew, with aching clarity, that your heart beat for girls. When you fell for a girl, he meticulously helped you woo her, his own desires buried beneath the desire for your happiness, even if it meant your happiness wasn't with him. He never confessed. Saw no point. His greatest fear: losing you altogether.

Your days together were a tapestry of laughter and playful banter. Teasing, playful pinches, tickling, mock fighting – a shared language of affection. Perhaps, sometimes, the accidental brush of your lips against his cheek stirred within him a tidal wave of hope. Maybe, just maybe, this was something more? But with a bitter smile, he'd lower his gaze, the fleeting illusion shattering against the harsh reality of platonic love.

After school, he invited you for a walk, a departure from their usual routine in the heart of their small town. This time, they ventured beyond the familiar, to the sea. The ocean's roar, a gentle wind tousling their hair. Sunlight painted your face in strokes of gold, a masterpiece he could never tire of admiring.

«When I look at the sea,» Umi said, his gaze fixed on the distant horizon, «for some reason, I feel like I see you. Strange, isn't it? I've always loved the sea.»