Ejiro’s eyelids fluttered open. “We should probably go to sleep,” he whispered.
“Yeah,” Obiora said, ignoring the desperate pounding of his heart.
Ejiro smiled tentatively. “Goodnight, Obiora.”
“Goodnight, Ejiro.”
They’d watched each other, eyes locked, breaths in sync, until they’d fallen asleep. Obiora didn’t even know if he’d fallen asleep first, or if it had been Ejiro. All he knew was that something had passed between them, something so sweet and so fragile, that when Obiora had woken up the next morning, the universe at large felt bigger, brighter.
They were in the big house now, outside on the veranda where the round dining table could take all seven of them. Dean was the only one missing, currently in the small house with Ameri and the crew, filming his cutaways for the previous date.
“This is beginning to feel real, isn’t it?” Jin murmured during a lull in conversation.
“What, it didn’t feel real before?” Noah teased lightly.
Jin limply waved a hand. “You know what I mean. There’s only eight of us left—it’ll be down to six after the next episode. Soon, we’re going to go back to our real lives. It’s a little … jarring, isn’t it?”
Noah nodded. “Yeah, yeah. I understand what you’re saying.”
Ejiro was different when he was in the company of the other men, Obiora had noticed. He’d gotten so used to seeing Ejiro relaxed and teasing and carefree, that seeing him behave more subdued when he was around the other men suddenly reminded Obiora that Ejiro was actually quite a reserved person.
Until you got to know him, that is. The thought filled him with an indescribable heat, something almost possessive. That Obiora had seen sides to Ejiro none of the other men had, had Obiora’s chest feeling too small to contain his heart.
Ejiro noticed him staring and smiled shyly, tentatively, before looking away, his blush obvious in the helpless curve of his mouth, the slow, hypnotic sweep of his eyelashes. Obiora’s entire being trembled with want.
Ejiro glanced at him again, like he couldn’t help it, his blush deepening when he found Obiora still watching him.
And Obiora knew it then, viscerally, though some part of him must’ve known it all along, subconsciously, that it was inevitable.
He’d gone ahead and fallen in love.
ONE THING THAT HAD BEEN awful at the start, but the men had eventually gotten used to, was making sure most—if not all—of their things remained packed at all times, because one never knew when they would be eliminated. One of them had already been eliminated during a date, after all, and the Heart ceremony wasn’t a safe bet either.
Take now, for example.
“Jesus,” Damien muttered, standing, when Alistair appeared with his luggage, followed by one of the cameramen.
Alistair was grinning, seemingly unbothered. “Guess my time here is up, boys.”
“It was a good run,” Jin said, also standing up.
The rest of the men followed, Ejiro included.
“Gonna give us a hint about what’s going on out there?” Dean asked with a teasing glint in his eyes.
Alistair laughed. “Sorry. My lips are sealed. Ameri’ll be coming in a bit for the next of you, so prepare yourselves.” He winked.
He gave them all brief hugs, then he was gone, just like that.
“Jesus,” Damien repeated.
Only one of the bachelors had been eliminated during a date—homophobic Hunter from episode three—but it hadn’t felt like this. They hadn’t actually seen Hunter leave with his bags; by the time the filming was up and they’d gone back to the mansion, he was already gone, and when the other men were eliminated, it was during a Heart ceremony, which was just as abrupt, but less jarring because it was expected.
“Now what the fuck do you suppose is going on out there?” Dean asked again. He glanced at Chris Wu, Jin, Noah, and Damien, who’d already filmed their part of the episode earlier in the day.
“Apologies,” Jin said, sounding truly apologetic. “We were instructed not to talk about it.”
“What he said,” Chris Wu added with a nod and a carefree grin. “Don’t worry your heads too much. It isn’t completely awful.”
