Chapter Text
URGENT!!! I need someone in Yokohama to pretend to be engaged to me this afternoon!!! Payment: cake samples.
Nikolai wasn’t quite sure why he thought something like that would work. When he posted his cry for help online, he had approximately two hours before he would have to confront the sweet young lady at the cake shop. He really needed someone at this very instant.
He was about to give up his hopes of waiting at the meeting spot detailed in the post when he felt a tap on his shoulder.
“Are you-“ the young man in front of Nikolai looked down on his phone “- jestershmester41?”
Blood rushed up into Nikolai’s head - he probably should have posted his name online so people wouldn’t have to call him by his username. Before the shame could actually manifest, though, joy came over him. He grabbed the young man by his shoulders. “Are you gonna be my fiancé today?”
The man took a step back. “I was going to be, but I might think it over again.”
“No, please!”
“I was joking.” He brushed off Nikolai’s hands. “You’re very touchy for someone I’ve never met before.”
Nikolai rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah,” he said, letting out an awkward chuckle. “Also, my name is Nikolai. You should know that.” He watched the person in front of him, raising his eyebrows only to be met with silence. “What’s your name?”
“Fyodor,” he said. “Why do you need to know?”
“We’re pretending to be engaged, it’d be weird if we didn’t know each other's name!”
Fyodor hummed. “How convincing should we be? What are we even doing?”
“We’re going to taste cake samples!” Nikolai gestured towards the cake shop next to them. “I already had the appointment, I just needed someone to go with.” He grabbed Fyodor by the sleeve and dragged him through the door. “Come on, we’re late.”
When Nikolai looked around the shop, it felt like being transported into another world. The walls were lined with natural wooden panels, which made the tons of white cakes pop against them.
“Excuse me?” Nikolai walked up to one of the workers. “I have an appointment for 4pm.”
The young lady turned to them before she smiled at them. “You’re Mr Gogol then, right?”
Nikolai nodded. “Sorry that we’re late, we-“
“It’s my fault, really,” Fyodor interrupted. “I was held up at work and missed my trains.”
“It’s no problem!” the worker assured them. “We don’t have any other customers scheduled for the day, so you two can take as much time as you need!”
Fyodor smiled at her as she led them further into the shop. “Come on, Kolya, let’s not keep her waiting any longer.”
Nikolai stared at him for a moment, catching himself before the employee noticed anything off.
“I’m gonna show you around so you know your way around,” the worker said. “After that, I’ll leave you alone so you two can pick the perfect one.”
“I don’t know if he mentioned it,” Fyodor said, “but I’m actually a bit of a picky eater, so don’t mind my comments, they’re nothing personal.”
The worker smiled. “Your fiancé did mention that, actually. We have lots of picky customers, which is great. We wouldn’t want you settling for anything less than perfect.”
Fyodor glanced over at Nikolai, who avoided his gaze with all his might. “That’s good, then. Thanks for being so thoughtful, Kolya.”
Ever since he moved to Japan, he hadn’t really been called Kolya at all, so why did this total stranger decide to make him feel so incredibly homesick? It had been a little over eight years since he moved, and even though he didn’t feel any connection to his home country or even his family there, he did feel the faint memories tugging on his heart strings.
“If there is anything else I can help you with, please don’t be shy to call for me.” The worker smiled before she disappeared behind a heavy red curtain.
“You didn’t listen, did you?” Fyodor handed him a small fork and a tiny plate. “She explained all the flavors because they didn’t have signs ready.” He poked into one of the samples and picked up a piece with his own fork. “I have memorized all the flavorings, but since you didn’t listen, you will have to guess.”
“I listened!” Nikolai protested when the fork hit his lips. “What are you-“ He was interrupted by the fork between his lips.
“I am feeding you, obviously.” Fyodor pulled out the fork. “I’m not too much a fan of sweets, so you’re going to have to make this worthwhile for me in other ways. Now guess the flavor, I’m keeping score.”
Nikolai frowned as he chewed. “Tastes like lemon.”
“That’s correct.” Fyodor typed on his phone. “The employee told me you wanted some… I think she called them ‘unique’… flavors. You’re a peculiar individual.”
“Thanks!” Nikolai picked up one of the cake samples. “This one looks like chocolate.”
Fyodor watched him try the cake. “Why did you tell them that your fiancé is a picky eater? You couldn’t have known that unless you planned to come here with someone else.”
“Rude.” Nikolai crossed his arms. “Clearly, someone cancelled on me.”
“You seem very stressed about passing as an actual couple,” Fyodor said. “If you had planned to go with a friend, you’d be a lot more lax about it. You probably would have even gone alone.”
“Why are you bringing that up?” Nikolai put the cake down. “It was chocolate, by the way.”
“Good job.”
Nikolao sighed in frustration. “I’m just trying to have fun here! It’s no fun if you’re not having fun!”
“Who said I’m not having fun?” Fyodor walked around the table and picked up a different flavor of cake. “It’s quite fun to see you get flustered at the smallest of things.”
Nikolai hadn’t even taken the time to look at his temporary fiancé. While Nikolai was quite tall himself, Fyodor wasn’t that much shorter than him, maybe a couple centimeters at most. His hair was dark brown, down to his chin and hanging into his face. His face was quite skinny, and his skin was pale. He was a living breathing example of why contrast was so incredibly attractive. The dark hair, pale skin, white button-up shirt and navy blue pants. Nikolai caught himself staring more than once.
“I assume you did actually have a fiancé to go with.” Fyodor held up more cake up to Nikolai’s lips. “And since you didn’t reschedule, they must have broken off the engagement.”
Nikolai ate the cake off the fork, mainly so he wouldn’t have to reply. What a rude assumption to make. Wasn’t it enough that he got dumped in the first place? “Peanut butter.”
“That’s correct.” Fyodor’s voice was oddly calming. His Japanese was fluent, but there was a distinct familiar accent. Something about it felt familiar and safe. “You’re better off without them. If they don’t value you for who you are, they don’t deserve you anyway.”
“Why don’t we talk about something else?” Nikolai asked. “You talked about work earlier. What do you do for work?”
Fyodor smiled at him, though it didn’t feel as kind as the one he gave the employee. “I play in an orchestra,” he said. “I’m a cellist. We’ve been playing in a local theatre hall here.”
“You’re a musician?” That did seem logical. His fingers were long and slender. Nikolai could imagine them perfectly wrapping around the neck of a cello. Perhaps even wrapped around another kind of neck…
What was he even thinking? Was he that upset over his failed relationship that he seeked to fill the void with shallow horny thoughts? Sure, Fyodor was an attractive man, but he barely knew him. No, he didn’t know Fyodor one bit. He was just trying to compensate for what he lost.
“I would start guessing what you do for a living,” Fyodor said, “but I don’t think you work.”
Nikolai tilted his head. “Well, yeah, I don’t, but how did you-“
“You look to be in your mid-twenties, but you’re probably still in school. Either you are in the process of getting your second degree, or you switched degrees midway through. Based on your online history, it’s probably the latter.” Fyodor smiled again. “Your Japanese is good, better than you would expect for someone who only moved to Japan to study. Still, you react to Russian nicknames quite strongly, so you at least have family in Russia-“
“Ukraine.” Nikolai stared at the table. “I grew up in the Ukraine. When I was just starting my Chemistry degree eight years ago, I fell in love with a Japanese man studying abroad… I loved him so much, more than anything… I dropped everything to go with him to Japan and studied here… You’re also right about me switching degrees. I never wanted to do stupid science stuff anyway, but my family pressured me into it. Once they had no say over my life choices anymore, I switched over to-“
“Theater studies.” Fyodor held more cake in his hands, seemingly unbothered by Nikolai’s trauma dumping. “I heard your name a couple times in the theater. Your classmates hold you in high regard.”
Of course they did. Nikolai was extremely dedicated to his craft. He loved acting, he loved writing plays, he loved standing on stage and listening to the orchestra play. If they didn’t hold him in high regard, he might have to overthink his entire degree.
“So your fiancé - ex-fiancé I should say - studied chemistry with you. If that was eight years ago, he would probably have his degree now,” Fyodor continued. “He made you move to another country, let you live here for years and then dropped you. Something must have happened between the two of you.”
“Something did happen,” Nikolai said. “He got a steady job, and I was still in university, and he didn’t like that I couldn’t provide for myself. Sounds like loving a starving artist is just really exhausting.”
In the background, fabric rustled. The heavy curtain got pulled back and the worker rejoined them. “Is everything going alright so far?”
Fyodor nodded at her as he walked back around the table to Nikolai. “You certainly have some creative flavors around here. I would have never thought about bubblegum-flavored icing.” He gently grabbed Nikolai’s chin and swiped his thumb along his bottom lip. “He likes them, though. Makes his messy eater show, hm?”
“You’re embarrassing me,” Nikolai mumbled.
“Don’t be so cute when you’re embarrassed then, Kolyenka.”
“Fedya, stop embarrassing me.”
The worker giggled to herself. “You two sure are still very in love, huh?”
Fyodor chuckled. “Is it that obvious? Apologies, we’re trying to keep it down a bit.”
“Oh, don’t worry!” The worker smiled at them. “You’re actually some of the tamer people we have had here.”
Fyodor put his hand on Nikolai’s waist, pulling him closer. He did that on purpose. Based on how he had read Nikolai like a book, he was pretty good at reading people. There was no way he hadn’t noticed that Nikolai at least found him attractive, which made Nikolai flustered already.
But that was a game two can play. If Fyodor wanted to get touchy to embarrass Nikolai, then Nikolai had to just one-up him.
“It’s really hard to keep my hands off him sometimes.” Nikolai wrapped one arm around Fyodor’s back, the hand of the other arm placed on his chest. “I really have to keep myself together.” He inched closer to Fyodor’s face, aiming to press a kiss on the cheeks, just to see how far Fyodor would let him go.
Clearly, Fyodor wouldn’t let Nikolai win that game. Before Nikolai reached his face, Fyodor turned his head towards him, a sly grin on his lips before they met Nikolai’s. Fyodor didn’t have a bite of cake, so he didn’t taste like sugar at all. He didn’t have a taste at all. He was just warm, and gentle.
As they separated, Fyodor grabbed Nikolai’s hand off his chest and locked their fingers. “Not now, okay?” he mumbled. “Let’s be good in public. We’ll have lots of time when we’re alone.”
Nikolai sighed. “I don’t think so.”
Fyodor watched him for a moment. “I know there’s a lot on your mind,” he said, “just know I am incredibly lucky to have such an incredible fiancé by my side.”
Why on earth was Fyodor doing this? Clearly he was just trying to cause chaos, making Nikolai feel better about being dumped and simultaneously making him fall in love.
“You’re beautiful,” Fyodor said, “and lovable. And not one bit exhausting.”
Everything felt bad. Everything sucked. He was experiencing emotions he shouldn’t. Fyodor was purposely making him feel safe by exploiting his insecurities! Clearly, Nikolai was playing a game he couldn’t win.
What game was Fyodor even playing? Was there even a way to win?
“Don’t-“ What don’t? Nikolai didn’t know either. “Don’t touch me, I-“ He took a large step back and turned his back to them. Hopefully Fyodor would be satisfied with how uncomfortable Nikolai was. Hopefully, everyone would see it so Fyodor would finally stop.
“Excuse me, could you give us a moment?”
“Of course, Mr-“
“Dostoyevsky.”
“Of course, Mr Dostoyevsky. If there’s anything else I can help you with, let me know!”
The heavy curtain dragged again before Nikolai felt a hand on his shoulder.
“In my defense, you’re the one who leaned in for a kiss.”
“Not for one on the lips!” Nikolai pulled up the collar of his sweater and hid his face. “I didn’t mean to do that!”
“And yet you still keep looking at me like a horny teenager at an adult magazine.” Fyodor pulled him closer, arms wrapped around him so Nikolai was pressed firmly against his chest. “I meant what I said. “You’re lovable, and not one bit exhausting. If your asshole of an ex didn’t understand that, then he was just too weak to give you what you deserve.”
Nikolai should have probably pushed him away, apologized to the employee and blown off the whole event. He didn’t, though. He just quietly sank deeper into Fyodor’s arms.
“There you go,” Fyodor hummed. “You’re already a lot calmer. There’s no need to cry after someone like that anyway.”
“That’s not it…” Nikolai crossed his arms. “He never held me like that…”
“Never?” Fyodor asked. “Your body was practically screaming for a hug. I’ve never seen a body beg more for physical contact than yours right now.”
“Not everyone can read people like that, Fedya.”
Fyodor grinned. “Maybe you deserve someone who can read you like that.” He brushed along Nikolai’s jawline, down his neck and back around his body. “Someone who knows how to make you happy… If only there was someone who would do that for you. Maybe a kind stranger feeding you cake.”
“What are you insinuating here?” Nikolai asked.
“I saw how you looked at my hands earlier.” Fyodor’s hand traced back up, resting on Nikolai’s neck. “They can do much more than what you were thinking off… Like hold your hand, for example.”
Nikolai closed his eyes. “Why would you do that, though? You don’t know me.”
“I know lots of things about you.” Fyodor smiled. “Your name is Nikolai Gogol, you’re Ukrainian, you’re an actor, and you study theater science.”
“I told you all of that.”
“That’s how getting to know someone works.” Fyodor chuckled. “I know physical touch comforts you, you like bubblegum and rum, your favourite color is yellow but for aesthetic reasons you say it’s red-”
“How did you know that?!”
Fyodor laughed. “The details on your jacket are red, as well as your phone case and your keychain, I saw those in your pocket. However, when you think people wouldn’t see it, you’d rather choose yellow. Like your socks.”
“Stop looking at my feet! That’s private!” Nikolai pulled up his knee and wrapped his hands around his ankle.
Nikolai expected Fyodor to make a comment, or at least tease him more. However, that didn’t happen. Instead, Fyodor turned his head to the side, covering his mouth with his hand hiding what quite obviously was a smile, a big, genuine smile.
“What?” Nikolai let go of his foot.
“Nothing,” Fyodor said. “You’re just cute, that’s all.”
Cute? Perhaps Nikolai had misunderstood Fyodor’s attitude. Perhaps he wasn’t teasing, but flirting. Oh. That made a lot more sense.
No. It made no sense.
“Well, did you pick your favourite yet?” Fyodor pulled out his phone. “As I said, I think you liked the bubblegum and rum one.”
“I’m not gonna buy a cake,” Nikolai said. “Just wanted to eat some.”
“If you say so.” Fyodor typed on his phone. “Did you make any other preparations for the wedding you’d need help taking care of?”
Nikolai sighed deeply. “I should probably cancel the venue…”
“Hm…” Fyodor let go of him and walked to the curtain. “Excuse me, miss? We picked one.”
“Huh?”
“Oh, how lovely! Let me get a piece of paper to write it down.”
Nikolai watched as Fyodor discussed the details of the cake with the employee. Why was he buying a cake?
“I still need a date and the address where we will deliver the cake.”
“Right.” Fyodor turned to Nikolai. “Well, you know I have a bad memory.” He didn’t, though. “Could you remind me again?”
“What are you doing?” Nikolai walked closer. “There will be no-”
“Come on. I know you’re mad at me for forgetting but let’s not hold them up for too long.” Fyodor reached down and grabbed Nikolai’s hand, locking their fingers and giving them a gentle squeeze. He smiled, but it sent a clear message. Play along.
Nikolai wrote down the venue and date. Fyodor better explain himself after they’re done.
“Well, that should be it. We do take a payment up front, so will you be paying in card or cash today?”
Fyodor grabbed his wallet. “Card, please.”
“Fyodor, what are you doing?” Nikolai asked again.
“I’ll pay, as an apology for forgetting our wedding date.” Fyodor glanced at him before paying, leaving Nikolai confused.
The worker smiled at them. “I’ll be looking forward to making this cake for you! I’ll keep in touch if there’s any other things to be sorted out.”
“Thank you for your time today.” They exchanged another few formalities before Fyodor led Nikolai out of the shop. “I suppose you won’t have to cancel the venue.”
“What the hell are you doing?” Nikolai turned to him. “Why are you buying a cake for a wedding that won’t happen?”
Fyodor smiled. “Well, you could still get married.”
“To who?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Fyodor asked. “You deserve to be married to someone who treats you well. Someone who takes care of you.”
Was he talking about himself?
Nikolai frowned. “That must be the most half-assed proposal I’ve ever heard.”
Fyodor laughed. “If you prefer, we will go and get you a nice ring, you pretend you have no idea, and I will take you to a nice date where I propose.”
Oh, how nice that would be. A nice date, and a pleasant surprise after.
“Why would you do that? Why go through all this trouble for a stranger?”
“The same reason I went out to eat cake with a stranger.” Fyodor reached down for Nikolai’s hand and locked their fingers. “It just sounds like a good idea right now.”
Nikolai wasn’t sure what to do with that information. He sure liked the idea of someone taking care of him, and treating him well. A stranger proposing to him? Well, they weren’t strangers anymore. They knew so much about each other now.
After the rough times past him, Nikolai had a feeling that the future was looking bright for him.