Please Let Me Live a Lazy Life!

Chapter 17: I Want to Live a Lazy Life (2)

The two of them never had gotten along since then and Basim had always used every opportunity to keep him away from his other friend. It was strange for the tycoon to be so calm and accepting after hearing Arata's name. By now, he should be making excuses to prevent Tanaka from seeing his old classmate but instead, Basim said goodbye without hesitation...

Tanaka lurched forward, Basim's name falling from his lips as he reached for the man on the other side of the screen, but the older man only gave him a serene smile and abruptly cut off their connection.

He fell out of bed, baffled and bewildered as the fallen pillows cushioned his descent with the sheets tangled between his legs. And Daichi just stood there and watched him as if he was blind to Tanaka's panicked reaction and Basim's strange and cold exit. His brother gave him a fond smile, but nothing else. His warm expression didn't even stir when his little brother fell from the bed, which should have sent him in an overprotective and worried state.

The youngest of the Maki Clan had been an adult for more than eight years already but they still treated him as if he was five and a half, and made out of glass, so this detached treatment felt strange to Tanaka. Daichi was looking at him but... it was like his older brother was looking at a different scene.

"Don't fall back asleep," he told him in a warm tone, even though Tanaka was wide awake and out of his bed. "Arata-kun has been waiting for you to wake up for the past half hour. He said it was really urgent and he doesn't look well."

Oddly, he felt unwilling to see Arata. Not due to laziness or due to one of his unsociable moods, but because of the thought of seeing his old friend...

Regardless, as he was pondering over the icy-cold sensation in his veins, his body moved without permission and before he knew it, he was in the living room staring at both the familiar and unfamiliar features of his former school mate.

Tanaka had always been smaller than most people and while Arata didn't exactly tower over him like the rest of his family and Basim, he was a good half a head taller than him. Some days, when he was too lazy to lift his head, he would just stare at the other's collar whenever they talked but for some reason, the smaller man looked up.

He didn't really understand the concept of attraction other than the fact that his family and Basim attracted the gaze and attention of everyone that just happened to take a glance at them. Tanaka knew that in other people's eyes, he wasn't really attractive and stood out in not the most flattering way when compared to his family members and his old friend. He had little care for his appearances, and other than the protective equipment in his labs, he had little desire for dressing up or looking his best.

His hair was never combed save for the time his sister would brush it for him. His wardrobe consisted of baggy pants and large t-shirts, some that were not even his. His only accessory was his thick, black-framed glasses and maybe some hair clips and headbands to keep his bangs out of the way while he was performing experiments.

In comparison to his sloppy looks, Arata had a much more clean appearance. Ever since they had graduated from their university, he was always wearing expensive suits and expensive cologne. Unlike Tanaka, he looked like a very successful and self-sufficient adult, and seeing how often he interacted with the Maki Clan, some people had often mistaken him as their youngest son rather than the lazy, sloven young man who never bothered to fit the image of a highly acclaimed Nobel Prize winner.

Tanaka was never bothered by it because their opinions were unrelated to his sleep schedule.

Regardless, while Arata still looked impeccable as always, his skin was pale and his eyes looked hollow with deep, dark bags framing the white's red veins. He had a smile on his face even though Tanaka still perceived the air of irritation above his head.