his room is a few stairs up, but with his mind busied with noah and his shenanigans for the day, he doesn't notice that they have reached his unit already. the key fits, clicks, and opens.

the corridor that connects the apartment unit entrance and the living room is filled with pictures on the wall, some of them form his childhood and most of them from his johto trip. a lot of them were candid pictures, most likely taken by kyle without his friends' consent.

other memorabilia from his childhood lay on a drawer, with the collection of gym badges he earned neatly placed on a cork board of all places. other trinkets that hoarders have, like old metal bells and such, were displayed as well.

a battle station, similar, if not more impressive, than the one he has on verdanturf, is displayed on his living room, taking up most of the space.

kyle goes straight to his fridge as soon as he gets home. "you, uh, want something?"

"that's, uh, classified info or something."

he chuckles. the way he dismisses it suggests kyle being too lazy to just give a proper explanation despite the truth behind his words. besides, it's not like the bells were relevant now.

he grabs the carton of juice from the fridge and pours a glass for noah and another for himself. he holds one by the rim and nudges it to noah's direction while the other one remains in his other hand.

"question two."

kyle move it away from his reach if noah tries to grab it. "are you looking for something casual, or are you serious about this dating thing? cause i'm fine either way." he doesn't dabble in relationships for the sake of having them, but then again, he hasn't been in one to be a judge of it.

he drinks on his glass while he waits for an answer.

he somewhat expected this answer, but he did not expect him to word it the way he did.

"h-here! t-t-take your orange juice! quench your thirst with that!"

he pushes the glass towards noah, hands shaking. some of the juice spills on his hand as his nervousness show. flushed, he attempts to hide the redness of his face with a long sip of his juice.

it doesn't work, however, as his face still burns from the intense blushing.

"o-okay, how about this? l-let's say i get kicked out of the elite four. how does that change your opinion of me?"

noah approached him exactly because he was a member of the elite four after all. he concludes that it's the root of his fascination towards him and everything tumbles down without it. kyle cannot exactly say that though.

he drinks his entire glass in one go, placing it just beside where noah placed his once he finished. he finds himself unstable and shaking in noah's presence, but he tries his best to remain his composure.

his hands take the picture from him, staring at it wistfully. "you have a weird taste in people, noah." his chest feels heavy, unsure on how to process everything. this wasn't his thing, and he wasn't sure if it can ever be.

"i mean, you homed in on me. i don't think you knew anything about me outside of what's publicized. i just thought..."

kyle can't bring himself to finish the sentence. any other iteration he has on his head was demeaning. he wears an awkward smile, before giving in to an exasperated sigh. he places the picture at the counter and twiddles his thumbs.

"i know i asked this before, but why me? like, you looked too certain about your choice even before he got to talk and..."

kyle is ready to be embarrassed he tries to think of his quirks that people find appealing. he grows read preemptively just from asking the question. his finger tugs part of his bangs closer to his face, hiding his shame in the blanket of hair.

he places his hand to the back of his neck, rubbing it vigorously as he fights the emotions welling up on him. no amount of preparation gets him actually prepared of what comes out of noah.

kyle fights it by placing his palm on noah's face, his thumb and his index finger positioned on his temples, squeezing them.

"don't say all of that and then cry." he flashes a stern glare at noah, though his vision of his face would be obscured by his palm. it eventually eases to his usual, neutral one, too red to function properly. along with his expression, his grip loosens.

his eyes wander around the room, unsure on where to concentrate them. noah leaves him wordless. there's so much to process and kyle doesn't have anything else to respond to it. it feels unfair that he cannot say anything back, moreso when he sighs instead.

"we're working on your gym challenge too, don't forget." he places his hand on his forehead, sweeping his hair back as he tries to think more clearly. he shifts his head to the side, unable to look noah in the eye.

"a-and thanks. it was getting kinda boring now that rocket's gone until you came, so..."

he grumbles, not willing to finish it.

"w-what?" he places a hand over his face, not wanting to show his fluster to noah, who he knows is willing to take advantage of it. he grumbles, scratching the back of his head again. "i'll let you know my answer if you actually get a badge, okay?"

it wasn't a matter of trust for noah to actually hold his end, but a matter of stalling. as much as kyle stalls out battles, he stalls out a response for noah as well. uncertainty lingers, but moreso for his subconscious desires rather than what he thinks he thought he wants.

the suggestiveness of noah's suggestion gets him nervous. a bead of sweat rolls from his temple as thinks of letting noah speak his mind and falling for it again. he fights the temptation, and talks first.

"help me choose a yukata. i kinda want to wear one too after seeing you wear one."

boxers...

he finds himself staring at the general area longer than he thought he would be before raising his sights back to noah's eye level. he keeps on a neutral facade, silently hoping he wouldn't catch onto it. noah's words before shutting him up with his grip rings on kyle's head. maybe he's the lonely one.

"t-that's why i'm doing this." he takes his phone out and checks its battery before returning to noah. "and yeah, sure. why the specific request?"

kyle finds the request weird, since noah never asked for anything besides a date. he shrugs the idea off and proceeds to walk straight to his bedroom before giving an impromptu tour of his unit. it was large enough for just kyle, but ultimately, it's a living space for a single person.

he points at the large space with the intricate gaming station. in front of them with the phone on his hand. "living room." and then to its left. "bathroom. closet." he pockets his phone afterwards before entering the room with an already open door. "bedroom."

kyle turns to noah briefly. "d-don't expect much, okay?" hearing the words 'celebrity crush' suddenly got him nervous to show him around, after all.

kyle enters and goes straight to his room's closet to rummage for a yukata, leaving noah to follow along as he pleases. inside was a messy room that contrasts the rest of his apartment.

his bed wasn't made. novels and comic books were stacked beside the bed. weights were shoved on the corner. a pile of dirty clothes stood on a chair. a bunch of chargers were attached to a power strip occupied the outlet. more pictures were pinned on a cork board on the wall.