two unpeeled apples
Onsen Boys Chapter 5 - DAVID☁️
Welcome to Apple Hair!
Usually, in the CANON, I explore creating a fictional universe with the hopes that you’ll follow along with your own world. Every fourth week, I’m releasing an AU story or an exclusive with one of the members of Apple Hair. This time, we have the fifth chapter of Onsen Boys! We’re following David and Seiya on their trip to Japan.
Want to read Onsen Boys from the very beginning? You can start here!
If you’re new here, Apple Hair is a fictional, Asian American boy band from Hawaiʻi. I’m Airen, and this particular short story draws on my experiences in Japan.
Welcome to the newsletter, and I’m excited to share this AU with you.
The yukata suffocates me, wrapping me in its slightly scratchy embrace. After averting my eyes from Seiya, I breathe in the slightly warm air of the dressing room, turning over this night in my head. I dreamed of going to the onsen with Seiya, and I won’t miss out because I’m a little embarrassed. Okay—maybe a lot. Maybe the embarrassment thickens around me and totally brings me under, and all I know is the flush on my face, my trembling knees, the way my skin sticks to the air as if covered with a slimy film…
A lot embarrassed. But I still move to untie my sash. I take off the yukata first, and then my undershirt. When I untie the drawstring of my pants, I almost faint, but I manage to take them off without tangling on the floor like a shedding snake.
That leaves me with just one thin line of defense. I stuff my clothing into the locker and steal a glance at Seiya, who’s been mirroring me this whole time. Is it embarrassing that we have the exact same Calvin Klein style that Kaden bought all of us for Christmas? I guess it is, but in the moment it makes me feel like Seiya and I are one.
I stare at the wall and take off my last piece of clothing, feeling the cold as it rushes in and reminds me that yes, I am in fact, exposed like a freshly peeled apple.
I hear Seiya do the same. I avoid looking at him, as if finding the wall the most interesting part of our entire trip to Japan.
“This is nice,” Seiya says.
I gulp and then try to break my eyes away from the spot ahead of me. “We didn’t even do anything yet.”
Seiya laughs and then taps me on the arm. It breaks me out of my trance, and then I turn, looking at the warmth in his eyes, the way he always considers me, as if I am always somewhere within his periphery, existing.
“Let’s go,” he says, a smile in his tone. “Try not to stare too hard.”
I follow Seiya, and I enter the fictive dream where onsens were once just a little voice in the back of my head, asking me “what if?” Everything turns blurry like my own mind wants to put a censor on everything. I blink a few times when we leave the locker room and enter the real deal of the onsen. The steam hits me and furls up my nose, and then my vision refocuses and I find Seiya.
I thought that this moment would lead to embarrassment in more ways than one, like a personal signal going off above my head, flashing brilliant red. But all I see is Seiya, the boy I chose to love. The awkwardness leaves me, floating off and evaporating in my veins. Like he told me many times, it’s just me and him. Nothing to be ashamed or afraid of, and everything to enjoy and take part of.
I sit next to him at the shower station. An old man relaxes in the spring, and he exudes a peaceful attitude that latches onto me. Onsens, the most relaxing part of many peoples’ days. It could be for me and Seiya too.
I wash my body and lather up, making sure to get myself completely clean, one of the rules I read about online, and as I close my eyes while washing my hair, I enter the realm of just picking apart the temperature. I register how Seiya’s also bathing beside me, and the normalcy of how we must look comforts me—it gives me the strength to stand up while barely covering myself with my towel.
“I hope the springs heal everything bad that could ever happen to my body,” I tell Seiya.
He whispers back, conscious of the old man who closes his eyes, probably reflecting on either everything or nothing. “Let’s hope it gives us strength to perform, ’ya?”
“Yes,” I say. This time, in a brave spurt, I lead the way.
The silver spring of Arima Onsen cascades in a miniature waterfall slash fountain on the rock wall. The sound of it drowns out everything else, even our footsteps. I dip my foot into the spring, savoring how it wants to envelop me, placing me in the same lull as the old man.
“It feels nice,” I tell Seiya. “Like it’s actually going to heal me from the inside out.”
Seiya places one hand on my shoulder. Sparks erupt at the point of contact, and I refuse the temptation to look back. “I think it’s going to give us superpowers.”
“I hope so,” I say.
I dip my body entirely into the silver springs, admiring the rock wall and the humble interior, tiled with a wooden roof that vaults upwards. Seiya hisses as he enters the water, and then we float off to the side, sitting together.
I’m so, so glad that I got past my fears. I’m here now, with Seiya in the onsen, a place that I only read about and wondered to myself whether I’ll ever be able to experience it. The steam rises strongly, and it clears my sinuses. I can visualize the water actually turning silver, and I let my body adjust, soaked by the various minerals.
“How long do you wanna stay?” Seiya asks after a little while.
“Forever,” I respond, and he chuckles.
Eventually, the temperature of the water turns out to be a bit too much. I sit on the edge of the pool and cover myself with the towel. Seiya does the same. We wade our feet into the water and rest in our silence. I love how we don’t always have to be saying something to feel like we’re constantly conversing—rather, we can just speak through our minds, guessing what the other would say. Sometimes, nothing’s good too.
I dip one more time into the pool, Seiya following. The old man leaves, and then we have the place to ourselves. I place a brave arm around Seiya, finding the bareness of his shoulders—that match mine—the most familiar thing in the world.
This isn’t bad at all, and I wish we could soak here, as I said, forever, just onsen boys with the goal of becoming one with the waters.
Hey, it’s Airen again! Did you enjoy Onsen Boys? Leave a comment or jump into the Chat to talk about it!
If you missed the last post, you should definitely check it out here! It’s about refilling your creative well through travel. And most times, we don’t even have to travel that far. I love how this ties into David and Seiya’s trip to Arima Onsen.
I can’t believe that Apple Hair: A Boy Band Fantasy Novel has been available for more than two months! A reminder that it’s available on Kindle Unlimited!
Happy reading!