Yuri's POV
Jay-Jay was acting weird. Almost all of us looked at her as she squirmed in her chair, seemingly wanting to do something.
"Is Jay-Jay all right?" Felix asked.
I shrugged. Even I couldn't answer that. This morning, she was cold toward us, but after lunch, she started acting like this.
"Son of a bitch!" Jay suddenly shouted, making us look at her again. "...It's really hot!"
But it was actually a bit cold.
The weather had been cool since this morning, so it wasn't hot at all. She removed her necktie and slightly unbuttoned her blouse, revealing a bit of her chest.
I immediately stood up and approached her. People could see what she was doing.
"Jay... Fix your uniform," I ordered, but she just kept fanning herself with her hand.
"Jay-Jay smells like alcohol," Ci-N whispered to me.
Wine? What the hell...
"Who gave you the wine?" I asked calmly.
"Please," she answered, sounding bored.
She kept fanning herself. She wasn't completely drunk, just a little tipsy—I could tell from her actions.
"Fix your uniform. You're exposing—SHIT!"
I felt my stomach drop as she completely unbuttoned her uniform, exposing what shouldn't be seen.
I quickly took off my polo shirt and covered her with it. She tried to remove it, but I slapped her hand away, glaring at her.
"That's so hot, Yuri!" She shouted at me.
That's the effect of alcohol... Good thing she wasn't completely wasted.
"Who gave you the wine?" I asked, slightly annoyed.
"Your grandfather, that skinny old man," she muttered.
I clenched my fists at her nonsense. She was being cold, stubborn, and completely uncooperative.
That's the price, Yuri. That's the price.
"Fuck! It's so hot!" She shouted again and threw my polo shirt right in my face.
"What the..." I heard Keifer mutter.
I turned to look at him just as he entered the room. He raised an eyebrow and looked at Jay-Jay before shifting his gaze to me.
I was about to strangle Jay-Jay right then and there.
"Why is she acting like this?" Keifer asked sternly.
"She's tipsy," I answered.
The crease between Keifer's brows deepened. Without hesitation, he took off his polo shirt—just as Jay-Jay started undressing again, confusing all of us.
I quickly wrapped my polo shirt around her, and Keifer did the same. Before Jay-Jay could resist, Keifer suddenly picked her up like a sack of rice. ❤️
"P***ng ina! Put me down!" Jay-Jay shouted.
"Keifer..." I called him. "...What are you doing?"
"I don't know!" he snapped, taking a deep breath. "...I just have to stop her!"
He suddenly left the room, carrying Jay-Jay. I immediately followed. He kept walking until he abruptly turned toward the staircase leading to the second floor.
"Where are you taking her?"
He didn't answer but headed straight to the end of the hall, where the pictures of previous Section E students were displayed.
"Put me down! I'm going to throw up on you!" Jay-Jay kept shouting.
Keifer fumbled in his pocket and pulled out a key, tossing it to me. I caught it immediately.
"Open this goddamn door!" he ordered angrily.
Though confused, I did as he said and unlocked the door. He rushed inside, and I turned on the lights.
Keifer set Jay-Jay down on the sofa in the middle of the room. The moment he did, Jay-Jay kicked him—hard.
"P***ng ina! You're always so annoying!" Jay-Jay shouted at Keifer.
"Calm down, Jay," I said, stepping toward her, but she threw our polo shirts at me.
I glanced at her chest, which was almost fully exposed. Her uniform was still unbuttoned. I swallowed and quickly looked away.
Fix yourself, Yuri!
"Aaahhhhh! Why is my uniform open?!" Jay-Jay screamed in frustration.
"You're the one—!"
Keifer didn't finish what he was going to say because Jay-jay immediately threw a throw pillow at him. She adjusted her uniform and shot us an annoyed look.
"Why are you here?! You have a plan for me, don't you?!"
I just scratched my head. I was sure Jay-jay wasn't drunk, but judging by her behavior, I preferred to think that she was.
"Are you sure she's not drunk?" Keifer asked me.
"She's not asking for a virgin to sacrifice, so no, she's not drunk."
He seemed to understand what I meant. Maybe she was close to getting drunk herself—just one more bottle, and she'd be looking for a virgin to offer in exchange for eternal life.
I looked at Jay-jay as she lay down on the sofa, shifting restlessly.
"It's really hot," she muttered, covering her face with a throw pillow.
"Who gave her alcohol?" Keifer asked as he walked over to the opposite sofa.
"I don't know. She was acting weird when she came back after lunch."
Keifer sighed and rubbed his face with both hands. I sat next to him and watched Jay-jay. She looked like she was already asleep.
This was better than earlier—when she almost undressed in front of the whole class. She didn't have lunch with us. According to Felix, he tried to talk to her but got rejected.
I glanced at my wristwatch. We wouldn't make it to our next class. I let out a deep sigh.
This was all our fault. We shouldn't have let Jay-jay get to this point. And now, we were the ones struggling with the mess she'd made.
I turned to Keifer, who had his eyes closed, leaning his head back.
"Can you..." I started, but he didn't move. "...tell me the real reason?"
"What reason?" His tone was indifferent, almost detached.
He was dodging the question again. He might have fooled everyone else, but not me.
"You can't lie to me."
"I'm not damn stupid, Keifer."
"If you're not damn stupid, then what are you trying to do? Shouldn't you be happy that I stepped aside? Now you can have the girl you want," he said, looking straight into my eyes.
That was true. I should be celebrating this. No Keifer in my way. Anytime now, Jay-jay could be mine.
But not like this.
I looked at Jay-jay, fast asleep. Not in this situation. Not when she was right in front of us, yet so distant. Not when she was furious with all of us.
"I still want to know the truth."
"What for?" he asked, pulling out a cigarette.
He lit it and offered it to me, but I shook my head. I had quit months ago.
Keifer suddenly chuckled. "Are you serious about quitting? I thought you were just joking."
"Don't change the subject. Answer me, Keifer."
He exhaled smoke and looked away. His avoidance was starting to irritate me.
"You already know the answer. Why are you still asking?" he said, taking another drag.
"I don't, Keifer. I don't know the exact answer."
"You were there when I planned it. I thought you were involved, but you backed out halfway through."
I let out a bitter chuckle. "Your plan. Again?" I shook my head. "That's your reason for this mess? That's your reason for hurting Jay-jay?!"
I couldn't help but raise my voice. Keifer was my only chance at getting answers, and he was lying straight to my face.
"That's the fucking truth," he said flatly.
I laughed—an empty, humorless laugh. Talking to him was infuriating. I might as well be talking to a wall.
"I should be the happiest guy in town now that you're out of the picture. I should be thrilled that I finally have a chance with her. But when I saw her hurt..." I clenched my fists. "...I wanted to punch you. I wanted to blame everything on you and make you pay."
"Then why didn't you?" he challenged.
"Because I know there's something more."
"And that something is?"
"You're lying," I said, making him pause mid-smoke. "You lied to us. You lied to Jay-jay. And most of all, you lied to yourself."
"I lied to no one."
"I told you, I'm not damn stupid!" I breathed heavily, trying to calm myself. "...You've stopped your plan for a long time. That's why the entire Section E has stopped. We're not numb—we can feel it."
He didn't respond. Instead, he used up the stick he was holding and took another one to light. It was hard to read his mind when he was like this.
"Keifer," I called his name with mixed emotions. "...If you can't tell Jay-Jay and the entire Section E, at least you can tell me."
"I have nothing to tell you."
I couldn't stop myself—I grabbed his collar tightly.
"Damn it, Keifer! You're in love with Jay-Jay, but you chose to hurt her! Why?! What's the fucking reason?!" I demanded angrily.
His lifeless eyes met mine. "I'm not, Yuri. I'm not in love with her."
I punched him hard. He didn't even flinch or fight back. He just sat there on the floor, wiping his lips.
It was frustrating. Damn it!
"You know I can tell when you're lying, but you keep repeating yourself!"
"I'm not."
I pinched myself in annoyance. There was no point in talking to him about this anymore.
I was about to leave when something crossed my mind.
"If you don't have feelings for Jay-Jay, then why do you get so angry when another guy gets close to her?"
He didn't answer. I smirked secretly. He could lie all he wanted, but jealousy was something he couldn't hide.
He stood up from the floor and looked at Jay-Jay.
"I'm just playing around," he said before walking away.
I watched him disappear through the door. I thought I could make him admit it, but I was wrong.
I wasn't trying to force him to confess just to embarrass him—I was doing it because it hurt me. It hurt me to see Jay-Jay like this. Every time she looked at Keifer, I felt the pain for her.
I didn't know it would hurt this much to see someone important to me suffer. I thought I should be happy since there was no obstacle in my way. But I was wrong again.
I washed my face and was about to approach Jay-Jay when I stopped.
She was sitting on the sofa, hugging a throw pillow tightly.
Shit!
That meant she had been awake the whole time. She heard everything.
"Jay-Jay..." I called her name and took a step closer, but she stopped me.
"Go first. Leave me alone for now," she said, her voice cracking.
Instead of listening to her, I sat beside her and hugged her tightly. She tried to push me away, but her tears kept falling, and eventually, she gave up.
Jay-Jay was like a child losing her favorite candy. I let her release all her anger—toward us, toward Keifer.
I'm so sorry you had to hear those words.
"It hurts so damn much!" she sobbed. "...I told myself I wouldn't cry anymore, but here I am again!"
"I'm sorry, Jay. I'm so sorry."
She kept crying until she fell asleep, her head resting on my chest, her body leaning against mine.
I ran my fingers through her hair. I could smell alcohol on her. Whoever gave it to her didn't intend to get her drunk, but if I found out who it was, I'd make them regret it.
"K-Keifer..." she whispered in her sleep.
Even in her dreams.
It hurt. Keifer still occupied her thoughts, even in sleep. If only I could help her forget him, I would.
"Aishiteru..." I whispered.
I let her sleep for a while. By the time she woke up, class was about to end, so we just went home. As planned, I was the one who took her back.
She was quiet the whole way.
When we reached her house, I grabbed her arm before she could get out.
"Jay... I'm sorry—"
"Stop saying sorry, Yuri," she cut me off. "...Your sorry won't change anything."
She slowly pulled her arm away from me. I didn't want to let go, but I had to—for her.
She quickly got out of the car and entered their house through the gate. I noticed Aries looking at me, but I ignored him and started the car to leave.
I was halfway home when my phone rang. I immediately pulled over and answered the call.
It was Hahaoya.
"Hahaoya? I'm on my way home."
["That's good to hear."]
"Is there a problem?"
["Keifer is here. He's waiting for you."]
At home? Keifer?
"Okay… I'm almost there," I replied before hanging up.
I quickly resumed driving. Our building wasn't far from where I had stopped, so it didn't take long to get there.
After parking the car, I headed straight to the elevator. A strange feeling settled in my chest. Keifer and I hadn't had a good conversation earlier, so his sudden visit was surprising.
As soon as I reached our floor, the maids greeted me, but I didn't stop to acknowledge them. I walked straight to my room, and as expected, Keifer was on the balcony.
The balcony was just beside my room, offering a breathtaking view of the entire city. The wooden flooring remained unchanged, and plants adorned each of the four corners.
"Keifer," I called out.
He looked at me and tossed away the stick he had been holding. His usual cold stare met mine.
"Do me a favor," he said.
Though surprised, I waited for him to continue.
"…Keep Jay-jay safe."
My forehead creased. Out of nowhere, he had come here just to ask for this favor.
Seriously?
"Why are you saying that?"
"You love Jay-jay, don't you?" His words stopped me in my tracks.
Of course, I do!
"It's o—"
"Then here I am, letting her go. I've been patient for you."
I stiffened. "What are you talking about? What's going on with you?"
He didn't answer. Instead, he gazed out over the city and shook his head. Slowly, he turned to face me and smiled. For a moment, I thought he was about to say something, but instead, he walked toward my room.
I immediately followed him. "Keifer."
"This is the only way," he said, stopping in his tracks. "The only way I can save Jay-jay…" He let out a heavy sigh. "…is by hurting her."
Without another word, he quickly left.
I didn't want to overthink it, but why did I have a feeling that his family was involved in whatever he had done?
What have you done, Keifer?