The hallway outside the hospital room was quiet, save for the humming fluorescent lights and the occasional shuffle of a night-duty nurse. It was well past 3:40 a.m. when Jonas and Seraphine arrived at Callum's room door.
Through the narrow window on the door, they saw Callum still slumped, and Marcus curled beside him like a loyal pup, their forms tangled in shared exhaustion. The blanket Sera had covered them with had slipped halfway off Callum's shoulder, his hand still resting protectively on Marcus's back.
"They look like they passed out mid-conversation," Jonas murmured, stifling a yawn.
Sera gave a faint nod. Her lips curved into something soft, almost wistful, as her gaze lingered on the scene. "They look like gays," she said.
Jonas arched a brow. "Ma'am, are you jealous?"
She didn't smile, but her face lightened. "You could call it that."
They didn't enter the room. Instead, Sera quietly led Jonas to a row of benches just outside. She shrugged off her coat, draped it around her shoulders, and sat. Jonas followed.
A minute passed in silence. Then two. Then twenty.
Jonas shifted, elbow on the armrest, chin resting on his hand. "Ma'am... Can I ask something weird?"
Sera glanced at him.
"Go on..."
" Sir Marcus and Sir Callum. The two are so brother—like, family close—but how did their friendship not break after what you did? Like there's no broken invisible line between them." He paused. "Or did they fight?"
Sera blinked at him, then smiled faintly. "No. Never. They are brothers at best."
He tilted his head. "Then, did Sir Marcus scold you?"
"Yes," she said softly. "He said every good word to convince me that Callum is the best man for me. He even scolded me that choosing Lior will bring me no happy ever after." Her eyes drifted back to the window, where the soft orange light of the room flickered across the sleeping forms inside. "I think that's one of the reasons I chose Lior, to show them, they are wrong to decide the best for me."
"It was also Marcus who convinced our father to make the deal with Lior."
Jonas turned to stare at Sera, his energy perked down slightly. "Ma'am, is Lior the man you desired the most?"
"Was," Sera corrected. "He was more than that. He was…" She exhaled. "We met in the middle of my first year in high school."
Jonas's eyes twinkled with curiosity. "How?"
Sera smiled. "You really want to hear about it?"
He gave a shrug. "Yes, ma'am! I like hearing about first loves. Besides, you never talk about him. Not really."
She leaned back against the wall and tilted her head, allowing her mind to drift to memories long tucked away.
---
"Our school was called by outsiders the 'school of streets' because of its overcrowding, as it accepts anyone, especially those who are expelled or drop-outs from other schools," she began.
"The air always smelled like chalk and wet cement. I remember the first day Lior transferred in—he was late, dripping from the rain, and took the only empty seat beside me. I thought he looked rude. His bag was open, his socks didn't match, and he didn't even say sorry for being late."
Jonas grinned. "That was a romantic start."
Sera shook her head and continued. "But then I saw his handwriting."
That part still made her smile. "It was… beautiful. Cursive but clean. Like the kind you'd see on wedding invitations. Thus, I asked him to copy the notes from the blackboard in my notebook, and he stared with a big no on his eyes. But when I told him I would pay him five pesos every page, he agreed. However, he writes my notes but never his, so we always share on my notes."
Jonas burst into laughter. "So does he pay you too, every time he uses your notes?!"
"No, but that's when I started to crush on him," Sera said and shook her head.
"I kept asking him to write for me again and again. I think I liked the seconds of quarrel every time he complains his hand is already sore, and he'd always roll his eyes and act like I was annoying, but will still write anyway."
Jonas leaned in. "So that's how you two fell?"
"Not really," Sera said. "Lior wasn't… studious. He hated classes. He'd skip them whenever he could. Just vanish. So, in a week, I can only see him twice... at most thrice."
Sera cleared her throat.
"Our adviser couldn't handle him and eventually asked me to watch him as I was the class president. Also, Mrs. Gasa added, Lior and I sat together, so I was the best choice."
Jonas rested his head on the wall. "So, you became his warden."
"Exactly," Sera said. "I started chasing him around campus. Dragging him back to class. There was this one time I caught him trying to scale the back fence to sneak out during lunch. I grabbed his shirt and yelled so loud the guards came running."
"I bet he hated you."
"He did," she said with a laugh. "But he also… didn't. I think he liked being chased. It made him laugh. He started calling me 'Mama.'" She shook her head, amusement flickering in her gaze. "Every time he disappeared, I'd find him by the back of the cafeteria or hiding in the empty library corner, sneaking some sleep. Once, I found him smoking behind the gym with two seniors. I told the principal, but he still smiled at me the next day."
"You snitched on him?" Jonas gasped.
"I was trying to save him," she said. "Smoking and drinking at that young age will kill him early. Also, he was failing. He was reckless. But I knew there was more to him."
Jonas quieted for a moment. "Did it work? Did he change?"
Sera looked down at her hands. "He passed. Barely. And he stopped skipping. Started studying with me. And then… we became buddies."