Jay Jay's POV
This place is too fancy.
Crystal chandeliers, marble floors, people walking around in glittering dresses and suits that probably cost more than my entire life savings. The kind of hotel where even the air smells expensive.
And here I am… standing in my HVIS school uniform like I accidentally wandered into the world of the rich.
"K-Keifer," I whispered, tapping his arm.
"Yes, my love?" he answered instantly.
God. He's so cheesy I could melt into the carpet.
"This place is sooo fancy," I muttered, lowering my voice as a couple wearing matching gold outfits passed by. "Look at everyone here… and look at me. I'm literally in a school uniform."
"It's okay," he said, leaning down to my ear. "You look beautiful in anything. And even if you wore nothing—"
I smacked his arm before he could finish. "Keifer! The nerve of this guy!"
"I'm serious," he pouted.
"No, I'm serious! Look around, Keifer. Drop me home, I'll change, and then we'll come back—"
"Tss," he muttered.
A chill ran down my spine. It's been so long since I heard him make that sound. Why… why did it make my heart flip like that? Am I seriously missing his "tss"? What is wrong with me?
"If you go home," he added, "your kuya will never let you come back."
Oh. Right. He's right.
WAIT.
"KEIFER. WHAT TIME IS IT?"
He checked his phone calmly. "7:45."
"7:45?!" I nearly screamed. "KEIFER—KUYA'S GONNA KILL ME! He told me to be home by 7!"
"It's fine," he said, not even flinching. "I won't let him touch you. If he tries, he'll have to go through me first."
I stared at him. "Wow. So brave."
"No, Jay," he said quietly. "I'm serious."
The seriousness in his voice made me freeze for a second.
Keifer doesn't joke when he sounds like that.
His jaw clenched, eyes focused straight ahead like he was ready to fight the entire world… or at least my kuya.
But still—
"Keifer," I whispered, tugging his sleeve, "I really can't get in trouble again. You know how he gets."
"I know." He looked down at me, softer this time. "That's why we're not going home yet."
"Huh—what?"
"Come here."
He slipped his hand into mine like it was the most natural thing in the world and gently pulled me toward the elevator.
"Keifer where are we going?!" I whisper-yelled, trying not to trip over the shiny floor.
"To the rooftop."
"THE WHAT—?! Keifer, are you insane? I'm already dead, now you want me to haunt you too?"
He laughed under his breath. "Relax, jay . It's quiet up there. You can call your kuya without everyone here staring at you like you're a lost student."
Oh.
Oh.
Okay that actually made sense.
I let him pull me into the elevator, but I still slapped his arm lightly. "You scared me! I thought you were planning something stupid."
He smirked. "If I was, you'd be the first to know."
The elevator doors closed, and suddenly it was just the two of us.
No rich people. No glittering dresses. No noise.
But…
the silence reminded me.
The engagement.
The last time we were in an elevator together.
I swallowed hard.
I hate remembering bad things. I keep trying to bury them, push them away, pretend they never happened—
but the memories always claw their way back.
Keifer glanced at me from the side, hands tucked in his pockets, his body angled slightly toward mine. Like he could sense my thoughts.
"Sooo…" he said quietly, voice low, "still embarrassed about the uniform?"
I glared at him. "Shut up."
He chuckled. "Never."
The elevator dinged, and before I could throw another glare, his hand slid to the small of my back, guiding me out like I was something fragile.
The rooftop breeze hit my face instantly—cool, soft, calming. Nothing like the fancy chaos downstairs.
"Call him," Keifer said, stepping beside me. "I'm right here if he yells."
I stared at my phone. Then at him.
He looked annoyingly confident.
"You're crazy," I whispered.
He shrugged. "Only for you."
My heart literally died, revived, then died again.
I slowly searched through my contacts for Kuya's name.
Then it appeared.
DEVIL
I looked at Keifer. Then at the phone. Then back at Keifer.
With all the courage in my entire bloodstream… I pressed call.
The ringing echoed in my ear.
Once… twice… three times…
Then it stopped.
Uh-oh.
"Kuyaaaa…" I said softly.
["Where the f*ck are you."]
"At a restaurant…" I replied.
["First an ice cream shop, now a restaurant?"]
["Don't you ever get tired of eating?"]
"No? Food is life?"
He muttered something rude under his breath.
["Pity the person who'll marry you."]
"How rude!" I whispered, covering the mic.
"I'm coming to pick you up," he said.
"No, no need! I'm with Keifer."
Silence.
Then—
I heard him mutter curses so aggressively I had to pull the phone away from my ear.
But before he could finish, someone called him from behind.
"Angelo, come on! We're getting late."
"Okay, Ma," he replied.
…Tita Gema?
Then his voice returned.
["Be home before 10. I have an important business meeting. It's just going to be you, Aries, Yuri, Alvin, and Cindy at home."]
"Okay, Kuya."
["And I'll ask Aries if you came home before 10. If you didn't… let's just say you already know what happens."]
My soul left my body.
He ended the call.
I lowered the phone slowly.
Keifer raised a brow. "So…?"
"I have… two hours to live."
He smirked. "Then we'll make it the best two hours of your life."
—------------------------------------ some time later —------------------------------------
Me and Keifer ended up ordering food from the rooftop.
There was no way I was going back downstairs — not with all those rich-looking people staring at me like I was a lost charity case.
A waiter came up with a small notepad.
"What would you like for dessert, ma'am?" he asked, voice soft, polite… a little too soft.
I didn't even have to look at Keifer to know he was watching.
I could feel it — like heat burning the side of my face.
I glanced at him.
Yep.
He was shooting daggers with his eyes so sharp they could slice the rooftop in half.
"Two chocolate lava cakes, please," I said quickly, before Keifer's eyes murdered the poor guy.
The waiter smiled at me.
Mistake number one.
Keifer's jaw tightened.
Mistake number two.
And when the waiter said, "I'll bring them right away, ma'am," with that soft tone again—
Oh, that man was on thin ice.
Finally, he left.
Peace. Quiet.
Just me and Keifer.
"Uh… Keifer," I said softly.
"Mhm?" He didn't look annoyed anymore. His eyes were back on me.
"I need to tell you something."
"What is it, my queen?"
My heart slammed against my ribs at the way he said that.
Ugh. Why does he talk like that?
Why does he look at me like that?
Why is he so—
WHY.
"So I thought a lot about it," I began, suddenly nervous. "And I've been trying to tell you that maybe—"
But before I could finish, Keifer leaned in.
His face was just an inch away from mine.
"Tell me what?" he whispered.
I could feel his breath on my lips.
My brain instantly decided to stop working.
Then—
he kissed me.
Soft at first.
Slow.
His hand cupped the side of my jaw gently, like I would break if he touched me too hard.
Then he pulled back just enough to look at me… and kissed me again.
Deeper.
Warmer.
Like he'd been waiting a long time to do that.
My heart was doing Olympic-level gymnastics.
I lightly smacked his chest. "You… you took two kisses from me."
He smirked. "The second one was for the profanity you said earlier."
"Oh my—" I groaned.
"Jay," he said, sitting back properly. "You were going to say something, right?"
"Uuh… yeah."
He turned fully toward me, resting his hands on the table.
And like an idiot, my hands moved on their own and rested on top of his.
His thumb brushed mine.
Why is this so hard?
Why can't he just ask me?
I would literally answer in 0.01 seconds.
"Maybe we could be…" I whispered.
His eyes were locked on mine.
Expecting.
Hopeful.
"Maybe we could be—"
Of course.
OF COURSE.
The waiter returned.
"Your chocolate lava cakes—"
I smiled politely.
But inside?
I was cussing him out in three different languages.
The waiter finally left.
Keifer didn't even wait a full second.
He leaned forward, eyes locked on mine, voice low enough to melt bone.
"Finish your sentence."
I panicked.
Like full-on brain evaporated panic.
"U-uhhh… that can wait." I grabbed a fork and stabbed my lava cake like it personally offended me. "Let's eat first!"
Keifer raised a brow, smirking like he already knew I was avoiding it… but he didn't push.
Instead, he slid his chair closer.
Not a little.
Not politely.
FULL "I'm-claiming-this-spot-next-to-you" closer.
Our knees touched.
My soul disintegrated.
He watched me take a bite, head tilted.
"Good?" he asked softly.
I nodded quickly. "Yesh."
I meant yes, but my mouth was full and I instantly regretted speaking.
He laughed — that stupid, soft laugh that made my stomach do cartwheels.
Then he took a bite of his cake and held his fork out to me.
"Try mine," he said.
"It's literally the same thing—"
"Jay," he said, in THAT tone.
I opened my mouth and took the bite.
…oh no.
Why did it taste better when he fed it to me?
I looked away. "Stop staring."
"I'm not staring," he said.
"You are—"
"I'm admiring."
I choked on my own existence.
We ate slowly after that.
Talking.
Laughing.
Pretending the world wasn't ending at 10 PM.
And the whole time…
Keifer kept brushing his hand against mine.
Like he couldn't help it.
Keifer insisted on walking me to the door.
Not the gate.
Not the street.
THE DOOR.
I tried pushing him away. "Okay okay, I'm here, you can go—"
"No."
"No?? Keifer I have to go inside—"
He stepped closer.
Way too close.
Close enough that I felt my heartbeat jump.
"I'm not letting you go yet."
I opened my mouth to argue, but—
He kissed me.
Not like earlier.
This one was hungrier.
Warmer.
His hands slid to my waist, pulling me closer until I was fully pressed against him.
I gasped into the kiss and he deepened it, and suddenly the whole world went blurry except for him.
My fingers tangled in his shirt.
He kissed me again.
And again.
Okay maybe dying at 10 PM wasn't so bad.
I pulled back for air, breathless. "Keifer—"
He kissed me again before I could finish.
And that's when we heard it.
Ahem.
We froze.
Very. Slowly.
We turned our heads.
And there
Stood the one and only
Horoscope
ARIES.
Arms crossed.
Expression dead.
Judgment activated at maximum level.
"Really?" he said. "At the door? Of the house? Where people LIVE?"
My soul fell out of my body AGAIN.
Keifer didn't even flinch.
He literally put an arm around me like Aries wasn't about to commit murder.
"Good evening, . . . brother in law " Keifer said casually.
Aries blinked.
Then blinked again.
"Do you two…" he pointed between us, "…have a death wish?"
I slapped my hand over my face. "Aries please—"
Keifer squeezed my waist. "We were just—"
"Kissing," Aries finished for him. "You were just KISSING. In front of the DOOR. Where the whole NEIGHBORHOOD could see. Are you okay? Is your brain intact?"
I wanted the ground to open and swallow me whole.
Keifer remained calm. "I'll take responsibility."
Aries stared at him like he just said he was the president.
"You lucky i was the one who saw you both ," Aries said pointing at me and keifer . " if Kuya sees this? No one will know where your body ends up."
I smacked Keifer's arm whisper-yelling, "SEE?? I TOLD YOU."
Keifer smirked. " tss… "
Tss your face
Aries sighed, pointed at me and said . " You Inside Now. Before Kuya gets home and commits a crime."
I grabbed Keifer's hand.
Aries glared. "NOT YOU HOLDING HANDS TOO—"
And before he could finish I ran like my life depended on it
And before Aries could finish his sentence—
I RAN.
I almost tripped
TWICE
All because of keifer
"JAY—HEY—GET BACK HERE!" Aries yelled behind me.
NOPE.
NOT TODAY.
NOT AFTER GETTING CAUGHT LIKE THAT.
I zoomed into the house so fast the door nearly flew off its hinges.
I didn't stop until I crashed into the sofa, face first, breathing like I outran death
From the doorway, I heard Aries' voice:
"Keifer… what did you DO to her?"
And Keifer, the audacity on that man, answered calmly:
"Kissed her."
I let out the loudest internal scream.
Footsteps.
Then Keifer stepped inside too, like he owned the place.
"WHY ARE YOU HERE?!" I whisper-yelled from behind the sofa.
"You ran," he said, walking toward me like it was the most normal thing ever. "I had to make sure you didn't trip over your own feet."
"I DIDN'T trip—"
"You almost did."
"THAT WAS THE DOORFRAME!"
Aries rubbed his face. "Both of you… please. I'm begging you. Kuya's gonna be home soon."
I peeked over the sofa like a traumatized meerkat.
"You two saw nothing," I said. "NOTHING happened."
Aries raised a brow. "Jay, your hair is literally messed up."
Keifer coughed. "I might've done that."
"STOP TALKING!" I hissed.
Aries opened his mouth to say something else—
But I was DONE.
I launched myself up, ran past both of them, and sprinted toward my room like my soul had somewhere better to be.
"No goodbyes? Not even a hug?" Keifer called from behind me, sounding amused.
"NO. GOOD. NIGHT!" I yelled without looking back.
I slammed my door shut and leaned against it
Oh my god.
Oh. My. GOD.
I slid down the door dramatically.
"AND WHY WAS HE STILL SMIRKING?!" I whisper-screamed to myself.
I buried my face into my hands.
I'm dead.
I'm so dead.
Tomorrow I'll have to face Aries.
And Keifer.
And maybe even Kuya if my luck is horrible.
I covered myself with my blanket like it could protect me from consequences.
One kiss turned into two.
Two turned into getting CAUGHT.
And getting caught turned into me running like a cockroach when the lights turn on.
Perfect.
Absolutely perfect.