JAY JAY POV
What the hell does he want now?
I haven't even had the chance to process Keifer's "London" bombshell
If I were a computer, I'd be smoking right now.
"Jay, can we talk please?" Yuri asked.
He didn't have his usual teasing smirk. He looked... serious and sad
"No," I said, not even looking him in the eye. I tried to sidestep him, already planning to leave him standing there in the hallway. I just wanted my brother and my food. Mostly the food.
"Jay, please na," he said, his voice dropping into that soft, persuasive tone that he usually uses to get his way. He stepped in front of me again, his hands raised in a 'peace offering' gesture. "Just listen to me. Give me a chance to explain."
I let out a long, frustrated groan that probably sounded like a dying whale. I looked at my watch, then back at his "pouty" face.
Leche. Why are they all like this today? Is it "Annoy Jay-Jay Day" and nobody gave me the memo?
"Fine! I'm giving you five minutes!" I snapped, crossing my arms over my chest and leaning against the wall. "And every time you say something stupid, I'm deducting thirty seconds. Start."
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YURI POV
What the fuck. Jay has a twin brother and she didn't tell us?
I stood there in the hallway, my mind spinning faster than a Beyblade.
Since she came back, Jay has changed—like, a lot.
She isn't the same clumsy girl who just followed us around. She's tougher, colder. She's acting like Freya or one of those... what does Jay call them? Canvas.
Yeah, a canvas. All painted up and hard to read.
But I know why. I know it's because of Keifer.
He dropped her. He told her he was just using her, and I watched her heart shatter into a million pieces. It killed me. I would do anything just to see her smile that real smile again.
Keifer said he was letting go of her, but I knew it was a lie. The way his jaw clenched every time that Ben guy was around? He was oozing jealousy. And honestly? So was I. Seeing another guy get close to her felt like a punch to the gut.
But that wasn't the problem right now.
I was heading toward the stairs when I saw it. Keifer, dragging Jay toward the music room. His grip was tight, and his face was set in that "King" look that usually meant trouble.
Fuck. Jay is with him.
I felt a surge of adrenaline. I wanted to storm in there and pull his hands off her. I was about to follow, my hand reaching for the doorknob, but I stopped. Through the thin wood of the door, I could hear his voice. It wasn't the cold, arrogant Keifer voice. It was desperate.
"I won't let you go," I heard him say.
I froze, my blood turning to ice. I thought he let go of her. I thought he was giving her space to breathe, to heal. But Keifer Watson doesn't know the meaning of the word 'let go.' He's pulling her back into his storm just when she was starting to find the sun.
I waited until I heard the door click. I leaned against the wall, trying to look casual, trying to hide the fact that I was dying inside.
Then she walked out. Her eyes were red. Her lips were swollen.
Leche. He kissed her. I knew that look anywhere.
I watched her walk away, and for a second, I felt like the "nice guy" act I was putting on was about to snap. I want her to stay. I want her to choose me. But how can she, when Keifer keeps marking her like she's his property?
I stepped into her path, putting on my best "concerned Yuri" face, even though I wanted to punch a wall.
"Jay… I'm sorry. For everything. I was stupid, and you knew it from the start."
She didn't speak, but I could feel the tension in her silence — the kind that says I'm listening, but I'm not forgiving yet.
I swallowed hard. "Keifer came up with the plan. I was right there beside him. I was angry at Aries, and I wanted revenge. So I said yes."
Her eyes didn't move. But I saw the flicker — the one that said I knew it.
"I had doubts," I admitted, voice cracking. "But I ignored them. Until you started showing me who you really were. Until I realized I was falling for you."
Her breath hitched.
"I tried to stop it. Tried to pull you out before Keifer could hurt you. But I was too late. You told me you liked him, and it felt like someone stabbed me straight through the chest."
I looked down, ashamed. "You were already caught in his plan. And I was scared. Scared I couldn't reach you anymore."
She finally spoke, voice barely a whisper. "You wanted to save me?"
I nodded, eyes stinging. "I didn't know how. I just knew I didn't want to lose you to someone who never saw you the way I did."
"I didn't give up," I said. "I tried. I failed. I didn't want her hurt like I was."
"So that's why you forced that stupid engagement?" she snapped.
I looked down. "Y‑yes."
She shook her head. "So that's what you meant by 'saving me,'" she said, voice sharp.
I stepped forward. She stepped back.
I stopped. Breathed. Bowed my head.
"I'm not blaming Keifer. I was there. I helped. I crossed your boundaries. I'm sorry, Jay."
Then I dropped to my knees.
"S‑stand up. Don't do that," she said.
I didn't move.
"I'm sorry. Please… I want you back."
She stepped closer. Her eyes burned through me.
"We're not talking about forgiveness," she said coldly. "You owe me an explanation. That's all. Stand up. You're wasting your time."
Her words hit like a punch to the chest.
I stood. But I couldn't lift my head.
Why was she able to stay beside Keifer… but cut me off so easily?
"You really love him, don't you?" I blurted.
She glared. Sharp. Cold. Final.
"It was easy to forgive him," I said, voice shaking. "Even when he didn't ask."
I tried to stay calm. But the bitterness kept rising.
It wasn't fair. None of it.
"I haven't forgiven Keifer," Jay said.
Not yet. But she will.
I laughed bitterly. "Why him? Why still him? After everything he did… you still love him."
A tear slipped down her cheek.
"Watashi ga nani wo shita?" I said to her she was confused
[What did I do to deserve this?]
I wanted to hold her. But I knew she'd push me away.
"It's not that easy!" she snapped. "If you haven't moved on from me… how could I move on from him?"
She glared. "I hate this! He messes with my head. Says he doesn't like me, then acts like he does. And I keep hoping."
I felt ashamed. She was hurting too. Maybe more than I realized.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean—"
"Sorry again?!" she cut me off. "You and your best friend — you're both jerks. You keep doing the same thing!"
She wiped her cheek. "I don't even know what to do."
I stepped closer. Took her hand. She tried to pull away. I held on.
"Forget him," I said. "I'll help you."
She paused. Silent. Thinking.
I just wanted her free. Happy. Safe.
"I—I don't want to hurt you, Yuri," Jay whispered. "What if it ends the same way again? I took a chance… and it still ended with Keifer."
Tears slipped down her cheeks.
I slowly let go of her hand. "Is it still him?"
I couldn't help it. Seeing her like this—shattered, leaning against the wall, smelling like Keifer's cologne and her own salt—it made me lose my cool.
My voice cracked, sounding more pathetic than I ever wanted it to. "Are you still hoping for Keifer?"
Jay looked at me, her eyes wide and overflowing with a confusion that mirrored my own. She started to open her mouth, maybe to yell at me, maybe to tell me to mind my own business, but she never got the chance.
"Jay!" a voice boomed from the end of the hall.
Before I could even turn my head, a shadow loomed over me. Then, the world exploded in a flash of pain.
BOGSH!
A fist connected squarely with my cheek, the force of it sending me spinning. I didn't just stumble; I hit the floor hard, my ears ringing and the metallic taste of blood blooming in my mouth.
"You son of a bitch!" Jare roared. He was standing over me, his chest heaving, looking exactly like the nightmare version of Jay-Jay. "Why is my sister crying?! What the hell did you do to her?!"
I stayed on the ground for a second, my head swimming. I looked up at him—at the Mariano brother who looks like he's ready to bury me under the school tiles.
"Jare, wait!" Jay-Jay yelled, grabbing his arm.
Jare didn't look convinced.
He pointed a shaking finger at me, his eyes flaring with that signature Mariano temper. "I leave for five minutes to get her a sandwich and I come back to find another one of you making her sob? I don't care who you are, Watson's friend or not—if you touch her, you're dead!"
I wiped the blood from my lip, looking at Jay-Jay
"I was just asking a question," I muttered, my jaw throbbing.
"Ask her questions from ten feet away next time!" Jare barked coming towards me
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JAY JAY POV
Fuck.
Everything was happening too fast.
I thought Jare was just going to give Yuri a warning glare, but a Mariano's temper doesn't have a "simmer" setting—it only has "boil" and "explode."
"Jare, let's go!" I yelled, reaching for his hand, but he was like a runaway freight train.
He lunged at Yuri again, grabbing him by the collar and lifting him up just to rain more punches down on his face. My heart was thumping against my ribs. Yuri wasn't even fighting back that hard; he just looked stunned.
"You son of a bitch!" Jare roared, his knuckles hitting Yuri's jaw with a sickening thud. "Not only did you force her into an engagement, but now you're blackmailing my sister?!"
My blood ran cold. Blackmail? Since when—?
I didn't have time to process Jare's delusional (or maybe not?) accusations. I didn't have a choice. I did the only thing I could think of to stop the bloodbath.
I dove into the middle of them, physically shoving my body between Jare and Yuri. I hauled Yuri back, putting myself in the line of fire. Jare was blinded by rage, ready to swing again, so I did what any loving sister would do.
PAKK!
I slapped him. Hard.
"PUTA!" Jare yelled, stumbling back and clutching his cheek. The hallway went deathly silent. Even the air seemed to stop moving.
"What the fuck are you thinking?!" I screamed at him, my voice echoing off the lockers. "Are you gonna kill him? Right here in the hallway?!"
"Might as well!" Jare spat, rubbing his red cheek and glaring at Yuri with enough hate to incinerate him. "He deserves it for even breathing near you!"
Just then, the atmosphere in the hall shifted from "hot rage" to "arctic freeze." I didn't even have to turn around to know who it was.
Keifer.
He stood there, his eyes darting from Yuri's bleeding lip, to Jare's fury, to my shaking hands. "What is happening here?" Keifer asked, his voice low and dangerous.
Jare didn't back down. He stepped toward Keifer, looking him dead in the eye. "Why don't you ask your best friend?" he shot back, his voice dripping with venom.
My patience didn't just run out; it evaporated. I wasn't going to let this turn into a 2-on-1 Battle Royale. I reached out and grabbed Jare's ear, twisting it with all the pent-up frustration of the last hour.
"Aray! Jay! Let go!" Jare yelped, his tough-guy persona disappearing instantly.
"Let's go and eat!" I barked, dragging him toward the stairs by his ear like he was a misbehaving toddler. "I am hungry, I am tired, and I am done with all of you!"
"Jay, let go of my ear!" he yelled, stumbling behind me.
"Give me my lunch!" I demanded, pulling his ear harder until he was walking on his tiptoes.
He finally fumbled with his bag and handed me my sandwich with his free hand. I snatched it and let go of his ear, giving him one last warning glare.
"One more fight," I whispered, pointing my sandwich at him like a weapon, "and I'm telling Grandpa you're the one who broke his vintage Ming vase."
Jare froze, his eyes widening in pure horror. He finally shut up. I turned and headed upstairs, not looking back at the Kings. I had a brother to tame and a sandwich to eat.
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