Jay-jay's POV
I suddenly found myself staring at Rakki's family picture. She has five siblings. All of them are boys—she's the middle child and the only girl. But what I couldn't understand was… Why was Ci-N in their family picture?
"Rakki..." I called out to her as she was cleaning up the mess we made. "...Why is Ci-N here?"
She let out a little laugh before walking over to me and looking at their family picture.
"He said he's going to be a part of our family too. Then he insisted on joining the photo." she explained, still laughing.
I laughed along. The guy's confidence that he and Rakki would end up together was honestly something else. I could only shake my head at his persistence.
"Snack time." said someone.
We both turned to see a woman carrying a tray of food, smiling at us. Rakki's mom.
"H-hello po," I said with a wave.
"Hi... Are you Rakki's classmate?"
"Schoolmate, Ma." Rakki corrected.
She placed the tray on the coffee table. She watched me while smiling. She looked kind of weird but in a funny way.
"Come on, eat now," she invited me with a chuckle.
Rakki sat down again, so I did the same. She looked at the big jar beside me.
"What's that?"
Boom! I glanced at it briefly before picking it up to show her. "It's a gift for a friend. I asked Rakki to help me wrap it and decorate it."
She read the card. "Happy... Birthday... Ci-N!"
She smiled after reading Ci's name. "You know Ci-N?"
"C-classmate po," I replied.
Suddenly, she looked like she was squealing inside, and I couldn't understand why. She gave the jar back and clapped her hands like a little kid.
"That's my future son-in-law! He and Rak----"
"MA!" Rakki cut her off before she could finish.
"Why? It's true... Ci-N is so cute! If you two have a baby, I'm sure it'll be just as cute----"
"Ma! Don't say that in front of Jay-jay!" Rakki said, obviously embarrassed.
Nice! Looks like Ci-N is already in the good graces of Rakki's mom!
"Why not?! I already talked to Ci-N's mom. I told her not to let him have a girlfriend that isn't you. I even talked to your brothers and told them not to accept any suitors for you." she said, which made me smile.
Rakki just facepalmed. Her mom was relentless but honestly adorable. She's super pro-Ci-N and it's like she won't accept any boyfriend for Rakki unless it's him.
"Ma, come on! Ci-N is still so young!" Rakki complained, annoyed.
"Then wait for him! As long as it's Ci-N." her mom insisted.
I was really enjoying watching them. It was so obvious how close they were to each other. Suddenly, I thought of my own mom. If she hadn't abandoned me, would we be like this too?
Maybe you'd just be yelling profanities at each other from being too close.
"What if he already likes someone else? Then I'd just end up being pitiful because I'm still waiting for him."
Her mom's forehead immediately furrowed. "That's impossible! Ci-N only likes you."
"He has a crush."
Suddenly, both Rakki and her mom looked at me. They looked completely shocked, as if they couldn't understand what I just said.
Looks like I accidentally said my thoughts out loud. I forced a smile, but it probably just looked like a grimace.
"He has a crush?" Rakki asked sadly.
I scratched the back of my head. "I-it's just a crush... J-just simple admiration, that's all."
But the sadness on Rakki's face didn't go away. Oh no! I didn't mean to say that. This is so embarrassing—she even helped me and I still managed to blurt that out.
"...B-but he said... he still likes Rakki."
Rakki's mom immediately smiled and poked her in the side.
"See! He still likes you. So wait for him, okay? Don't get a boyfriend or anything! You'll be in trouble with me."
The sadness disappeared from Rakki's face, but was replaced with a crooked smile. The two of them continued teasing and joking around for a while. I had already finished the snacks they prepared for us, but they still hadn't stopped.
I heard my phone ring. I looked at it and saw a message from Tita Gema. She was asking what time I'd be coming home.
I didn't really want to go yet, but it seemed like they were already getting worried. I said goodbye to Rakki's mom and to her as well.
"Thank you for the snacks," I said.
"You're welcome. Come back here, okay? Bring Ci-N with you." she said with a smile.
Wow! Full support.
Rakki pouted at first, but when she saw I was looking at her, her pout turned into a smile.
"Take care, Jay! Text me, okay?" she said while waving.
I waved back and started walking away. I left the gift with them for now. We agreed to go together to Ci's birthday party.
The jar I put the gift in was breakable. I might accidentally drop it and ruin my surprise.
The streetlights were starting to turn on. It was already getting dark. I walked faster, but suddenly stopped because of the blinding brightness in front of me. I felt like my eyeballs dried up.
It was so bright it was blinding.
Because of the intense brightness, I couldn't see anything. I raised my hand slightly to shield my eyes with its shadow. A loud motorcycle rev made me freeze.
My brows furrowed as I stared into the bright light. The lights went out, and I saw the silhouette of a man on a motorcycle.
Just from the shape of his body, he looked like a big guy.
I swallowed hard as he got off the motorcycle and removed his helmet. He walked slowly toward me, stepping into the area lit by a nearby streetlamp. He was wearing a leather jacket.
I was right—he was a big guy and… and… and… so handsome!
Painfully handsome!
"Jay-jay Mariano?" he asked while looking at me.
I couldn't answer. Not because I was starstruck by his good looks. But because—what if this guy's a scammer trying to rob me of everything I had?
I don't even have any money left… I spent it all earlier!
He gave a slight smirk. "I'm Jason. Ram's brother."
I instinctively stepped back. Holy crap! This was one of the guys that man from yesterday warned me about. Is this it? Is it my time? Am I going to die now? Are they going to kill me? Will they play with me first before they kill me? Can they just kill me already?
"I'm not going to do anything bad to you if that's what you're thinking. I just want to talk," he said, smiling.
Don't fall for the smile! That's a strong weapon for deception.
"I-I don't talk t-to strangers," I stammered.
"But I'm no longer a stranger. I already introduced myself."
He's got a point! He is Jason, Ram's brother—the one who once tried to kidnap me. I also hurt him and smashed his face without even realizing it. He's Jason, one of the three people who probably want me dead.
HE IS JASON!—Weren't they the ones who said, "We want her dead"?!
"Were you the guy in Friday the 13th?" I asked absentmindedly.
His brows furrowed and he slightly shook his head. I had a feeling he didn't get the reference. That movie's horror, total package. Complete SPG! Super Piritong Galungong! I am so innocent.
"Look, I'm really not going to do anything bad to you. I assure you, making a move without the group's knowledge is against our rules," he explained. "...I just really need to talk."
"About what?"
"About Keifer."
OH FOR FU—SHUTANGINAMERS!
"Sorry, the number you have dialed is wrung number. Please do not call again," I said, which made his brows furrow even deeper. "...Because Jason, I've already dealt with enough groups of scumbags and brainless thugs because of that damn King. Don't add yourself to the list. Just go back to the lake and wait for your next victim on Friday the 13th."
He took a deep breath and I could tell he was getting annoyed. Why did this Jason guy even have to show up? It's not even Friday the 13th.
Maybe no one fell victim in the lake, so he just decided to ride a motorcycle instead.
"I know what happened between you and Keifer," he said, making me stop in my tracks.
News really does travel fast. Those alphabet freaks sure are good at gossiping. They probably spread the news about how that damn Demon King messed with me.
"...So if you're thinking I'll use you against him, I won't." he added.
I really didn't want to trust what he said. But if he tried to drag me away by force, I had no way to fight back.
"What if I don't come with you?"
"Then I will force you," he answered quickly.
I've got no chance. He's got muscles. I don't.
"Fine, I'll go with you… But remember this! Don't make any mistakes because I do know how to fight," I warned him.
He nodded and walked toward his motorcycle. I followed, and when I got a better look at it, my brows immediately knitted together.
"You're the one who raced with me before! Even earlier at the mall!" I snapped, pointing at him.
He gave me a mischievous smile. "Now you know."
This jerk…
"You lunatic! What the hell's your problem?! Why did you race with me?! My poor bike!"
He just laughed at me, then suddenly held out his hand in front of me.
"Before I forget. Give me your phone." he ordered.
"What if I don't want to?"
He scratched his head and sighed. "Look, I need to make sure you're not going to call for backup. Just give it to me, because if I'm the one who has to take it, I won't just be holding your phone… I'll be holding your thighs too." He winked, sending chills down my spine.
This bastard's a perv too?!
"Finally! Took you long enough," I said in irritation as I handed him my phone.
He turned it off and slipped it into the inside pocket of his jacket. Then, he grabbed the helmet resting on the motorcycle seat and placed it on my head. He even locked it in place himself before putting on his own helmet.
He got on his bike. "Get on."
Truth be told, this was my first time riding a motorcycle like this. I probably looked ridiculous as I climbed on and grabbed onto his back. Then he started the engine.
"Don't wanna hold on tighter?" he teased.
"Idiot!" I shouted at him, and he burst into loud laughter.
I gripped his arm tighter when he suddenly sped up. What scared me even more was when he tilted the bike so much that we were practically brushing the ground. Where we were going? I had no idea. Now I was seriously regretting coming along.
The sky was already dark. I was sure Tita Gema was worried sick about me. I even texted her earlier saying I was on my way home. I just hoped we wouldn't be gone long with this psycho.
I looked around. I was a bit surprised to realize we were already on the highway. My anxiety spiked, and I got a gut feeling this creep really did have some plan for me. Until he suddenly stopped in front of a...
A gotohan?!
I hopped off and immediately took off the helmet. My jaw dropped as I read the words on the tarpaulin.
'Superb Gotohan!'
What the… I wanted to say I was disappointed, but honestly, I felt relieved. I really thought he was planning something sinister.
He took the helmet from my hands. "Let's go... I'll order."
I awkwardly sat at an empty seat near the far end of the eatery. He had pointed out the spot to me, so I settled there while he went to order food.
The place was decent. Not too many people—maybe because it was still early, or because it was already night. Jason sat across from me. I didn't want to stay long, so I didn't waste any time.
"What exactly do we need to talk about?" I asked.
"I told you... About Keifer."
"Yeah… But what about him?"
He took a deep breath, rested his arms on the table, and leaned slightly toward me.
"We want revenge, and I know that you also want it," he said.
I let out a slight smile and shook my head. "No."
His brows nearly met. "What do you mean?"
"No, I don't want revenge," I clarified. "...If I wanted that, I would've done it a long time ago—but I didn't."
"But why?!"
"Simple. Revenge is for the weak. And I'm not as weak as Keifer to stoop to what he did."
He smiled and stared at my face. It was like he was studying me through his gaze. I was starting to feel uncomfortable, but thankfully, our order arrived just in time.
We ate first, and for some reason I couldn't explain, the uneasiness I felt around him disappeared. Turned out, he wasn't that bad to be with after all. After the meal, we rested a bit before continuing our conversation.
"How did you even meet Keifer? Was it through Ram?" I asked him.
If we were being honest, he should be angry at me because of what happened to Ram. I was the one who hurt him, and yet it's Keifer they're going after.
"Nope. Ram and I weren't even close," he said, wiping the corner of his lips with a tissue. "...Are you familiar with the gangs around this area?"
I shook my head. Like I'd know anything about those gangs.
"...Let me explain this to you first." He grabbed a bunch of calamansi from the bowl near us.
"...The gangs around here work like a network..." He lined up the calamansi in a pyramid shape.
"...starting from the small ones, under bigger ones, which are under even bigger ones, all led by one person... Ram." He placed the biggest calamansi on top.
"I already know that," I said. "...He's like the head of all of them."
He smiled and picked another set of calamansi, arranging them into another pyramid beside the first one.
"And then... this is the rival gang. You go against one, you go against all." he said. "...The one leading this group is—"
"You," I cut him off.
He laughed and shook his head. "No. Their leader is Ryosuke Sato. Half-Japanese, half-Filipino."
Half crazy, half nutcase?!Sato?! Wait! That's the same guy who's after Yuri and wanted to kill me too. Holy crap. Okay, that part's clear now.
I looked at Jason. "So what about you? Where do you fall in all this?"
He smiled and picked a yellow calamansi. He took two and placed them between the two calamansi pyramids.
"Like Keifer... we're what they call in-betweeners. We don't belong to any group, we don't start our own like the others, and we don't care about the rules of either gang."
I didn't say anything and just waited for him to go on.
"...But this Keifer guy." He picked up one of the yellow calamansi. "...his name rings too loud. He went up against everyone and brought them to their knees..." He smiled in a way that seemed annoyed. "...everyone thought he would replace Ram, but he laughed off the position that everyone else wanted so badly."
And you wanted it too.
I wasn't dumb enough not to notice that he also wanted Ram's position. Keifer could've easily taken the leadership, but he rejected it. But why did they still join the gang war if he didn't even want to belong to any group? That messed-up so-called King is so confusing.
"That Riyo—Riyokwunan—the guy who's a regular at the store!" Ugh, why is his name so hard to pronounce? "...Why is he targeting me too? Wasn't Yuri supposed to be his rival?"
Jason looked at me, puzzled. "Isn't Yuri courting you?"
We're already engaged, bro!
"H-he's not."
He shrugged. "Maybe Ryosuke thinks he is." He really emphasized Ryosuke.
I frowned. "No way! You better clear that up with Riyo—ugh, Sato! Just call him Sato! Clear that up so he'll stop coming after me!"
"I'll try."
I squinted at him. "You! Why do you want me to be Tegiboomed?!"
"Tegi—what?"
"Tegi-boom. You know, die."
He laughed and shook his head a little. Then he looked at me, and his expression slowly turned serious.
"If I kill you, Keifer will get distracted. If that happens, I can bring him down."
W-wait a sec... Stop scaring me like that!
Then he suddenly smiled. "...But of course, I'm not gonna do that. He doesn't have any feelings for you, right? He won't be affected anyway."
Wow. Thanks for the reminder, man.
I was about to ask what Ram's deal was, but it seemed unnecessary now. Jason slowly began returning the calamansi to where he got them.
"You know... I've been wondering for a while now why Keifer never liked you." he said, making me freeze in place. If only you knew, I've been wondering the same thing.
"You're not that pretty, yet somehow you have something special that captures our interest."
I frowned. What exactly is he trying to say? He better not be about to confess he has a crush on me or I swear I'll hit him so hard.
"...Or maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Keifer did fall for you, and he just didn't want to drag you into all the chaos..." This guy's lost it. That asshole must've messed up with his head.
"...We'll never know. Unless..."
I felt a chill run down my spine when his gaze suddenly changed. Before I could even say a word, he suddenly grabbed me by the neck. He slammed his fist into our table, knocking off some of our things.
Packing crap! I knew it!
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" the lady at the counter shouted, but Jason didn't even look at her. The other customers glanced our way, alarmed by the commotion.
"Outside..." he said. "...he's outside."
As much as I wanted to ask what he meant, I couldn't. I couldn't breathe, and it felt like my voice was trapped in my throat. I tried to punch his arm, but it didn't do anything. I was getting too weak.
"How do you think he tracked us here?" He fished my phone out from his jacket with one hand.
"...It couldn't have been because of this. So how?"
This guy's got a motto fit for a bank—Gago!
He threw my phone onto the table. I tried to reach for it with one hand, but I couldn't.
I needed to call for help.
"Having a hard time?" he asked innocently. Obviously... That's a ridiculously dumb question!
He smiled, then suddenly let go. I fell to the floor along with the chair I had been sitting on earlier. I tried to crawl away.
Jason forcefully pushed aside the table between us. He watched me crawl while laughing.
"What's taking him so long to come in? I'm getting bored." he said as he stepped closer to me.
"...Looks like he really doesn't care about you."
He really doesn't—so just leave me alone already!
He helped me stand up, and even though it was difficult, I forced myself to keep going.
I was gasping for air as I stared at him.
"I really thought he'd come save you if he was nearby."
This is insane! This guy is seriously out of his mind—just like his so-called not close brother. I gathered all the strength I had left. I kicked him, hard enough to send him flying away from me.
I almost fell over too. My breathing was still heavy as I watched him get up. Before he could say anything, I forced myself to walk away.
But luck was definitely not on my side. I was sure of it—I wasn't mistaken. These were his people. They were the same ones I saw at the store where Percy and I had gone shopping.
"Hahahahahahaha..." Jason laughed loudly as he brushed off his clothes. "...They were right. You do fight back."
Just wait till I regain my strength.
I stepped back when he looked at me and started walking forward. He was smiling, clearly amazed at what I had just done to him.
"But what I really want to see is what Keifer will do once you're completely broken." he said, then kicked the chair in front of him straight toward me.
"Aaagghhhh!!" I screamed as I ducked down. I heard it crash into the wall near me. I glared at him. He was still laughing as he stared in my direction. Once again, he picked up another chair and threw it at me.
I immediately jumped to the side. I was practically an action star at this point. I glanced toward the exit—blocked. His fellow asshole goons were standing in the way.
"Why are you hiding from me? Don't want to face me?" he asked in a mocking tone.
I crawled away from him, nearly on all fours. I looked down when my hand brushed against something. My cellphone!
I grabbed it and tried to turn it on, but I froze when I saw a pair of shoes right in front of me. I quickly got up and ran, but his companions blocked me immediately.
They looked like a pack of creeps, laughing like hyenas. That's when I noticed—the people eating earlier were all gone. The lady at the counter was gone too. No wonder no one was calling the police or trying to break this up.
I kept circling around, trying to make sure no one could get close to me. I saw Jason leaning casually against a wall, arms crossed.
"Let's see if Keifer really cares about you." he said.
"He doesn't care about me! So just leave me alone!" I yelled.
One of them suddenly grabbed me. Caught off guard, I punched him—he fell to the floor instantly.
"Bro! He's bleeding..." one of them said.
Honestly, I still felt weak. I wasn't even sure I had enough left in me to fight. Judging from Jason's stance, I didn't stand a chance against him. If Keifer really was outside… I hoped he'd care enough to do something. Even just this once.