JACS 14

 He knew Krist cried a lot. Even back when they started this unusual relationship, the younger male would always have reddened eyes.

That was proof of how Krist was emotionally struggling. It also proved Singto's chance to win him over.

But this time around, there would be no telltale signs of his emotional struggles.

No forced smiles, no reddened eyes, no soaking in the bathtub, no flushed cheeks.

Back when they were together, Krist would go out of his way to be his cheerful self despite his tiresome job as a fast food crew. Singto asked him to stop working but the younger male was resolute in saving as much as he can for his family.

Krist wanted to help as much as he can before they finally settled down with an adopted child.

This had been boggling him for years. Why would Krist exhaust himself if he could simply ask money from him? Was it to continue his act as a white lotus?

Were the plans they made only for naught?

"Sir, I've cleaned up the Masters Bedroom. Shall I order strawberrie-"

"No need." There was no need for strawberries. "I'm the only one staying for a few weeks. When does he come by?"

The caretaker paused for a second. "He left after a month that you did not return. Since then, he visited thrice. The first was on your anniversary. He prepared dinner with a bottle of wine. Second was when he took a couple of things with him and placed a lockbox in your bedroom. The last one was a couple of days ago."

A couple of days ago?

"He said he was leaving and since you're back with a new lover, he wouldn't show himself again. He . . . Cleaned up."

"Cleaned up?"

The woman pointed towards the walls. "He took off your pictures together as well as changed them into the original artwork pieces we kept in the storage room. I was tasked to burn a couple of box-"

"Burn?!" Singto could feel his chest tighten at the possibility of the memoirs they had in this house turning into ashes.

"I have not thrown them to the fire yet, Sir. I'll bring them to you while you're having breakfast."

Tired, Singto begrudgingly agreed and ate his breakfast. Going back here was the best decision he has ever made since his return to this city. His earlier frustration due to being fed dog food the night before by Godt and Wayo faded away the second the caretaker and her her son placed two boxes on the table.

As he was going through the boxes, he saw a black notebook. Unfamiliar with it, he went through a couple of pages.

It obviously was Krist's. It contained slovenly written notes about random things like what to buy and budget calculations. Dates were rarely written on the pages which made him conclude it was like a scratch paper for the younger male who used it when he needed paper to write on.

For someone like him who missed Krist, Singto went through the notebook as if everything written were not uninteresting. He saw a couple of quotes Krist must have liked for him to copy them, phone numbers and a username with password. When he flipped on the next page, Singto froze.

There was a date on the page. Two years ago- on Singto's birthday.

Will I ever see you again? It has been more than a year now and I still love you so much. How are you? I'm still waiting for you. I'll wait for you. We can talk about it. You know you're my first in everything and I love you so much. What Leah said, if it's really the reason, it's a misunderstanding. Come back and we'll talk about it. Okay?

The words were written in an unaesthetic manner, unlike love letters. The words were crude and straightforward and yet, Singto felt shaken.

He flipped some more, hoping to find another.

The next one he found didn't have a date written on it but with its content, he can guess when.

It also made him fear a couple of things.

It's over, isn't it? If we see each other again, can you hold me a couple of times until I can only feel the pain? I promise I'll never look back and let you go. I've said I love you too many times but it seems like they never reached you. This time, I'll prove how true my words are instead of just saying them. Singto, Welcome home. I love you. And congratulations on your engagement.

Marks of teardrops made the last sentence almost unintelligible.

I'm happy for you.

Maybe he should have followed Wayo's suggestion. 

"I can't say it was nice to see you again. Honestly, I would have been extremely happy not to bump into you at all."

"No need for you to drive all the way here, Leah."

The beautiful woman crossed her arms. "I need to see for myself that you're not living with my cousin."

Krist sighed. "I left that place after our talk three years ago."

Haughtily, Leah looked at him. "Leeches will still be leeches no matter how many years passed. I'm just looking out for Singto. Don't bother approaching him since he's tying the knot with Wayo. Our family are frie-"

"I know. I've met him. There's no need for you to go out of your way to tell me this."

For someone who had his heart broken by this woman's words, Krist was calm. So calm, he can say to himself that he might have moved on. After almost a month of unfeeling fuck, he might have moved on.

"I'm nothing to Singto." Even admitting this fact didn't hurt him anymore.

"If you say so."

When no other words followed, Krist was about to turn around and go back to his rented room when he heard Leah speak.

"I. . . I did like you back then."

His normal response would be a fake smile and a simple sentence to placate the woman. But Krist found himself to be indifferent.

It was as if her words didn't matter at all.

"If there's nothing else, excuse me."

Without waiting for her answer, he left Leah. As people say, talk is cheap.

Everything's done. . . three fucking years ago.

So why do his lips still tingle every time he remembers Singto's kiss?

Krist bumped his head on the wall. Why is he so damn stupid? He was rude to Leah and even had the guts to walk away from her knowing full well what he was about to do that night.

Fuck Singto and his intel that was able to procure his new number.

"Meet me at the house. We need to talk."

With Singto's taste still on his lips, Krist cursed himself for succumbing to his avid need to be with his ex.

At least for the last time.

Hands adeptly disrobing himself while straddling Singto on 'their' bed, Krist decided to end things with the older male with a bang. Literally.

"Speak." Singto ordered.

Inwardly, Krist rolled his eyes. Why talk when they are working on it?

"I asked you to come so we can straighten out things. Not for this." The darker male firmly held him in place.

Krist decided to bite the bullet. "I'm moving."

Singto angrily flipped him on his back with his hands firmly gripped on top of his head. "Moving?!

Nonchalantly, he confirmed with a tilt of his head.

The grip on his wrists tightened. "Stop playing games with me, Kit."

An angry Singto is someone he's not familiar with. He has never met this version of the darker male and he felt scared. But he can't back out now. Krist already made his decision and he will stand by it no matter what.

"I don't think you'd be able to cut ties with your friends."

"They are the reason why I'm moving somewhere I'd no longer be in contact with them professionally."

Like a switch has been turned off, Singto's eyes darkened. "You'll still have contact with them."

"They are my friends. Of course I'd still ca-"

"Fuck buddies?!"

"What's gotten into you? You're not making any sense. Let me go."

"Not yet. I'm not yet done asking about your 'My Men'."

Confused as hell, Krist tried to shake off his ex. Unluckily, Singto expertly held him down that he could not change their position.

"What 'My Men'? What's that?"

"Stop acting like you don't know!"

What the fuck was Singto getting at?

"I don't know about whatever shit you're asking. If we're not doing it, I better leave. We're not seeing each other ever again so let's put our past beh-

"What's your GC name on Messenger?"

"GC?" Krist pused for a second to figure out which Group Chat Singto could be referring to. "Oh. . . That. My Men."

He blinked for half a minute. My Men.  . . Singto said My Men earlier right?

"The One, First Love, Baby, Daddy, Princess? Does any of that ring a bell?"

Now, he's confused as hell. What nonsense is Singto spouting?

With a loud sigh, the darker male got up from on top of him and with an experienced hand opened his iPhone. It seems like it wasn't the first time his ex accessed his phone. After a few taps, his phone was handed over to him.

Confused, he took it. "This is our GC." He confirmed. Not really getting Singto's point.

"How do you know who's chatting?"

How? Of course, there's a profile pic on every chat. What else?!

A frustrated Singto pointed at the small words on top of a message. "What do you see?"

"Baby." Krist dumbly read. "Baby." He said again.

"Now tell me, why do you have a GC called 'My Men' with your members labeled as 'Baby', 'Daddy', First Lov-"

"Wait! Wait! I don't have a G-oh shit!" Scrolling up, he clearly saw the corresponding nicknames of his friends. Including his, 'princess'.

"Are you saying you didn't know about this?"

"I-"

"How about agreeing to spend the night with 'The One' to prove you're still loyal? How about that weekend getaway with 'Daddy' so you can be his 'princess' again?"

"Ha-hang on. . ." Krist scrolled up all the way to as much as he can go with shaking fingers.

"While you are at it, why don't you check your 'members' personal messages about your 'schedule' with them."

For more than five minutes, Krist backdated the conversations on the said GC. To say he was flabbergasted is an understatement.

"Shit!"

Angry eyes stared directly into his guilty ones. "I'm sorry?" That was more of a question than an actual apology.

Singto shook his head. "Seems like you have a lot of explaining to do."

"But I was only riding alo-"

"Not an excuse."

"You weren't supposed to open private conversations, to begin with. That's against my right to privacy!"

"There's no such thing as privacy between us."

Indignant, Krist decided to hold his tongue. There's no point in arguing with Singto. He'd never win anyway.

A bit disoriented, he tried to process what was going on. "Did we. . . Did we break up because of this?"

Singto looked away, cheeks slightly flushed.

Oh dear. . .

"Pfft!" Krist was not able to hold back his laughter. He should be mad but for some reason, he finds Singto's jealousy cute and endearing.

"It's not funny."

The low growl made him laugh even harder.

Fuck. He's darn cute!

"Kit!"

"Sorry. Sorry. I can't help it. How can you be so stupid." Another set of laughter escaped his lips.

"I'm not stupid. I thought you were cheating on me."

Clearing his throat, he tried to be as serious as he can. "You know how stupid the idea is, Sing. Who'd blatantly cheat on you with four men sharing the same GC?"

"You were . . . Sweet."

"Sweet? I was cursing them!"

"You don't curse at me. You don't send messages during lunch and coffee break as well."

Tongue-tied, he didn't know what to say.

"Let's forget about it." Singto concluded with red cheeks.

Done teasing the darker male,  Krist chuckled. "You have to apologize properly and promise you will not do it again. Then. . . "

". . . . then. . ."

Both stared at each other for a full minute. Wordless. 

With unsteady fingers, Krist hauled his not so-ex and kiss him with a passion equivalent to three years of celibacy.

This bastard better makes it up to him.

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