JACS 6

 14 missed calls.

His phone rang again.

Another missed call.

15 total missed calls and counting.

Counting. . .

"Are you sure you're okay?"

From his phone's screen, Krist raised his head to look at Rome.

After the fiasco at the lobby that afternoon, he directly went to Rome's apartment. There was no way he could face his mom.

Not after he realized how foolish he had been.

"There was no posted video of your confrontation, Krist. I'm sure your mom would no-"

"But I know the truth. That's what's wrong. I should have packed my bags and shoved my resignation lett-"

"Then, what? Find another job? We were barely three months back then. You know how hard it is to find a good paying job these days. No COE, no experience-you were at a dead end!"

"We both know that's not true. I could have started from scratch again. My family might be poor but not that poor. Mom could still provide for our daily needs and Katty didn't need much for her education. It was my decision to stick around. How can I tell my mom that I fucked my bosses' boss so I can keep my job? How can I tell her that I enjoyed it and I lied to her about my whereabouts for more than four months now?"

Shit! Saying it out loud made him realize just how stupid he was!

Rome tightly hugged him as tears of shame fell down one after another.

His decision-making skills sucks! He should have decided to walk out on Singto the second he met him again. Wrong. He should have left after the night the older male took advantage of him. Now, he's a mess. Everyone's talking about him and his 'scandal'. If asked, they'd say that he's a promiscuous manwhore who seduced some big shot!

What would his mom say?

Shit! She'll be so broken-hearted and would blame herself for this.

"Everything will be fine. We all make mistakes once in awhile and I'm sure your mom would understand if you'd tell her what really happened. For the time being, you can stay here as long as you want."

Krist doesn't want to impose more than necessary on his kind friend. He'd stay for awhile. Probably a week at most to complete his clearance at work and to prepare himself. He badly needs preparation before he tells his mom what happened. He's going to tell everything to his mom.

Everything.

His phone rang again. For the 16th time.

"Won't you answer it?"

Emotionally drained, he only spared a glance at the caller ID. "It's him."

"Oh."

Krist doesn't know how Singto would respond when he tells him he wants to end this 'thing' they have. Before, he was more than certain that the older male would not care. He was nothing but a 'boy' to satisfy his lustful wiles. The situation has changed though. For some reason, he feels like he's no longer a simple 'good boy' for Singto.

"I'll pass my resignation first thing tomorrow. Earth said I need to directly pass it to HR since he was ordered not to accept it."

"You sure about this?"

Is he? For the past hours or so, he had been having second thoughts. The missed calls were not helping his resolution at all.

But Singto's fiancé was right. His mom brought him up better. He knew better than messing around with a committed man. More so his boss.

That's doubly wrong in so many levels.

"Help me find a new sim. I need to change my phone number."

"I'm sorry but we can't accept your resignation. You have a contract whi-"

"I'm sorry ma'am but wasn't the contract for the training? I did finish the training as agreed."

The HR representative looked away. "We actually need staffs."

"If immediate resignation can't be done, I can render 30 days." Krist insisted.

The middle-aged woman coughed. "I think you should talk to your lead abou-"

"But I want to resign. I don't understand why you won't accept my resignation. One of my teammates was able to leave right away. Why am I being treated differently?"

"I still won't accept your resignation. I'm sorry."

Beyond frustrated, Krist stood from his seat, bowed at the representative and left the HR office.

What now? Should he go AWOL until he becomes terminated? Isn't it illegal for employers not to accept resignation from employees?

Argh! He doesn't know what to do!

Subconsciously, his feet brought him to a nearby 7/11. To be more precise, in front of the drink section. His hand moved by itself and he left the said store with a cup of pink milk.

As he was about to take a sip while walking, a strong grip on his arm stopped him.

"We need to talk."

Talk?

"About what?" He murmured.

"I've been trying to reach you since yesterday but you wouldn't answer the phone. I was pretty sure you weren't home and your family would be more than surprise to see me on their doorstep if I went to your house. Everything Lila said we're bull. I never had any romantic relationship with her. She's my distant cousin for heaven's sake!"

Cousin. The beautiful woman was Singto's cousin and yet, Krist could not bring himself to be happy or excited at the sudden turn of events.

This thing with Singto is still wrong.

For so many reasons.

"They won't accept my resigna-"

"Were you listening to me?"

Krist bit his lower lip. He could feel anger radiate from the older male. He was getting scared. He didn't want to make Singto angry any more than he is.

"What she said yesterday was right."

"What did she say? Why won't you look at me?"

Keeping his eyes down, Krist lowered his voice even more. Some employees drinking coffee were eavesdropping. "Mom did not raise me to be a home wrecker."

"Kit, you're not wrecking anyone's home."

"This is wrong from the start anyway. It is against company policy for employees to fraternize with their bosses."

"I'm not your boss."

"You own shares."

"I can sell them."

"And then what? You know this will not go anywhere."

"I want it to go somewhere!" Singto's voice rose. "The beginning might have been wrong but we can make it work. I can make it work!"

No wonder the older male was successful in all his ventures. He's very driven.

"You can't make it right. Not how we started. Not how we continued." Krist quietly interjected. "We can only end it."

"Are you breaking up with me?"

The question caught him off guard. Break up? How can they break up when they never had any relationship to begin with?

"I'll accept your resignation. Consider yourself no longer an employee of this company. There.  You're no longer fraternizing with your boss. What other issue do you have? Your mom? I'll drive you home and you can introduce me as your lover. I'll tell her our love sto-

"Wait! Wait! You're getting ahead of yourself! You can't just make decision-"

"And you can? It seems like there has been a misunderstanding wit-"

"There is no misunderstanding! Argh!" Krist stomped his feet in frustration.

He didn't care if anyone heard him. He didn't care if anyone would talk about what they heard. Krist needed to put a stop to this.

Before he falls even more.

He needed to end whatever games Singto was playing.

"Your fiancé-your cousin, whoever she is, was right. We are wrong for each other. Both of us weren't gay to begin with. Err, maybe we are bi. I don't know. What I'm sure of is that we should end it before any of us falls too deep. Before we can't walk the hell out anymore."

"But I-"

"I'm not breaking up with you. We weren't really together to begin with."

Right?

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