JAY JAY POV
"Jay-Jay, your turn!" Felix shouted, pointing at the neatly wrapped box in my lap.
I took a deep breath and tore into the paper, but the second the contents were revealed, the words died in my throat. I couldn't even bring myself to say what it was out loud.
It was a nightdress. A vibrant, deep red nightdress made of the kind of sheer silk that left absolutely nothing to the imagination. It was beyond "naughty"—it was "exposing everything" territory.
I felt my entire face catch fire. I slowly looked up, my gaze landing directly on Keifer. He was leaning back against the sofa, watching me with a slow, devastatingly mischievous smile that told me exactly who was responsible for this.
"Gago! You're the one who gifted this to me, aren't you?!" I barked, waving the scandalous piece of silk at him like a red flag. "This has your 'territorial' energy written all over it!"
Keifer didn't even flinch. He just tilted his head, his smirk widening as he pointed a gloved finger toward the corner of the room.
"No," Keifer said, his voice smooth and deceptively innocent. "It was Ci-N."
My head snapped toward the brat. Ci-N froze for exactly one second, his eyes widening as he realized the I was about to lose a storm on him
"CI-N! YOU LITTLE BRAT!" I shrieked, scrambling to my feet.
Ci-N didn't wait around for an explanation. He bolted, scurrying toward the kitchen like his life depended on it. "It wasn't me! Keifer made me do it! He picked it out!" he yelled over his shoulder as he disappeared around the corner.
"Get back here!" I screamed, launching myself into a full sprint after him.
The house erupted into a chorus of hoots and whistles. I heard Keifer's low, dark chuckle echoing behind me.
I knew even as I was chasing a teenager through the dining hall—that asshole was already picturing me in that red silk.
By the time the chaos finally died down, the house had emptied out significantly. Tita Serina had left for a friend's house with Tito Victor, Keigan, and Keiran, leaving the mansion to us. Mica had headed out with Calix, so those two were officially out of the picture for the rest of the night.
That left just Section E, my brother, and me.
The high-energy games and constant shouting had transitioned into a quieter, more atmospheric vibe. We had moved outside, and I was currently sitting by a small, crackling bonfire on the patio. The orange glow of the flames danced across the stone, providing the only real light against the humid Philippine night.
A few meters away, the boys were still being their usual loud selves—clinking bottles, laughing at inside jokes, and making enough noise to wake the neighbors.
Then I felt someone sink into the spot next to me. I didn't even have to look to know it was Yuri.
Then I felt someone sink into the spot next to me. I didn't even have to look to know it was Yuri.
Yuri and I had become what I liked to call "best friends." We were close—maybe the closest out of everyone in Section E, besides Ci-N, of course. That kid won't leave me alone for a single second; he's like my permanent shadow. The weird thing is, whenever Yuri and I are actually having a conversation, Ci-N immediately scurries over to Keifer. They start whispering about something, their eyes darting toward us like they're narrating a nature documentary or plotting a heist.
"Hey," Yuri said softly, his lanky frame hunched as he watched the orange embers pop and hiss.
"Hey," I said back, hugging my knees to my chest.
Even though we were close, Yuri had this way of looking at me sometimes that made me question everything. With Ci-N and the rest of the guys, it was pure, unadulterated chaos. But with Yuri, there was this quiet, lingering energy that I couldn't quite put my finger on
I felt the heat from the bonfire prickling my skin, but Yuri's question made me freeze.
"Are you and Keifer official?" he asked quietly, his voice barely rising above the crackle of the burning wood.
I felt a sudden, sharp hitch in my breath. I instinctively looked toward the shadows where I knew Keifer was lingering
"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" I grumbled, trying to sound annoyed to hide the way my heart had just skipped a beat. I started picking at a loose thread on my sweater, refusing to meet Yuri's gaze.
Yuri didn't answer right away. He just leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he stared into the flames. "Because the way he looks at you... it's like he's already decided the rest of his life involves you. And the way you look at him? It's like you're just waiting for him to prove he's worth the trouble."
I bit my lip, the memory of Keifer's "be official" proposal from the other night flashing through my mind. I hadn't given him an answer then. I'd asked for more time, mostly because I was terrified of what "official" actually meant
The bonfire crackled, sending a spray of orange sparks into the air, and for a moment, the only sound was the distant laughter of the boys inside. Then Yuri shifted, his voice dropping into a tone that was far too serious for a Christmas party.
"Jay, I know your heart belongs to Keifer," Yuri said, his eyes fixed on the flames rather than me. "Maybe you just can't see it clearly right now, or maybe you're just not ready to admit it."
I opened my mouth to offer some witty redirection—some classic Jay-Jay sarcasm to break the tension—but the words died when he finally turned to look at me. His expression wasn't mischievous or teasing. It was open. Vulnerable.
"But I wanted to tell you... if you're ever willing to give me a chance, I'm always here," he continued, his voice steady despite the weight of what he was saying. "I like you, Jay-Jay. Really like you."
The air around us suddenly felt twice as heavy. My brain scrambled, trying to process the shift. This was Yuri—my best friend, my confidant, the guy who usually helped me navigate the madness of the other boys. To hear him say it out loud, especially right now, felt like another landslide in a world that was already shifting beneath my feet.
I looked toward the patio doors out of pure habit, my chest tightening. I knew Keifer was there, lurking in the shadows, probably ready to tear the patio apart. But right now, I had to deal with the boy sitting right in front of me.
"Yuri, I don't want any misunderstandings between you and me," I started, my voice shaking slightly as I reached out, almost touching his arm before pulling back. "Let's just please stay best friends. I don't want to ruin our friendship because of... of something like this, and—"
"I understand, Jay-Jay," Yuri interrupted.
His voice was quiet, devoid of its usual playful lilt. He didn't look at me, and he didn't wait for me to finish my rambling explanation. He just stood up, dusted off his elf costume, and headed back toward the house without another word.
I watched his retreating back, feeling a sharp, hollow ache in my chest. I had just protected our friendship, but the way he walked away made it feel like I'd lost a piece of it anyway.
I sat there by the fire for a long time, the crackling wood the only sound in the humid night. My mind was a complete mess of Yuri's confession and the hollow look on his face as he walked away. But as the silence stretched on, a different memory started pushing its way to the surface—something from that suffocating, oxygen-deprived session in Keifer's car.
Rory.
I remembered his voice through the window, his muffled shouting. He had mentioned a name.
Mutya.
At the time, I was too busy trying to breathe and dealing with Keifer's "penalties" to process it. Then tonight, they officially gave me that same code name in front of everyone. They said it was because I'd meddled in their lives and become family. It sounded sentimental and sweet at the time.
But now, sitting alone in the dark, the gears in my head started turning in a much more suspicious direction.
If Rory was talking about Mutya back then—before they officially gave me the name tonight—then he was definitely talking about me. And if he was talking about me while I was pinned against the steering wheel, it wasn't just a friendly check-in.
Keifer had been so desperate to keep me from hearing the rest of that conversation. He'd practically swallowed my protests to drown out Rory's voice.
The gravel crunched behind me, and before I could even turn around, Keifer was there. He didn't say a word; he just reached down, tilted my chin up, and captured my lips in a kiss that tasted like the cold night air and lingering possessiveness.
It was deep, urgent, and felt like he was trying to overwrite Yuri's confession with his own brand of dominance.
"What is it?" I breathed against his lips when he finally pulled back just an inch. My heart was still hammering, caught between the warmth of his touch and the cold suspicion growing in my gut.
"Nothing," Keifer murmured, his voice low and vibrating. He didn't stop there. He leaned back in, his kisses trailing along my jawline and toward the sensitive skin of my neck
I wanted to lose myself in it. I really did. But the memory of Rory's muffled voice in the car was screaming louder than the crackle of the bonfire.
He had ditched the thick Santa costume, and I reached up, my hands flat against the thin fabric of his shirt. I could feel the heat radiating off his chest and the frantic thud of his heart, nearly as fast as mine. I gently pushed him back, just enough to force him to look into my eyes.
"Keifer," I said, my voice steady despite the way my pulse was racing. "Is there something you're not telling me?"
He froze.
The silence that followed wasn't peaceful; it was heavy, like the air right before a thunderstorm breaks. His hands, which had been possessively gripping my waist, stilled. The predatory, mischievous spark in his eyes flickered and died, replaced by something dark, guarded, and unsettlingly close to guilt.
"Jay-Jay," he murmured, his voice dropping into that low, gravelly register that usually made my knees weak. But this time, it just felt protective—like a shield he was putting up between me and the truth.
"Is there?" I pressed, my fingers tightening in the fabric of his shirt. I needed a 'no.' I needed him to tell me I was overthinking, that Rory was just being an idiot, and that there were no hidden agendas.
But he didn't give me a 'no.'
He looked at me with an intensity that burned hotter than the bonfire beside us. His jaw set, and for a long moment, the only sound was the wind rustling through the trees of the mansion's massive yard. Finally, he leaned in, his forehead resting against mine.
"When the time is right, I will tell you everything. No matter what," Keifer said, his voice a rough promise that felt more like a warning.
Before I could demand to know when the right time was—or why it wasn't now—he closed the distance. He kissed me again, but this wasn't the playful, territorial kiss from before. This was desperate. It was the kiss of someone trying to hold onto something that was already starting to slip through his fingers.
I let him. I let the heat of his lips drown out the cold suspicion in my chest, even though I knew I was just delaying the inevitable.
He was keeping a secret
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++