Jay whispered, "Yuri… please don't say it like that… everyone's looking…"
Yuri laughed under his breath. "So what? You always make things awkward, Jay. Can you ever act normal?"
Her fingers tightened around her bag. "I was just trying to help you…"
"Help?" he scoffed, eyes cold. "You can't even help yourself. You're seriously embarrassing."
Jay's smile stayed on her lips… but her eyes quietly broke.
Keifer was standing a few steps away.
He didn't miss it.
Not the way her shoulders shrank.
Not the tiny pause in her breathing.
Not the way she stopped speaking after that.
He walked to her side without making it obvious.
"You okay?" he asked softly.
Jay nodded too fast. "Yeah… I'm fine."
Keifer frowned a little. "You say that when you're not."
Yuri clicked his tongue. "Why are you always sticking to him like this, Jay? Don't you have your own boyfriend?"
Keifer's jaw tightened.
Jay immediately said, "It's okay, Keifer… really."
But Keifer looked straight at Yuri.
"You don't talk to her like that."
Yuri smirked. "Relax, man. I'm just being honest."
Keifer's voice dropped. Calm. Sharp. Dangerous.
"Honesty doesn't sound like humiliation."
Jay froze.
No one had ever said that for her before.
Yuri rolled his eyes. "You understand her now?"
Keifer didn't even hesitate.
"I always did."
Jay's throat burned.
Because it was true.
Keifer knew when she was lying.
When she was scared.
When she was blaming herself for other people's cruelty.
Yuri turned away, bored already. "Come on, Jay. Don't be dramatic."
Jay took one step after him… then stopped.
Keifer gently caught her wrist.
"Babe… you don't have to follow someone who keeps making you smaller."
Her eyes lifted to him, trembling.
"But… he's my—"
Keifer softened immediately.
"I know."
His thumb lightly brushed her skin, grounding her.
"I just hate watching you get hurt and pretending it doesn't hurt."
Jay finally whispered, broken and honest,
"…he never talks to me the way you do."
And in that quiet moment—
Keifer understood her more than anyone ever had.