From that day… everything changed.
Keifer didn't resist anymore.
Not when Jay was near.
Not when she looked at him.
Not when the ache inside him begged for her touch.
He stopped pretending.
And Jay… she didn't stop him.
So their secret moments grew bolder, more urgent.
A brush of hands here, a lingering look there…
soft kisses stolen in empty corridors…
until it became impossible to stay away from each other.
One afternoon…
Rina walked in.
Keifer and Jay had been in the study, close together, bodies leaning into each other like the world outside didn't exist.
Their lips met.
Soft at first… then desperate.
Keifer's hands tangled in Jay's hair.
Jay's arms looped around his neck.
Everything they had been holding in… everything they had been craving… spilled out.
And then Rina cleared her throat.
Both of them froze.
Keifer's chest heaved.
Jay pulled back, cheeks burning.
Rina's eyes were wide. Shocked. Hurt. Confused.
"So… this is what you've been doing?" she asked, voice low but sharp.
Keifer opened his mouth, then closed it.
No excuses. No lies. No pretending.
Jay stepped forward, voice calm but firm. "Rina… it's not what you think—"
Rina shook her head. "Don't. Don't even try. I've seen enough."
Keifer felt the weight of her stare, the guilt pressing down… but he couldn't look away from Jay.
Because for the first time in months, he wasn't pretending.
He wasn't resisting.
He wasn't anything but completely, painfully honest… with his heart.
And for that… the world outside—the rules, the expectations, the acceptable choices—didn't matter.
Only Jay did.