Jayjay'sPOV:
The car ride was quiet, but a "loud" kind of quiet. Keifer was driving, looking focused on the road, but I could still feel his eyes on me every time we hit a red light.
"So," he finally said, breaking the silence. "Are you still not talking to me, or was that just for the Ulupongs?"
"Why didn't you stop them?" I asked.
"Sorry. They started drinking while I was upstairs with you," he explained. "By the time I got down there, they were already completely drunk."
"Fine," I sighed. I leaned in toward him with a small smirk. "You know, you look pretty cute when you're apologizing to me."
He glanced at me, surprised. "Oh, really? First of all, where did you learn to flirt like that?"
"From my annoying, flirty boyfriend," I chirped. I leaned over, planted a quick kiss on his cheek, and then popped back into my seat.
"Annoying?" he repeated, though I could see him trying to hide a smile. I just nodded.
When we reached my house, I hopped out of the car.
"Hey, hey, hey!" he called out before I could close the gate. I turned around. "What?"
"You didn't give me my goodbye kiss," he pointed out.
"I gave it to you in the car!" I whisper-shouted, pointing toward the house. "I know Kuya is watching from the window!"
His mouth made an 'O' shape as he realized I was probably right. He chuckled and waved. "Okay. Love you, bye!"
"Love you too, bye!"
I headed inside and saw Tita in the living room. "Good evening, Tita," I greeted her.
"Good evening, Jay. You're home early," she noted.
"Yeah, we decided to head back because some of the boys didn't tell their parents they were staying out—especially Ci-N," I explained. She nodded understandingly, and I made a beeline for my room.
After the "slipper war," the shouting, and the chaos at the mansion, I was absolutely drained. I took a quick shower to wash off the day and climbed into bed. The second my head hit the pillow, I drifted off into a deep sleep.
When I woke up, my first instinct was to find my phone. I searched everywhere—under the pillows, under the bed—until I finally found it. I had a lot of messages to send. I needed Yuri's math formulas book, I had to check in on Percy, and of course, I had to message the King.
To: Pres Yuri
Hey, I need your math formulas book.
From: Pres Yuri
I'll bring it over to your house.
To: Pres Yuri
Okie.
Next, my brother.
To: Percing
Hoi!
From: Percing
What?
To: Percing
Have fun on your date?
From: Percing
Yeah, a lot.
To: Percing
Ok, bye.
From: Percing
Bye.
Now, for the King.
To: King Bingi
Keiferrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
From: King Bingi
Yes, my love?
Seriously, this guy never misses a chance to flirt.
To: King Bingi
I miss you.
I stared at the screen, waiting for a reply, but it never came. He went offline immediately. Weird.
A few minutes later, the doorbell rang. I ran to open it, knowing it was Yuri. Tita saw him and insisted he stay for dinner. He tried to decline at first, but no one wins against Tita, so he eventually sat down at the table with us.
We were just starting to eat when the doorbell rang again. This time, it was Percy.
"Hoi! What are you doing here?" I asked.
"I came to meet my baby sista," he said, pushing past me. He spotted Yuri immediately. "Oh, so this rooster is also here?" Yuri just ignored him. "Eating without me?" Percy turned to me with a pout.
"Go back to your house!" I said, but he didn't listen. He sat right across from Yuri. Aries came downstairs then, leaning over to whisper to me.
"What are these two doing here?"
"I called Yuri for his book and Tita made him stay for dinner. Then Percy showed up, so I invited him too," I explained. Aries sighed and sat down at the table next to them. It was getting crowded.
Then, for the third time, the doorbell rang.
I opened the door and blinked in surprise. "Keifer?"
The second I saw him, I threw my arms around him.
"Whoa, calm down," he chuckled, though he hugged me back.
"Why are you here? You didn't reply to my text!"
"The way you typed my name... I could tell something was happening. And then you said you missed me, so I just came to see you."
"Thank you! You're the best!" I hugged him again, burying my face in his chest.
"Jayjay, let's go inside," he suggested. I started to lead him in, but then I stopped halfway, my stomach doing a nervous flip.
"What happened?" he asked.
"Actually... Yuri and Percy are already here having dinner with me and Aries. You don't have a problem with them, right?"
Keifer's expression shifted, but he just gave me a stiff nod. We both walked into the dining room together.
Keifer joined us for dinner, sitting right beside me. He kept piling more and more food onto my plate like he was trying to feed a small army. I turned to him with a frown. "Keifer, stop. I can't eat all of this!" He just gave me a small smile, but he did eventually stop.
"Where is Kuya?" I asked Aries.
"He's on a business trip for three days," Aries replied between bites.
"Oh," I said, turning back to my plate. I realized Keifer was starting to add more food again. "Keifer! Stop!"
He finally sighed and gave up, and the others couldn't help but chuckle. Even when he's being annoying, he looks cute doing it. "How am I supposed to finish this?" I muttered.
Suddenly, Percy yelled while staring at his phone. "Hey! Hey, hey!"
"Why the hell are you yelling?" I snapped, startled.
"Check this out," he said, sliding his phone across the table. Aries passed it to Yuri, Yuri passed it to Keifer, and Keifer finally handed it to me. It was a news alert: all major roads were being closed for the next two days due to weather and maintenance.
My heart sank. That meant these three were stuck here.
"So... I'm going to be stuck with this KYAP?" I asked.
"What's KYAP?" Aries asked, looking confused.
"K for Keifer, Y for Yuri, A for Aries, and P for Percy," I explained.
"And who exactly came up with that name?" Percy asked, unimpressed.
"No one. It just popped into my head." I looked around the room. "Where did Tita go?"
"She went over to Lola's house for the next couple of days," Aries said casually.
I immediately choked on my rice. Keifer was by my side in a second, handing me water and rubbing my back. "Are you okay?" he asked softly. I nodded, finally catching my breath.
"That means... me and you four will be alone in this house?" I asked, my voice slightly high-pitched. They all just nodded like it was no big deal.
"Why are you freaking out?" Yuri asked.
"Because I don't know what's going to happen over the next two days with you four staying under one roof!" I cried. "It's going to be a war zone!"
"Everything is going to be alright, Jayjay," Yuri said calmly, though I didn't believe him for a second.
After we finished eating, we all headed to the living room. It was time to decide the sleeping arrangements—and I knew this was where the real fighting was going to start.
"Okay, we have five rooms total that we can use," Aries explained as we stood in the hallway. "Jayjay will take Mom's room, Percy will stay in Jayjay's, Yuri gets the guest room, I'll be in mine, and Keifer can stay in Kuya's."
We all nodded in agreement and headed off. I went straight to the restroom to brush my teeth and wash up. But when I stepped back out into the hallway, I jumped. The three idiots were standing right there in a row, looking completely lost.
"What are you all doing here?" I asked, clutching my toothbrush.
"Your room smells so bad, I can't stay in there," Percy complained, wrinkling his nose.
"The guest room is locked," Yuri added calmly.
"And Kuya's room is locked too," Keifer finished.
I slapped my forehead so hard it left a mark. Of course they were locked. Kuya and Tita probably locked them before they left for their trips.
"Fine! You three can all sleep in Aries' room, and Aries and I will sleep in Tita's room," I suggested.
"I already checked that door," Keifer said immediately. "It's locked too."
I narrowed my eyes at him. "And why exactly were you checking Tita's door?"
"I was looking for you," he said, putting on his most innocent face. "I wanted to tell you... about the locks."
"Your room smells like a rotten potato," Percy said, wrinkling his nose.
"It does not!" I snapped.
"It does," he insisted.
"Jayjay, I think he's right," Aries added. "I went in there while you were sleeping earlier and it already smelled a little bit then."
"Fine! If you don't believe me, let's go look!" I marched toward my room with the four of them trailing behind me like a row of ducklings. I swung the door open, ready to prove Percy wrong, but the second the air hit my face, I nearly gagged. It was a mix of rotten eggs and something... damp.
"See! I told you!" Percy yelled, covering his nose with his shirt. "What did you do, Jay? Did you hide a dead body in here?"
"I didn't do anything!" I cried, looking around in horror. Then I spotted it—a small, lonely boiled potato sitting in the corner. "Oh no... it's the boiled potato! That's where the smell is coming from!"
"Okay, nobody is sleeping in here," Aries said, coughing into his hand. "Jayjay, grab your essentials. We're moving."
Keifer didn't even wait for me to move. He started grabbing my pillows and my favorite blanket. Yuri went straight for my Snorlax, Percy grabbed my phone and charger, and Aries snatched up my laptop.
"Hoi! Why my laptop?" I asked.
"We're going to watch a movie," Aries replied simply.
"You have your own!"
"It's dead and it'll take forty minutes to charge," he said. I just nodded, too tired to argue, and we evacuated the room.
They piled all my stuff onto Aries' bed and disappeared for a moment. When they came back, they were lugging three extra mattresses. They worked together to set them up: one on the right side of the bed, one on the left, and the third one right at the foot of the bed.
"I'll be on the bed!" I declared, jumping onto the mattress.
"No, you're not," Aries said firmly.
A flashback hit me instantly. Two nights before the party at Keifer's house, I had shared a bed with Aries. Apparently, I'm a combat sleeper. I had slapped both his cheeks in my sleep, kicked him in the stomach three times, and he eventually gave up and slept on the floor just to survive the night.
"Right. Yeah... I'll sleep on the mattress," I said, my voice dropping.
"I'll be on a mattress too," Percy added, claiming his spot.
"Me too," Yuri said, nodding toward the floor.
Keifer leaned against the wall with a mischievous grin. "How about Yuri, Aries, and Percy—you guys sleep on the mattresses, and Jayjay and I sleep on the bed?"
My jaw dropped. The room went silent for exactly one second before "NO WAY!!!!" Percy and Aries yelled in unison, their voices practically shaking the walls.
Keifer laughed, holding up his hands in surrender. "I was kidding! Just kidding!"
The three of us siblings let out a synchronized sigh of relief. This guy really lives for the drama.
We finally got everything settled. Keifer and Aries took the bed, Percy claimed the left mattress, Yuri took the right, and I was on the mattress at the foot of the bed.
Once we were all in our spots, we started a comedy movie. It turned out to be a rough night for the guys—every time a funny scene came on, I instinctively swatted Keifer's arm. Across the room, Percy was doing the exact same thing, hitting Aries and Yuri whenever he laughed. I guess we really are siblings; we even have the same violent way of showing we're amused.
After the movie ended—or rather, after we finished using the three guys as punching bags—we all settled in to sleep.
The guys drifted off almost immediately, but I was wide awake. It was impossible to sleep! Between the four of them, the room sounded like a construction site. They were snoring so loud the walls were practically vibrating.
I couldn't take it anymore. I grabbed my pillow, crept out of the room, and headed downstairs. I flopped onto the living room couch, finally surrounded by silence, and drifted off to sleep.
The End 🌸
Are you guys reading my both books or just one?