章 27: Just A Test He Had To Pass
The glare Glenn sent him could pulverize the moon.
So what if he didn't answer most of his calls and texts? So what if he hung up on him after informing they couldn't meet? That wasn't enough of a reason for him to act like a bitch.
Yves released a sigh of disinterest. He didn't have time for Glenn's journey to enlightenment and self-discovery. "The client I had yesterday, I still have to accompany her."
"The client or your boyfriend?" Glenn scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest, his sly smirk taunting him. "Let me guess. He told you never to meet with me again. Ha! I know he's threatened. I can't blame him, really."
"Wow." Yves faked a shiver at Glenn's arrogance. "It's so breezy in here all of a sudden."
"I'm just telling the truth."
"Truth? What truth? That you're just full of hot air?"
"That your boyfriend is threatened because I'm handsome. What can I say? I have good genes." Glenn leaned down with a challenging stare. "No wonder you're here despite your boyfriend's disapproval."
"I haven't forgotten you're an Alonzo. I can't deny you have your father's genes."
"Right?"
"You probably inherited his gay genes, too. No wonder you're coming after me." Yves smiled victoriously. He wasn't one to poke fun at someone's sexuality, but it was satisfying to watch Glenn's smug expression fell like a melting candle on the floor.
One step forward, and Glenn towered over him, but Yves wasn't the least intimidated, which seemed to infuriate Glenn even more. "Don't ever assume that I'm doing this because I'm interested in you, just like my dad. I just want to prove something."
"And so far, with the way you're acting, you're only proving that I was right." Yves fished his vibrating phone out of his pocket to answer the incoming call. He turned around and tapped the answer button. "Good morning, Miss Emie. I'm right across from your hotel. What's your plan for today?"
There was a muffled cough before Emie spoke with a hoarse voice. "I'm sorry. I'm not feeling well today, so maybe we have to reschedule."
"Are you okay?"
"It's just cough and mild fever. It must be the climate. I'm not used to it." Emie coughed again. "I will vlog later in the afternoon once my fever had gone down, but nothing too strenuous. I seriously want to get some rest."
After reassuring a couple of times that she wasn't dying along in her hotel room, Yves had let Emie end the call to face Glenn. How convenient. It's as if Emie got sick so he could accompany this asshole.
Yves sighed. "My client is not feeling well, so I can accommodate you, I think."
"So I've heard."
Sometimes Yves questioned the heavens for punishing him like this.
"If I didn't know you're gay, I would have assumed you're into her," Glenn voiced out, surprising Yves. "Do you swing both ways or you're just that... caring? Towards your clients, I mean."
Yves steeled his gaze. "I'm worried because she's alone and sick. Even to spawns of devils like you, I would show a little concern. It's called human compassion, so don't paint weird colors to my white canvas."
Glenn's jaw dropped. "Hey! I was asking a valid question, and you already spouted a bunch of crap."
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Yves dismissed Glenn's protest with a wave of his hand. "Let's just get this over with. So where do you want to go, Your Highness?"
Glenn looked like he still wanted to get back at him for his derisive tone. But when Yves showed disinterest, he just huffed and looked away. He pointed at the swan-shaped boats on the lake. "I want to ride that."
"What are you? Ten?"
"Are you gonna accompany me or I'm sending the video to your boyfriend?"
With a sharp roll of his eyes, Yves marched to the dock, not waiting for Glenn to follow. He would make sure to get his hand on Glenn's phone before the day ended. No matter what.
"Take a picture of me on the boat." Glenn handed his phone to Yves after paying for the rent fee. "Make sure it's perfect. I'm uploading it to my Insta."
Yves stared at the phone, his lips quirking up at how his prayer got answered so fast.
"Don't even think about it. Even if you run away with my phone, you're not getting rid of the video. It's uploaded on a secured cloud account."
Or maybe not.
Yves glared at the screen while Glenn sat on the boar and posed for the camera. If given the chance, he would kick Glenn into the water and let him suck two-third of its pollution. That's not being harsh. It's doing nature a favor.
After snapping a couple of pictures at different angles, Yves hopped onto the second seat of the swan boat. It's a pedal boat, so it needed two people to make it balanced. However, with Yves carrying a baggage of resentment on board, the swan boat will never find its balance.
"Try not to fall, Your Highness." Yves rested his feet on the metallic pedal and grabbed the lever. He grinned, his eyeglasses glinting ominously. "The swan is about to fly."
"What—what the fuck?!"
Glenn's scream echoed throughout the Burnham Lake as the swan boat skipped the water's surface several times. Even when Glenn told him to stop, Yves ignored his pleas and pedalled at a godly speed.
After a couple of sharp twists and turns, barely avoiding collisions against other boats, they reached their time limit, and Yves docked back to the port with a satisfied smile as Glenn almost collapsed from motion sickness.
"Where should we go next?" Yves asked, then his face brightened. "Oh! Horse-back riding, right? Let's go!"
"No!" Glenn shook his head vigorously, which made him even more dizzy. "No, I don't want to ride anything anymore. Let's just pick strawberries."
"What are you talking about? Your Baguio experience will be incomplete without trying it out. Come on! We'll take a taxi from here, so you can rest."
"Ugh!"
And so they rode a taxi to the Wright Park and rented two horses for each of them. Yves had taken a dashing white horse, while Glenn took a dark brown one, matching the color of his eyes perfectly.
"Want me to take a picture of you before we go?" Yves asked, grinning at the suspicious glare he received from Glenn. "What? You looked like a cowboy. I'm sure your followers would like that."
Glenn studied him for a minute before letting out a grunt as he handed Yves his phone. "Whatever you're planning, I'll have you know this isn't my first time to ride a horse. I even know how to race."
"What made you think I'm planning anything?" Yves opened the camera and framed Glenn's image in it while riding the horse. For a split moment, he saw a younger Richard in Glenn, and he appreciated his appearance.
'Let's face the reality, Yves. Gay or not, temptation is the number one enemy of every couple. If you can't resist temptations even if I'm around, then what's stopping you if I'm away?'
Yves got a hold of himself as Timothy's voice played in his mind. He shook his head, finished taking a photo of Glenn, and handed the phone back to its owner. "Here. Happy?"
Glenn swiped his thumb on the screen to check the photos and smirked. "You're good. Maybe you should become a photographer instead."
Yves didn't respond and went to ride the white horse. Glenn may have his father's appealing visuals, but they didn't have the same personality. Not that Yves would make considerations, even if it's Richard himself who was with him.
Unlike his previous plan to ruin Glenn's experience with horseback riding, Yves just let him be. It's dangerous to pull any stunt while riding a horse. And he didn't want to involve the poor animal in his petty revenge.
They went on a predetermined trail with half Yves' mind floating to the thought of Timothy leaving him for Manila. Long distance relationship was not something he could live with. All the gay couples he knew had broken up after they went on LDR. He didn't want that to happen to them too!
"Hey."
Yves snapped out of his thoughts at Glenn's voice and realized they had reached the end of Country Club Trail. The trail of pine trees had gone narrower, so they had to go back.
As they turned around, Glenn's horse bumped against his horse from behind, and Yves lost his balance. But instead of falling from the saddle, a hand grabbed his shoulder.
"The hell are you dozing off for while riding a horse?" Glenn reprimanded; his horse had galloped beside him.
Yves blinked at Glenn, their nose almost bumping while his head laid on Glenn's shoulder. His eyes gravitated to the ruddy lips curved in a sneer. One wrong move and the distance between them would have closed.
'I can see you falling for a guy like that and it scares me.'
Grasping for the reins he had dropped, Yves pushed away from Glenn and brought a hand to fiddle with his eyeglasses, only to realize he was wearing contact lenses today.
"You alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry." Yves cleared his throat. And with a light thumped of his legs against the horse's sides, he galloped away from Glenn.
Yves could see why the young Alonzo would scare Timothy. In that brief moment, Glenn scared him, too. It was scarier than his encounter with Richard, so he needed to keep himself in check.
This was just a test that he had to pass.
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