章 43: Finding Solace
[Johan's POV]
He felt embarrassed for secretly hoping someone would show up at school. Like a childhood playmate that has grown into a fine young man, where time would stop the moment their eyes met, eucalyptus leaves falling slowly in the background. Like those kinds of shit in the movies.
But nobody showed up. Not even the janitor himself to kick him out for trespassing.
'Fucking shitty movies.'
Johan exited the gate with a cold pizza, closed it, not leaving a trace, and continued to his destination. With his face mask back on, he avoided the main road to prevent passing across his grandparents' ancestral house. Instead, he strolled a safe street even first-grade students can walk through without the fear of pedestrian accidents.
Alos Village, despite being part of a city, still looked too rural with lush oriental trees lining both sides of the road. Houses were distant apart enough to build floral or vegetable gardens around them.
Several twists and turns later, he stopped across a local court filled with—uhh—sweaty boys playing basketball. For a moment, his shirtless ex-best friend appeared in his memory, a ball in his hand as he scored a three-point shot.
Johan shook his head and crossed the road, wiping the sweat off of his forehead. 'I'm over him. I'm over Raymond a long time ago.'
Behind the mango trees sat a bungalow house. Johan removed his mask and continued inside the backyard, but dog barks stopped him on his tracks before he could approach the front door.
"Oh, shit!" Johan instinctively bit his tongue and crouched to the ground, pretending to pick a rock. He glared at the howling black dog. "Shut up! You're ruining my surprise."
Duck-walking to the side, he reached for a fallen mango twig and stood, scaring the dog who ran back to the front door. The barking intensified. When the jalousie window opened, Johan groaned.
"Who's there?" a male's voice called, peeping through the gap.
"Pizza delivery for Sean Constantino."
"Eh? But I didn't order anything."
"Well, I did." Johan removed his face mask because he looked utterly suspicious with it. He flashed a smile to the surprised man behind the window, who scrambled to open the door. "Hey, Couz."
Sean shushed his dog, much to Johan's relief, and trudged towards him. Disbelief had his eyes widened, scanning him up and down as if he was an apparition who appeared before him. "Why—Uhm—I don't know what to say. Come inside first."
Johan threw the dog a dirty look before entering his cousin's household. "Pizza?"
"Oh, thanks." Sean scratched his short spiky-black hair before accepting the box. "You should have informed me you're coming."
"It wouldn't be a surprise if I did."
"Still... never mind. I almost didn't recognize you. Your tan lightened a bit compared to the last time we saw each other."
"I've always been tan, Couz."
"You're Mr. Snow White when we were younger." Sean pointed out. "Hold on. Let me get you some water."
He lived beside the sea, so it's expected for his complexion to darken. High school was harsher because of his grandfather's exclusive training, frying him under the sun every weekend.
Johan plopped down on a chair and removed Adrian's jacket, grabbing a handkerchief from his bag to wipe the sweat from his chest.
Sean reemerged from the kitchen and handed him a glass full of water, which he accepted, gratefully. "What brings you here by the way?"
"Am I not allowed to visit you?" He joked, receiving a pout.
"That's not what I meant, y'know? It's just that you've avoided this place for a reason."
"Right." Johan sighed in relief when Sean opened an electric fan for him. "It's unplanned travel. I'm on my way back to Olongapo, but I dropped by since I'm already here."
"Aww." Sean sat beside him and hugged his arm. "I've missed you, Couz."
"Yeah. Same."
"So." Sean looked up, eyes twinkling, lips quirking up to a grin. "Unplanned travel, huh? Who are you traveling with? Is it Alden? Do I finally get to meet him?"
Johan didn't flinch at the series of interrogations, but he scrunched his face in distaste at the mention of his recent ex. "No. You're never meeting that asshole because we're over."
"A new boyfriend, then?"
Johan sank himself on the couch with a defeated sigh. "Where do I even start?"
Sean suddenly leaped to his feet. "Hold it! Let me heat the pizza first, then I'll buy us something to drink. This is gonna be a juicy talk!"
"R-right."
Johan smiled as he watched his cousin sprinted to the kitchen. Technically, Sean was his second cousin, but Johan treated him more of a brother than a distant relative. With their family as large as a freaking military battalion, having Sean was a blessing. There was no need for lies or pretension in front of him. Not only because they're relatives but also because they had the same orientation.
Because of a conflict of belief, Sean's family was among the few who detached themselves from their grandparents' strict military doctrine. It benefited him because there's no need to fear they'd snitched his whereabouts.
Glancing on a wall clock, the time flashed nineteen minutes past two o'clock. He doubted he'd make it to work today. As Sean made a quick trip to a neighborhood store, Johan dialed Diego's number, hoping he'd let him extend his time-off at work.
It took several unsuccessful calls before Diego answered. "Hey, what's up? How's it going with Gaylord's—I mean Guevarra's brother?"
Johan resisted slamming him with an insult of his own. "Still in ICU for monitoring, but last I heard, he's already out of danger."
"Great. You coming in for work later, right?"
"About that..." Johan sighed. "That's what I'm calling about. Can I extend my time off? I don't think I can work with little to no rest. Too exhausted to even travel right now."
Diego clicked his tongue, disapproving. "Exhausted? Or you just want more time to spend with him?"
"I'm not even with him as we speak."
A long pause had Johan started believing Diego wouldn't approve, but a grunt and probably an eye-roll, he said, "Fine. You're in big trouble anyway because of that little stunt you pulled with Quinn. Use this time to cool your head off."
"Oh?" Johan tried to sound nonchalant. "Why am I not surprise you knew?"
"It's a talk all over the company, you war-freak."
"Whatever. You agreed for the extended time-off I'm asking, okay? I'm recording this call just so you know."
"Yeah, yeah," Diego grumbled unintelligible words he guessed were curses. "You only ever called me for your own benefit. Don't forget you still owed me a date."
A smirk played across Johan's face. "Of course. See you once I get back," he said, then ended the call.
Of all the stressful events that happened to him lately, the one providing him a breath of entertainment was, surprisingly, Diego. Unlike with Adrian, he doesn't have to deal with complicated feelings when it came to their department head.
And with Sean's help, he'll uncover what exactly was Diego after and counter any enemy he'd make in the company without resulting in bloodshed.
After Sean got them soda, he pulled him to his room so they can have privacy. Just like him, his cousin wasn't out to his family.
"Where's Auntie?" Johan asked, dropping on the bed. Since Diego extended his leave from work, sleep seemed sounded better than pizza.
"She's wherever." Sean waved a dismissive hand, settling on the computer desk chair, arms propped on the recliner. His excitement brought light inside the room. "Now, who's the lucky guy?"
"Excited much?" Johan snorted at his cousin's enthusiasm.
"Oh, come on, Couz. You know me."
"Right."
Sean liked to indulged himself listening to his 'romantic escapades' as he called it. He's a hopeless romantic and Johan envied him for his innocence. His expression fell knowing he'd disappoint him with what he's about to share, but he wanted it off his chest.
"It's not like what you think," Johan started, his back hitting the bed with a bounce. "I came here to donate blood to a friend's brother."
"Oh. Sorry to hear that."
They were silent for a moment. He didn't leave it with a final tone, and Sean waited for him to continue as he munch on the pizza he brought. Johan reached for a bear-themed bolster pillow. "I like him... I think."
"The friend or the brother? Wait, what're their names?"
"Adrian and Aaron. And this isn't a shitty love triangle with two hot brothers, so stop grinning like that."
"So they're not hot?"
Johan hugged the bolster pillow, blood rushing to his face, knowing what's running in his cousin's mind. "They are—I said stop grinning."
"Wha~t?" Sean giggled. "Can't help it, okay? So the friend or the brother."
"I only met Aaron, and he doesn't know me since he's still unconscious when I left the hospital."
"Hmm. The friend then?"
"Yeah. Adrian's a friend at work." Johan met Sean's expectant gaze. "But he's already got a girlfriend."
Sean pouted and formed an 'X' in front of him with his arms. "Move on, Couz. Find someone else."
Call him petty, but Johan timed his next revelation when Sean reached for the glass and took a sip of the orange soda. "We're having sex."
Sean sprayed the carbonated drink on the floor. "Couz!"
クリエイターの想い 
K_Contiello
K_Contiello Would Sean be supportive like their workmates? Or he'd knock some senses to Johan's clouded judgment?
Let's stay tuned!
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