Jerson fell asleep shortly after Vishnu left him. Later the night after their sensual encounter, Jerson just lay on the bed. He was regretting what he said to Vishnu. However, he just couldn’t shut himself as he really disliked being called Kara. He didn’t want to be Derrick’s substitute.
His phone rang loudly, making him groan irritatedly firstly in the morning. He groped his bed, trying to find his phone somewhere while his eyes closed. When he finally found it, he brought it near his ear and answered the call. It was Harvey.
“You fucking disturb my sleep,” he cursed with his hoarse voice.
Harvey chuckled. “Good morning, Señor. May I disturb you for a while?” he asked.
Jerson checked the time. It was only past 4 am. “Señor my ass. What do you want?”
“Secret,” Harvey replied and laughed.
Without a second thought, Jerson ended the call and continued sleeping. He didn’t expect that Harvey would call him first thing in the morning just to annoy him. His friends, Van, and Alec, wouldn’t do such things. They’ll always leave him out.
After a while, his phone rang again. Jerson got up and walked toward his kitchen. He was feeling thirsty.
“Have you been waiting for me to call?" Harvey asked persistently.
Jerson snorted. “Just tell me what you want Harvey. Stop being pesky,” he calmly said.
“You should loosen up and stop pressuring yourself,” Harvey nagged. “Anyway, the organization wanted to thank you for giving us the legitimate copy of the ledger. As an acknowledgment, the boss invited you to join us. Though, it will be best if you don’t," he added. “Just so you know, this organization is fucking carrying out suicidal missions.”
Jerson sighed. “You already gave me the reward though.”
“What reward?”
“In the Night Stripped.”
Harvey groaned. “Stop right there!” he yelled. “If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be able to enter the place. And the manager there said that you already paid for the whole bill for the whole night.” Harvey snorted. “Even my team’s stingy asses were ashamed. Why would you pay for it, anyway?”
After getting a bottle of chilled water, Jerson started to open a can of spam. He remembered that he presented his ID as a Ferrer for them to enter the bar. His grandfather might’ve heard about it and told the manager to not let him and his companions pay for their bill. If it was Jerson, he would let Harvey and his team pay for themselves.
“Just think about it as thanks for your invitation,” Jerson replied.
Harvey silenced for a few seconds. After that, he sighed and asked, “Do you always do this kind of thing?”
“What thing?”
“Not accepting the act of gratitude from other people,” Harvey answered.
Jerson was cutting the spam into small halves. After that, he got the frying pan from the drawer above the sink and put it on the 5 burner gas hob. He put the right amount of cooking oil on the pan. “That became a habit, I guess.”
Harvey took a deep breath out of frustration. “Life must be hard on you.”
Jerson chuckled. “How so?”
“Man, your eyes say it all. You can’t fool a man that has the eye of an eagle,” Harvey proudly said. “Looking how stiff you are was frustrating.”
“Is it? I didn’t know that.”
Harvey snorted. “Of course, you don’t! You’re always walking on eggshells, probably busy enough minding your world so you won’t make any mistakes and trouble others.”
“Why are you irritated? I haven’t said anything irritating yet,” Jerson seriously asked.
“Because seeing you act like how you behave makes me feel infuriated. I mean, how tough were they for you to be walking on eggshells after walking on thin ice? Those people aren't treating you right,” Harvey pointed out.
“Still, why are you angry?” Jerson asked again.
“Because I am a friend and I worry about you,” Harvey answered.
It’s funny. For Jerson, it is laughable that he was affected by small things like this. A thing that his friends never did and said. A thing he needed most. But aren’t manipulations started with this? After seeing your weakness, they’ll become your strength until you lose yours. They’ll make you feel like it is the two of you against the world when in fact, your enemy was the manipulator himself. They’ll make you fight a losing game until you also start losing yourself.
“That’s way too cringe,” Jerson commented.
“I agree,” Harvey replied and laughed.
“Anyway, just text me the address. I’ll find my way there,” Jerson said. He was already done frying the spam.
“I’ll email it to you.”
Jerson ended the call. He scooped a cup of rice and put it on his plate. He also prepared a black coffee with no sugar and organized it on the table.
It was already late 7 in the morning when Jerson got the email from Harvey. The email had no subject, or greetings, and was so informal. He laughed. It was Harvey’s not-so-good style.
He gets his coat that was hanging on the coat rack that he had prepared earlier. He wore it before getting the key to his car. He remembered that he needed to get his cruiser to Harvey’s residence.
As Jerson opened the door, he saw Vishnu sitting across his door, leaning his back on the cold wall of the building.
Jerson remembered what happened to them. He walked near Vishnu and crouched so he could see Vishnu’s face. Vishnu smelled of booze.
“Tell me what the hell are you doing outside in this cold weather,” Jerson asked.
“I fucked up,” Vishnu hoarsely said. “I am trash.”
Jerson sighed as he gently caressed Vishnu’s face. “Why? What happened?”
“Yesterday, I blamed my Kara for something he didn’t do. I got angry and lashed out. I hurt his feelings. I walked out after saying such absurdity.”
Jerson sighed. “It’s my fault that I had to bring that up when we're having a great time together. Now get up. I'll let you sleep in my condo for now.”
Vishnu shooked his head. “I miss Jerson. I promise I will never call him Kara anymore. Just bring him back to me now,” he begged.
Jerson massaged his head. He never saw Vishnu get wasted like this. Now, after witnessing it, he found it cute and irritating at the same time.
Jerson grabbed Vishnu’s shoulder and forced him to stand up. After that, he bent his knee and leaned his shoulder against Vishnu’s waist, and lift Vishnu. He carried Vishnu like a sack of rice. He opened the door of his apartment and laid Vishnu on his bed.
He sighed as he massaged his shoulders. After massaging his shoulders, he staggers his body forward and moves his head near Vishnu’s neck. Then he bit Vishnu’s ear. “It’s hard loving you this way when I am not even sure of how you feel about me.” Jerson sighed. “If you ever get your memories back and if you still feel the angst you had once in the past, don’t hesitate to turn your back on me, Vishnu. Don’t invalidate your feelings for someone as useless as I am.” He caressed Vishnu’s face tenderly. “If the time calls for it, and you have to choose between us again, and if you choose him over me again, I would still forgive you because you made me love you this much. I regret nothing.”