[22nd December]
"I'm really sorry. I hope they didn't spoil your experience in my restaurant tonight," Jay muttered guiltily as we stepped out of the building, instantly getting exposed to the snowy weather. I shook my head at him.
"If anything, they only made it more significant," I laughed, hugging my coat tighter.
The snow was piling up really swiftly. People were already shoving snow off their lawn and decorating Christmas trees. It was oddly reassuring to witness.
Jay quickly removed his coat to fix it around my shoulders. "What? No, Jay. I can't risk you catching a cold!" I gently pushed his hands away.
"I'm basically immune to it," he simply grinned before attempting to wrap it around me again. I softly glared at him.
"Jay."
"Okay..." he pouted and wore his jacket, sighing at the warmth it gave after. Satisfied, I smiled and offered him a side hug, causing him to giggle cutely. Ah, he's just so precious.
And so warm, too! Perfect for cuddle sessions.
"Though it wasn't very professional, I enjoyed the way you handled them back there," I snickered while we made our way to his car.
"They don't deserve professionalism," Jay yawned.
"Are you tired?" he shook his head in denial.
"I yawn a lot when it's cold," Jay unlocked the doors and opened the passenger seat door for me. I thanked him before jumping in, almost in haste for the warmth.
"Ah," I sighed, molding into the seat immediately. The heat in his vehicle was so comforting.
"Where to next?" I eagerly inquired as I turned to Jay, who just got into the car. He gave me a look.
"You were expecting something else?" I flushed with shame.
"Oh, I thought-never mind," I stared out the frosted windows, faint Christmas tunes were already playing from shops nearby. Jay laughed before pulling me into an embrace.
"I'm just teasing! Of course, we're going to do more than have dinner. Again,
it's a surprise."
I huffed and snuggled deeper into his chest, relishing the warmth from his body. "Don't do that again," he chuckled with a hum, running his hand over my back.
"Alright, I have to drive now, love," the nickname got me to blush a deep red. I pulled away from Jay, allowing him to grip onto the steering wheel. He called me love!
"Wanna have the aux?" Jay suddenly asked with a suggesting smile.
"Uhm..." I stopped fanboying and gazed at the radio in thought. I don't know that many songs!
"I want to listen to your playlist," I told him. He grinned before passing me a little pink drive as if he was already expecting me to say that.
"Is this an MP3 player?" I inspected it thoroughly, turning it over in awe. Was this an old model? It looked similar to the broken one I noticed in Ethel's room.
"You gave it to me," my mouth formed an 'o' shape at that.
How charming of Johnny.
"Just plug it in the little compartment there," Jay speedily pointed to the small compartment on the dashboard before returning to the road.
"...done!" with a grin, I watched as he switched the settings to 'USB'. It was silent as we waited for the drive to be scanned.
The first song played; its static intro surprised me for a moment. "Make Up by Sam Kim feat Crush," I muttered under my breath and mentally noted it down. "Perfect for this late-night drive," Jay started humming to the melody. The song was building up to the chorus and Jay visibly boosted the volume from the buttons on his steering wheel.
"Can we make up in the morning~" Jay suddenly sang and I was taken by surprise at how great he sounded?
"Woo!" I cheered him up like I was in a concert as he proceeded to belt out for the entirety of the chorus.
"You hit the high note!" I clapped, a huge grin on my face.
Jay simply smiled back before going on to sing the bridge perfectly. My face scrunched up in joy. His voice was absolutely flawless! Heck, he could even be a singer!
We spent the entire car ride to our next destination jamming to Jay's playlist. It had the best songs I've ever listened to. At one point, Dhruv's Moonlight came on and I instantly whipped my head towards Jay with a thrilled gasp. "You introduced me to this song!" he had claimed. As Johnny should!
-
"Whoa, where are we?" I gazed out the car window with raised eyebrows. In the middle of a row of dimly lighted shops was a warm-colored building shining in the dark.
"A family-owned café," Jay parked his car in a shaded area before getting out of the vehicle. He rushed to my side but I was already out of the car, locking the door in the process.
"Awe," Jay pursed his lips.
"I got myself," I patted his head, earning a big grin from him.
"Come on, let's go!" he linked arms with me and hauled us both to the small café.
"We can't have them waiting!"
"They were expecting us?" I asked, huffing out small puffs of breaths as we crossed the busy road.
"I booked the place just for the both of us," Jay smirked.
"Jay! We've been anticipating you!" a middle-aged man with a pink apron immediately greeted us from behind the counter.
"Hey, uncle!" Uncle?
"Ah, Jay!" a lady popped out from behind the man with the friendliest smile. Jay gave her an enthusiastic wave and I followed timidly.
"Why, who have you brought here?" the man whistled, glancing at our linked arms.
"You must be Johnny!" the man reached for a handshake.
"That's me," I had expected it to be a bone-crushing shake but I was astonished that it was even gentler than Rex's.
"Now, what would you like for dessert? I assume the both of you had a pleasant dinner," Jay and I exchanged glances before laughing.
"It was rather eventful,"
"Is the special still available?" I stood beside Jay as I observed the little place. This was a café mainly serving desserts, and you'd expected it to be cutesy with pastel colors painting the walls. However, everything in this shop was in different shades of brown; it gave off dark academia vibes.
Piano covers of old Christmas songs softly echoed around the place, and I lightly swayed my head to the music.
"The special? It sold like hotcakes today but I am very sure we have plenty for two!" Jay's uncle winked at us before turning around to make our orders. "What is the special?" I turning to Jay curiously.
"It's their handmade ice cream covered with different toppings-"
"Wait, ice cream? Jay, it's literally a minus degree right now," I pointed to the snow outside the cafe to emphasize. Jay smirked.
"We're fighting cold with cold. I'm pretty sure we studied that last semester,"
"I'm pretty sure you failed Science," I retorted, remembering how Johnny had told me Jay actually went to him for guidance last semester. I voiced out how I was genuinely amazed Johnny did well in academics only to receive smacks from the said intellectual.
Oh, if only I knew Jay never required tutoring.
"True, I merely got an A. But what is the first date without ice cream? Boring!" Jay nonchalantly swayed to the RnB Christmas song that came on.
"Here are your ice creams! It's on the house," Jay's aunt passed us two bowls of frozen dessert over the counter.
"Ah, Aunt May...you know I can't do that," Jay gave his aunt a fifty-dollar bill. She waved him off.
"Think of this as congrats on getting into a relationship," she wiggled her brows and laughed, shuffling to the backroom. Jay sighed as he turned to me, beckoning to one of the small wooden tables.
"There's like five scoops of ice cream in the bowl," I gazed at the dessert in wonder.
"Eat to your heart's desire!" Jay's uncle exclaimed from behind the counter with a chuckle. I grinned at him. Ah, such lovely people.
"Hm, this is the best thing since sliced bread!" I hummed in enjoyment; the ice cream was so creamy!
"It's their signature coffee flavor," Jay observed me eat with a tender smile on his face.
"Hey, don't stare at me eat," I smacked his arm, flustered that he actually set down his spoon to watch me.
"Alright," Jay laughed, picking up his spoon.
"I'd share a bowl with you like those couples on social media...but their ice cream is really good. I'm sorry," Jay admitted with a giggle.
"It's okay," I waved him off. He suddenly started fishing for his phone.
"Let's take a picture!" Jay suggested excitedly.
"Sure," I smiled as I leaned in when he held his phone up high so both of us were in the frame. "1...2...3!"
Click!
"Oh, it looks good!" I watched as the smile on Jay's face widened.
He looked like an absolute angel.
Jay caught me staring and shifted in his seat. "...is there something on my face?" he asked, bringing his hand to touch his face.
"No,
you just look really good," he blushed a tinted red and let out a small squeak. I wanted to capture this moment and hopefully give Johnny some sort of satisfaction when he comes back to see pictures of Jay in his gallery.
I'd like to stare at them in my last few minutes on earth too.
"Jay baby, smile!" I giggled, angling the phone camera to his face. He glanced up, surprised at my call.
"Huh-"
Click!
"W-wait!" he reached over the table in distress. I stretched my hands to the back so he couldn't reach the phone.
"I wasn't ready!" he exclaimed; face blushed with a deep red.
"Hm, you look so adorable, though! I'm gonna set this as my wallpaper-" I hummed in amusement as I stared at the photo. He did look charming.
"NOOOOOOO!!!"
In the end, Jay let me have it as my wallpaper soon after. He admitted he looked kind of cute in the candid.
We returned to our dessert with no other words exchanged after that, giggling like little children in a playground on a spring day. Subtly glancing at Jay who was studying the chocolate truffle on his metal spoon, I suddenly remembered Rikki, and my smile faltered.
Should I tell Jay about it?
I opened my mouth to speak but closed it immediately after when a sense of doubt washed over me.
What if he overthinks that there will be a possibility of unfaithfulness? Then he'd be overprotective and not let me speak nor be near Rikki anymore. It would make their friendship cumbersome too.
Not only that, the others would sense the tension and feel uncomfortable as well. Ugh! Now I was the one overthinking this situation. Nonetheless, the cons weighed out the pros.
What were the pros anyway?
"Johnny?" I snapped back into reality and stared at Jay with wide eyes.
"Huh?"
"Your ice cream is melting," Jay moved his eyes towards the melted dessert in my bowl.
"Oh," I sheepishly laughed and returned to the ice cream, cringing at the light brown liquid on my spoon.
"Don't tell Ethan this but," Jay suddenly spoke.
"Do you know when his birthday is?" I snorted.
"I'm glad I wasn't the only one!" he stared at me with a comical expression.
"You forgot too?" he lifted his hand for a high five but instantly lowered it when I said, "Yeah I don't even remember your birthday sometimes," Jay cleared his throat as he retreated to his dessert.
"I was kidding, Jay!" I immediately said, waving my hands at him.
"When is my birthday, then?" he shot.
"April 20th!" I replied with a grin, proud to have previously gone through Johnny's gallery to find a birthday candid picture of Jay.
"Here," I swiftly went into the calendar app on my phone before giving it to Jay.
"It's probably noted down in there," Jay hummed and scanned through the calendar. I leisurely went back to my dessert.
Of course, I remembered Ethan's birthday. How could I not? It was also the day I presumably die, I even marked it on the calendar...wait. I hurriedly peered up from my bowl with wide eyes.
"Ja-"
"Johnny..." I gulped and immediately went through my head to think of an explanation.
"Why is there a reminder named 'death day' on the 28th of December...?" he glanced at me with furrowed brows.