"Busy day?"
"Mostly."
"I'll bring you dinner."
"Rey, I'm busy today. I don't have time for your stubbornness."
"I'll drop it off, then leave."
Ari seemed exasperated. "Did you have any other reason for calling?"
"This isn't fair. I haven't seen my boyfriend for a week, and when I make an effort to reach out, he scolds me."
"What the...? Stop calling me that; It's weird." Ari checked the time on his computer, and his jaw dropped. "It's almost 8:00 pm! What is my secretary working another overtime for?"
"I called you repeatedly to let you know about a change of plans. Mun and I made dinner today and invited my sister and your brother over. We were wondering what was taking you so long today."
"Why is everyone there? ...Wait a minute... What is my brother doing in my apartment?"
"Well, I wanted to officiate our relationship. They know we are dating, but I want to give my sister a proper introduction considering the big transformation on my end..."
"Y-You never told me you were planning something... And you told my brother where I live!" Ari was livid. "What is wrong with you Rey?"
"That's why I called earlier and you weren't picking up. I assumed you were busy. Either way, it's too late to cancel now since everyone is here." When Ari didn't say a word, Rey hesitated briefly and then asked. "Are you angry?"
"I'm just surprised."
"Oh, that's a relief..."
"Of course I'm angry! What do you think?"
"I can just reschedule, then you and I can spend the night elsewhere. My place is one option since my sister wants to retire here. Mun offered, so I couldn't..."
"Rey, get my brother out of my apartment and make him forget where I live." Ari. "I'll wrap things up here quickly and be on my way...."
"I like you, Ari."
"Oh, brother! Timing Rey! Timing!"
The sound of a phone getting disconnected left Rey dumbfounded. He remained in a state of confusion for a while, looking at his phone screen and tempted to call back again.
"He hung up?" Mun popped up from behind Rey, startling him.
"Y-Yea."
"I knew you'd get in trouble. I equally have a lot of explaining to do, having allowed his brother here." Mun's expression seemed relaxed, and that worried Rey even more.
"How is it that I'm the one panicking here? Ari's brother recognised you too."
"He did, but he knows what is at stake when he snitches about knowing me."
"But you have no obligation to him."
"Well, I somewhat do, you see. As for you, I wonder why you keep meeting him. If I'm correct, I'm convinced you are to help him for free. Speak up, kid."
"I... Well, he helps... When we meet, I ask about Ari's past... Growing up with him, that is. How he was and all."
Mun appeared bemused. "What for? He is a completely different person now."
"From what he tells me, he was just an ordinary boy like any of us, but I do have the intention of becoming his own family, not that you are irrelevant to him. You and Ari can't part, and I get that, but I wish to become a part of his past and hopefully help him walk through whatever he went. When we began dating, I probed into his past, but he would just dismiss me, saying I'm ruining the mood."
"And I agree with him. What are you hoping to achieve, making him relieve his pain, reminding him how he felt over and over again? Even I know less of him. Just leave the past for the past. If I were carrying my exes into my other flings, I'd have been dead by now."
Rey chuckled. "Maybe for you, it might be easy, but I want to help him any way I can. A guy like him... He has everything and can afford anything he wants in this life. I'd like to be useful to him, to be relevant, and this is the best idea I could come up with. I just want to let him know that he doesn't have to keep fighting the past alone. He is no longer alone anyways."
"He has me."
"And me."
The two stared at each other for a while as if in a glaring battle. It was Ari's brother that broke their stare war and inquired why they'd gone quiet all of a sudden.
"Forget it." Rey had spoken dismissively and proceeded towards where his sister sat.
"Did I interrupt something?"
"Our discussion, Rey is aware."
"I didn't utter a word to him."
"I did."
"Oh." Ari's brother seemed puzzled. "Why would you sabotage yourself like that?"
"Rey is good at keeping secrets. He has been aware I've known Ari for a long time."
"Then there is no need to hide it from him any longer."
"I disagree," Mun said, then turned to look at Rey as if his mind was contemplating something. "What kind of questions is he asking you." Turning back, he realised his question had further confused Ari's brother. "I mean about Ari. His past and everything."
Ari's brother smiled and followed Mun's previous gaze. "I'm puzzled by his adept interest in my brother. Once has he inquired of the negatives, but my big brother's moments of light."
"What do you mean?"
Turning back to look at Mun, he added on, "My brother's hobbies, of course, and what subjects he was great at. What kind of big brother he was and the sports he enjoyed... We'd talk for hours about things like that; I mean, I do not mind since such talks always accompany memories I hold dear with me of my elder brother. I didn't get to spend much time with him growing up since I was about eight years old when he'd come out of the closet. He was shunned by my other siblings and often scorned for leaving the house; therefore, I got to spend a lot of time with him. He was my hero... He knew a lot of things I didn't know." Turning to look back at Mun, who seemed submerged in the conversation, Ari's brother went on. "I presume having spent the majority of my time with him allowed me a different view of him. That is why when I understood what being Gay was all about, I felt indifferent. Everyone seemed mad at him, and I was equally compelled to feel the same way, but I didn't fully understand why I should have been upset. When he left, I felt abandoned, and that became my reason to hate him."
"If you hate him so much, why are you here?"
"I got tired of it. As a matter of fact, I'd forgotten I hated him, forgot his face, his voice, his scent... Everything. But when he showed up some months back to pick up his belongings, it felt like he never left. My anger towards myself had also been forgotten. Goodness, I even forgot I was supposed to be mad. When he got scolded by my other siblings and shamed and bashed by my parents, I hid behind the shadows of my other elder siblings. I felt ashamed of myself. I didn't say a word. He must have noticed, for he didn't address me and pretended not to see me. My silence must have hurt him, and that thought tormented me for many weeks until I'd had enough. That's when I hatched the plan to seek him, and after much research, I found him. He even changed his second name so that none of us could find him."
Mun's expression was so serious that Ari's brother was afraid he might kick him out. "I won't say a word about you visiting the town to check after your parents."
"It's a good thing you didn't come with Ari that day. Everyone knows of your parent's love for exploring the world. And, even if you don't visit that very often, your parents are quite proud of you, so they tend to praise your independence a lot."
"Blabbermouths."
Ari's brother laughed. "It is a small town."
Mun chuckled, feeling his tension disappearing, then remembered the cause of it. "Ari is my family now. How can I allow that bastard to think he owns him?"
"You must care for him too; otherwise, you wouldn't have guarded this secret of yours all these years."
"Ari's past signifies to me nothing but pain."
"But to Rey, he seeks joy from it."
"There is nothing joyful about Ari's past. You have no idea what I had to see him go through, changing from one guy to another. Everyone threw themselves at him, and he ate them like a hungry mutt. He changed completely from the Ari I'd met in college."
"If he is still o that rampage, which I doubt he is, Rey can bring him back."
"Rey?" Mun seemed annoyed. "What do you mean, Rey?" 'He caused him a lot of pain, too, but you wouldn't know that! I had to be the one to put up with a moody Ari... And it's not easy.'
"Because he chose him."
Ari's brother's remark took Mun off guard for a while. He looked sternly at Rey and contemplated on the reason why he'd been rooting for him earlier. Yes, he'd wanted Rey to win, but that was at the expense of ridding Ari of Ned. Ned was a threat to their relationship. To underestimate Rey had been another mistake. 'Even though Ari does seem happier lately, but... He'd soon want to live together with Rey, and what we had of our friendship... Hell, I'd have to ask Rey for permission to visit my best friend! Darn, I brought this upon myself.'
Mun watched Rey stand up and walk towards them. He wore an expression which showed conviction, and Mun almost thought he was coming for an attack. With his towering height, who wouldn't think so? 'Maybe that's why Ari's brother seems slightly fearful, even though he praises him so much. Rey must have threatened him to submit his loyalty to him.'
"May I borrow your car, Manager Mun?"
Mun gave his keys without hesitation and watched Rey walk out without so much as a thank you, which made Ari's brother giggle together with Rey's sister.
"Where is he off to?" Mun asked, addressing Rey's sister, Esy.
"He said he is going to pick up his boyfriend."
"Why the hell did I give him my keys?" Mun asked, seeming annoyed.
"Don't you know?" Ari's brother seemed amused. "You already trust him with Ari. Perhaps you'd trust me like that someday with my brother."
"Dream on, traitor."