The car door shuts with a dull thud, the sound slicing through the tense silence between Ace and Jun.
The ride back feels heavier than the air around them, weighed down by unspoken words and growing suspicions.
Jun grips the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles turning pale as his thoughts swirl with doubt.
He can't take it anymore.
"What's going on between you and Kieran?!" Jun blurts out, breaking the fragile silence as they pull out of the driveway. His voice is sharp, almost pleading. "Every time you're around him, it's like he does something to you. The other day, after we met him, I heard you crying in the bathroom. I didn't ask because I thought maybe you'd tell me on your own, but you didn't. And now—now you look like you're about to cry again after leaving his place!"
Ace freezes in his seat, his hand gripping the edge of the door like it's the only thing keeping him grounded.
His chest tightens at Jun's words, his emotions teetering dangerously close to the surface.
"Can you stop asking me that question every f*cking time?!" Ace snaps, his voice cracking under the weight of his anger and frustration. His head whips toward Jun, his eyes blazing. "You know what?! If you don't trust me, why don't you just break up with me already?! Because I'm tired—so tired of you always thinking I have something going on with someone who doesn't even give a shit about me!"
Jun's eyes dart toward Ace, stunned, but Ace isn't done. His words tumble out, raw and unfiltered, like a dam breaking after holding back a flood for far too long.
"He is selfish! He only thinks about himself! No one else! I hate him. I hate him so much that I don't even want to see him or hear his stupid name! So why don't you just shut up and stop mentioning him to me!"
The car swerves slightly as Jun's grip on the wheel falters.
Ace's voice echoes in the confined space, the bitterness in his words cutting like glass.
But as the last word leaves his mouth, the weight of what he's said crashes down on him.
His breath catches.
His chest rises and falls erratically as tears sting his eyes, threatening to spill.
He turns away, pressing his trembling fingers against his forehead, as if trying to hold himself together.
But it's too late.
Jun's voice comes out quieter now, shaky and unsure. "Ace... what did you just say to me?!"
Ace exhales sharply, his emotions spinning out of control.
He wants to hate Kieran, wants to erase him from his mind. But no matter how much he tells himself he hates him, the truth claws its way to the surface, merciless and unrelenting.
"Sometimes, Jun..." Ace says, his voice barely above a whisper, "I can't help but think that you're obsessed with me. It's not love. It's not real. You don't love me the way you think you do. You're just... you're holding onto me because I'm the only one person you have ever been close to. Maybe you should take a break and figure out what you really feel for me."
Jun's foot slams on the brakes, and the car screeches to a halt by the side of the road.
The sudden jolt knocks Ace forward slightly, but he doesn't move to straighten himself. Jun turns to him, his face pale, his lips trembling.
Xiao Jun's voice rises sharply, cutting through the tension in the car like a blade. "I should just break up with you? I'm obsessed with you and not in love?!" His hands tremble as he grips the steering wheel, his knuckles white from the pressure. "Is that what you think? After everything I've done for you? After all the times I've stood by you, even when it hurt me?"
Ace freezes, his heart sinking at the accusation.
Jun's voice cracks, but his fury doesn't waver. "You know what I think? I think you're trying to end things with me because of him. Kieran! You're in love with him, aren't you?! Why don't you just admit it already!"
Ace's head snaps up, his own emotions unraveling as tears blur his vision. "Jun, I—"
"Don't! Don't even try to lie to me right now!" Jun shouts, his voice raw with betrayal. "You think I don't see it? You think I haven't noticed the way you look at him? The way you act whenever his name comes up?!"
Ace shakes his head, his voice trembling. "You don't understand, Jun. It's not like..."
Jun lets out a bitter laugh, the sound dripping with disbelief. "Not like that? Then what is it, Ace? Because to me, it feels like you've been going behind my back, sneaking around with him, while I've been here—loving you, supporting you, giving you everything I have!"
Ace's chest tightens, and before he can stop himself, the words spill out like a dam breaking. "I didn't mean for it to happen! I didn't ask for any of this! You wanna know?! Huh? Well yes, Jun! I'm in love with him!"
The confession hangs in the air, deafening in its finality. Jun's breath catches, his face pale as if Ace's words had physically struck him.
He clenches his jaw, his voice trembling with a mixture of fury and devastation. "So it's true. All this time, I was just a placeholder to you. Someone to keep you company while you figured out your feelings for him. That day you disappeared and I was looking for you the whole night, I couldn't find you and you came back with the clothes that weren't yours, they were his, weren't they?! You had love marks on your skin and I saw them but I couldn't bring myself to thinking that you would do something like that to me! The night we planned to share together , you shared with him! You slept with him!"
"It was not intentional!" Ace cries, tears streaming down his face. "You mean so much to me, Jun. I—"
"Stop!" Jun snaps, his voice cracking. "Just stop! Don't seat here and try to convince me that this isn't what it looks like. You just did to me something that I never thought you would ever do it me!"
"I didn't mean to hurt you," Ace pleads, his voice barely above a whisper.
Jun shakes his head, his eyes shimmering with unshed tears. "Well, you did."
Without another word, Jun unbuckles his seatbelt and throws the door open.
"Jun, wait! Please!" Ace stumbles out of the car, his voice breaking as he calls after him.
Ace stands frozen, watching as Jun walks away into the night, his figure disappearing under the dim glow of the streetlights.