Chapter 24: A good trade

The chaotic place turned quiet after Kirt's distressed yell. The fighting people turned to the wounded Jovanni.

"Stop fighting..." Jovanni uttered. The hit was strong that he saw few stars in his head. Blood started creeping down from his wound to his forehead.

"Come with me, I will bring you to the hospital." Kirt anxiously reached Jovanni, but King blocked him.

"Kirt Valdez, you are not allowed to touch him!"

"I will bring him to the hospital!" Kirt shouted. The blood in Jovanni's head was already creeping to his face.

"I will bring him there myself! You are not allowed to appear in front of him again." King yelled tugging Jovanni. Leandro and Gio followed. They all got bruises on their body as Eman and Carl did. Only Kirt who's fighting skill was superior to King wasn't beaten.

When Jovanni and his friends left, the chaotic place turned quiet again until the manager recovered from her shock and started nagging.

"Kids these days are too bold...! How dare you mess this place...?! Just because you are young and strong you thought you are invincible...!? I will call the police... I will call the police! Let us see if you are still this arrogant!!!" She nagged as she reached the landline.

Kirt walked towards her, took all the money from his wallet, and slammed it near the landline. Then he walked out. The other three followed.

Seeing the thick pile of one thousand bills, the manager's wrinkled face straightened.

"Though you are young, strong, and capable, you must learn how to be humble and cool-headed!" She yelled to Kirt's receding back, but her tone turned softer.

"Kids these days..." The security guard uttered while wiping his sweaty face. He had a hard time, though he wasn't able to settle the chaos.

"More like rich kids these days..." The manager objected.

"But ma'am, rich kids those days were bold and arrogant too!" The security guard objected.

The manager rolled her eyes.

"Whatever! Everyone, come out and fix this mess!" She yelled to the staff. The security guard wasn't spared from the cleaning job.

Kirt returned to his apartment. He was pacing back and forth in the living room. He saw Jovanni today, yet he barely held him. He was troubled, eager to take Jovanni back as soon as possible. He kept on pacing until a plan was formed in his head.

The next day, Jovanni was ready for school. He took the bandage on his head and replaced it with a band-aid. The wound wasn't big anyway. King insisted on sending him to school and will also pick him up later. Jovanni strongly refused, but King insisted.

The whole day ended. Surprisingly, Kirt didn't show up.

The night was breaking when his friends picked him up. Jovanni was sitting in King's car with Leandro and Gio.

"Jovanni, Yana invited us to dinner." King was excited.

Jovanni smiled, "Should I go home and change clothes first?"

"No need. Your uniform is fine."

"Aren't you too anxious to meet her?" Jovanni teased.

"Not really, but since we are meeting her at the nearby island, we need to hurry."

"Okay."

King drove to Panglao Island. It was already dark when they reached there. Leandro wondered as King drove to a desolate place.

"King, this place is quite deserted. Are you sure this is the right way?" Leandro asked as they passed by a road in between towering bushes.

"Yes. Yana texted me. She said there are cottages in this area."

"Okay, but I don't feel good though." Leandro uttered.

"Chill in there Leandro. Let's just support this brother of us who is totally in love..." Gio laughed.

They drove for few more minutes and reached the seashore. They found no cottages, but three black cars were parked instead. The four of them instantly knew that something was off, especially Jovanni who recognized one of those cars.

"Crap! Were are tricked!" Gio cussed.

"I'm sorry..." Jovanni helplessly uttered.

"It's not your fault." King replied. "No matter what bad things that scum is up to, Yana is in his hand, so I must face him."

"I will talk to him." Jovanni said and went out. The others followed.

"Jovanni, you know very well what he wants. It's better if you stay inside the car." Gio suggested.

"That's the exact reason why I should talk to him. Gio, I know how stubborn Kirt is. He will not hand Yana unless he gets what he wants."

There was a moment of brief silence among them. Before one of them could utter another word, the three cars opened. Kirt stepped out. His friends and Yana followed. Five brawny men came out from the two backup cars. Yana was fine, but she was surrounded.

"Kirt Valdez!" King roared.

"Yes... Enrique Garcia!"

"What the hell do you want!"

"I'm here to offer you a good trade... My boyfriend in exchange for your girlfriend!"

"Kirt Valdez, how dare you to treat people as goods!" Gio yelled.

"Well, I don't want to, but I can't help it. You are too meddlesome."

"Kirt Valdez, please leave Jovanni alone. He doesn't want to get back with you." Leandro pleaded, but Kirt ignored him.

"Baby, don't make things difficult for me. You know I won't hand your friend's girlfriend unless you come to me." Kirt told Jovanni.

"He's not coming to you! Yanna, come here!" King ordered.

"Baby, if you don't come here I will let Eman take Yanna away. Did you know that he is courting her for over two months already? Now he is very eager to have her." Kirt threatened.

King roared. "You dare!"

"Of course I dare! Do you think I'm in the mood to kid around?.

"Kirt Valdez!!!"

"King, please stop. It's useless. Take Yanna and go back first." Jovanni said, ready to head towards Kirt.

"But Jovanni..?" Gio was worried.

"I will be fine. He won't hurt me."

"He won't hurt you, but he will..." Gio wasn't able to utter the remaining sensitive words.

Jovanni smiled helplessly at him, then walked towards Kirt.

Kirt was very quick on stuffing Jovanni into his car. Then he drove away immediately, leaving everyone without a word.