TRYING

Kalen stood up and gave a smug smile at Leo. Their conversation went well and they appear to be more relaxed around each other now. No past, no drama. Leo stared at the man while he put on his backpack. Their eyes met and Leo quickly veered around. It was not an uncomfortable moment, but not an ordinary one.

He walked Kalen to the door, both in silence. The man then puts on his shoes and proceeded outside. Leo couldn't help but gaze at the man with a statuesque image. When they had their first conversation and today, somehow Kalen seemed so familiar to him. Not by appearance but with something else and he couldn't pinpoint what.

Kalen noticed Leo's stare and slightly raised a brow.

"Mr. Leo, something on my face?" He giggled.

"Hm?" Leo furrowed and quickly recovered his senses.

"You keep looking at my face. Something you want to ask me?" Kalen asked with a curious smile.

"No. Nothing. Well, see you."

He gave Leo an affiliative smile and extended his hand for a handshake and Leo did the same.

"See you, Mr. Leo."

"Hm."

We smiled and went on our way. Leo's eyes followed him until he was out of sight. He closed the door and walked towards the living room, a bit puzzled. He leaned back on the couch, resting his head and pressing his lips together. Leo kept thinking about Kalen ever since he met him at the cemetery. He didn't escape his mind for one bit.

"Impossible that I'm attracted to him." He mumbled.

He looked at the time and realized how fast it was running. Quarter to 10 and he's still not dressed yet. He quickly got up and went upstairs to change. Minutes went by and he was ready to go out. He decided to bring a backpack instead of his gym bag and put in extra clothes for his dance class. He didn't bring his skateboard along because he decided to stop by the grocery store later. It'll be a hassle to carry so much stuff, he thought.

On his way to the elevator, he saw Mrs. Vicky talking to somebody. It was her neighbor and seemed like they were talking about something important. The old woman sensed his presence and looked in his direction. Her sweet smile made Leo happy every time as he used to with his mother. He bowed his head a little and gave a quick smile back at the woman who immediately ended the chat and the neighbor went back inside. She walked slowly towards Leo and greeted him happily.

"Good Morning, Son. Off to work?"

"Good Morning. Hm. Was there a problem?"

Leo asked a bit concerned and Mrs. Vicky promptly shook her head.

"Ah, no dear. Everything is fine. She just asked me about your visitor earlier. She said a handsome guy asked where your flat is."

"Oh. Yes. That was Mr. Kalen. We had a meeting concerning the café. I'm sorry I didn't tell you he was coming over. I told him to come by instead of us meeting somewhere else."

"It's alright, dear. She said, she thought he'd seen him before. That friend of mine, she also said he got scared at first because she thought it was Damon."

She giggled feeling shy and a bit sorry for her for mistaking Kalen for Damon.

"Oh." Leo didn't want to say anything anymore cause the conversation will just take a lot longer.

"I have to get going. I am going to be late for work."

He bowed his head and bid goodbye to the wondering old lady. The elevator door opened and he got in. He pressed the ground floor button and waved his hand to the old lady who was still standing there waiting for the door to close. She waved her hand at Leo and smiled back. As the elevator door closed, his thoughts began to run again.

The sun was shining brilliantly outside as Leo strode through the crowded way. All through his walk all he kept thinking about was Kalen which weirded him out.

His student for the day was already waiting outside and beamed when he saw Leo coming, but the man just hissed. The medium-built guy with a pasty white complexion always tries to be playful with Leo. He knows that the 24-year-old has had a crush on him for a long time now but he doesn't want to get attached to anyone so he just ignores his feelings for him.

"Hey! Morning!" The man said, smiling from ear to ear. Leo just glanced at him with cold eyes and continued to unlock the door.

The guy rolled his eyes at Leo and just kept quiet. They both got inside and Leo immediately readied the place. He just watched the teacher get ready while he changes for his practice shirt. He does dance exercises with Leo twice a week to condition his body and he enjoys it, especially with his hot trainer.

A sudden deep voice called him.

"Hendrey. Let's start."

The man just nodded and ran towards Leo. He chose a difficult song to dance with and Hendrey just looked at him in disbelief and smirked. He is a level 4 student, meaning he can easily keep up with him. Leo tries to encourage his students as much as possible to take risks and be more open to difficulties so that they will understand the true meaning of what they are doing.

They both started dancing but his eyes were at Leo's incredible body movements. He looked at Leo with amazement and lost his concentration. His teacher is an aggressive dancer, one that is skillful and does it without any effort yet will grab everybody's attention.

He noticed that his student was out of focus so he angrily stopped. He put his hands on his waist, feeling irritated. But the guy just giggled and bit his lower lip.

"Sorry." He whispered.

"Focus. Don't make me repeat that."

He just pouted as Leo drifted his eyes away. They continued until they were both exhausted and on the floor. Their dance session lasted one a half hours and both of them were gasping for air. Leo then stood up and went to his locker to drink water and so did his student. Leo was changing his clothes when he sensed someone standing behind him. He turned his head around and saw his student with his arms folded together and with a flirtatious smile on his face. Leo turned his head around again sighing and rolling his eyes.

"What do you want?" Leo asked with his brow raised, not looking at the mischievous man.

Hendrey walked slowly towards Leo and whispered at him which made the nab more annoyed.

"Go out with me."

"No."

The man's flirty attitude disappeared as Leo stared at him with his dead eyes. Gives warning to the man not to ever come near him again. Hendrey pouted and hissed. But Leo didn't care.

"Aii! Chincha! You're so boring."

"By the way, don't come tomorrow. I'm going somewhere. Let's just meet next week." Leo said avoiding his student's annoying face.

"Fine. I'm leaving then. Bye!"

He walked out of the studio, stomping like a little kid. Leo just shook his head and smirked. He cleaned up a bit and prepared to close up the studio. He had other errands to do so he was in a hurry.

He stopped by at his favorite restaurant and had a quick lunch, then went on his way. He finally finished and decided to come to the café, earlier than he expected. He booked a cab and patiently waited for a good 15minutes or so. He hates waiting but can't complain about it either. Leo is too thrifty to buy a car of his own and thought that he doesn't need it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Good Morning, everyone." We greeted them as he entered the office, grinning joyfully.

"Good Morning, Sir!" Everybody greeted back at him in unison with their eyes wide open thinking to themselves why Kalen looks happy.

Even though he just got transferred two weeks ago, people in the department already liked him. They find him intimidating and serious but friendly and easy to talk to at the same time. He does his work with great effort resulting in amazing results. Many clients recommend him as to why his boss from Shanghai offered him to work at their branch in Beijing. He hesitated at first but thought of the opportunities that might transpire so he accepted the offer in the end.

He puts his backpack on his chair and proceeds to his work. His eyes were on the screen of his computer and tried to focus but a piece of his mind was somewhere else.

"Mr. Kalen.."

A sudden whisper to his ear made him flinch and gasp a little. He touched his chest and giggled as he looked at the woman standing next to him.

"Ms. Kath! You scared me!"

"Where are you, Mr. Kalen? You're far away." The woman said with a chuckle looking at the surprised man.

"Just here, Ms. Kath."

They both chortle at each other as the woman lean forward to see what he was doing on the computer. She nodded a bit with a half-smile, out of satisfaction. We looked at her and smirked.

Katherine, or Ms. Kath as people would call her, is the creative director of their department. She got close to Kalen pretty fast as if they knew each other for a long time. Kalen also felt comfortable with her as he sees his sister in her. A cheerful woman, she constantly comes to his office and invites him to lunch. They are the same age also so people in the department think that they have something going on. Which they laugh about every time. They have common personalities as well, both work addicts and risk-takers.

"What do you think, Ms. Kath?"

"You are amazing, Mr. Kalen. Need me?"

"Yes, I need the team."

"Deadline?"

"ASAP. My client is a little testy."

"Ohh. Good luck with that then. How about lunch? Your treat this time huh? Then we can talk about this client of yours."

We giggled at the sudden invitation but already getting used to it. Kath just smiled cutely at him and knew her charm will work. The man just nodded and smiled knowing that he can't say no to her.

"Japanese food for me, Mr. Kalen. See you in my office later!"

She walked away, waving happily to Kalen. He just sighed and giggled then returned his eyes to the screen, looking at the designs he made. He remembered someone who loved the color. A sudden flashback invaded his senses and he drifted away to the past.

"Kal! Kal! Can you help me make something?!"

"Kal! Yellow is pretty, right?"

"Kal! let's go to the beach today!"

"Kal, if something ever happens to me, I will give this to you."

Kalen, recalling the last phrases instantly came back around and sighed. The once captivating voice that keeps calling him was a melody to his ears and he would do anything just to bring it back.

He picked up his phone to dial the food delivery when he suddenly remembered Leo's invitation. Why not send him a message right now? He could've told him when he was still in his apartment earlier though, he thought. But, he was a bit surprised so he couldn't say anything besides sending him a text. He sent Leo one and went on to call the food delivery after.

"Mr. Leo, I am available on Saturday. Still up to be my tour guide?"

He tried to hide his smile but then his phone beeped.

"Okay. Please wait for me outside the building. 9 am."

He didn't know what to say anymore so he didn't reply to Leo. His day went on like any other normal day. He had lunch with Kath and talked about work. Particularly his client, Leo. He didn't say anything else except for work-related matters. Even though he and the woman have gotten close at work, he was still uncomfortable talking about his past with someone else.

Only his best friend Matt knows. His past and his present secrets.

TO BE CONTINUED.