Who is Via again?

I went downstairs but was surprised to see Lara in her luxurious long evening gown. Curiosity had eaten me alive and Lara, acting all suspicious, just added fuel to the fire. So I followed her and I immediately hid when I saw someone grab her. I took a sneak peek, enough not to be caught while eavesdropping on them.

"What do you think you're doing?" I saw how tightly Canim was holding Lara's arms while his eyes were threatening.

"She needs to know the truth!"

"Just like how badly I want to know the truth?"

I can feel the tension between the two, and I can tell something is going on.

"She is not a mere tool you could use to satisfy what has been hollow inside of you."

What are they talking about?

"And she is not what you're talking about."

"I know you and your intentions, and I have warned you long enough to stop what you're doing and don't involve her in your foolishness, or you'll deal with me."

"Just like how you dealt with Via.?"

Via? I've heard that name before.

"But the matter with her is done! You have to let it go and not drag Kaesu into this! Don't you think she deserves it? She is not someone you could just use to patch something she did not cause."

Right! I remember it now. He mentioned that name before when he was so drunk. 

I scoffed. I hate eavesdropping, it just gives me more information that would kill me, if not physically, then mentally and emotionally.

"Enjoying the scene?" 

I turned around in a panic and our eyes met as well as our lips. I could not move, I could not speak, it was as if everything was paused.

"The quiet little mice hiding in the corner."

I looked up, eyes narrowed in annoyance. "What do you want, Antonio?"

"Just wondering why you never speak up for yourself. Are you too weak and scared to let your true feelings be heard?"

I clench my fists, jaw set in determination. "You think I'm weak and cowardly? Well, I'll prove you wrong. I may be quiet, but that doesn't mean I won't fight for what I believe in."

I know what we had that night was genuine and something that I know only Canim and I know for ourselves. And that's right! Why do I have to hide in a corner if I know I have something to fight for?

"Oh, really? I'd like to see you try."

"Watch me. I'll show you that silence doesn't equal weakness. I'll make sure my voice is heard, loud and clear."

I walked with full determination and I saw Lara and Canim's faces full of shock.

"K-kaesu?" Lara stuttered. I just smiled at her and switched my attention directly to Canim and faced him fully.

"Who's Via? And what are we?" 

I stood there, watching the color drain from his face, his eyes filled with shock as he struggled to form words. The once bustling surroundings fell into a deafening silence, the tension palpable as I waited for his response.

"I'll spill the beans if you don't own up, Canim!" Lara threatened.

My patience ran thin as Lara, growing increasingly furious, threatened to spill the truth herself. But I wanted to hear it from Canim's own mouth. The silence that followed, shattered only by the sound of my pounding heart, intensified my anger, a mirror to Lara's own frustration.

"How hard is it for you to say that Via is your ex who looks like Kaesu?" Finally, unable to bear the weight of the unspoken truth any longer, Lara took matters into her own hands. With a bitter tone, she revealed who Via truly was - Canim's ex-girlfriend, who bore a striking resemblance to me. It felt as though the world had crumbled around me, my knees buckling beneath the weight of betrayal.

The air grew heavy, suffocating me as anger and self-pity consumed my being. Breathing became a struggle, each inhaling a battle against the suffocating truth that now hung between us, poisoning the once tangible connection.

"Alright." I scoffed.

That explains it. All those worries, affection, and every emotion I saw from your eyes, and felt from your actions were meant for Via. 

It was as if my legs were so heavy that I could hardly move them. Little by little, I turned away and left them there, and here I was as if there was no life while walking.

"Keasu."

"Don't... touch me." I saw how my words made her stop. I feel sorry, and I want to take it back, but with all that has happened, I am too drained to even deal with it.

Canim chased me and tried to block me, but he was still standing in front of me as if he was still trying to find the words he wanted to say.

"What now?" still no response from him. "Say it. Damn it!"

He sighed. "Come one, I'll take you somewhere."

He grabbed my hands, but I was too weak to even withdraw them. Antonio violently removed Canim's hand from my arm and I just smiled bitterly. I was brave enough earlier while talking to him and here he is now by my side. He may be thinking that I have just proved how weak and cowardly I am in front of him.

"I thought we had a thing." I frowned, looking at him, trying to get an explanation of what was happening.

"Keasu.." he put his hands on my shoulder and looked at me directly in the eyes and that's when it all flashed before my eyes. What a fool I was.

"Right... You made me feel as if I am just a nobody, I am just a mere tool of yours. You always make me feel as if you're not interested in talking to me, giving me dry conversations as if you wanted to end it so badly. And I cannot help to think that you might think that you were just wasting your time on me."

"Please-"

"I feel like I am not wanted!" tears cascaded in my eyes, flowing down my cheeks like falls. "That's how I always feel, that's how you always make me feel. And it sucks!"