Chapter 166 - Bread Knife

Jay-Jay's POV

When I first met Freya, I absolutely hated her. Why? Simple. If we had been able to talk properly, we might have had a chance to be friends.

I would have accepted her, even if she looked like a coloring book and had a reputation for being a total bitch.

But because neither of us was willing to back down, we were never going to get along.

I used to think Freya was the worst of them all. But I was wrong. I was so wrong.

It's time for me to face this girl!

I have a strong suspicion—no, let's not call it a suspicion. Let's be clear: Yuri's parents did this on purpose.

Sharing a table? Seriously?!

They have their own celebration, yet they're making us share it with them. Is this a joke?! Keifer's friend's face looks more like a joke—like someone who could be used as an armrest. They're trying way too hard to act formal.

I guess this is Freya's squad. They also look like coloring books. Even weirder, one of them seems oddly familiar, but I can't remember from which depths of hell they emerged.

IMPACT!

I looked at Yuri's mom. She had been staring at me, and when she noticed I saw her, she smiled.

So, Keifer and I had seen each other before. That must be why she brought them here.

What is she trying to do?

"Iha…" Yuri's father called out to the leech of a woman clinging to Keifer. "…Where did you and Keifer meet?"

The woman smiled. "That's a great question." She nudged Keifer slightly. "Would you like to tell them how?"

Oh dear. So this is how it's going to be.

The Pest King of Snakes cleared his throat. "I met her at a Halloween party last year…"

Halloween?! Holy cow buffalo!

The flirty Bunny Girl who danced with him! I remember now! No wonder she gets under my skin.

He kept telling the story, and that's when I found out she was actually Mr. Ryder's niece. And her name? Honey Bee Ryder.

Nice. But why is she here?!

There's a lot of food in front of me, but I've completely lost my appetite because of this girl's face.

And what's even more infuriating?

Keifer hasn't even looked at me. He's not saying anything. Not even acknowledging me.

To make matters worse, Yuri and his mom are obviously watching me, as if they know what I'm feeling.

What do they want?

"Maki… Open your mouth," the woman cooed, offering food to Keifer.

Wait. What?!

Maki?! Maki! Thank you very much! Where did this Maki nonsense come from?!

"Maki?!" I blurted out, my voice louder than I intended.

Honey raised an eyebrow at me—right, Bee. "Keifer's nickname. I gave it to him! Is there a problem with that?" she asked smugly.

I turned to Keifer, but he didn't react. He didn't even glance at me.

What? Why aren't you doing anything? Why aren't you saying anything?!

"N-no…" I muttered, gripping the bread knife beside the other cutlery.

Would it be painful to aim for the neck? Or maybe if I threw something, it would just graze the skin?

Might be worth a try…

I was about to explode when, suddenly, someone placed potatoes on my plate. I turned to see Yuri.

"Why do you—"

"It's your favorite, right?" he cut me off.

He still remembers that?

Once, we had dinner at my grandmother's house, and I had asked him for potatoes.

"Thank you…" I said, forcing a smile.

The weight of our earlier conversation still lingered, but my irritation toward those two overshadowed it.

Yuri smiled at me in return.

"What are you two doing?" Honey suddenly asked.

I was caught off guard by the question. I had no idea how to answer. Worse, Yuri's sister and parents also turned to look at me, waiting for my response.

Wait! Why me?!

Keigan and his girlfriend also stared.

"W-what… W-we—"

Before I could say anything, Yuri suddenly grabbed my hand. I looked at him, and he smiled meaningfully.

"We're more than friends but less than lovers," Yuri answered, flashing a smile at Keifer and then at the woman.

His parents and Keigan chuckled slightly, but Keifer and his brother remained stone-faced.

"What does that mean? No official relationship?" Honey pressed further.

Yuri laughed. What kind of relationship is 'more than friends but less than lovers'?! I've never heard of such a thing!

"…I understand," Honey continued. "There are people who don't want an official relationship. Just like Maki—he doesn't want an official relationship with me."

She said it while rubbing Keifer's shoulder.

My ears perked up at that statement.

He doesn't want an official relationship with her?

Yeah, right! He doesn't look serious about it at all, so of course, it's not official.

Look at that outfit! It's practically falling apart! And you expect an official relationship?

Oh, crazy! Should I just make you bald instead?

A male waiter approached us with a cake. Keigan stood up, took the cake, and placed it in front of Elixera. We started singing Happy Birthday while clapping.

While the others were busy singing, I took the opportunity to look at Keifer. Luckily, he was looking at me too.

I glared at him. I wanted to yell at him and smack him with something cheap. Because of him, there were too many of us here. He seemed to understand what I wanted to say because he put his hand on his back and forced a smile that quickly turned into a grimace.

"Happy Birthday to you!" We finished the song and waited for Elixera to blow out the candle.

We gave her a big round of applause. The others went back to chatting, but I continued staring at the two of them.

Their presence annoyed me so much that I couldn't take it anymore. I grabbed my phone, and my screen nearly shattered from the force of my typing. But after writing a message, I deleted it and ended up sending just an angry emoji instead.

I waited for him to take out his phone and read my message. I didn't have to wait long—he picked it up almost immediately. He looked at the screen before replying.

📩

From: King Ulupong

Message: I love you…

Did he think I'd be thrilled by that? I immediately replied.

📩

To: King Ulupong

Message: Crazy!

I saw his forehead crease as he read my reply. Within a second, he sent another message.

📩

From: King Ulupong

Message: Profanity!

I raised an eyebrow. Oh, so now he was calling me out? Unbelievable!

📩

To: King Ulupong

Message: Fire for profanity!

He kept glancing between me and his phone. Just as he was typing another response, Honey suddenly grabbed his phone and turned it off.

She placed it on the table, and this idiot didn't even complain!

Honey turned to face him and, with one finger, lifted his chin.

"I want your full attention on me. Only me," she said, bringing her face closer to Keifer.

Pvta! Where's my bread knife?!

Keifer, the snake, touched her chin too. His fingers trailed along her cheek and down her shoulder. They looked like they were tickling each other!

What the hell?! What are you doing, Keifer?!

My chest felt heavy, and I wanted to cry out of sheer frustration.

Suddenly, someone grabbed my hand. I flinched slightly but calmed down when I saw that it was Yuri. He leaned in closer.

"Jealous?" he whispered.

I immediately shook my head. "I'm just irritated by their faces."

"That's part of jealousy," he said, glancing at Keifer. "It would be nice to get back at them, wouldn't it?"

I didn't know why, but his words were tempting. He had a point… It would be nice to make them jealous, too—maybe even enough to make them bleed.

I nodded slowly. Yuri leaned in even closer, whispering into my ear.

"Giggle."

Huh?!

"What? Google?" I asked, and he suddenly laughed.

His laughter caught Keifer's and Keigan's attention.

"Is that Mr. Billions?" Yuri's dad suddenly said, looking toward a group of businessmen who were dressed for the occasion. "Come on, Angelo, let's introduce you."

Yuri's parents and older brother stood up and walked toward the businessmen. The six of us were left at the table, and I nearly jumped when I noticed Keifer staring at me.

Yuri and I just stood our ground, refusing to back down.

Oh, now you want to look at me?!

"You're Jay-jay, right?" Honey suddenly asked. I just nodded. "You look very familiar to me."

Yes! Maybe she'd finally remember that I was the one with her at the Halloween party.

"Impossible! My beauty is one of a kind. Hard to forget," I said, laughing a little.

She raised an eyebrow. "Really? Where can people like you be found? The market?"

My eyes narrowed. Market?! What the hell was she implying?

"Excuse me?!"

"You're excused," she said with a smug smile.

Oh, she was definitely challenging me. Let me just sharpen this bread knife real quick.

Bitch Mode: ON.

"And you? Where do people like you come from?" I asked.

From my peripheral vision, I saw Yuri drinking water. Keifer loosened his tie, while Elixera and Keigan exchanged glances.

Honey flipped her hair before answering. "People like me are rare. I'm one of a kind."

I nodded slowly. "Ahh… Wouldn't they be found in a gay bar?"

Her forehead creased. "What do you mean?"

"You look like a total drag queen."

The others burst into laughter—everyone except me and Honey.

Honey forced a laugh to match the mood. "Ha. Ha. Ha. You're so funny."

I mimicked her tone. "Ha. Ha. Ha. You're so fugly."

Her brows furrowed. Any moment now, she was going to explode. Maybe I should just stab her with this bread knife…

"...That's funny," I corrected.

"You know what?" She crossed her arms, causing her chest to heave. "...I don't like your tone. In fact, I don't like you at all."

I also crossed my arms. That's right—no cleavage to flaunt, mine is well-hidden!

"It's okay... I don't like you either, and the feeling is mutual," I replied with a teasing smile.

She just shook her head. "This makes no sense."

"You make no sense."

Her face started to turn red with anger. She couldn't stop glaring at me.

"Relax... Please... Don't make a scene here," Keigan said.

Honey seemed to come to her senses. She took a deep breath and stood up.

"I'm just going to the restroom," she said, then turned to Keifer. "...Wanna join me?"

Join?! Did she just say join?!

I glared at Keifer. I wanted to rip my own eyeballs out and throw them at him. "Try standing up from where you're sitting! Believe me, that'll be the last time you'll ever stand up again!" I threatened.

I saw his Adam's apple bob. He seemed to get my point and stayed put. Meanwhile, that idiot Honey walked to the restroom in frustration.

I don't know… but I wasn't satisfied. I felt like my words weren't enough.

I stood up and excused myself to go to the restroom. No one stopped me, though Yuri looked like he wanted to. He backed off when I shot him a death glare.

As I reached the restroom, just as I expected, Honey was facing the mirror, reapplying her makeup—clearly waiting for me.

I looked at her reflection in the mirror. She did the same. She paused, seemingly aware of the other women in the restroom. They voluntarily left, and those who were about to enter hesitated and turned away.

We waited until the place was empty before she finally spoke.

"I remember you now," she said, turning around to face me. "...You were the girl Keifer was with at the Halloween party. The one he kissed that night."

I crossed my arms. "So what?"

She smirked. "You were acting strange when I sat next to you earlier, weren't you? Especially when Keifer was there. You were flirting."

"Yeah! Just like you."

I scanned her from head to toe. When she noticed my gaze lingering on her shoes, she raised an eyebrow. Yeah, yeah, I get it—wearing a dress with sneakers isn't exactly high fashion.

"You're not that pretty, but if flirting was a sport, you'd probably run out of men," she said, making my eyebrows knit together.

I hated her words. They reminded me of the cruel things people used to say about my mother.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" She taunted, thinking she had won. "...Because it's true, right—Argh!"

My vision darkened. I was so furious that my fist moved on its own, punching her straight in the face.

"What the f*ck!" She yelled, clutching her bleeding nose.

I don't usually resort to violence, but this time, I did. I hit her. I actually hit her! For the first time, I lost in a battle of words.

All because she said something I once heard people say about my mother.

That men would run out on her.

Honey's hands trembled as she tried to wash the blood off her nose in the sink.

I stormed out of the restroom, still fuming. As I reached the hallway, I spotted Keifer.

He looked at me and immediately started walking toward me. Before I could react, he grabbed my arm and pinned me against the wall, palms resting on either side of me. He smirked, leaning in slightly.

"How was your chat with Honey?" he asked, amusement in his voice.

The way he said Honey's name irritated me.

"Please!" I snapped.

He chuckled. "Are you jealous?"

Me?! Jealous?! And why would I be?!

"No," I answered calmly.

"You're jealous."

"I'm not."

"You're jealous," he repeated.

I shoved him—hard. He was caught off guard for a second but quickly recovered.

"F*ck you! I said I'm not! Don't you understand?!" I yelled in frustration.

I wasn't jealous!

He raised two fingers. At first, I thought he was making a peace sign, but then I noticed his annoying smirk.

"Two profanities—actually, three, counting yesterday," he corrected smugly.

I smacked his hand away. "Your face is profanity! You kissed me yesterday! And I could taste the cigarettes!" I stepped closer to sniff him. "...And you still smell like cigarettes now!"

He sniffed himself. "I didn't smoke! That's Honey's scent—it must've rubbed off on me."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You're lying! Go kiss your Honey!" I shouted before storming away.

"Then she says she's not jealous," I heard him mutter behind me.

I wasn't!

What an idiot! Why would I be jealous? Because I love him and he loves me too? Pffft… Not happening!

When I returned to our table, Yuri's parents and my brother were back. They glanced at me briefly before returning to their conversation. It looked like they had come to some agreement regarding Kuya Angelo's introduction to the businessmen.

"Did you CR properly?" Yuri asked, raising an eyebrow.

If only you knew!

I just nodded.

As I sat down, I noticed Keifer returning with Honey.

"Oh my... What happened?" Yuri's mom asked Honey, concerned.

I kicked her!

Honey couldn't answer properly, struggling to speak. She must've been hit real good.

"Sorry, Auntie and Uncle, but we have to go now. I need to take Honey to the hospital," Keifer said, kissing their cheeks in farewell.

"That's probably for the best. We wouldn't want anything worse to happen," they replied.

Keifer signaled to Keigan, and it looked like they were leaving too. They bid their goodbyes before walking away from the restaurant.

Just before they disappeared from my sight, I saw Honey smile and cling to Keifer's arm again.

Keifer get ready for me!