NORTHHOWMUCHISYOURLOVE, Chapter 2 part 1
Chapter 2: Duck’s Cuteness
‘Jaja: (New Notification (120))’
I wasn’t too surprised that Jaja had messaged me. After all, just yesterday, I had an altercation with her boyfriend, but this flood of messages was unprecedented for me.
I opened the messages without much thought. Even if she was scolding or lecturing me, it wouldn’t affect me as much as the debt amounting to hundreds of thousands, right?
Jaja: North!!!
Jaja: Why haven’t you replied to me at all? Last night you read my messages and then disappeared again.
Jaja: Temp told me everything.
Jaja: You’re still as hot-headed as ever, and you told me you could take care of yourself.
Jaja: Temp said you suddenly picked a fight. I’m half believing, half doubting. I want to hear it from you. What really happened? You’re hotheaded, but I believe you have your reasons.
Jaja: Please tell me your side of the story.
Jaja: Oh, and who was the person that came for you last night? Temp said it was his senior from the faculty, and Temp didn’t continue the fight out of respect for his senior. Jaja: I’m waiting for you. I’m worried, we’re still friends, right? Jaja: Don’t ignore me, please reply. Jaja: I’m waiting for your response. Jaja: I’m waiting…
Jaja: sends sticker
Jaja’s messages were numerous. I skimmed through them; most were just a string of stickers. We haven’t really talked much since we broke up, and seeing those old pronouns we used to use, which she liked to refer to her in the cutest way and ‘you’, I didn’t like it. We’ve broken up, why talk like before? I’m not sure if she’s genuinely worried or what, but the constant emphasis on being friends just irritates me.
North♣: …
I typed out dots because I didn’t know what to say, sneaking my phone away from Ter, who would definitely be annoyed if he knew I was chatting with my ex.
Jaja: Yay, you replied. How are you?
North♣: Just fine, nothing special.
Jaja: Good to hear. Can you tell me what happened…last night?
North♣: What did Temp say? It’s just as he said.
It’s not that I don’t want to explain, but I’m just too lazy to talk much. If I told her the real reason was because I saw Temp with someone else, she might not believe me anyway. Temp seems like such a good guy in front of others. Right now, I’m just too lazy, thinking about other things, including homework and what happened yesterday.
Jaja: That can’t be true. You just saw Temp out with friends and went to start a fight?
Jaja: That’s not like you. I know how you are, tell me.
Jaja: Is Temp seeing someone else? North♣: You know? Jaja: No, I guessed. Was I right? North♣: Ask North, he’ll tell you the truth, believe me. Damn…I accidentally used my own name instead of just saying ‘I’.
Jaja: I don’t know. I’m confused. I really don’t know, honestly, I’m a bit scared. I just agreed to date Temp. If what you’re saying is true, I don’t think I could handle it.
North♣: Maybe I just misunderstood. I was really drunk at that time.
Jaja: TT
North♣: Don’t cry.
Jaja: Ugh, sob sob
North♣: So, what about Temp?
Jaja: He’s pretty bruised up, and so are his friends. They said you hit really hard, haha. Everyone was scared of the guy who came to pick you up. Who was he, by the way?
North♣: A senior I know.
Well…Can I really say I know him?
Jaja: Oh, a medical faculty senior, right?
North♣: Yeah, yeah.
Jaja: Temp said he probably won’t dare show up at the faculty for a while. That senior is quite famous, even among his friends. Do you have any connections these days? Haha.
North♣: No, just a friend of my friend’s boyfriend, that’s how we know each other.
Jaja: Oh, okay. I gotta go now, I need to check on Temp. Let’s talk again soon.
North♣: Sure. Jaja: Can we talk? Just as friends, talking to you makes me feel a lot better. North♣: …I don’t know, I’ll reply when I’m free. Jaja: Okay, bye then. “North.”
“Hey, you scared me!” I jumped at Ter’s voice who had somehow snuck up behind me. When I realized he had seen me chatting with Jaja, I quickly hid my phone.
“I saw that.”
“Saw what?”
“Jealousy.”
“Ter, that’s creepy.” I said, giving him an annoyed look.
“Why are you talking to Jaja?”
“Am I being interrogated here?”
“Yeah, didn’t you say you weren’t going to talk to her anymore?” Ter said, looking at me with a slight hint of displeasure.
“She texted me, we talked about me going after her boyfriend.”
“And then what? Swear to me you won’t waver.”
I didn’t respond.
“Here you go, and you’ll drink again, I’ll smack you.”
“I’m done with that.” I said before letting out a deep sigh, thinking about the problems I’m facing now made everything else seem trivial, “But I don’t get her. She acts like nothing happened, like leaving me was just a small thing.”
“Well, she feels comfortable talking to you like friends.” Ter emphasized. Ter and I have often listened to each other’s problems. We always talk things out. Jaja keeps texting, trying to talk like we’re just friends, saying that talking to me makes her feel at ease. How can she not be troubled? We’ve been together for so long.
The problem is, I’m still the one who’s emotionally weak and easily swayed.
“But you promised me you wouldn’t go back to her, and one day, when you’re strong enough, you need to stop talking to her.” Ter said. “Yes, sir.” I nodded in agreement.
“I don’t want to see you like this anymore. Do you want me to remind you how disastrous last night was?”
“No need, sigh, it’s stressful just thinking about it.” I said, flopping back onto the bed again, “But at least it’s someone you know, your boyfriend’s friend, so we can talk. If I had debts with the mafia, yakuza, or a bank, it would be even more stressful.”
“Yeah, I’ll ask Phii Hill to keep talking to him for now, at least you won’t be rushed to pay.” Ter said before lying down on the bed next to me.
“Thanks, man.” The other guy looked slightly surprised when I suddenly said that.
“For what?”
“For worrying about me. What happened made me realize a lot of things.” I said softly, “At least I now know I’m not as strong as I thought, I’m not someone who can just take care of themselves. Still like a hot-headed, impulsive kid.”
“You’re just realizing this now?”
“I’m having a moment.”
“Don’t thank me. Everyone has their rough patches in life, I’m no different. You’re actually stronger than you think, you know that? Don’t overthink it, things will get better, isn’t that what you told me?”
“Damn you, I feel like crying now.” I said, making a face like I was about to cry at him.
“Make that ugly crying face.”
“Hey, you said you were going to cry, be gentle, will you?”
“Don’t cry, you look terrible when you do. Call Kyu, you’ve been told to call him for ages. Don’t sneak off to chat with Jaja.” “Yes, Dad.” I said in a drawn-out, annoyed tone. Honestly, I had more to say to Ter, but I knew he wouldn’t want to listen. We’re both embarrassed, I guess. I immediately called Kyu without checking the messages he had sent earlier.
(Hey, you good now? Recovered?)
“You call me cutely, huh? Yeah, I’ve recovered. Got all thirty-two bruises, split lip, split eyebrow, a bit battered, it hurts but it’s bearable.” I preempted it because I knew Kyu would ask. “What about you, and the others?”
(I’m bruised, and got a small cut on my lip.)
“What do you mean by ‘small’?”
(Just a small one, not much. Your punch wasn’t hard enough, sorry about that.)
“Wow, not enough? Want another?”
(No more. Good thing it’s the break, going to class like this would make all the girls run away.) It was the break after the first semester ended, but I’m not sure if you could even call it a break because it’s just a few days.
(Skater’s pretty beaten up, Duennao was way too cool, barely got hit at all. At first, I thought we’d all get more hurt, but since both sides were drunk, it looked like a big fight, but there were more misses than hits.)
“So, how did last night go? I can’t remember much, Ter said you called him.”
(Yeah, you told me to call him, but he said he couldn’t come out because of the storm. He only has his motorbike, so Ter said he’d handle it. I thought his boyfriend would come, but…)
“But?”
(Someone else came, I was totally confused. Suddenly this person walks into the bar and drags you away from frolicking with Temp.)
“Frolicking? That’s creepy, don’t use that word.” (Alright, alright, what word should I use then? Whatever, I can’t think of one. He just pulled you guys apart. Temp was yelling about some nonsense, and he was about to punch you again.)
“…”
(The guy grabbed Temp by the collar, with one hand too, it was such a cool scene, I tell you. Then he pushed Temp away, and Temp stumbled and fell to the ground.)
“…”
(It was really scary. Is he part of the mafia or something? By the way, who was he? Forgot to ask.)
“Just a senior I know, go on.”
(And then you were about to go after Temp again, right? I mean, Phii Joe, he held you back, told you that was enough. But you were still ranting, so he carried you over his shoulder. He then sets you down on another table.)
“What? Carried over the shoulder?”
(Yeah, because you were ranting. If it was me, I would’ve punched you in the gut.)
“Harsh, huh? And then what?”
(Once he managed to stop the main fight, the owner and others took that moment to stop the others from fighting. Our brawl ended naturally after that. Then he asked me if I could take the other two back, and I nodded. He told us to head back first.)
“…”
(I asked, ‘Oh, what about North?’ He said he’d take care of it. I figured it was probably Ter who asked him to take you.)
“You…didn’t you worry about your friend? What if he was taking me to kill me?” (Yeah, I didn’t think of that at the moment. And then I saw him paying for the damages at the pub, plus the medical bills for Temp and his gang. They were demanding a lot, but they weren’t that hurt, yet he paid anyway. He even added more money for hush money, just to get it over with.)
“How much is ‘just a little’?”
I sighed inadvertently; it would’ve been great if Phii Joe could’ve negotiated a bit with them since ultimately, I’m the one paying, T^T.
(Tens of thousands. Medical bills that high? I just found out. Did they stay in a special ward or what? Temp’s family is rich, so they probably wanted to get back at you. At first, he even said he’d report it and tell the university.)
“Oh, the bastard. If he did that, he’d be in trouble too, right?”
(But you started it. You’d be in more trouble. There’s CCTV footage too, and the cost to delete that footage was also quite a bit, I guess.)
“Sigh, and then what? Was he going to tell?”
(No, no, initially he said he wouldn’t take the hush money, but then Phii Joe said something to Temp, and Temp went pale and took the money quietly. From what I saw, I’d guess he won’t tell anyone now.)
“Sigh, sorry, guys, for putting you through all this trouble and getting hurt because of me.”
(Nah, we got involved on our own, you didn’t force us.)
“But I was the one who started it.”
(Yeah, but we got involved by choice. Nao was the first to jump in, saying they were going to gang up on you. Whether they actually would or not, I don’t know, but he just went and started punching, even quicker to get heated than you.)
“Nao might have been confused, but anyway, sorry about that, and thanks. I won’t cause trouble again.” (…)
(Hey, Kyu, come listen to this)
(What?) Kyu’s voice.
(North says he won’t cause trouble anymore, be a witness.)
“Bastard.” I said.
(Really? Tell me something to cheer me up, North.)
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll be cool-headed now. No more trouble. And I’ll cut down on the booze too, it’s not good, I won’t drink, I’ll try not to.”
(I’m glad you’ve turned over a new leaf, but not completely happy though.) said Skater.
“Why?”
(Everyone else will still cause trouble. Look at Duennao, he said you were hot-headed, but he’s even worse. He hasn’t learned his lesson at all. You should remind your friends too.)
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