JAY-JAY'S POV
It's a dream... a nightmare.
My eyes widened as I peeked out the window of the room I woke up in. My hair was a mess, and there was still dried saliva on my face. But that wasn't what worried me.
There he was.
That shameless man walked along the beach. The waves were getting stronger. If only they could sweep him away-he's an animal!
He turned around!
I quickly ducked to the side of the window. He can't know that I'm awake. My heart pounded as I turned to scan the room, searching for a telephone I could use or any sign of my belongings.
The room was beautiful. The walls were made of bamboo, and the floor was polished hardwood. I wasn't sure if they were real or just designed to look that way. A ceiling fan hung above, but it didn't seem necessary-the wind rushing in through the open window was strong enough.
There are two doors inside-one is probably the exit, and the other is likely the bathroom. Both are made of bamboo, but they look sturdy.
I almost jumped when I saw my bag on the bamboo table. I quickly approached it and started digging through it, tossing things aside in my rush to find my cellphone. But my heart sank when I couldn't find it.
Damn it!
"You are so shameless!" I screamed loudly.
This was planned! Sir Alvin is definitely in on this. And I swear, I will erupt like a volcano if I find out that Kuya Angelo is an accomplice too.
Kuya wouldn't do this to me. Like, never!
I need to get out of here before that Kei-kwanan beast notices. I'm sure there are families nearby, and they won't ignore me if I call for help. I grabbed my bag and looked around for my shoes. I spotted them near the bed, but my socks were missing.
Weird. They're gone.
I let it go. I'll just carry all my things and put my shoes on later. I can walk in the sand barefoot.
I approached the door and slowly opened it, peeking out to make sure no one was around. When I was certain the coast was clear, I slipped outside.
The small balcony inside the house came into view. The ceiling was high, and there were many glass windows, but the walls were made of bamboo. The pillars, obviously crafted from expensive wood, stood strong.
That Kei-kwanan really knows how to live in luxury.
I carefully peered downstairs. Seeing no one, I quickly but silently made my way down the steps. The large front door was open, and from where I stood, I could see the shameless one walking around, kicking at the sand. I couldn't risk passing in front of the house.
Taking my chance, I headed straight for the kitchen. Food can wait-charot! I just needed to see if there was a back door I could escape through. My smile widened when I spotted an open door. But before leaving, I couldn't resist-I opened the refrigerator.
Hmph! Purely frozen goods.
"Double doors, anyway," I whispered, closing the fridge.
I continued with my escape plan. I almost jumped for joy when I finally got out and walked away without the King of Serpents noticing. I glanced back at him several times, but he was still doing the same thing.
I kept walking until the house and the judas were out of sight. Unfortunately, due to the scorching sand, I had to stop several times just to put on my shoes-only to take them off again when the sand got inside.
Thankfully, it was already afternoon, so the shaded area was wide, thanks to the rock mountain blocking the sun's heat.
I knew I had only been walking for a short while, but the heat made me quickly exhausted and thirsty. I looked up at a coconut tree-not too tall but not too short either. It had plenty of fruit at the top.
A quick thirst-quencher!
I had climbed trees before, but never a coconut tree. How was I supposed to get up there? There were no branches to hold on to!
Still, my thirst drove me to try anyway. I put down my bag and shoes, looked up for a moment, and then started climbing. I stepped onto the wider part of the trunk and attempted to lift myself higher-nope, not happening.
I paused, thinking of a better technique. Then, I wrapped my arms around the tree and tried to shimmy up. I laughed as I slowly inched my way upward.
But I hadn't even made it far before I felt myself slipping-
down-
"Ayyy... Waaaait!" I clung desperately to the tree.
I was sliding fast. I squeezed my arms tighter, but it was no use. Until-
A hand caught me. On my backside.
"ANIMAL! WHY ARE YOU HOLDING ME?! DON'T HOLD ME THERE!" I yelled, twisting to face the demon.
"Do you really want me to let go?"
It felt like my heart had been punched. I clung even tighter to the tree, cursing endlessly in my mind.
You son of-!
"You know, I can do this all day," he said, and I could hear the teasing in his tone.
Animal! Animal! Animal!
"L-let me go! You're going to hurt me!" I threatened.
"I can't. But you can let go-I'm ready to catch you."
Catch you! Catch you! Ulow!!
"I don't want to! Get out of there! And take your hand off my ass!"
I heard his soft laugh. I removed one of my hands from his embrace and tried to hit his hand off my seat, but I immediately grabbed onto him again as I felt myself slipping.
"If I let you go, you'll fall to the ground," he said, as if explaining something obvious.
"I don't care! Even if I break!"
I heard him sigh weakly. "Okay, you asked for it."
He removed his hand from my seat, and I gasped as I fell completely. Letting go of my grip, I landed flat on the sand.
"Alas! Kingina!"
Catch you, huh? Idiot!
I held my hips as I slowly stood up, glaring at his shamelessly amused face.
"You said you would catch me!"
He looked at me, full of wonder. "You said you didn't want me to."
"Yes! But if you really wanted to help me, no matter how many times I refused, you should have still helped!" I shouted. "Hope!"
His forehead creased, as if what I said was a question without an answer.
Think carefully!
"Was that reverse psychology?" he asked. "Wow. Women and their logic."
I didn't understand what he was saying. Grabbing my things, I picked up my shoe and threw it at him.
"Hey!" he shouted, dodging it.
And because of his slip, my shoes went straight into the sea.
I screamed out loud, "Why are you shaking?!"
"You just threw a shoe at me!" he answered, annoyed.
I'm about to lose my mind because of his English. I'm just even more annoyed with him. His face is so handsome! And it's already swollen!
"I hope you caught it!"
"With what? My face?" he replied sarcastically.
"Is your face even capable of catching things? Congrats if you can do that!" I shot back.
I hurriedly walked closer to the water. Fortunately, my shoe hadn't drifted too far. I carefully moved forward and reached for it. But when I turned to face the annoying creature named Ulupong, I felt like throwing my shoe at him again.
The audacity to make a smug face.
"Seriously, do you even realize that?" I asked, irritated, as I walked closer.
He was just picking up my stuff when he heard me say that. He turned around, looking somewhat offended.
He sighed, and I couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed by what I had said. But why should I feel ashamed? He totally deserved it. He's an idiot!
"On a daily basis, how many times do you curse?" he asked seriously.
"It depends. Whenever I remember you-about 100 times a day," I replied with a smirk.
A proud smile appeared on his lips. "I've been gone for, let's say, about 45 days. So obviously, you've been thinking about me every single day for the past 45 days." 🥺❤️
Wow, the confidence.
I don't think about him every day. Just sometimes. Like every night. Then I cry. Then I curse him. Then I cry again. Then I imagine finding him and dragging him home. Then I cry again. Then I get angry and decide not to bring him back. So yeah, only on occasions like that.
"Sometimes more than 100. Especially when I remember what a dumb animal you are," I said with a nervous laugh. "Probably 1,000 times a day."
"So, in the past 45 days, you've cursed around 450,000 times in total." His lips twitched into a smirk as if he was amused. "And if I add the curses I personally heard from you, plus the ones reported to me by Ci-N, Felix, and the others, the estimate comes to... 450,347." 😂
[Here we go the count of profanities] comment by @callmepeace
I frowned. Reported? They report my swearing? Since when? And why? What's so wrong with me cursing?
"What's up with you? Why are you even counting?"
His shameless grin widened, making me frown even more.
"Pro..." he started, and suddenly, I remembered the real reason. "...fani..." My eyes widened, and I started shaking my head. "...by..." My foot instinctively stepped back as he stepped forward. "...you."
Forget it!!
He was about to step closer when I quickly put my shoe back on. I pointed a finger at him threateningly while glaring.
"G-go ahead! Try it!"
"I definitely will," he said smugly.
I took another step back just as he took a step forward.
"W-why should I listen to that prophecy of yours?! After you fooled me!" I shouted boldly.
"Our deal about your cursing is a separate issue," he replied, taking another step closer.
Without hesitation, I threw my shoe at him again. I didn't care if it hit him or not-I just turned around and ran.
I didn't care that the sand was hot. I didn't care that I was thirsty. And most of all, I didn't care that I was exhausted from constantly running away from him.
How did I even end up in this situation?!
"Stay away from me!" I screamed when I felt him getting closer.
"I'm not gonna hurt you!" he shouted back, which only made me panic even more.
I could feel him closing in on me, ready to catch me at any moment. I ran even faster, though I had no idea where I was going. We had already passed the house I came from earlier.
Isn't there anyone else around here?!
"You are a shameless idiot! I'm reporting you to Kuya Angelo! You're a menace!"
"450,348!" he shouted.
"Owl!"
"450, 349!"
"You son of....! Stop counting!"
"...350!"
This is really stupid!
I stopped speaking because the number of animals would only keep increasing. My soles were starting to hurt, but I couldn't stop.
Then, I saw my destination. There was no beach-only a rocky mountain blocking my path. What made it worse was that the rock stretched as far as the water, leaving me with nowhere else to go.
I can't let the animals catch me!
I had no choice but to turn around and climb the nearest tree I could find. Thanks to its large branches, I managed to reach the very top.
"Jay! That's dangerous! Get down here!" the annoying King of Snakes yelled at me.
When I looked down at him, he was still smiling, staring up at me.
"It's even more dangerous if I get close to you!" I shouted back.
"Come-!"
"You son of...! If you talk, I'll lose focus!"
He sighed. "It's low," he said calmly. "450, 351."
It was starting to get dark. Even if I wanted to climb down, I was better off staying put. Maybe David was right. I'd sleep here. I'd live here if necessary-anything to avoid this animal.
"I'm not coming down! I know you!"
"Come on, it's dangerous here. It's getting dark," he said softly, like he was talking to a child.
"If it's dangerous, then why did you bring me here?"
"That's the point of the villa. It's safer there."
I clung tightly to the tree branch. I wasn't going down. I'd rather rot here. I'd rather become part of the tree-it didn't matter.
"You're insane! Does Kuya Angelo know about this?"
"Well..." He grimaced, rubbing the back of his neck. "Sort of."
Son of...
"What sort of nonsense? You're in a daze!" I shouted at him angrily.
"He knows you're helping me. But he doesn't know that you're not..." He deliberately trailed off, refusing to let me hear the last part.
"What? What? What? Say it clearly!"
He looked up and smiled innocently. "That you're not coming home tonight."
Damn it.
Fuming, I grabbed a branch nearby and hurled a stone at him. That shameless idiot ran away, laughing.
"You're so dumb! Beast!" I screamed, my anger boiling over. I didn't even understand why, but I suddenly burst into tears. "Waaahhhh!! You're really crazy!"
"Oh no! Stop crying, baby! You look like a chimpanzee up in that tree!" he teased, laughing.
That panicked fool even had the audacity to curse!
"I'm going to report you to Big Brother and Aries! You're really outrageous!" I yelled, still crying.
I kept wiping my face, sobbing like a child. Maybe crying was the only way I could release my frustration toward this animal. The remaining light in the sky was fading, nearly gone. My blood felt like it had been drained by the mosquitoes that had been biting me for who knows how long.
Because I was too busy roaring in frustration, I didn't even notice when the demon had already climbed up the tree beside me.
"You're beautiful," he suddenly said, making me jump. "It's time. Let's talk about this properly," he said calmly. "After this, I'll take you back to Angelo. Nothing will be missing, but maybe... there might be too much."
This guy is seriously insane!
I immediately smacked him, but he just laughed. I had no idea if he was being serious or just playing around. If I pushed him hard enough, would he fall? Maybe he'd hit his head. But if that happened, I might never make it home.
"I don't want to! You're an animal! And you're inconsiderate!" I wailed, tears streaming down my face.
He chuckled softly, scratching his arms and legs from the mosquito bites.
"Come on. I'll cook for you."
Hey, food.
My stomach suddenly grumbled as if it were the one responding to what this idiot just said. I instinctively touched my stomach.
Go with your gut! But you're crazy!
"I-I don't want to! I know you'll make me come down there!" I accused him, and he let out a deep sigh.
It was as if he was tired of trying to convince me. I knew he was also struggling in his own way, especially with everything we were dealing with.
"Okay, let's make a deal," he said, bowing slightly in front of me.
"I'll mentally erase the estimated count of your profanities. It'll reset to zero."
My face instantly lit up as he looked at me, waiting for my approval.
"A-And what's the catch?"
It couldn't be that easy. I've suffered too much already since waking up in this godforsaken place.
He thought for a moment before raising a finger. "I'll let you curse at me as much as you want while we're on this island, and none of it will count."
Nice. Nice.
Freedom to swear at this annoying bastard without any restrictions? I was ready to make the most of it-wait! What island?
"Say that again! Where are we?!" I asked in shock.
"An island," he answered casually.
"You're an absolute animal!" I screamed, bursting into tears again.
No wonder there were no houses or people around. We weren't just at sea-we were stranded on an island.
If that's the case, then no wonder I spent the entire night searching for any sign of civilization, only to find nothing. Maybe I was hallucinating from exhaustion, but I hadn't seen a single soul.
Stranded! Trapped!
I immediately smacked him, but he blocked it. "I'm reporting you to Big Brother! I'll beat you up!"
"Go ahead. Just make sure you have a soft bed to sleep on first," he said with a smug grin.
I froze, then pointed a finger at his face.
"You bastard! Don't you dare try anything stupid with me!"
"Can we talk about this later?" he asked irritably before looking at his watch. "Come on."
"I'll only come down when I'm sure you won't do anything to me!" I assured him.
He nodded. "Okay, as part of the deal, I won't do anything against your will. Unless, of course, you ask for it." He winked.
I hit him again, and he laughed once more. "Dream on!"
"I am, Jay. I am," he said with an innocent smile. "All good? Let's go back to the villa."
He was about to climb down when I stopped him. He looked at me strangely.
It was embarrassing to admit.
"I-I don't know how to get down," I confessed, and he burst out laughing. "M-My legs are numb too."
He shook his head before moving toward the branch where I was sitting. Thankfully, it was strong enough, or else we might have ended up falling. He turned his back to me.
"Get on. So we can get back," he said.
Although hesitant, I obeyed. He struggled at first, so I hugged him tightly-especially when he started climbing down.
Excuse me, I might fall.
"Are you okay up there?" he asked.
"Don't ask!" I snapped, annoyed.
He chuckled softly and shook his head. When we finally reached the ground, I thought he was going to put me down, but instead, he wrapped an arm around one of my legs while using his other hand to grab my stuff.
"My shoes," I reminded him. "There's no replacement for those."
"Tss... I'll buy you hundreds of pairs if you want. I can even buy all of Marikina for you," he boasted.
I hit him. "You're so arrogant."
"I'm just saying it because I can," he replied smugly.
I didn't argue anymore. While he walked, I remained steady on his back. I didn't want to let go because I was feeling cold, so I used his shirt to wipe my face.
"What the-" he mumbled, trying to turn around.
"Complain, and I'll smack you," I threatened, and he fell silent.
I was exhausted and starving, too drained to bicker with this annoying guy. Feeling completely worn out, I rested my chin on his shoulder. I even noticed a small smile on his lips.
Excuse me, I'm just tired.
END OF THE CHAPTER
[Their last class was on Friday, which means they are going to stay on this island 🏝️ over the weekend (Saturday and Sunday). I can't..."] Comment by PEACE.