*Continuation of Flashback*
Jay-Jay's POV
I don't even feel the ground under my feet anymore.
Keifer's voice hits the courtyard like a whip—
"Stand up. Now."
Every whisper dies instantly.
Shun flinches but doesn't rise. He's frozen, afraid… and I can't blame him. Keifer doesn't sound angry. He sounds calm. Too calm. And everyone in Section E knows that when Keifer Watson goes quiet like that—
Something awful is about to happen.
My knees feel like water.I'm standing behind Keifer, but it's like there's a wall between us — a wall made of tension so thick I can hardly breathe.
Around us, students hover at a distance, pretending not to stare, but their phones are already raised. Recording. Waiting. No one is brave enough to step closer.
Only Dane, the one friend I have who's actually on campus today, edges forward.
"Keifer," Dane whispers, hands up like he's approaching a wild animal, "hey, man… just calm down, okay? Let's talk about this—"
Keifer doesn't even look at him.
He takes one slow step toward Shun.
And the air drops in temperature.
Shun's breath stutters. "I—I didn't mean—"
Keifer's shadow falls over him. "Stand. Up."
His tone is so controlled it makes my stomach twist.I've seen Keifer angry. I've seen him frustrated. I've even seen him slam a locker once.
But this?
This quiet, icy fury—
This is worse.
My chest tightens painfully. I know that look in his eyes. I know that stillness in his shoulders.
He's past reasoning.
And it's my fault.
Because Shun's words… what he said about me… I shouldn't have frozen. I shouldn't have let Keifer hear it. I shouldn't have let this go this far.
"Keifer," I whisper, voice trembling, "please…"
He doesn't turn.
He doesn't blink.
He doesn't breathe.
He just stares at Shun like he's deciding whether to let the storm break.
And I'm terrified — not of Keifer…But of what he will do because of me.
Keifer's POV
The world narrows to a single point.
Shun.
The boy who ran his mouth.The boy who thought saying that about Jay would go unnoticed.Would go unpunished.
I hear Dane talking beside me, voice thin with fear, but it's nothing but background noise.
"Keifer… man, stop. He's just a kid—"
No.
He knew what he was doing.
He knew exactly what he was saying.
And Jay—
I can feel her behind me.Small. Shaking. Hurt.
The moment she flinched, everything inside me snapped.
I'm calm now.Deadly calm.The kind of calm people mistake for control.
It's not control.
It's the moment right before the knife drops.
"Stand up," I repeat, softer this time.
Shun's hands tremble against the ground. "K-Keifer, I—I swear, I didn't—"
"You said her name."My voice comes out colder than I expect."You looked at her. And you thought you could talk like that."
A muscle jumps in my jaw.
He still doesn't stand.
Coward.
I step closer until he has to tilt his head up to meet my eyes.
"Get. Up."
Around us the courtyard holds its breath.Phones are recording.Students are whispering.Dane is panicking.
And Jay—
I can feel her fear like a hand around my spine.
I shouldn't look back at her.If I do, everything will break.
So I keep my eyes on Shun.On the boy who crossed the line.
And I decide—
If he doesn't stand now,I'm going to make him.
Jay-Jay's POV
For a moment, it looks like Shun might actually listen.
His knees wobble as he slowly pushes himself off the ground—but then he makes the worst mistake he possibly could.
He tries to smile.
A weak, shaky smirk, but a smirk.
"Tch… if you want me to back off," Shun mutters, eyes flicking toward me, "then she should've given me a proper rejection instead of running away like a—"
He doesn't finish.
Because Keifer turns.
Not his whole body.Not fast.Just his head—like a predator finally acknowledging its prey.
And he smiles.
Not the warm, teasing smile he gives me.Not the smug smile he gives Yuri or Ci-N.
This one is soft.Small.Deadly.
The smile that means:"I'm about to destroy you."
My breath catches in my throat. "Keifer—don't."
He ignores me.
He grabs Shun by the collar so fast Shun's feet leave the ground for a second.
Students gasp.Phones go up like a synchronized dance.
Dane curses under his breath and grabs my wrist, dragging me behind him.
"Jay, stay back!" Dane hisses. "If he snaps, he won't see who he hits!"
But I dig my heels into the pavement.I don't want distance.I need to stop him—
Because I see it.
Keifer's fist.
Curling slowly at his side.Knuckles turning bone-white.Shoulder tightening.
I know that posture.I know what comes next.
Oh God.He's going to hit him.He's actually going to hit him.
"K-Keifer—" Shun chokes, fists grabbing at Keifer's hand, "l-let me go—"
Keifer's face stays terrifyingly calm as he leans in.
And then—
He whispers something into Shun's ear.
So quiet I can't hear it.
But the look on Shun's face—
Pure horror.
His body trembles like someone poured ice water down his spine.
And I suddenly don't know which scares me more—
Shun's words earlier.
Or this version of Keifer.
The one who looks like he could end someonejust for hurting me.
Keifer's POV
The second Shun opens his mouth again, everything inside me settles.
Not the kind of settling that means peace.
The kind that means purpose.
He thinks this is still a game.That he can talk about Jay like that and get away with it.That her silence means weakness.
Wrong.
My hand shoots out before I think.
I grab his collar and yank him up, dragging his face inches from mine.
His breath smells like fear and bad decisions.
Around us, the courtyard erupts—gasps, whispers, the clicks of phones recording—but it all fades to static.
All I see is him.
All I hear is Jay's heartbeat behind me, quick and frightened.
My other hand curls into a fist.Slowly.Deliberately.
The way my father used to do before he hit someone.
But unlike him, I have a reason.
Shun's eyes widen. "K-Keifer, s-stop—"
I lean in until my mouth is beside his ear.
My voice is calm.Soft.Almost gentle.
A whisper meant for only him.
"You don't get to say her name," I murmur."Not with that mouth. Not ever again."
He shudders violently.
Good.
I tighten my grip.
"If you talk about her one more time," I whisper, "I'll make sure you never talk again. Do you understand me?"
His knees give out even though I'm still holding him up.
I let him feel that terror.
I let him drown in it.
Because he needs to know—
Jay-Jay isn't someone he can hurt.
Not while I'm here.
Not while I'm alive.
Jay-Jay's POV
I don't even have time to breathe before it happens.
In one violent, fluid motion—
BANG.
Keifer slams Shun against the stone pillar behind him.
The impact echoes through the courtyard.
Students scream.Someone drops their phone.Someone else yells, "CALL SECURITY!"
Shun crumples halfway, choking on air, all the fake confidence completely gone.
He looks like he's just realized he picked a fight with a monster he can't outrun.
My vision blurs for a second.
Not from fear of Keifer.
From fear for him.
From the guilt twisting my stomach.
From the overwhelming panic that this—this chaos, this violence—is because of me.
Dane squeezes my arm, voice shaking.
"Jay—Jay, I'm calling Ci-N right now—he's the only one who can calm Keifer down—dammit, he's not picking up—"
"Yuri?" I rasp.
"Off campus. All of them are. It's just us."
And just us is not enough.
More students begin shouting.
"He's going to kill him!""Why isn't anyone stopping Watson?!""Someone call the dean!"
My heartbeat slams painfully against my ribs as I take a step forward.
Keifer doesn't notice.
He's gone.Completely gone.
He drags Shun back up by the collar, pinning him again to the pillar, harder than before.
"Keifer!" I choke out, but my voice is too small.Too drowned out by the crowd.Too late.
Keifer draws his arm back.
His fist lifts—
Slowly.Purposefully.
I know that fist.I know that expression.
The first time I saw it was in HVIS.When someone threw a chair at Ci-N and Keifer nearly broke the boy's jaw for it.
It's the expression he gets right before he hurts someone.
But now—
Now it's because of me.
Because someone disrespected me.
Because someone made me uncomfortable.
Because someone made me doubt myself.
And something inside me cracks.
He's doing this…for me.
And I can't let him.
Keifer's POV
The second Shun's back hits the pillar, something in my chest finally—finally—breaks loose.
I don't hear the screams.I don't hear the phones clicking.I don't hear the students panicking.
All I hear is Jay's heartbeat.
Fast.Uneven.Shaken.
Because of him.
Because he thought he had the right to talk to her like that.Touch her like that.Corner her like that.
He's lucky I'm holding back.
I lift him again, his feet barely touching the ground.
"You should've stayed down," I say quietly.
He whimpers.
Good.
My fist curls at my side.
This isn't like the scuffles at HVIS.This isn't schoolboy anger.
This is a promise.
The promise I made to her months ago:No one hurts Jay-Jay.No one gets to touch her.No one gets to shame her.Not while I'm breathing.
I pull my fist back.
Students scream louder.
Security is being called.I don't care.
My blood roars.My vision narrows.
All I see is him.And Jay behind me.Shaking.Wide-eyed.
My knuckles tense—
Then something flickers in the corner of my eye.
Jay.
Her face.
Her expression.
Not fear of Shun—
Fear of me.
It hits me like ice in my veins.
She's trembling.
And suddenly—
I'm not just angry.
I'm terrified.
Because I've seen this look before.
Months ago.
When she saw blood for the first time in front of me.When she trembled so badly I had to hold her upright.
And I'm about to put that look on her face again.
Because of me.
Because I'm losing control.
My fist pauses midair.
Just for a second.
One second that decides everything.
Jay-Jay's POV
He's really going to do it.
His fist is just—an inch away from Shun's face.
Students are screaming.Phones are everywhere.Shun's eyes are huge, terrified, pleading.
And Keifer—
Keifer looks like he's seconds away from becoming someone the world fears.
I don't think.
I don't breathe.
I just run.
"KEI!"
My voice rips out of me, sharp and desperate.
Not Keifer.Not the name everyone uses.The name I only use when I'm scared.When I need him.When he's mine.
His whole body jerks.
His fist freezes midair.
Just one second ago, he was unstoppable.Now—
He's stone.
I grab his arm with both hands.Not enough to pull it down.Not enough to stop him physically.
But enough that he feels me.
"Kei… stop. Please."
My voice cracks.
Everything stops with it.
The world goes quiet, like even the air is holding its breath.
Slowly—painfully—his arm lowers.
But his entire body is trembling.
Not from fear.
From how close he came to losing control.
From how close he came to destroying someone.
For me.
I swallow hard, trying to steady my own shaking.
"Kei…"
Before I can finish, he moves.
Not toward Shun.
Toward me.
He grabs my wrist and pulls me behind him again, shielding me with his whole body like a reflex he can't suppress.
His chest is rising too fast.Too uneven.Like he's forcing himself not to turn around and finish what he started.
Dane whispers, "Oh my god… he actually stopped."
Shun tries to speak—some pathetic, trembling sound—but Keifer takes one slow step toward him.
Just one.
Shun's mouth snaps shut instantly.
He practically sinks to the ground.
Good.
Keifer doesn't even look at him anymore.
Instead—
He turns back to me.
And the transformation is instant.
The rage disappears.
The violence dissolves.
His eyes soften so suddenly I feel tears sting my own.
He cups my face gently—so gently it breaks me.
His thumbs brush my cheeks, checking, searching.
"Jay-Jay," he breathes, voice shaking."Are you hurt? Did he touch you?"
He doesn't care about the crowd.The phones.The rumors that will explode after this.
To him—
I'm the only thing here.
I'm the only thing that exists.
And for one terrifying moment—
I realize I'm the only one who can stop him.
And the only one who can break him.
Security arrives late—of course.
Too late to stop anything.Too late to see the violence that almost happened.
Two guards rush over, scanning the courtyard.
"What happened here?"
Before I can open my mouth, Dane steps forward smoothly—like he's been preparing for this role his whole life.
"Nothing," he says with a calmness that surprises everyone."Just a misunderstanding. It's handled."
He glances at Shun, who's still shaking on the floor.
Right.Shun could tattletale.Make a scene.Lie to make Keifer look bad.
But when the guards turn to him—
Shun's face drains of color.
"N–Nothing," he croaks."No issues. I… slipped."
He says it like a man begging for his life.
The guards frown but, seeing no fight and no complaint, eventually leave.
The crowd disperses slowly, still whispering.
"That's the girl?""The one Watson almost snapped for?""She must be his girlfriend.""No idea, but—she's the girl with the scary boyfriend."
My stomach twists.
I'm his girlfriend.
I will always be.
Not officially, but still
Not after everything that will happen in the future.
But right now—
Right now, with the way he's looking at me…
I feel like I'm something to him.Something dangerous.Something precious.
Keifer doesn't let go of my wrist till the last student disappears.
Then he pulls me gently.
"Come."
His voice is low, strained, cracked at the edges.
He leads me across campus, away from the courtyard, away from the noise.
To a quiet spot near the gardens, under the shade of tall trees.
Or maybe to his car—but the moment we're finally alone…
He turns to me.
And he kneels.
The boy who everyone fears.The boy who almost destroyed someone minutes ago.The boy who rules every room he walks into.
On his knees.
For me.
He takes my shaking hands and cups them between his.
"Jay-Jay," he whispers, "you have to tell me when you're scared."
My breath catches.
He presses my knuckles to his forehead.
"I'm here," he says, voice trembling."I'm always here."
Something inside me shatters.
I didn't cry when Shun grabbed me.I didn't cry when the crowd stared.I didn't cry when Keifer nearly snapped someone's bones.
But now—with his hands holding mine…
I break.
Tears spill before I can stop them.
Keifer stands and immediately pulls me into his arms, wrapping me in a tight, desperate embrace.
His forehead presses to my shoulder.
"I almost hurt him," he whispers, each word shaking."Because he hurt you.Because he talked to you like that.Because he made you scared."
His grip tightens, strong enough to hold me together.
"I can't—Jay-Jay, I can't watch anyone do that to you."
I bury my face in his chest.
I shouldn't melt.I shouldn't let this comfort swallow me.
But I do.
His heartbeat is wild.Furious.Scared.
For me.
He pulls back just enough to cup my cheeks, thumbs brushing away tears he caused and prevented at the same time.
His voice drops to a low, trembling murmur.
"Jay-Jay…"
His forehead touches mine.
"You're mine."
A breath.A promise.A confession he doesn't fully realize he said aloud.
"And I will never let anyone touch what's mine."