daggers

daggers #44

*flashback to 3 years ago*

*paskuhan night*
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JUSTIN'S P.O.V

"we're leaving tonight." vincent said.

and my world fell apart.

my eyebrows furrowed in confusion as i wiped the tears that were continuously falling from my eyes. i chuckled at him.

"t-this is a prank, right? well, just so you know, wala akong oras sa mga pranks mo. now, i have to go back kasi for sure hinahanap na nila ako." i started to walk to the door but what vincent said made me stop in my tracks.

"your father is dead."

i stopped. my feet became cold as ice as i felt all the blood in my body rush down. i took a deep breath and closed my eyes. maybe this is just a dream...

"justin... listen..."

"a month ago, we got a call from the City Jail telling us that your father had been sick for weeks. we took him to the hospital and he was diagnosed with stage 3 leukemia."

what? i slowly turned around to face him.

"matagal mo nang alam, vincent? bakit hindi mo man lang sinabi sa'kin?" i asked, taking a step closer to him.

he sighed. "i had to beg my mom to take him to Japan para magpagamot. kasi alam kong mas may chance siya doon... then, sabi niya.... 'wag ko raw sasabihin sa'yo. he told me to keep it a secret until maka-recover siya. naniwala siyang gagaling siya, jah... para sa'yo. unfortunately, he didn't survive."

"i'm sorry, jah..."

i shut my eyes tight and covered my face with my hands as i sobbed. i didn't know how to process everything.

i had to calm myself down so we could go to my apartment and take some of my clothes. i was only supposed to stay in Japan for a month to take care of my dad's death and mourn over him but i knew it would be harder if i will be going back in the Philippines and leave again. that's why i made the decision to just stay in Japan.

after a few months, vincent and i got married and lived together. it wasn't that bad. he was caring, understanding, and i felt that he really loved me. the thing is.... i can't love him back. i tried. God knows and vincent knows how i tried to love him back but no matter what i do, i couldn't do it. 2 years later, he finally had the courage to talk to his mother and we filed for a divorce. vincent let me go. he loved me but i couldn't love him the way he wants me to.

because i never stopped loving stell.

at that same year, i finally got my degree in animation and got to work as an animator in one of the companies here in Japan.

and all the while, vincent stayed by my side, helping me out, as a friend and nothing more than that. until, last week, i got invited to this fashion show which i gladly accepted only to find out that two of the models were my friend in college, paulo, and my past lover, stell.