Our Yesterday's Escape (University Series #6)

10

"Hiro, stop it, man! What the fuck!" 

I tried so hard to stop Hiro from grabbing Haze's collar but he was too mad to listen. Haze was just looking at him with no emotion on his face while leaning on the wall. Hiro was cornering him there. 

"What did you do to Acel?!" Hiro asked with so much anger.

This was why I didn't want to tell Hiro about Acel's little crush on his brother. I knew he would react like this because he probably thought Haze made Acel fall purposely and then rejected him... Like what he always did with other people. Somehow, Hiro knew through Acel. He was crying the other day. 

"I didn't do anything," Haze said in a low voice. 

"Bullshit. You can play with other people, Haze, but I told you! Not my friends! Spare my friends! Why did you do this?!" I walked towards them to pull Hiro's wrist away from Haze. I can't believe I was witnessing them fighting. They never fought like this before. Hiro was really just protective of his friends. Our friends. 

"I told you, I did not do anything." Haze single-handedly pulled Hiro's hand away from his collar and fixed it calmly. "I rejected him already. Twice. What more do you want?" When I looked at his eyes, I saw the pain he was trying hard not to show by having an emotionless expression. 

"You're saying it as if you were forced to reject him. By now, shouldn't you be good at that already?" Hiro scoffed and shook his head, disappointed. "Don't ever touch my friends, Haze. Of all people, I know you the most." 

"Of course." Haze nodded. His voice was almost a whisper. 

Hiro just glared at him for the last time before walking out of the house to get some fresh air. He was probably starting to calm himself. I put my hands inside my pocket and looked at Haze when he sighed. He sat down on the couch and put both hands on his face, stressed out. 

"What? Are you mad at me, too?" Haze asked me when I sat down on the other chair. I just smiled and shook my head. 

"Just try to understand him. Kakalma rin 'yon mamaya." Tumingin ako sa labas kung nasaan si Hiro. "He's just really protective. He doesn't want Acel to end up with his heart broken... especially by you." 

"Am I not distancing myself already? I don't get it." Haze sighed again, massaging his temple. "I did not purposely make him fall. I helped him a lot of times when he needed help, just like what Hiro asked me to do. I had no idea he liked me until he confessed, and I rejected him already like what Hiro would have wanted." 

It went on for days. The Juarez brothers refused to talk to each other, and it became more and more awkward for me to hang out with them. Madalas pa naman ako sa bahay nina Hiro pero nabibigatan na ako sa hangin doon. Their pride wouldn't let them approach the other first, so I did it myself. 

I asked the both of them to go out for a drink without them knowing that the other will be there. I arrived first at a rooftop bar, then Hiro followed. We were already drinking when Haze arrived. Haze was just about to leave when he saw Hiro seated in front of me, but I called him.