Secret Admirer

4. Ex-boyfriend

June was thoroughly impressed by the grandness of the party. When his long-term 'friend', Kayu, who had recently become his boyfriend, asked him to be his plus one for the annual party of their company, he had been a bit reluctant.

It wasn't actually a pleasant feeling to see his boyfriend standing next to his ex. Even though Kayu had never dated Ciro, he knew how deep the former's feelings for his boss were.

He wouldn't judge Kayu for that. Not after meeting the 'Ciro'. The man was the epitome of perfection. Be it his looks, style, or even the way he spoke. He would call Kayu a fool if he hadn't fallen for a man like Ciro.

The unpleasant feeling did not affect June much as he was like Kayu as well. He too had gotten into the relationship to forget the past. It was not a rebound for either of them. Both of them wanted love, both of them needed to be loved. That's why they came to an understanding and decided to give each other a chance to fall in love with each other.

It had been nowhere near easy for them.

Kayu was struggling to forget his love for Ciro and move on in his life with June. But it wasn't easy considering the fact that he had to meet and be around Ciro daily. 

June on the other hand, carried the scars left behind by his previous relationship. As an affectionate person who would do anything for the happiness of the person he loved, the betrayal of his past lover had made him reluctant to fall in love again.

Kayu and June understood each other's predicament and were willing to take it slow with each other. Neither of them was in a rush. Slow and steady wins the race. That was what they believed in.

It was never easy to find someone who was so in sync with you. To June, Kayu was his soulmate. Kayu too shared this feeling and considered June his soulmate.

June smiled proudly as he watched Kayu deal with top-class businessmen with ease. After having been Ciro's secretary for so many years, Kayu was no longer intimidated by the auras of those men.

June met a few acquaintances as well, who kept him engaged as his boyfriend was doing his job. As usual, he did encounter a few people who threw themselves at him. 

If it had been a month ago, he would have thought of taking one of them home. But now that he had formally become Kayu's boyfriend, he kept a respectful distance from all of them. For him, loyalty was the biggest form of respect he could show to his partner.  

Standing alone on the balcony with a glass of champagne in his hand, June watched the socialites clustering here and there on the huge lawn. Even though he was not involved with the business industry, he was no stranger to such parties. He had attended so many of them in the past both domestically and abroad as the interpreter.

His eyes were wandering through the crowd when they met a familiar pair of eyes. He froze. He couldn't move a muscle as their gazes locked with one another. 

There stood the person he never wished to see ever again in his life, the one who had ripped off his heart into shreds, Buri Visava Anantameak, his ex-boyfriend.

All these years, June had been convincing himself that he was over Buri and that he was now a strong independent man who could take care of himself. All those affirmations went down the drain.

He couldn't move his eyes away from that person. He realized that he still longed for that person... his presence... his touch...

He noticed the person who had approached Buri, blocking his view as she entered the scene. The person was no stranger to June. That person was Yen, one of Buri's past girlfriends and the woman with whom he cheated on June.

Something snapped within June as he witnessed how Yen was still beside Buri. Buri had then chosen this woman over him back then. How could he forget that?

All the pain he felt back then when he had caught Buri with Yen... the humiliation and worthlessness he felt that day... everything came rushing into his head...It was as if someone had dug open his old scar, making it bleed out. The brain-numbing pain enveloped him.

So many years had passed. Yet the pain was still as raw as it ever was.

He could feel both Yen and Buri staring at him. A revolting feeling started taking shape in the pit of his stomach, making him nauseous and suffocated. He had to get out of there. He had to leave...

Without wasting another second, he rushed to the nearest washroom and locked himself inside one of the cubicles.

BLERGH! BLERGH!

June puked out everything that he had consumed that night, emptying himself. His trembling body leaned against the cubicle walls as he felt weak.

He knew that if he stayed there any longer, he would have to come face to face with Buri, face to face with his own past. That was not something that he wished for.

He gathered the remaining strength in his body and stood up. Supporting himself against the walls, he got to the wash basin. Having rinsed his mouth of the foul taste of the puke, he splashed water on his face multiple times, hoping to clear his head. It wasn't working.

June wanted to get away. Go as far as possible from Buri and Yen. 

He stumbled his way into the parking lot. He only felt safe after locking himself inside his car. He didn't forget to send a text to Kayu saying that he was leaving the place.

Kayu was in the middle of talking to a client when he received June's text. He had set another tune for June so that he could recognize it when June texted even without looking.

Upon finding out that June was leaving, Kayu felt guilty, thinking that the latter was leaving because of his neglect. 

Being the secretary of the host, he had a lot of responsibilities. It had been difficult for him to stay by June's side. 

Kayu dialed June's number. The call went through in the first ring itself. "Hello, June, I~"

He paused when he heard June's weak and fragile voice. He instantly knew that something was wrong. "June, where are you? I am coming to you."

He got the location. He excused himself from the party claiming an emergency.

When Kayu had said yes to June's proposal of being boyfriends, he had long decided that June would always be his first priority. From June's voice, he could make out that the latter was not in a good condition. That was why he decided to abandon everything in the party and rush to June's side.