The Jewel of Section E : The Dark Side || does not belong to me.

Jay-jay's POV

If my eyes had a mouth, they would've cursed me by now. On top of the layered eyebags, I got another one added. Good thing Tita and Kuya haven't seen me yet, or they'd bombard me with questions again.

"Did something happen?" Ci-N asked.

I shook my head. "N-no... It's nothing..."

He put down what he was carrying and sat beside me. Even though there were no more tears, I kept wiping my eyes.

"Jay... What really happened?" he asked.

"I just found out something about Papa."

"Shouldn't that make you happy?"

I forced a smile. "I am happy... It's just that our situation is complicated." The tears were threatening again.

"It's okay..." He put his arm around me and rubbed my shoulder. "The electricity bill will go down too," he said, making me grimace.
What does that even have to do with anything?

He suddenly burst out laughing. This brat! I'm in the middle of a dramatic moment and he throws in a joke like that.
"S-sorry!" he said between laughs.

I grabbed a pillow and smacked him in the face. He wouldn't stop laughing, so I kept hitting him with the pillow.
"Ouch! W-wait! Stop it!"

How can I stop if he won't stop laughing?
Eventually, we got tired, and I stopped. This annoying brat totally ruined the mood.
"You're the one who's happy," I said, annoyed.

"S-sorry... I'm just not used to seeing you sad," he said, smiling at me.

Honestly, me too. I'm not used to being sad anymore. These crazy people around me are always so cheerful—it's contagious.
Even though what Ci-N said didn't really connect with what I was saying, it still lightened my mood.
"So, what happened on your trip?" I changed the subject.

"U-uh... it went okay," he said, avoiding my gaze.

I suddenly remembered what happened earlier and just smiled to myself. I wasn't sure if I should tease him about it or keep it to myself for now.
"Ahhh..." I said while nodding.

I looked at the stuff he put down earlier before sitting beside me. Two eco bags and a paper bag.
"What's this?" I asked, opening one of the eco bags.
Food!
There's so much! Looks like this guy went grocery shopping. Then I opened the paper bag. It was full of magazines. I picked one up and looked through it.
Condo unit? Penthouse? Apartment?

What is this? It looks like brochures for places to live, with estimated prices at the end of each page.
"Why do you have these?" I asked Ci-N, who was currently changing clothes.
"My sister gave them to me... She said I can choose one. She's getting me a place."
"Huh? Getting you a place? Why?" I asked, confused.

He looked serious while staring at the one I was holding.

"I can't go home anymore. And my parents want me to mature. They think this is the solution," he explained.

WTF?!

Did they forget Ci-N is only fourteen years old? What do they mean "mature"?
Do they seriously think this is a great idea?

I suddenly felt sad. I thought we'd just laugh and tease each other about what happened earlier, but it seems like his trip brought bad news.

"What are you planning to do?"
"I don't know. But maybe this is for the best. Nothing new, really, since I always felt like I was alone at home anyway. Except, of course, for all the maids I could boss around and prank," he said, forcing a smile.