❦ . ❦ . ❦

The person advanced toward Laurence, their steps measured, like a hunter appraising their prey.

"You... What the hell are you..." With a trembling hand, Laurence grasped the railing and forced himself to stand straight on wobbly feet. He still had a double vision, but the person's features came off crystal clear in his sight.

Everyone was used to the hospitable smile of this younger fellow, to the polite air he'd always exuded, to his good-natured voice when he talked to anyone, that Laurence found it difficult to believe the face contorted with so much loathing before him belonged to the same guy.

"Jino..." Laurence said, the incredulity drawing a rasp from his throat. "Why it's you here... Where the hell is Ice... Where's Isaac?"

It must have been the mention of his name or something about the question that touched off Jino and provoked him to lunge at Laurence. He flung the peace lily with roots still filled with soil against the other man's eyes.

There was no time for Laurence to react as Jino outstretched his arms and wrapped his fingers around his neck.

"Why are you not dead yet?" Jino asked, voice quivering the higher it rose. He thrust Laurence's head over the fence rail and continued to throttle him. "I was willing to let it be since you've already forgotten your past, and it doesn't seem like your memories will return..."

Laurence weakly grabbed Jino's wrists and attempted to pry the guy's gloved hands off his neck.

However, Jino's hold was as firm as the hatred emitting from his dark stare.

Through his daze, Laurence thought the guy was the goddamned personification of a snake. Treacherous. Slinking to his victim until it was too late. Coiling around them until they despaired.

"I was too careless," Jino said with a hiss. "Why didn't you just die when you jumped off of this roof? It was your wish to die, wasn't it? That's why I sent you messages of encouragement to just kill yourself!"

Laurence's senses began to fade as the pressure around his throat increased. Heat climbed to his face and pooled in his lungs, while his racing heart counted the seconds before his head would explode.

His view of the blue sky dimmed, and everything around spun out of focus. Even the noises became distant; all he could hear in the back of his mind was the high-pitched ringing, almost similar to the incessant beep of the hospital monitor during a flat line. As if an omen for death closing in on him.

He feared his consciousness would abandon him soon.

But as the image of Isaac, their moments together, and their plans for the future flooded his memories, Laurence gained new resolve to hang on for a little longer. To give it another fight. No matter how desperate he would have to be.

"So why did you have to come back alive and get in my way? Why are you acting like you never wanted to die, and now you're corrupting Isaac? I told you to stay away from him!"

Struggling for breath, Laurence released Jino's wrists and instead reached for his collar to anchor himself. He gathered every remaining drop of his strength into his arms and wrestled to clear the gap between them.

He then spat on Jino's face.

Laurence did not give the guy a chance to be shocked. He bent his hardened fingers. Scratched Jino across the eye. Flailing, he blindly kicked whatever he could hit below before shoving him away.

He knew there was not much power in his charges. Not anything that could deliver serious harm, but those were enough to send his attacker reeling.

Laurence touched his neck, gasping for air as soon as Jino separated from him. He wasted no time and forced himself to move. With his gaze fixed on the exit, he teetered forward.

"You!" Jino screamed, bolting toward the other man.

A wince took over Laurence's features, and curses burst out of his lips when Jino yanked him by the hair, intensifying the pain in his head and nape.

He planted his feet on the ground, pivoted, so he was facing Jino. Once more, he went for the guy's collar. He clenched his jaws. On an impulse, he head-butted him.

Laurence nursed his forehead, realizing once his surroundings spiraled again that the strike was also disadvantageous for him. Fortunately, it seemed to have impacted Jino more.

"How dare you? You're just an insect!" Jino scrambled in the direction of the other peace lilies in ceramic pots.

The guy's plan did not escape Laurence. He was quick to stop Jino by seizing the back of his shirt and launching himself onto him.

The two stumbled. They tussled, not giving each other the slightest opening to secure the upper hand. They exchanged feeble punches and slaps. Pulled each other's hair. Dug their nails deep in their opponent's skin, even aiming for the eyes.

After minutes of grappling and rolling over the dusty rooftop floor, Laurence managed to pin Jino beneath him. In his mind, he was thankful the guy was the same size as his current body, so it was easier than the evening he'd tried to defend himself against Grey's assault.

"Bastard... Ain't you satisfied already?" Laurence asked in between gritted teeth. Tremors crawled all over him, whether from the drained energy or the overflowing emotions. Through his misty eyes, he glared at Jino. "You've fucking done enough, dragging people in these crazy shits. What else do you fucking want?"

Scenarios from the past few weeks and the expressions of other people replayed in Laurence's mind. Kian's hysteria. Grey's animosity. Isaac's devastation. All of that had happened because of this controlling motherfucker's schemes.

"And you've been talking about Ice. What about him?" Laurence's voice darkened, his words morphing into a threat. "I fucking dare you... if you ever hurt him... I'm gonna fucking kill you. And after your death, I'm gonna hunt you in hell and fucking kill you again. Haven't you toyed with too many lives already? Leave my Isaac alone."

A part of him imagined what it would be like to actualize his own warning. The same part goaded him to do it now. At this very moment. That he shouldn't have to wait until someone was tormented again.

He could just secure his fingers around this son of the devil's neck, strangulate him the way he did him a minute ago.

Surely, the world would understand. Because after all the wickedness that this guy had brought in his life, after all the attempts to dispatch him, wasn't it only fair payment that Jino met his demise in the hands of the person he'd been trying to destroy?

"Fuck you!"

Laurence came to his senses as Jino's screech wiped out the horrid idea muddying his conscience.

"Who the hell are you to give me that? How dare you claim Isaac is yours? You're the one ruining him by pulling him down to your pathetic level!" Jino looked daggers at Laurence. He snarled, his eyes bloodshot, the veins growing visible on his cheeks. "I cut you some slack about the rumor before. I knew nothing was going on between you and Isaac because he had someone he liked... I got rid of that pest..."

Shivers sprinted all over Laurence when Jino cackled like a maniac before returning his menacing gaze at him.

"But now... you... you actually seduced him and began living with him? Who do you think you are? You're just another pest! A delusional bitch who thinks he deserves someone like Isaac!"

While Laurence studied the smirch of sweat, blood from the scratches, and stone dust on Jino's face and hair, he puzzled upon what had driven this younger man to behave like a psycho.

He indeed differed from the amiable and courteous persona he'd always shown at the Renascence Café.

This wasn't the appearance Laurence had pictured of the mastermind either. Up until now, Jino had been very calculative with his steps, always doing a great job using people like pawns in a chess game. He must have been aware he wasn't physically inclined and direct attacks would never be his strongest suit, so he'd manipulated others into doing his dirty work instead.

But what made him snap and caused the change? Laurence wondered what frustrated him so much that he'd decided to settle everything in person. Whatever it was, it sure led Jino to his biggest mistake.

A bang echoed from the rooftop bulkhead, puncturing the silence and interrupting Laurence's thoughts.

Wide-eyed, Jino squirmed beneath him.

Laurence loosened his grip. He sighed in relief once the door broke down and uniformed personnel entered the area. A smile budded on his lips when he caught sight of his lover following the police close behind.

He wanted to run to Isaac's arms and have his boyfriend's embrace comfort him, but he was too spent to move his limbs. Besides, he wasn't sure if his younger lover was as glad to see him right now. He must have been pissed, judging by his grave expression.

Confident that there was no longer a threat to his life, Laurence got off of his writhing assailant.

Jino clambered to Isaac's feet and clutched the young boss's pants. "Mr. Ruiz, sir. This isn't... Let me explain, sir. Please, listen to me."

The guy peered at Isaac. He froze upon being met by the black look that the young boss was shooting at him.

Laurence could not blame Jino for being petrified under those eyes. He might not be the receiver of that stare, but his boyfriend's ferocious vibe was leaking so much that even he was starting to feel frightened.

Isaac's silence and stillness only amplified the intimidating atmosphere around him.

Two police officers snatched up Jino from the floor and cuffed his hands behind his back.

"Mr. Ruiz, this is not it. I know you'll understand! Just listen, sir. I did all of that for you!" Jino thrashed while the officers took him away. "Let me go! Don't touch me, filthy bugs! Mr. Ruiz, Isaac, believe me! For you! Everything, it's for your sake! I will do nothing that will ruin you! Listen, Isaac! Isaac!"

His cries fell off to murmurs, until all that was left on the rooftop was quietness.

Laurence rose as Isaac strode to him.

"Are you alright?" Isaac asked in an inscrutable tone.

"Yeah... just that basta... Jino hit me with that earlier." Laurence motioned to the shattered ceramic pot. "I might have gotten a concussion. Still a bit woozy. Also 'cause I head-butted him."

The young boss surveyed Laurence, and the latter braced himself for an angry lecture.

However, no single word of reprimand came.

"Let's go to the hospital first and have you examined." Isaac held Laurence's hand and walked in front of him, guiding him to the exit.

Observing their linked fingers, Laurence noted his boyfriend was shaking. He sensed the younger man was upset.

No, that might be an understatement. Laurence could tell Isaac was seething.

Yet, no one said anything while they went down the stairs.

Laurence supposed he should have been grateful that his lover wasn't chewing his head off, but he found this lack of reaction a lot more unbearable.

Because he could not stand it any longer, Laurence stopped moving his legs, forcing Isaac to halt as well.

"Hey, I'm sorry," he muttered, staring at their connected hands, unable to bring himself to meet his lover's gaze. "Seems like I failed my promise not to get myself in trouble again."

A faint sigh from the younger man made Laurence stiffen.

"It was not your fault you were deceived," Isaac said under his breath.

Laurence tightened his grasp of Isaac's hand. "When Jino called me earlier, telling me your life might be in danger, I totally panicked. I should have calmed down first and assessed everything, but... I was scared, Ice. I was scared I'd be too late if I wasted any more time figuring out what exactly was going on. All I could think at that moment was that I couldn't lose you. I couldn't..." He shut his eyes tightly. "I was damn afraid of losing you, too, Ice."

"I understand."

The gentleness in Isaac's tone encouraged Laurence to look up at him at last.

Isaac gave him a soft smile. He caressed Laurence's hair and brushed his thumb against his boyfriend's cheek. "And I can't be upset with you because I would have done a similar thing. No, in fact, I felt the same when I was informed earlier about the strange call you received and that you were heading to this place. I left in the middle of the board meeting since there was not a single course more rational for me to follow but to ensure you were safe."

In an instant, the wish to melt in his man's embrace grew stronger inside Laurence. He took a tentative step, closing the tiny distance between them. He wound his arms around Isaac's waist and buried his face against the crook of his neck.

Laurence breathed easier when his partner reciprocated the gesture.

"I was calling you earlier, but your phone was turned off, and it made me damn anxious."

"Right. It might have been part of that guy's plan. I noticed my phone was acting up this morning while on my way to the meeting. There were signs it was at high risk of being hacked, and I remembered what Odessa had taught me just the other week about the ways to prevent a hacker from infiltrating my device. The most effective way is to switch it off, and for an additional measure, I did the same thing with my tablet."

With knitted brows, Laurence leaned away from the hug. "Odessa?"

"I didn't tell you. She was the tech person I hired to help us with reviewing the mastermind's calls and messages."

Isaac revealed Odessa was also one of those few trusted people he'd commissioned to watch over Laurence. He added it was the woman who'd contacted Mr. Frias and asked their older colleague to deliver the message to him. "I heard her mother had been sick these past few months, and she needed to earn more to support her family financially. She accepted the extra jobs I offered her, but on her request that no one else should know about it since she didn't want to worry others. She said she wished to continue hanging out with you like normal friends would, and she would rather avoid you thinking she was only getting close to you because I ordered her to. That's why she chose to keep this from you."

Laurence nodded, processing all the new information. "Wait. Then why are you telling me everything now?"

"Odessa has been blaming herself. She's convinced we could have avoided this incident from happening if only she'd been honest with you from the start and let you know she was our hired tech person."

"But—"

"I believe you have some things to say to her," Isaac said. He kissed Laurence's forehead. "Let's go. She's waiting for you outside."

Without providing room for further discussion, the young boss resumed leading his boyfriend to climb down from the building.

The sound of the sirens, the police, and a few spectators greeted them once they arrived at the ground.

"Rence!" Odessa ran up to the two men. "I'm glad you're safe."

"Yeah, I'm alright... and well..." Laurence hesitated. He glanced at his boyfriend before turning back to the woman. "Isaac told me everything. I'm sorry I didn't listen to you, and thank you. I owe you my life."

Odessa shook her head and smiled through her weary eyes. She held Laurence's hands. "You don't owe me anything, Rence. I only did what I had to do. I couldn't... I couldn't just let you get hurt like that, you see. And it was not only 'cause I was paid to watch over you, but because... because you're a dear friend to me, aren't you?"

A dear friend. Excluding the case with Isaac, when was the last time Laurence had met someone who'd called him that and followed through with their actions?

He mirrored the woman's kind expression. "Yeah. Thanks, Odessa. Thank you for being a great friend."