**Fifteen**
**Third Person's POV**
Two weeks later...
"Rhea, are you having lunch with someone?" Ceejay asked as he followed Rhea.
"I was hoping it was Almira, but it seems she's still doing something at CLab3," Rhea reasoned while walking out of the campus without looking at him.
"Let's eat together. My treat," the young man answered while matching the girl's walking speed.
Rhea just nodded, focusing on the road. Ceejay and Rhea quietly went to the nearest cafeteria to have lunch together.
After they arrived, there was only a limited number of people who could enter due to the large crowd inside. Ceejay entered first and squeezed in. While Rhea was thinking of a way to get in, she heard a voice that sounded like it was softly crying. Her eyebrows furrowed as she turned around, and she scanned the area. All the passersby were focused on where they were going, and some were annoyed that they were crammed into the crowded cafeteria. She didn't see anything strange around her, but she still kept hearing soft cries.
She watched the faces of every person near her, but she could not see any reaction on their faces indicating they heard something.
Before Rhea even thought to follow the faint cry she heard, she tried to peek at Ceejay inside, and he seemed to be busy shopping for food. She didn't bother to call him anymore, so she went outside first to look for the source of the sound.
She was shocked when she saw two people she knew talking behind the cafeteria she entered. She covered her mouth with her hand and leaned against the pillar near the entrance of the cafeteria.
She didn't want to listen and just go inside, but her curiosity got the better of her, so she eavesdropped.
"Forgive me, Jc. I'm begging you," the girl was crying and pleading with the young man she was talking to. The traces of tears that fell from her eyes were still fresh.
The young man's eyes were red as he held back tears that could fall at any moment. He swallowed to hide his hurt feelings and make his voice sound steady. "How many times have I forgiven you? You just wasted all the chances I gave you."
Tears continued to fall from her eyes as she reached for the young man's hand and held it tightly. "Tell me you still love me."
The young man briefly looked into the girl's eyes and bent down to let the tears he had been holding back fall.
"I know you love me. I can feel it," the girl continued while the young man was still stooping. "Forgive me. I will really change. I promise."
The young man raised his face and looked straight into the girl's eyes.
The girl's lips trembled as she smiled at the young man, but he was forced to smile back.
When the two stared at each other for a few minutes and Rhea could no longer hear a voice, she cautiously peeked out from the pillar where she was leaning and observed the movements of the two.
"Yes. Until now, I still love you, Jaycille. I am hurt by what you are doing," Jc opened his mouth wide, but the words came out as if they were a whisper.
Jaycille stepped closer to the young man and gently touched both of his cheeks. "Let's start over. Just you and me," she said weakly.
Jc just stared into the girl's eyes while she hoped that he would forgive her again.
First, the young woman mustered the rest of her courage, then wrapped her arms around the young man's neck and kissed him passionately on the lips, hoping that he would kiss her back too.
Rhea, who was quietly watching them, widened her eyes in shock. She immediately took her eyes off the two.
"Is what I saw true?" Rhea asked herself in disbelief. She shook her head a few times, then sighed. "Rhea Castino, don't gossip. That's their problem," she whispered to herself again.
She immediately removed from her mind whatever she saw and just entered the cafeteria.
Jc grabbed both of Jaycille's shoulders and pushed her away from him. "Don't torture me, Jaycille. Don't torture yourself either. Accept that we're done."
Jaycille took a step back and continued to sob while covering her face with her hands.
The young man didn't want to hurt Jaycille's feelings, but she had to accept his decision.
Jc was about to hug the girl in pain when he heard someone calling him.
"JC!"
The young man turned to where the voice came from and saw his cousin waving at him.
He looked at Jaycille one last time and, without a word, left her and walked toward his cousin.
"Did I come at the wrong time?" Almira asked, looking into Jc's eyes, which were still wet from tears, her tone filled with concern.
"Let's eat," the young man answered weakly in almost a whisper while looking in another direction, avoiding his cousin's gaze.
The girl just shrugged her shoulders, and the young man entered the cafeteria first, followed by Almira.
People were crowded inside because it was so full, but they still went in to order food. Jc was silent while Almira put a dish and rice on a tray.
"You? What about you?" Almira asked him, noticing he had been motionless.
"It's up to you. I'll wait at the table," the young man answered and separated from Almira before she could respond.
It took Jc a few minutes to find an empty table among the many people eating. He found an empty table at the end, and it seemed to be the only vacant one.
He went to the table and sat next to a woman.
He stared at the woman for a moment. She seemed familiar to him. But when he realized that the woman didn't notice him sitting down, he immediately took his eyes off her and turned his attention to something else.
"Four."
He heard someone call him from where he was sitting, so he turned around to recognize whoever called him.
He looked at a young man in front of him who was eating, and his mind immediately processed to remember who it was.
"Who are you with?" he asked again.
It took a few minutes before Jc recognized him and remembered his name. "Princebeybe..." He turned again to the woman next to him, who was looking at him. Then he recognized the girl he was sitting next to earlier. "I must have sat at the wrong table."
The girl turned her gaze back to Jc when their eyes met and continued eating.
"It's okay. That seat is vacant," Ceejay replied. He glanced at Rhea, who was eating quietly, as if she were avoiding the gaze of the two young men, while Jc was still looking at her. "Who is with you?" he repeated his question.
Jc took his eyes off the girl and focused on Ceejay. "I'm wi-"
"Me."
Before Jc could finish what he had to say, they all turned to where Rhea was, where the voice came from. Rhea also turned around.
They saw Almira standing behind Rhea, smiling and carrying a tray of food.
Rhea took a deep breath, then looked back at her food and continued eating.
"You think it's Lucy Heartfilia?" Jc said as he focused on Rhea, and she turned to him. "We're over."
Rhea smiled slightly and continued eating without a word.
Almira sat next to Ceejay, and Jc helped her take the food from the tray and place it on the table.
"Come on! What am I seeing?" Almira's eyes widened, and her mouth was slightly open as she glanced at Rhea and Ceejay. "Ceejay, are you dating Rhea?"
"Yes," Ceejay said, smiling widely.
When Rhea heard what Ceejay said, she suddenly coughed, and the three looked at her. She immediately covered her mouth with her hand and quickly reached for the bowl of soup to drink.
"Do you need water? I'll get you," Jc laughed jokingly.
"No need. The soup is fine," Rhea answered after she drank the soup and calmed down.
Almira's eyes were still wide as she looked at Rhea. "Does your sister know, crushmate?"
Rhea nodded while still focusing on her food. "And unfortunately, she agreed."
Almira's face changed into a delighted smile as she looked at Ceejay, who was listening with a smile. "Uyy... Cyrel is in favor of Ceejay."
After she swallowed the food in her mouth, Rhea replied, "I don't know what kind of poison he made her drink to make her agree."
"And you let him date you?" Jc was looking at Rhea's face, waiting for her reaction when the girl stopped eating and suddenly turned to him.
The two looked at each other. Jc tried to read the girl's thoughts while Rhea was confused and didn't know what to answer.
After a while, the girl took her eyes off the young man and focused her attention on her food again, while Jc was still looking at her.
"Princebeybe, maybe I can take Rhea to the party house tonight?" Jc continued, making Rhea stop eating again and only move her eyes to see Ceejay's reaction.
Jc turned to Ceejay to see his reaction.
He smiled at Jc, then looked at Rhea. "Of course. On one condition: you can't drink any alcohol, not even a lady's drink."
Rhea immediately raised her head and raised an eyebrow at Ceejay. "Are you forbidding me?"
"Yes. Since I'm going to be your boyfriend, I don't want you to drink," Ceejay said firmly.
"It'll just be one," Rhea replied, annoyed that she almost raised her voice. "And even if we are together, you can't stop me."
"I thought you didn't like him," Jc said softly as he turned back to Rhea.
Rhea turned to Jc in shock and suddenly covered her mouth with her hand as she remembered what she had said to him in the hospital.
"Of course, they developed. A picture does develop; how much more for humans," Almira added.
"You're really good at playing, crushmate. Too much," Rhea replied in annoyance.
"Your boyfriend has agreed. Go to the party house tonight," Jc said, smiling at Rhea.
With a half-smile, Rhea removed her gaze from Jc and continued eating.