JAY JAY POV
Usually, a Saturday morning involves me buried under my duvet, dreaming of a mountain of pancakes. But today? Today the air in the house was vibrating with pure, unadulterated testosterone and the smell of expensive hair wax.
"Jay-Jay, sweetie, wake up. your brothers are here!" Tita Serina's voice sang out from the hallway, sounding way too cheerful for this level of emergency.
"Tell them to go back to the circus they came from!" I grumbled, my voice muffled by my pillow as I yanked the blanket higher, trying to vanish into the mattress. "I'm not home! I'm in London! I'm a ghost!"
But the bedroom door creaked open anyway. I didn't even have to look to know I was being hunted.
"Nice try, Monkey, but we can see the lump in the bed breathing," Jare's voice flatly stated. I felt the edge of my mattress dip as he sat down.
"Five more minutes," I pleaded, clutching my Snorlax plushie like a shield. "I'm in the middle of a very important scientific study involving dream-pancakes."
"Pancakes can wait. The interrogation cannot," Percy chimed in. I could practically hear him checking his reflection in my vanity mirror. "Honestly, Jay-Jay, how do you expect to be a Watson if you look like a bird's nest every morning? The aesthetic is simply failing."
I finally sat up, glaring at them through my messy hair. Jare looked like he was ready to audit my entire life Percy was also ready in simple clothes then Aries
"Do you always look like this in the morning?" Aries asked, tilting his head with a look of genuine concern.
"Brother, you haven't seen anything yet," Jare interjected, a mischievous glat in his eyes. "This is just the first stage. Evolution is a slow process. The next step includes—"
POK!
I didn't let him finish. I grabbed my spare pillow and launched it at his head with the precision of a professional athlete.
"This is the second stage," Percy narrated, completely unfazed as he watched Jare stumble. "Violent outbursts. Then the third stage is—"
"GET THE HELL OUT OF MY ROOM!" I yelled, my voice hitting a pitch that probably cracked a few windows in the hallway.
"Stage three. The banshee scream," Aries completed calmly.
Percy and Jare nodded in perfect, annoying synchronization.
"Seriously, Tita," Jare said, looking over his shoulder toward the door. "We leave her here for a week and you're already pampering her. She's regressing!" He turned back to me and pointed a finger. "Get up, Monkey. We're going on a small sibling hangout day. No excuses."
"I don't take orders from a donkey," I snapped, crossing my arms over my chest and pouting.
"You're the monkey," Jare shot back instantly.
I stood up on the bed, giving myself an extra two feet of height so I could look down on them. "Everyone is a monkey, Jare! Get over it! It's Biology! At least I'm not a six-foot-tall donkey!"
Just as I was about to deliver a lecture on the primate family tree, my phone on the nightstand started vibrating. I scrambled to grab it, my heart doing that annoying little double-thump.
A message from Keifer.
King of Assholes: Morning. I love you until scientists find the end of the universe. I miss you way too much. I'm half done with the work here. Mom told me about the wedding plan—I like it. I don't mind having you all to myself for three months for our honeymoon. I was thinking we should wait... but that's a surprise for you to find out when I come back. Bye. See you soon. I love you.
I felt the heat rush from my neck to the literal tips of my ears. Three months? Alone with him? My brain immediately short-circuited, projecting a 4K image of Keifer smirking at me on some tropical beach.
"Why is she turning red?" Percy asked, leaning in. "Is she having a medical emergency?"
"No," Jare muttered, squinting at my screen. "She's just reading a text from the Head Donkey."
I clutched the phone to my chest, a dreamy, stupid smile spreading across my face despite my best efforts to look grumpy.
"Shut up, Jare! I'm getting ready!" I shouted, hopping off the bed and practically floating toward the bathroom. "And don't you dare touch my pancakes while I'm in the shower! If even one chocolate drizzle is missing, the Fourth Stage is going to involving actual karate!"
I locked the door and leaned against it
I eventually stopped daydreaming and got ready. I chose a cute, breathable shirt tucked into denim shorts. Let's be real—the Philippine heat is not a joke, and I wasn't about to take any chances of turning into a melted puddle in the middle of a department store.
After a breakfast that involved me aggressively defending my chocolate-drizzled pancakes from Jare's wandering fork, we finally headed out.
Our first stop? The mall.
Blame Percy. He woke up with this sudden, obsessive mission to have all of us wear something "coordinated."
"If we are going to be seen in public we must have an aesthetic," Percy announced as we walked toward the entrance, adjusting his sunglasses as if the paparazzi were waiting behind the sliding glass doors.
"I'm fine with a simple t-shirt, Percy. We don't need to look like a K-Pop group," Aries muttered, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else.
"Hush, Aries. You have the bone structure of a lead visual; don't waste it," Percy shot back, already making a beeline for a high-end boutique.
"I feel like a giant marshmallow," Jare grumbled, looking down at his outfit. "Why am I here again? I could be at home, leveling up my character."
"Because you're part of the 'small sibling hangout,' Donkey. Now move," I said, giving him a little shove.
We spent the next hour being dragged from store to store. Percy was on a mission to find shoes or accessories that would link all four of us together. It was chaotic. Imagine three tall, good-looking guys and one frustrated girl wandering through the mall, arguing over shades of blue and the texture of leather.
"Oh! Look at these!" Percy squealed, pointing at a display of customized high-top sneakers. "We can get our initials engraved on the side! J, J, P, and A!"
"That sounds like a law firm," Jare deadpanned.
"It's a legacy!" Percy countered.
As we were browsing, my phone buzzed again. Another text from London.
King of Assholes: Found your secret stash of childhood photos at your parents' house. Don't worry, I only sent the one of you in pigtails and a missing front tooth to myself. You were a very cute toddler, Mutya. I'm framing it.
I nearly dropped my phone right there in the middle of the shoe department. Childhood pictures?! My face went from pink to a full-blown, radioactive neon red.
To prove his point, Keifer sent another picture—this one was of me as a little girl with ice cream smeared all over my nose.
"Jay, he actually found those pictures?" Jare asked, leaning over to look at my screen.
I nodded slowly, still in shock. I looked at Jare, and I could see the same expression mirrored on his face. We were both absolutely horrified.
"If he finds that specific picture, I will literally die," I whispered, my voice trembling with dread.
"You mean the one where you're doing that embarrassing monkey pose? I actually hope he finds it," Jare said with a mischievous smirk.
"Asshole!" I snapped, shoving his arm. "You're in that picture too, remember?"
Jare's smirk vanished instantly. We both stood there in the middle of the store, pale and panicked, realizing our shared childhood dignity was currently in the hands of the King of Assholes.
"Tss. My parents are dead to me. Why would they leave those albums where a predator could find them?!" I muttered, nursing my wounded pride.
"Let's go! I found something we could actually use!" Percy chirped, completely ignoring my existential crisis and dragging us toward another section of the mall.
"Jay, wait—you have a tattoo? I didn't know that," Aries said, stopping mid-walk and pointing at the back of my hand.
I looked down at the small mark.
"Actually, crazy story... that's not a tattoo. These two were literally born with it," Percy interjected, sounding like a historical narrator. He grabbed my hand and Jare's hand, holding them up for Aries to see.
"Jay has the star fully shaded in, while the moon is just an outline. For Jare, it's the exact opposite," Percy explained. "Twin markers. It's like the universe's way of making sure we don't accidentally swap them for better versions."
"I never really noticed it before," Aries said, leaning in with a look of genuine fascination.
"Tss. It's because we usually hide them so people don't think we're part of some weird cult," Jare grumbled, though he didn't pull his hand away.
"Too late," I sighed, still mourning the death of my dignity.
"Here! Why don't we all wear this cap? It's so cute! Plus, it'll keep my handsome self safe; we can't have the Philippine sun giving me a tan," Percy said, holding up a designer cap like it was a holy relic.
I rolled my eyes so hard it was physically painful and then started scanning the entire department store, looking left and right.
"What is it? What are you looking for?" Percy asked, stopping to fix his hair in a nearby mirror.
"You said pogi (handsome). I'm searching for one," I deadpanned, continuing my frantic search.
Percy gasped, looking genuinely offended. "Why search when the masterpiece is right here?" He gestured to his own face with both hands.
"Tss. I said handsome, Percy, not a weird circus animal," I shot back.
"Stage six," Jare muttered to Aries as they followed us. "The rejection of the narcissistic brother. It's a weekly occurrence."
"I'm not an animal! I'm a visual!" Percy shrieked, making a few shoppers turn their heads.
Lord, please. If Keifer is going to frame my toddler pictures, let him also frame a 'Do Not Disturb' sign around my neck for the rest of this day.
"Enough, please! Let's just go!" I barked at them. We finally bought the matching caps and drove straight to the zoo.
Of course, before we even stepped inside, we had to take a thousand pictures in front of the entrance because Percy insisted the lighting was 'divine.'
"Woah, Kuya! Look, a tiger!" I said, grabbing Jare's arm and pointing toward the enclosure.
"Wow, it looks so cool," Jare admitted. I immediately whipped out my phone and took a photo of the tiger looking all majestic and terrifying.
I looked at the tiger, then back at Jare with my best puppy-dog eyes. "Kuya... I want one."
Jare stopped and looked at me. He made this weird, distorted expression, looking me dead in the eye for a long moment.
"Absolutely," he said firmly.
I beamed, a huge smile breaking across my face. I was already imagining where I'd put its cage. Beside me, Aries and Percy stared at Jare like he had finally lost his last functioning brain cell.
"...NOT," Jare finished, his face instantly returning to its usual I'm-done-with-you deadpan.
My smile vanished. "Asshole!"
"Tss. What are you going to do with a tiger, Jay? You can't even handle the animals in Section E," Jare muttered, walking past me.
"I'm a Mariano! I can handle anything!" I yelled at his back.
"Jay, please no," Jare said, not even turning around. He knew that tone of voice. It was the tone that usually ended with a very large bill from Papa or someone ending up in the emergency room.
"But—" I started, rushing to catch up to him.
"No," Jare said firmly.
"Jare, please!" I whined, grabbing the back of his shirt. "It's just a tiger! It looks so lonely! I'll name it Keifer junior and teach it how to bite people I don't like!"
Jare finally stopped and looked at me, his face a mask of pure exhaustion. "Jay-Jay, you can't even remember to water the plants in your room. That tiger would eat you before lunch, and then I'd have to explain to Keifer why his fiancée is currently being digested by a feline."
"Tss. I'm faster than a tiger!" I puffed out my chest.
Percy leaned in, adjusting his cap. "Actually, darling, with that outfit and those shoes? You'd trip in three seconds. It would be a tragedy for the fashion world, really. Very messy."
Aries just shook his head, looking between the tiger and me. "You really are a handful, aren't you?"
"See? Even Aries is judging your life choices," Jare muttered, poking my forehead. "No tiger. Now move, or I'm telling the zookeepers you're trying to stage an animal heist."
"Asshole!" I grumbled, pouting so hard my lower lip was practically touching the floor.
Tss. Just wait until Keifer gets home. I'm definitely getting a tiger.
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OMG y'all I'm literally so happy today 😭💖 I might even drop a lil face reveal in the comments… maybe just a peek or maybe the full thing 👀✨ stay tuned.
AND HELLO⁉️ ashdres is gonna be on Vivarkarada on June 6th like… I'm actually screaming 😭🔥
Let's all manifest and pray nothing bad happens to our ashdres and that their entry shuts every hater up FR 🙏💫 haters gonna choke on their words soon.
Little intro bc I'm bored 😭💅
Fav color: blue 💙 Main fandom ship: jayfer / ashdres (obv hello) 2nd fav ship: frosa ❄️💗
Fav dramas / shows / movies:
#1: Ang Mutya ng Section E (my whole personality actually)
Love Next Door — K‑drama
When I Fly Towards You — C‑drama
Hidden Love — C‑drama
All of Us Are Dead — K‑drama
The Best Thing — C‑drama
Project Loki — PH drama
Stranger Things — US show
Harry Potter — all of them, no skips
Minamahal 💗
And sooo many more I can't even list 😭📺