Cold Hearted, You

PROLOGUE

Cold Hearted, You

crescent

DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction. The names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales and incidents are either a product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblances to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

This story is not affiliated with anything.

Please be advised that this story might contain some strong languages and mature contents that are not suitable for some readers.

NOTE: Please be aware of the chapters point of view.

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PROLOGUE

6 YEARS AGO - 2015

The sun rose up, creating a bright light into this whole big area. It was very good weather as I hopped off the car. I roam my eyes around as I watch each student come out of their own expensive family cars, being accompanied by their own personal drivers, with bright smiles on. 

It’s already the second week of my 5th grade. I still couldn’t deny the excitement because this is surely another new chapter in my life. New school year means new academic struggles, academic achievements and stress but it will always be worth it anyway once I finish the year off with a medal lace hanging on my neck and a certification of recognition on my hand.

My eyes landed on the guy who was walking towards my spot in silence. Both hands on his pants pocket as he wore his complete proper uniform. White button down long sleeve polo tucked in his black pants with neck tie neatly tied around his polo’s collar and a pair of leather shoes to complete the look.

“Kai!” I exclaimed but received no response.

I raised a brow at him when I noticed his different aura. Usually, it will take us a month before we get over the new school year hangover because of how excited we get every time there is a new student. The joy in meeting new kids, meeting our new teachers and selecting homeroom officers. It has always made our first month really exciting but today… it’s different.

Without saying anything, the two of us decided to walk our way inside our school building. I couldn’t help but steal a few secret glances to his face as I kept on noticing how down he looks. His face remains stoic and his eyes express sadness.

Did the excitement already die down? Is he sick? Did someone bully him on the way here? But that would be impossible.

I look up at him again but still... It's like I'm not even with someone. His unusual quiet self, which is very far from his usual talkative and happy mood whenever we're together, bothers me so much. A deep sigh escapes my lips as a pout forms in it.

Is he okay?

We entered the room in silence as our classmates immediately greeted us so brightly which made it hard for me to decide on how I should respond. My mood was already affected because of how my childhood friend looks right now.  We both proceed to our seats as Kai remains silent and still looking down.

Instead of giving him more attention, I decided to leave him alone for a while to let him think. Maybe because he wasn’t in the mood yet since it’s still early that is why he looks like that. I talked to our classmates for a while until our teacher arrived but he did not even move a single inch since I left.

Hesitation. It is what has filled me every single time I get distracted with him. His eyes are looking far away outside the window and it is obvious that he is not even listening. At the end, I decided to slightly poke his left cheek. It was as if I did something that made him so flustered, he looked at me with slightly wide eyes as I began to notice how a little puffy it looked.

"Are you okay Kai? Are you sick? What happened?" I whispered to him trying not to get caught by our teacher but he only responded with a nod and a small smile. He changed his focus in front which made me exhale in disappointment. I lifted my arm, putting my left elbow on the table with my face above my palm.

As I was reading the notes, a piece of paper was suddenly placed above my iPad.

Let's talk later

I look at him confused. He could have just said it now, we're seatmates anyway. Why does he need to say it through a letter?

Despite my curiosity, I try to remain calm during the whole period until our break time. I followed Kai silently after he told me to just follow him. He didn't say a word at all. We stopped walking when we arrived in our gymnasium bleachers as we sat there in silence with a few inch space between us.

The atmosphere is so awkward and a little heavy for me to handle. It feels so unfamiliar and different from our usual ones. His shut mouth is not even helping because I couldn’t utter a single word since he is being like this.

"Kai,” I called as he looked at me with tired eyes. “Do you... have any problem?" A sigh escapes his lips after eyeing me for a second which got me worried..

"I do... but don't get mad after I say this okay?" Fear started to fill me because of his tone. I only gave him a nod but deep inside me, I’m nervous.

"I'm..." I waited with nervous eyes, looking at him. But his next words only left me confused. "leaving."

"What do you mean you're leaving? We just got here and you want to leave already? Are you kidding me? We're supposed to be on the ca-"

"I'm going to the States."

It was enough to keep me silent. I don’t know how to respond. All I can do is just… look at him.

"Mom and Dad said I should go to the States with kuya Joshua so I can improve more to help me in the future. They said it’s the best decision considering I will be helping my brother with our family business later on." he explained.

"But isn’t kuya Joshua your family heir?" He nodded.

"He is but I will be handling our hotel’s main branch with kuya filling the CEO spot in the future. He said that it is what kuya wants too that is why they decided to send me there with him." he explained more.

Kai Nicholas Juarez. The two of us have been friends ever since we were probably four. We first met in nursery where he was still a crying baby who didn't even want to be away from his mom. It was me who took his hand and pulled him inside our classroom then sat on the chair next to him starting that day. Since then, we became inseparable and have been in each other’s life so hearing this right now… I just don’t know how to react.

"I know we promise that we won't leave each other until we graduate from high school which is why I’m even more sorry.” He escapes a sigh in his lips, looking down to the floor with fingers fidgeting. “I was even the one who made you promise that but it is me who will break it as well anyway.”

Our promise. I was really looking forward to it.

“Do you know that I even try to convince them that it’s not a good idea for me to come with kuya Joshua? I also told mom that we made a promise but she only said that out of all people, it will be you who will understand their decision because you are a heiress yourself.” His tone sounded so down, which makes me feel even bad. “She said you will even convince me instead of stopping me.”

"It's okay Kai. I think tita is right too! I'm your friend and I have the same position as kuya Joshua so it’s okay." I tried to form a smile on my face just to help him ease his mind but as expected… it failed.

"Don't smile! I know you're not happy! I know it's fake!" He exclaimed, pointing at my mouth, which made me laugh hard.

"Was it too obvious?" He nodded and made us both laugh at the end.

This kind of happiness should have really made me smile but the thought that he will be leaving me, I just couldn’t help but be sad. He has been there for me for years and I can’t imagine him not being around. Maybe this part would really come in our life. After all, we can’t always be on each other’s side for a lifetime anyway.

"When are you leaving?"

"Tonight.” It made me look at him with lips parted and slightly wide eyes. “Kuya and I will leave with Dad because he has to take care of some business in New York."

So that means we don’t have that much time? If he didn’t tell me about this today, I wouldn’t be able to see him tomorrow anymore? Why so rush? Despite all of that questions in my head, I had to set it aside and think of a way to make his last day here really fun. And I came up with a perfect place.

"Kai,” I called with a grin that made him raise a brow at me. “Let's go to the amusement park."

"Are you crazy? We can't! We have class and since when did you learn to do cutting classes?" He scolded with furrowed brows. I shook my head realizing how slow he can actually be. 

Without any more words, I just dragged him with me to my mom’s office who is the Chairwoman of the school. We own the school so it should be easy for us. It was hard to convince her since it really is our school hours but just for once, I wanna make use of my privilege. After all, if we go to the amusement park after our class, we will have only a few hours left to have fun. It won’t be enough since I’m not really sure how long Kai will stay in the states.

After a few more minutes of pleading, we managed to convince mom to let us go. Telling her that Kai will be leaving tonight for the States is a big help because she immediately softened when she heard that. She had to make some calls to excuse us though but it will still be counted as absent so it will be fair with the other students.

We went to the amusement park with mom and Kai’s mom who met us there. She was pretty shocked with the sudden call from my mother but they ended up talking like usual. We rode different rides and played in some stalls just to make use of the remaining time. The more rides we play and the more joy we feel, the closer we are to the time of his leaving.

"Krystal!”

I immediately looked to the side of the room where I heard that familiar voice. There was a look alike of Kai standing just a few meters away from us with his arms open wide, as if telling me to run into him and hug him which I did.

“Did you have fun? You should have let me come as well!” He whined that made me chuckle.

“You have classes, kuya!” I pointed out that he agrees with a funny expression.

Despite meeting Kai first, I happen to have grown close to kuya Joshua as well because he is not really that hard to be close with. Since then the four of us, along with my sister ate Jessica, spend so much time together that we became really close with one another. That is why sending them off today, it’s hard because it’s like I’m saying goodbye to my childhood. With my sister in Paris right now to have some vacation for a month but will leave for that country once again after finishing high school, it makes things even harder for me. It is me who will be left here now.

"Do you and Kai really need to leave?" I asked with a pout while still hugging him. Kai suddenly showed up beside him which made him loosen up the hug and held me on my shoulder instead with both hands. 

"We have to, Krystal. If we want our family business to grow more in the future, then we will have to do this." He explained in a calm tone as I looked down after heaving a sigh.

"You don't want them to go, Krsytal?" Kai’s dad asked as I immediately nodded.

"As much as I want to fulfill what you want but I can’t.” He says with an apologetic tone. “But you can come with them! You can ask your mom and dad."

Before I could even say anything, mom already rejected the idea. She pulled me in her arms, hugging me. "Oh no! My dear Erin will be the only one to stay with us once Jessica graduates from High School and stays in Paris. I can't let my little girl go away from me."

"Mom! Stop calling me little girl! I'm not little anymore, look…” I look at her, gesturing to point out our height. “I'm about to be at the same height as you are! I'm already in your ear."

"You're right! My baby girl is big now. Since when do kids grow so tall these days?” She says, looking at Kai’s mom. “Look at Kai and Joshua, they are so tall! Joshua passes by you now and Kai is at the same height as you already!”

"Well... Kids these days change so much. This kids grew up so quickly! When they were little, we have to run after them to avoid some vase to break but now... we are sending them away to a foreign country." Auntie dramatically said that made the three of us sigh in response..

"Let’s not be dramatic here. It's not like you won't see us anymore! You will probably go to Los Angeles every break just to see us." Kai pointed out which is enough to make us all laugh.

Their mother is the sweetest, next to my mother. She has always adored her sons as if they are still in their five year old age. Although she put on some limits already as per kuya Joshua’s request, she still never forgets to baby them sometimes. It must be hard for her to send both of her sons away.

"So you, Krystal Erin! Don't you ever try to leave mom until you graduate from college okay? I can't let you go yet until you fully graduate." Mom demanded which made me chuckle and just gave her a nod before putting on a bitter smile.

Frankly, I wanna be like my sister. She is responsible and knows what she really wants in life. She knows what she wants to pursue and she is even willing to give up her heiress role just to achieve her own dream. With that responsible attitude of hers, she managed to leave the house after she turned 17 and live at the unit in Empire Castle Residence which is owned by our family. I wanna do the same in the future as well but.. It wouldn’t be possible with mom pleading with me to stay with her every single hour.

"Anyway, the two of you better focus on your studies there! I don't want to hear that you only focus on girls or else I will send you back here!" Auntie reminded, pointing to his sons who were acting innocent.

"I'm not the problem here, mom. Kuya Joshua is... You know? He might look for someone to fix his broken heart." Kai said that it made him receive a smack on his head by his brother. A chuckle escapes my lips yet feels bad because of what happened. Our parents only get to look at us in confusion… they really didn’t know.

"You should be the one to remember that!" Kuya Joshua fired back.

"You two should remember it, not only one!" I stepped in which made them stop. Like a good puppy, they both nodded which is enough to make our parents laugh.

We stayed there for a few more minutes to talk and spend some more time before tito’s secretary arrived to say that their jet was ready. We were still having fun but… it’s being taken away now. I almost forgot our real agenda in this airport.

I watched as the two of them said goodbye to mine and their parents. I stood on the side, waiting for my turn. I couldn’t hide the sadness inside me so I could only watch them with a straight face. My hand clenched on my skirt tightly to prevent me from crying until Kai’s eyes landed on me as he called for me.

"Hey!" I whined when he pulled me for a tight, warm hug that I didn’t expect. Although I feel like I will be suffocated any minute by how tight it is, I just couldn’t help but let him because I will miss this warm hug as well. It will take me years because I could hug him again.

"You shouldn’t forget me, okay?" He said in a whisper with his tone showing some sign of sadness. "Please don't change and do wait for me."

I’m sure that I’m the only one who can hear it by how soft he says those words. He let me go as a small smile formed into my lips. When I look to our side, our parents are looking at us in adoration while kuya Joshua is smiling like crazy. Instead of giving him any reaction, I approached him as well to give him a hug.

"Take care of yourself always, okay? And also,” He let go of the hug, pushing me slightly to the front to face me. He glances to the side which makes me raise a brow as a small smirk forms in his lips. With a soft tone and almost like a whisper, he inches forward towards my ear. “Wait for Kai, okay? He will come back for you."

"I should wait for you too!”

"But you should wait for my brother more.” He eyed his side once again where Kai is eyeing us. “Once we come back from the states, he will tell you something. Okay?"

Before I could even say anything, Kai suddenly showed up next to us and dragged his brother like he was not the younger one. I watched the two of them walk further away as Kai didn’t forget to look back once again to give me his last wave of goodbye.

I watch their plane leave with mixed feelings. Now that he is really there, I don't know what I should feel anymore. Kai is the only person I can count too except for my sister, his brother and my parents. I don’t know how I should adapt to this kind of setting where he is not beside me anymore.. He made himself staying by my side to become my habit already. Now I have to adjust to the changes.

I look up to the sky one last time as their plane is completely out of my sight. Only the dark clouds above are the only view. He is gone… really gone.

“I won't change.” I whispered to myself. “I will wait for you, Kai Nicholas.”