Be With Me

Chapter 22

Kelvin froze at his words.

"Live with you?" He asked, his eyes big from shocked.

"You heard me," he replied exasperated, but still has a wry smile playing on his sexy lips. "Afraid now?"

He waited for his scared reaction but all of a sudden…

"R-really? So we'll going to live like newlyweds?" Kelvin suddenly blurted out, his eyes full of amazement, making Cris Yoon speechless.

What he said definitely made Kelvin pause, but he thought that the more time they spent together, the better the chances of him falling for him, right? So Kelvin thought that maybe, them living together in one house might not be such a bad thing?

While Kelvin put his phone in his bag he noticed that there was another bag under it.

"Ahh… Leslie!!" He immediately blurted out as he suddenly remembered that he's with Leslie. He started to panic. But Cris immediately informed him of his friend's whereabouts.

"Don't worry about her. She's currently at the hospital."

What he said made him panic even more! What? Why was she's at the hospital? What happened to her? So many questions were running through her mind she didn't know what to ask first.

Cris saw his frozen figure and sighed.

"Stop panicking. She's with my friend. I'll drive you there now so sit back and put your seatbelt on."

He started the engine and smoothly drove to the hospital. Kelvin was quiet but his mind was running a marathon. 'What could have happened to Leslie that she ended up at the hospital? How badly was she hurt? Did someone do something to her? I hope it's nothing too serious…' and with those thoughts, his mind brought him back to the bar with that man and he prayed with all his might that the same thing hadn't happened to his friend.

No! Leslie was smarter than that. She wouldn't fall for such tricks. There had to be another reason.

The moment Cris parked in front of the hospital entrance, Kelvin immediately opened the door and scrambled out of the car. But he noticed that Cris didn't even move a muscle.

"Are you not coming?"

"No."

"Oh. Okay. Well, thank you for the ride. I'll see you soon," Kelvin said before he hurriedly wnet inside the building.

Kelvin didn't even think twice of leaving him this time because he already promised Kelvin and he even gave him his home address. Besides, Leslie's wellbeing was more important right now.

Kelvin found himself in the middle of very chaotic hospital emergency department and his head almost spun. He's not used to this kind of service. Because whenever they went to the hospital he was always treated as a VIP patient because of his father’s money and influen.

Here, everything is a mess. There were so many people running around that he didn’t know where to start. Kelvin looked at the long line at the reception desk, intending to ask for information about Leslie but that would take too long.

So he looked around to see if he could see any sign of his friend. And in the exact moment, he saw a familiar face! Not wasting another second, he walked his way to him and was about to ask him where his friend was when he heard someone calling his name.

"Kel!"

Kelvin turned to the direction of the voice and he saw his friend lying on the bed, with one foot wrapped up in bandages.

"Leslie!!" He cried out.

Completely forgetting about Mr. Black Leather Jacket, Kelvin ran to his friend and gave him a careful hug. He felt so relieved to see that she's okay, well, apart from the obvious leg injury.

"What happened?!" Kelvin asked, anxious.

"I fell down a hole, haha." Leslie looked a bit embarrassed but she just laughed it off - well, it was pretty funny.

Kelvin's face turned blank. "Huh? Fell… down a hole?"

"Yeah, I know. Silly, right?"

Kelvin looked at his friend, doubt seeping in his eyes. "How much did you have to drink?! And what were you doing outside?"

"Wha…? Ahem. I didn't have anything to drink because I didn't make it to the bar! I just, uh, went outside for a bit to, uh, get some fresh air! Then I fell down a hole and luckily, Leather Jacket over there was there and he helped me out. But enough about me! What about you? Are you okay? Nothing happened at the bar while I was gone, right?"

"Something did happen but Cris Yoon came and saved me." Kelvin said. He saw Leslie's expression and sighed before he started telling her what had happened.

Leslie's expression darkened as she listened to Kelvin's story. She couldn't believe that this happened to her friend. She was so angry at that man for putting Kelvin through that! Argh!!! If that man wasn't already beaten to pulp, she would have raced to him and done it herself - broken ankle and all!

But, she wasn't just angry at that guy. She's also angry to herself for forgetting to tell her friend the basic rules before they went inside the bar, for letting those men distract her and for leaving him alone to fend for himself.

When Kelvin saw his friend's anguished expression, he comforted him. "It's okay, Leslie. Don't beat yourself of what didn’t happened. And really, I'm a guy I should know how to protect myself. And look, I'm not hurt. Cris saved me. I'm fine."

Leslie felt even worse to see her friend comforting her when it should be the other way around. He might be a guy but Kelvin is naive, and gentle. He didn’t know how to doubt others. He's the kind of person who is always willing to sacrifice his self to save anyone who need his help. So Leslie manned up and pushed his self-deprecating thoughts aside and focused on Kelvin.

"I'm sorry, Kel. I shouldn't have left you. Are you sure you're okay?"

Kelvin nodded. It was true. He was okay. He knew that nothing bad would happen to him as long as Cris Yoon was around. He felt calm and settled when he was around so yes, he was okay.

Leslie nodded as if she heard Kelvin's thoughts. It seemed like there was at least something good that came out of this - Kelvin had found his hero, his dark knight.

"Wait… where did that guy go?" Leslie suddenly asked.

"Who?"

"That damned pri…"

---

In the meantime, Kai had already walked out of the hospital when Kelvin and Leslie were talking and headed straight towards the black car parked not too far away.

Kai jumped into the passenger seat and hounded Cris.

"So? Did you become the hero tonight, aye?" he grinned but Cris face remained serious, more serious than ever, that Kai immediately felt that something was off.

"What is it?"

"Kai, go and deal with those lurkers… I don't want a bloodbath tonight," he lazily ordered and Kai immediately followed Cris line of sight. The moment he saw what Cris was talking about, Kai's eyes blazed dangerously.

........

Leslie was not hurt badly and after the doctor give his consent, she was soon discharged.

Mr. Black leather jacket was nowhere to be found so Leslie called a taxi to pick her up.

Unfortunately, Kelvin's father wind up what happened to them so he personally came the instant he heard his son's friend was hospitalized and he insisted on taking them home.

Leslie and his father spent a long time arguing because of what could've happened to him. And in the end he won. The verdict he's under house arrest for a week.

With that, Don Faustino arranged a chauffeur to send Leslie back home. Just like Kelvin, Don Faustino adored Kelvin and he already knew what kind of girl Leslie was, so he made sure that he would be sent back home safely. The Don even asked one of his female bodyguard to go with her along with the driver.

"I'll come visit you soon, Leslie," Kelvin said as he held his friend's hand.

"Mn, call me once you're home, okay? And don't even dare to do anything without telling me, understand?" she nagged and Kelvin just nodded. He carefully hugged his friend before they finally parted.

During the trip home, Kelvin rested his head on his father’s shoulder while his gaze was focused on the darkness outside.

Everything that happened that night started playing in his mind. There was so much for his mind to process! He thought about it the entire trip home and still found everything overwhelming.

"Stop thinking about it, Kel. Kane is already on it. Everything will be okay now.."

"Hmmm..."

When they finally reached the Faustino Mansion, Kelvin immediately went straight to his room. Inside his room, he went on his balcony, stood out there and just stared at the darkness.

As always, it was peaceful; so peaceful that it soothed his heart just by looking at it. He was home, the place Cris said he belonged. Just by comparing the gentle, peaceful and soothing atmosphere at home, he couldn't help but think that his world really was different from what was out there.

Kelvin knew that he was blessed with having a loving and peaceful family. He knew he was blessed to have a home like this, a home that protected his heart and smiles, a home that loved him. However, he had always felt this void in his heart. It wasn't that he didn't like the peace - in fact, he loved it and was thankful for it - he just wanted to feel more, to experience more even if he ended up getting hurt.

Kelvin took a deep breath and finally entered his room. And it didn't faze him that he's father was there, waiting for him..

Though, he look tired like always, Kelvin knew that his father came because he's still worrying about him..

Kelvin walked closer to him.

"Dad," he started.

"What happened tonight Kel, is not your fault. Sometimes there were people who were really evil. You can't just expect them to treat you with kindness like you treated them.."

"I know that now Dad.. "

"It's good that you understand."

Then silence.... Sighing Kelvin finally asked.. "Dad, actually I want to speak with you aboutsomething..."

Don Faustino, his father was surprised. His youngest son wasn't outspoken and he knew that he would only talk to him privately like this when he wanted something or to ask for his permission. He also knew that he rarely asked for anything. In fact, the last time he spoke to him to ask for something was back when he was seventeen.

"Dad, I… I want to move out," he said and his father looked at him in surprise.

"Kel… what do you mean you want to move out?"

"I have decided to live with Leslie for a bit. I will still go to work and come back here on the weekends."

"Kelvin can you hear what you're saying. You're sick."

"I'm still perfectly fine, Dad. And I will be fine. I'll only be away for a month."

"Kel…"

"Please, Dad. I want to experience life in the city, visit some beautiful places and go out and explore. I might not be able to go out anymore after this so… please let me go, Dad. Don't worry, I'll come back home safely."

His father couldn't say anymore when he heard Kelvin say that he might not be able to go out anymore. He knew what was ahead of him and it was painful to think about it. His son was still so young. And he was such a nice and sweet boy. He never caused any trouble for the family. And Don Faustino knew that he was lonely, being here all alone. For him, he was still just a boy and he knew Kelvin wanted to experience things outside his sheltered life, just like other boys his age.

The truth is, Don Faustino was waiting for his son to do this. He knew the risks but he understood. Life was unpredictable. No one knew when someone's time was up that was why he completely understood Kekvin's decision. As a father, he also wanted Kelvin to go and do whatever he wanted now because he knew he may never get to do them at all.

"Okay, but I have to remind you not to do anything dangerous, okay? Promise me, Kelvin. Don't do something like what happened tonight."

Kelvin was surprised. He even prepared quite a speech to persuade his father but he actually agree to him very quickly!

"I promise, Dad."

When his father finally go to sleep, Kelvin didn't waste another moment and he started packing his things. While he was grabbing his things to put into his luggage, he found and picked up a small notebook. He opened it with a smile carved on his face.

'List of things I want to do' was written on the notebook's front page.

He joyfully put it inside his bag, finished his packing and eventually drifted off to sleep.

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