The Day He Said Goodnight

Chapter 1

The night was flooded with stars along with the moon sharing its brightness with the people who were minding their own business as they walked with the crowd on the streets.

Along with those people stood a man wearing a plain t-shirt paired with baggy pants and a shoulder bag that hung on his right shoulder. It was Levi Gallardo who came from his dance practice and was currently on his way to meet up with some friends that he had seen months before.

Levi was minding his own business, his phone suddenly rang from his bag and so he immediately took it and read the Caller's I.D. only to read Liam's name on it.

Lath, Lath Esguerro is Levi's best friend. Even though they have a three-year gap, Lath and Levi regard each other as best friends. Lath did not find this hard, since Levi's way of thinking is quite mature for his age and he is sometimes even more mature than him. It reached the point where Lath questioned himself about who was the older one.

"Yes?" Levi picked up the call.

"Lev, where are you right now?" Lath asked in a whiny tone that made Levi shake his head, feeling embarrassed because of the older person's behaviour.

"I'm on my way...you can start eating if you're hungry," said Levi as he fastened his pace since he didn't want Lath to eat all their food. Though Levi told Lath to start eating, all of those were empty words. Instead, he was threatening Lath to not eat anything unless he was already there.

"Aiya, your words meant the complete opposite!" exclaimed the older person who had a whiny voice on the other line.

I swear I'm gonna smack this man when I see him.

The younger person quoted as he got tired of hearing the older person's complaints. "Just wait for me," he said, and then ended the call. Though for others it might seem inappropriate for a younger person to say those words, but for Lath, this is completely normal. It's even a miracle that Levi picked up his calls since he usually doesn't, and the reason is that he found it annoying or tiresome.

---

When Levi arrived at the restaurant where he agreed to meet Lath. He stood at the entrance and took his time to scan the whole room first and when his eyes spotted a familiar person, he immediately made his way and smacked his head.

"Ah!" the figure whom Levi smacked winced in pain. Levi was surprised when the figure had a different tone and a completely different voice. Because of this, he was certain that this person he had smacked was not his best friend.

I'm doomed...

The figure slowly turned around and faced Levi and then stood up. Levi was frightened when he saw that the man's figure was so different from his. He has the normal guy body type while the man whom he had smacked has the body type of a bodybuilder!

But even though Levi was afraid that the man would beat him to a pulp, he never showed it, since the other party might get the idea of him being a coward. This was not something that Levi wanted the others to call him and being a coward was not for him. Others see him as a strong, cold, and fearless Levi, but if you truly know him, then you would say that he's the cute and fragile Levi and that if you could mishandle him, then you would break him completely.

"I-I'm really sorry," he stuttered but hid it well to not let the big guy notice him stuttering. "I thought that you were my friend..." he continued when he noticed the big guy's eyebrows rise together.

The big guy, who seemed to be captivated by Levi's looks, decided to slide it off, "don't worry, it wasn't that hard," the guy smiled though what he felt was the complete opposite of what he said. Levi smacked his head so strong that it might grow a bump tomorrow.

If it had been a normal guy who was drunk and didn't have the look like Levi's then he would've beaten that man to a pulp.

Levi who was surprised by the big guy's answer, thanked him while his mind was still processing what had happened. "Thank you," he said and bowed a 90-degree bow before leaving the big guy's table.

Just after he got away from trouble, an arm swung its place above Levi's shoulder, startling him. "Ah," he flinched and then heard a familiar chuckle.

"Lath," he called out and the older just smiled.

Lath was wearing a white plain long-sleeve paired with slacks and black shoes with his long hair tied into a ponytail.

"Lev, how are you?" the older person asked in a teasing tone, making the younger glare at him. Lath called Levi "Lev" since the younger tasked him to do so. Lath was confused as to why the younger person would do that to him until he knew the exact reason why. When he knew the truth, he then started calling Levi "Lev" with ease.

When Lath saw Levi glaring at him, he immediately expressed an innocent expression, "what did I do?" he asked, which was followed by a whistle.

The younger kept glaring at him and spoke as they made their way to their table, "you saw me almost getting into trouble earlier and you did nothing," he complained, and the older just wickedly smiled at him and replied, "that's your karma for threatening me earlier," he said in a sing-song tone before started eating their food that was now cold after minutes of exposure.

---

"That was satisfying," Lath said as he rubbed his now full stomach and then smiled while looking at Levi who was slumping himself onto the chair, "since we're done with the main course...why not drink?"

Lath said as he raised his hand and the waiter came to them and immediately took Lath's orders. Lath was waiting with anticipation while Levi was contemplating whether he should drink or not. After all, he's a dancer, a dance choreographer at that. Therefore, he cannot afford to have a headache tomorrow.

"Uhh, I have to skip for now since—" Levi was unable to finish when Lath's point finger made its way to shush Levi's mouth. "How long are you going to keep making these excuses...it's been months since we last saw each other and now you're here to spoil the mood...good job Lev," Lath's mood completely dropped after hearing Levi declining to drink.

Levi thought about it carefully and felt guilty for taking the fun that Lath was enjoying. Because of their schedules, they were not able to see each other often, but they would still contact each other, but that wasn't enough.

Levi looked at Lath, who was lowering his head, probably because of the disappointment that his best friend gave him. After carefully thinking about everything, Levi decided not to spoil Lath Esguerro's fun anymore and just let him be...after all, what's the harm of drinking with his best friend for one night, right?