The Day He Said Goodnight

Chapter 2

Morning came and Levi was still sleeping, obviously wasted because of what he had done last night.

*beep

A single phone notification woke Levi up from his slumber. "Ah," he groaned as he grabbed his phone from the table he placed beside his bed. He sluggishly opened his eyes and read the message. It stated:

[Levi, message me if you'll change your mind.]

Levi lifted both of his brows as he checked who it was from and when he confirmed that it was from Lath and not some stranger, still confused at the message, he read it again. After reading it, Levi sat properly on his bed and tried to remember what happened last night, but it seemed that nothing came into his mind no matter how hard he tried.

"Just what did I do yesterday for me to forget things that easily," he mumbled as he scratched his bed hair, confused at how he got easily drunk when he knew how high his alcohol tolerance was. Because of this matter, Levi decided to take a shower first and then call Lath after.

---

Minutes passed, Levi came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist and he rubbed his hair with a little towel to dry it. He immediately changed into a new set of clothes and checked the time.

"Shoot! I'm gonna be late for the dance practice!" Levi exclaimed as he quickly grabbed the things he needed for his work. Skipping breakfast, Levi quickly went into his garage and rode his motorbike, completely forgetting the thought about calling Lath and asking him about what happened yesterday.

---

When Levi arrived, cheers could be heard from the outside. "Teacher Levi is here!" one of the students rejoiced and was soon followed by others.

Levi, who pushed the door open with his usual poker face, was greeted by his smiling students and noticed that there were some teachers who were worn out.

Levi, who spared them a glance, became amused when he saw the teachers forcing a smile from their faces. "Did you guys give the teachers a hard time?" he asked his students as he put his bag on the locker, which was situated at the corner of the room. The students were really happy when Levi spoke since they rarely heard him speak these kinds of phrases or questions. Usually, Levi uses '1 and 2 and 3,' or 'from the start' or 'again'. Yeah, he only uses the words which were necessary for dancing only, and when his students ask him about his personal life, then he would just say, "none of your business," in a cold tone which made several students give up on asking their teacher's private life. If you would ask one how hard it is when they might just reply with: "It's as hard when you dig underground using only a toothpick."

"Yes," the students replied in glee as if they were doing the right thing. "Then I guess you all deserve a punishment," Levi said with his tone serious making both the students and the teachers gulp even though they were not involved.

"Teacher~" the students whined but Levi spared no one from them and tired them out the whole morning.

Lunch break came and Levi went out from the studio and went into the fast-food where he usually eats. While ordering, he remembered the message Lath sent him and how he planned to call him. He mentally slapped himself for being so forgetful at simple things. He was about to call Lath but it was now his turn to order so he ordered first before going to the place where he usually sits and grabbed his phone from his pocket and dialled Lath's number.

"Hello?" a sing-song voice greeted Levi's ears. But the younger was not bothered by it nor cringed from it because he was used to this ever since he became the best friend of Lath.

"Lath, what did you mean when you sent me a message earlier?" Levi asked the older.

"You don't remember?" Lath asked, unable to believe what he heard from the younger.

Levi who was now more confused said, "no," in a questioning manner. The silence was what Levi heard from the other line. Now, this creeped him out. He knew Lath to be the loud guy and when he turns quiet then something must have happened, a bad one.

"Hey, what happened yesterday?" Levi asked once again, demanding an answer from the older. Lath was still silent but after a while, he heaved a deep breath before speaking to Levi, "you were supposed to visit someone today," Lath said in a low voice and Levi was even more puzzled because of that.

'Why and who am I visiting today? I recall having no appointments with someone,' he thought.

"Lath...who am I—" Levi was cut off by his best friend.

"Try to recall what happened yesterday since I don't want you to be pissed off by me," and with that, Lath hanged up the call, leaving Levi clueless and all on his own.

"Aish! Just what did I do yesterday?" Levi asked, obviously frustrated at himself for not recalling yesterday's event.

"Here's your order sir," the waitress handed a tray down to Levi's table gently with smoke still coming out from the food. Because of this, a part of Levi's memories surfaced.

"Here is your order handsome men," the owner exclaimed as she put Lath's newly ordered food at their table.

"Levi, here...drink," Lath poured Levi a glass of liquor and handed it to him. Levi was about to refuse Lath's offer but he remembered the older's wishes earlier. And so, he gave up and grabbed the cup that was filled with liquor by Lath. As he drank it, he swore that he saw Lath smile, not heartily nor because of pure happiness but evilly and so he put the glass that was now empty gently to the table and raised his head to look at Lath who was eating casually.

"Are you planning something?"  Levi asked the older. Lath put his chopsticks down and smiled at Levi who was eyeing him as if he had done something cruel. "Am I that type of a person who does a bad thing to his friend?" Lath asked Levi who was still studying his movements and being on guard.

"No, unless that person did something to you," Levi said as he poured himself a new drink. It's too late to stop now since he already started so he just continued, his alcohol tolerance is not that low though.

"Then, did you do something to me to make me want to harm you?" Lath asked as he raised his brows up while grabbing himself a cup and swirled the liquor inside it.

"Not that I know of," Levi shrugged and Lath continued eating his food while Levi continuously poured a drink for himself until he drank 5 bottles while Lath's still enjoying his dinner and drank some.

That night, both of them had fun. They joked about things, had some talks about people they knew and talked s**t about their lives back when they were a teenager. But their fun ended when Levi's phone suddenly beeped. "Lath, I'll just read this~" Levi excused himself making Lath chuckle a bit since this is one of the few times where he can witness Levi drunk like this.

When Levi opened his phone, his eyes squinted at the unfamiliar number that showed on his screen with the message:

[Can you visit me tomorrow?]

Levi was puzzled at who would possibly send this message to him.

"Can you visit me tomorrow," Levi read loudly, enough for Lath to hear and made him stop drinking.

"Who's that?" Lath asked Levi seriously and the younger looked at him with his drunk expression and shrugged like a kid.

"Aiya," Lath sighed at his younger friend's situation.

When Levi poured himself another drink, Lath immediately grabbed it from him when he was about to drink it again. Levi who noticed this complained to his best friend, "my drink~" he made grabby hands towards Lath but the older already drank the liquor inside it.

"You should stop Lev. You're already drunk," he said but Levi was stubborn and kept lunging to Lath just to grab his empty glass.

"Lev stop...just stop! Lev, I swear—" they both stopped when they heard another phone beep from Levi's phone.

Lev sat back in his seat as if nothing happened earlier and grabbed his phone from his pocket and read the message. "It's the same number from earlier~," Levi said and showed it to Lath and when the older was about to read its message, Levi grabbed it back.

[It's me, Est, Celeste Estee Castillo ]

Levi read it and then said, "Oh? It's from Estee!" Levi cheered as if he had just received candy from his mother. And without any other thoughts, Levi immediately replied, "okay" and sent it.

"Sent it~" Levi cheered drunk and showed it to Lath who spat his drink and eyes opening wide from the thing that Levi did.

"Gallardo, Oh! Levi Gallardo...you're doomed," said Lath as he facepalmed and rubbed his forehead, too embarrassed to look at his friend who did a thing that he'll surely regret when he sobers up.

Lath, who finally recalled what he did yesterday night screamed inside and he badly wanted to punch his drunk self because he just broke something. A promise to himself years ago that he would never do again.