The Day He Said Goodnight

Chapter 3

Levi immediately ate his lunch and sprinted towards Lath's workplace. He got to the receptionist while catching up his breath.

"L-Lath E-Esguerro please," he inquired and leaned against the marble counter while waiting for the receptionist to call his dear best friend.

"Do you have any appointments with Mr Esguerro, sir?" the receptionist asked Levi politely.

Levi then turned his stern gaze to the receptionist making her gulp down both in fear and being attracted to the said man. "No, but I don't need to have one," Levi said with his usual tone and hearing this response brought the receptionist back to her senses.

"But sir, you just need to have an appointment with Mr Esguerro if you wish to meet him," said the receptionist while still staring at Levi who brushed his hair back due to frustration.

"I don't need an appointment...just tell him that his friend is here," Levi said but the receptionist still insisted that he isn't allowed to meet Lath unless he gets an appointment with him.

'f**k,' Levi cursed in his mind as he grabbed his phone and dialled Lath's number.

"Hello~" a sing-song voice greeted him.

"I'm at your workplace, downstairs...I kept asking for your name but the receptionist won't lead me to you because she kept insisting that I need to have an appointment with you," Levi explained the whole situation with his frustrated voice while stealing a glance at the receptionist who was also staring at him.

"Alright—" Levi then hanged up upon hearing Lath's confirmation to come down and get him.

"My friend's coming...so there's no use standing here," Levi said and glared at the receptionist before going to the waiting area.

5 minutes passed and Lath arrived at where Levi was and when he saw the older, he felt anger and relief at the same time. Angry at how Lath didn't stop him from replying to the message from that person and also relief since he's going to bring his best friend with him everywhere, starting from now.

"Lev! What a surprise!" Lath welcomed Levi with a warm hug but the younger did not appreciate it and didn't even bother to return it. "Yeah yeah. Now come with me," Levi went straight to the point and grabbed Lath's arm and dragged him outside the building.

People who saw this might have the wrong idea. They might think that their co-worker was being dragged by a gangster or something since Yibo was wearing a very casual attire that someone might mistake him as a thug. The others will also have the idea of Lath being dragged away by his partner because of jealousy. But the truth was far from that.

"Oi, Lev, slow down," Lath complained when they got out of the building. "Why did you not stop me yesterday?" Levi asked with his eyebrows meeting each other while Lath's expression showed that he was flabbergasted by Levi's question.

'How can he say that I didn't try my best to stop him when I didn't even read the message?' Lath asked himself and wanted to scold the younger but decided not to since he know how high the younger's pride was, and yeah, Levi doesn't accept defeats since he never experienced one.

"Uh, excuse you..." Lath said in a sassy tone which made Levi shocked. "...I did my best to stop you from getting yourself super drunk but you even wanted to put up a fight with me whenever I try to take the glass away from you even though it was already empty! I also peeked at your phone trying to read what the message was but I was too late...you already sent it with a puppy smile on your face saying 'I sent it~' in a drunk manner," Lath imitated what Levi's actions were yesterday and it made the younger embarrassed.

"Alright, stop that," Lath pleaded but the older was in the mood to tease the younger more. "You did it like this Lev," Lath teased the younger more until his best friend's face became red like a tomato and when Lath got tired from teasing, he asked Levi seriously, "are you going to visit her?"

Levi thought about it earlier and confirmed to himself that he will do it. He's a man who is true to his words after all.

"Yeah," Lath was surprised by Levi's answer. He thought that Levi would back out since Celeste Castillo was a part of his past. He almost could never move from a past, it was always pulling him every day, making it hard for Levi to move on back then. But thankfully, after many years of trying, Levi moved forward once again and came back to his old self.

"You sure?" Lath asked, worried about the younger's emotions but it all vanished when Levi showed him a determined nod. This reassured him that the younger no longer holds special feelings towards the woman who hurt him before.

"Yes, I'm going to visit her and show her how much I've changed for the past few years," Levi said, determined and Lath felt like a proud papa looking at his child who finally learned to stand on his own.

Both of them were now standing at the place where Celeste resides. Levi was surprised at why they were in front of a hospital while Lath's mouth gaped open when he realized that they are currently standing in front of the Philippines's most expensive hospital.

"Is Celeste a doctor here?" Lath asked Levi who was still staring at the building without any actions being executed.

It was already 1 in the afternoon and before they made their way into the hospital, Levi called the studio and asked for a half-day meaning that he'll take the rest of the day as a day off. The teachers were surprised. Why? because they knew that Levi is the type of instructor who would prioritize his classes rather than entertaining something, no matter how important it is.

"I don't know, she just sent me the place where to meet her," Levi shrugged and made his way towards the entrance with his overall expression showing that he has no interest in this visit whatsoever. Seeing this made Lath question why he would pay a visit to the person who broke his heart a visit when he had no interest in doing it.

"Aiya, this kid's so hard to read," Lath complained before catching up to Levi who was already at the reception table.

"Yah!" he shouted as he fasten his pace towards where Levi was.

"Can I know where Celest Castillo is?" Levi asked with seriousness clear in his tone. The nurse was smitten by Levi to the point where she had not heard the question asked by the man.

Lath who noticed the young nurse's stare towards his friend smirked at the nurse. "Excuse me miss, my boyfriend here is asking where Celeste Castillo is," hearing this, Levi immediately looked at Lath with raised brows and a look saying what-do-you-mean and what-are-you-doing.

The nurse was surprised by Lath's words but it was worth it since the spark in her eyes disappeared and went back to her job. "Celeste Castillo is at ward 105," the nurse said with her tone different from what she used earlier.

Levi did not waste any more time and headed out to where the nurse told him to go. "Is Celeste doing her rounds?" Lath asked but heard no reply from his friend so he answered himself, "maybe Lath...maybe she's doing her rounds. That's her job as a doctor after all."

It did not take long for the two to locate where ward 105 was. Just a couple of minutes passed and they were already standing in front of the room.

"So are you going in?" Lath nudged Levi slightly on the elbow but only to earn a glare at the younger and that was enough to make him stop from what he was doing.

"If you're not going in then I will," Lath said and gripped the door's handle and was about to open it when it opened on its own. Levi who was on his guard immediately grabbed the person's shoulder, thinking that it was Celeste since their build was quite similar to that time when he last saw her.

"Celeste Estee," he blurted but when the person looked at him with a questioning gaze, Levi then realized that it was not Celeste and so he released his tight grip from the person and slightly bowed his head and apologized, "I'm sorry doctor," thankfully, the doctor smiled at him and then urged them to continue their way inside.

Lath came into a realization, "so Celeste wasn't a doctor after all," he shrugged and then pushed the door open only to reveal a frail-looking figure sitting with a beanie that covered her head and wearing a hospital gown with an IV drip clinging unto her hand that was resting above the blanket that covered her legs.

She was looking at the window as if she was longing to go outside for a long time. Just from a distance, Lath could feel the girl's loneliness. I mean, who wouldn't feel alone being stuck here, in this spacious ward with no one but yourself?

"Is Celeste here?" Lath voiced out the obvious making the frail-looking figure look at him with surprise. When Lath met the man's eyes, it then struck him.

The girl who was sitting at the bed, looking all alone and with longing present in her eyes was none other than the person who had requested Levi to visit him. It was Celeste Estee Castillo.