Romance of the Four Juans

Track 21

Over the course of the week, the brothers spent time getting permits to open the bar. It’s under Jigo’s name, first because he’s the only one who had plans on opening a business, and second, because he has multiple savings accounts to fund the bar’s operations. Jigo insisted on doing everything right. He insisted on paying rent and urged Asyong to draw a lessor contract. Asyong couldn’t win against Jigo’s hardheadedness and caved. He stated an acceptable value and Beibei prepared the contract for them.

A month later, they’re admiring a remodeled bar and are setting up all the equipment. So far, Jigo has been able to recruit one employee, George, the only person he knows who has experience with bartending. The brothers once joked about Jigo’s dependency on George. “I bet you love George more than you love any of us.” An-An grumbled once.

Jigo simply answered with, “I think so too.”

George is Jigo’s answer to everything. If he can’t find something in his own room, he calls George and the man will tell him where to look. When he needs to update his socials, he takes advantage of George being a photographer, and they’ll do some mock photoshoot outside. Most importantly, when Jigo was in need of a manager, he took advantage of George’s drunkenness to get him to play the role.

George’s management has since increased, from simply answering work calls and updating Jigo’s calendar, Jigo also made him accept Lucille and Huan into his pool of actors to manage. Now, he’s expected to manage Four Leaf Clover’s activities as well. How he’ll fit bartending into the mix poses a problem not only with his photography career but also with his love life. These days, George found himself internalizing as to why he still rides Jigo’s whims, letting the kid run his professional life.

The answer is Beibei. George stayed around with Jigo because he knew he could use their connection as a bridge to get to Beibei. He’s so smitten with the woman, he’d do anything to be with her. In all fairness, George never believed in love at first sight, but when he saw that drunken woman at a coffee shop that fateful night of HB’s birthday, he heard wedding bells like he'd never heard them before. He has postponed his return home a number of times to be with Beibei. Now, he’s contemplating staying in the country for good. If only Beibei would stop playing at his heartstrings.

“I asked ate Beibei for a favor. I told her you sampled too many alcoholic beverages and couldn’t get yourself home. She’s coming to pick you up.” Jigo informs him. It is already past one in the morning and George is not getting any younger. “She should be here any minute now.”

George rolls his eyes, but he ducks and starts picking up his possessions from under the bar; a leather jacket, sunglasses, and “Would it be weird if I waited for her outside? I should be here and at least let her walk up to me, right?”

Jigo shakes his head at him. “It’s a wonder how you managed to get a girl to marry you the first time, kuya. But don’t worry. Whatever happens, I’ll pay for your next wedding.”

Everyone watched George turn into a giddy teenage boy when the long-legged lawyer turned up at the bar to get him. They admired and even teased George, at how smoothly he placed one arm around Beibei’s shoulders, leaning on her and pretending to be dizzy as they went out the door.

Their night didn’t stop there. They were wrapping up after playing one last song, when the door was pushed open and HB comes in running towards Kiko, embracing him.

“Someone was following me.”

The brothers looked at the door and found a man peeking at their glass door and leaving immediately upon seeing them. Kiko disengages himself from the hug and goes for the door. Jigo soon follows. It should have been a peaceful night, but who would have thought that punches would be thrown, and they’d all end up at a police station, sitting by order of birth with HB smacked between the second and the third child. The girl looks totally fine now. She even has the nerve to be concerned about the blood on Jigo’s knuckles while Kiko is fuming next to her.

“Don’t worry, it’s not mine.” Jigo whispers, which makes her grin.

“I knew this would happen. Agh! I could strangle you!” Kiko hisses at the girl. “What did I say, ha? One or the other these strange routines of yours will get you in trouble. Stop taking 2 a.m. walks, Bee! Is that too much to ask?”

“Kuya. Can you scold her gently?” Jigo warns from HB’s right side. “She’s been spooked enough.”

Huan chimes in, telling Jigo to keep quiet in Korean, which surprises the third child. He is angrier because the two people who started the fight didn’t get any injuries on them and yet he, who only came to break the rumble, got a bruised cheek and a cut on his lower lip. “How dare you throw the first punch?”

Jigo falls silent even when he wants to question when or how Huan learned how to speak Hangul.

The youngest could only sigh. While his older brothers were throwing punches and kicking at the other party, An-An stood at the sidelines and kept HB and himself away from the scuttle. But his loyalty to his brothers made him come to the police station and take responsibility with them.

“Who started it?” Everyone looked back at their father. Dante looks like he has been robbed of sleep for hundreds of years. His head has grown more white hair since his birthday. Since when did he grow so old?

“Who called him?” The eldest demanded from the younger brothers.

“I did.” The police chief responds.

Huan groans. He had forgotten that their father was Mr. Popular and Mr. I-Keep-in-Contact-with-Old-Classmates. Then he glares at the police officer for daring to call Dante at two in the morning when he should be sound asleep. Receiving the call that all his sons are in the police station must have shocked their old man. “Pa. We didn’t start it. Well, Jigo threw a punch first.”

“They came to my defense, Uncle.” HB answers.

“Actually…” The police officer interrupts. “The other party is claiming that they were hired to be the girl’s bodyguard.”

Kiko slams his hand on the table. “Like hell they are!”

“They said they were hired by someone called Nicolai Danella.”

“That would be my brother.” HB admits. She met Kiko’s gaze, who sobered way too quickly. “I want to go home now, if we’re done.”

Kiko gulps. Then he sighs. “Then, we’ll settle this with kuya Nico. We can just write it up as a simple misunderstanding, can’t we? I’ll sign the incident report.”

Dante laughs on his way back to the bar. “I imagined something like this would happen to either one of you the minute you opened the bar. You haven’t even begun your operations and you have already made that trip. How did it feel riding in the back of the police car?”

An-An chuckles. “Fun. Presko.”

Tensions still run high, especially between HB and Kiko, who chose to keep quiet. But that trip to the police station has become a blessing in disguise because it ended the long, cold war between father and sons. No apologies were ever spoken. They didn’t need it because they’re a family.