I won't leave you.

"Oh, my gosh! So, that's what happened to you when you were six years old?"

Sheena asked Jake after learning about his past.

Jake nodded.

Sheena just looked closely at Jake.

After a while, Jake also looked at her.

They made eye contact.

Jake spoke, "By the way, what were you saying about 'that's why I came back' earlier?"

Sheena just stared at Jake and didn't speak.

"... H-his vibe... it's different now..." she thought to herself.

"Oh, that? It's nothing." Sheena answered Jake's question.

"Just tell me."

"Huh? His voice..." Sheena thought again.

"A-are you okay, bro?"

Jake looked "Hm? Haha, of course!"

"Wait... what now? His true vibe is back... what am I feeling about Jake? Is it just me, or is he really changing?" Sheena thought to herself again.

Jake smiled and said "Sis?"

"Oh... I'm sorry. It's nothing, Jake. I just said that because—"

Sheena's words were cut off when Jake suddenly said, "Don't lie to me ~"

Sheena's eyes widened. "Okay fine. I found a new job-"

"Really?" Jake interrupted, surprised.

"Why didn't you tell me right away? Haha. Congrats, sis! You're always the best."

Sheena took a while to respond, just staring at Jake.

"... Jake?"

"Haha, yeah?"

She hugged Jake, and said while crying, "I won't leave you, no matter what happens... I will never leave you. Your big sister is here, okay?"

"Sis?..."

Looking and pinching his cheek, "So, you don't need to change yourself just to be liked or accepted by people, okay? Your big sister likes you, and your big sister is always here, okay? Do you understand?"

Sheena said all this to Jake while crying.

"Sis? Why? I'm okay, you see?" Jake asked worriedly.

"I... I am just overreacting? I-I'm sorry, Jakeyyy." Then she hugs Jake again, and crying out loud.

Jake's speechless...

And then...

"Thank you, sis... but... you don't need to do all this for me, okay? I'm grown up now and I can take care of myself, hehe."

Sheena looked at Jake without speaking.

He looks away "Don't look at me like that, sis!"

"Jake... always remember what I tell you, huh? You need to keep your promises to me, okay? You said you're grown up now, so you shouldn't be stubborn with me anymore."

Jake looks at Sheena, unable to believe how much his sister worries about him. He can't believe that in his world, there is someone who loves him, someone who isn't even his blood relative.

Jake hugged Sheena and thanked her. "Thank you so much, sis."

"Ihh~, you're making me... cry even more." And then, she cries even more.

"Hehe, but thank you so much, and I love you too. But do what you need to do, don't worry about me. I've managed for years on my own, so I can do this.

"You said it yourself, right? That we can see each other when we have free time, hehe." Jake said to his sister while she continued to cry.

"Oh... Jakeyyy." She hugged him.

→⁠_⁠→→⁠_⁠→→⁠_⁠→←⁠_⁠←←⁠_⁠←←⁠_⁠←

After five minutes, they decided to go home.

"I'll take you home, Jake, huh? And you can't do anything about it."

"I said you don't need to do that!!"

She looked, and raised her eyebrows "Oh?"

Jake turned his back on his sister and said, "Sigh, she's really scary, I have no chance."

And then she suddenly pinches him to make him walk towards the ride.

"Awww, sis!!!"

"HAHAHA! Hurts, doesn't it?"

They laugh together.

***

10:15 PM.

They stand in front of Jake's apartment, saying their goodbyes.

"I'm worried, sis. What if something happens to you? It's late," Jake says anxiously.

"Me? Impossible. I'm strong," she smirks.

"Seriously. Um... why don't you stay here for the night?" Jake offered.

"As much as I'd like to, your place is far from my workplace. It's better if I go home, besides, I have work tomorrow... so go on inside!"

"Okay... Take care," Jake said, and hugged her tightly.

"Remember what we talked about, Jake, huh? Listen."

He nodded.

Both: "Bye!"

→⁠_⁠→→⁠_⁠→→⁠_⁠→←⁠_⁠←←⁠_⁠←←⁠_⁠←

4 days ago.

It's Tuesday night, and Jake is lies in his bed to rest after work.

"Man~, I can return to school tomorrow, haha. Hopefully, this is my first and last suspension, hehe. By the way, I wonder how my sister is doing? It's been four days since we last saw each other."

While staring at the ceiling, Jake eventually fell asleep.

"(Snore) Zzzzzz... Hmm"

*****

At 5:00 AM, Jake opened his eyes. "Hm?... Is it already bright outside?" he muttered, glancing at the clock. "Oh, it's already 5 am. I thought I was late."

Jake got up and started getting ready for school.

Yawning and stretching, "Haayyyy, I'm excited to go back, I've missed school, hehe."

An hour and a half later, Jake was on his way to school.

"Man, this is our first day traveling to school since you came back to me, hehe," he said to his bike, pedaling faster.

***

At school*

Jake walked down the corridor and noticed students staring at him.

He felt shy, "Um.. why are they looking at me?" he thought.

"Hey, isn't that the guy in the picture going around on social media, the one who was seen drinking with an older person and allegedly got involved because that's the only way to make a living since he's alone?" whispered a student as Jake passed by.

Unaware of what was happening, Jake continued walking straight to his classroom.

When Jake entered the classroom, even his classmates were staring at him.

"Huh? Even them? What's going on? Is it because I came back? hehe." he whispered to himself, assumed.

Jake sat down next to Faye.

"Hi Faye. How are you?"

"You, how are you?" Faye said, trying to stifle a laugh.

"Huh? Hehe, I'm okay."

Suddenly, another classmate spoke up.

"Hey, aren't you aware? Haha." he asked, laughing.

"Aware? From wha-"

Their teacher suddenly arrived.

"Good morning, class!"

Everyone stood up and greeted, "Good morning, Ma'am Shara."

The teacher noticed Jake, "Oh, Jake. You're back?... Everyone, welcome Jake back with a round of applause."

His classmates clapped and laughed.

Jake laughed along, thinking it was just a joke.

*****

Classes were over, and it was break time.

Jake went to the canteen to buy some food and then headed to the bleachers to sit down.

Suddenly, Faye's circle of friends arrived.

"Hey, a hypocrite pretending to be a good student but having a sugar momma."

Jake was about to take a bite when he heard this. "Huh? Sugar momma? You guys are such jokers, haha."

Faye sat next to Jake and said, "Look at this, Jake~"

She showed him a picture they took of Jake at the karaoke bar while he was drunk, and the caption said, "A man defeated by his sugar mommy."

"It's spreading around that you're pretending to be a good student, and you're actually making a living by flirting," Faye teased.

"Huh? Me? Having a sugar mommy? But that picture is from karao-"

"Bye, Jake. Enjoy your food~" they said as they walked away.

"What's happening? Is that why people have been staring at me?"

Suddenly, the bell rang.

Jake was back in the classroom when Faye and her friends entered.

He was about to ask Faye about what was going on when someone kicked the back of his uniform.

"Hey, pal! How's it going? I heard you're loaded, huh?" His classmates laughed.

"My uniform... Loaded? What are you guys talking about? Hehe."

"Still pretending... make sure to share some of that money when Mommy gives it to you~"

Everyone who heard and saw laughed, and Jake joined in the laughter, thinking they were just joking and trying to be friendly.

"Hehe, okay guys."

The statistics teacher arrived, and the class began.

They had a quiz, and then...

"Done, ma'am," Jake said.

"Huh? What the... It's only been eight minutes since I handed out the paper! You've already finished the 25 questions?" the teacher asked, surprised.

"Yes, ma'am? Hehe."

Jake submitted his paper, and when the teacher checked it, almost all the answers were correct.

"Wow!" the teacher whispered.

Class was over, and it was time to go home.

Before Jake left the classroom, the teacher called him.

"Jake, please stay. I need to talk to you after everyone else has left."

"Okay, ma'am."

The students left, and the teacher began talking to Jake.

"Jake, how did you manage to finish the quiz so quickly? You've been gone for a week!"

"Why, ma'am? Hehe. It was easy."

"Easy? You've been gone for a week, so you didn't know what we studied during that time."

"Um... Sorry, ma'am! (Bows). But I just knew the answers. Were they correct?"

"Yes."

"Really, ma'am? Thank you (bows)."

"Such a talented student..." the teacher said to herself.

"Alright, you may go home now!"

Jake left the classroom and headed straight to the gate to go home.

As he exited the gate, he saw his sister across the street. Smiled at him.

"Sis?"

Jake approached her.

"Sis, why are you here? Hehe. Don't you have work?" he asked.

"Yes, it's my day off. Why did it take you so long? Other students have been coming out for a while."

"Ahh, my teacher just talked to me, hehe."

Many people who knew about Jake's recent issues saw them.

"Hey, look. That's Jake, right? The woman with him looks to be in her twenties... could that be her?"

"Wow! In fairness, his sugar mommy is beautiful. If I were Jake, I wouldn't mind the issue."

"Woah, so it's true that he has a sugar mommy... and she's pretty... long hair."

These were the comments from students who saw Jake and his sister talking.

Soon, Lorraine also saw Jake talking to Sheena.

"Hey, sis, look. It's Jake..." Lorraine nudged Faye.

"Who's he with? She's beautiful." Faye asked.

"The students are staring at them. They probably think that's Jake's sugar mommy, haha." said Charm.

"What? Someone that beautiful would go for Jake?" said Faye, and they all laughed.

"But actually, this could add to his issue, hehe." Faye added as she smirked, seemingly planning something.

*****

(Click)

"Hey, dumb**s, why did your camera flash?"

Someone took a picture of Jake and Sheena...