Facades

Jun's eyes sparkled as soon as I agreed to eat Mexican food with him.

His tastes went all the way back to when we were dating. He always wanted to share his favorite food with me, but most of them were too spicy for me. Not only that, but he also had the audacity to make fun of me because of it, and I hadn't forgiven him for it.

We headed to the nearest Mexican food stall and Jun ordered for the both of us. More importantly, he didn't suspect a thing about my plans.

Even though I didn't know much about Mexican food, the absurd amount of red sauce on top of the dish Jun had ordered seemed far from mild when compared to the picture on the menu. Meanwhile, the tacos Jun had recommended to me didn't look half bad, but knowing Jun, I still expected them to be spicy.

"Do you accept phone payments?" I asked the guy behind the counter of the stall.

"Yes, we do," he smiled.

"Great."

I reached for the phone in my pocket, just to remember it was Jun's as soon as I unlocked it.

"Give me my phone," I told Jun.

"Why? You can pay with mine," he replied.

"You're the unemployed one here. I don't mind paying."

Even though a smile remained on his face, I knew him well enough to see the pain in his eyes.

"That's a low blow, even if it is true," he laughed nervously.

He took my phone out of the sundress' pocket and gave it to me. I handed him his phone before unlocking mine with the pin code and opening the payments app. The scanner instantly recognized my phone's sensor and the order went through, then the guy in the stall gave me a ticket with my order number. Not wanting to hold the line any longer, we moved away and sat down at a small table for two.

We had been silent for awkwardly long when I noticed a tapping on the floor beneath the table. I moved the chair backward and bent forward to see what it was.

"I see you're still a perv," said Jun.

"I'm not—"

Thinking I had moved backward enough to be able to sit up clearly, I banged the back of my head against the table. Jun didn't hesitate to burst out laughing.

"I see you're still a dork," I groaned as I caressed the back of my head. "At least you're handsome now."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

I sighed. "I wanted to see what the sound was. You need to smoke a cigarette."

"I know. I didn't remember how much I hated this feeling. Don't worry, I'll survive."

"If you say so."

The conversation came to a halt, and I could feel the awkward silence approaching once again. Wanting to avoid it at all costs, I asked.

"How are you—"

"How's your—"

We both interrupted each other trying to break the ice.

"You first," I said.

"Alright. How's your family doing? How's your brother?"

"You really miss him, huh?"

"I do," he answered. "I told you that not being able to visit him again was going to be the hardest part when we broke up. He was just a kid back then. He's about to graduate high school, isn't he?"

"He is, and he's very excited about it, apparently. He keeps suggesting to my parents that he could come live with me and get a half-time job during uni, but I can't afford to take care of another person, especially a teenager."

"Weren't your parents tight on money?" wondered Jun.

I sighed. "They are. I know it'd take a burden off my parents if my brother came to live with me, but I'm not ready for that responsibility yet."

"I think you underestimate him. He's going to get a job, right? And he'll help you with the chores. He's not a kid anymore, he's a young adult."

I squinted my eyes. "You just want to see him again."

"Maybe," Jun smiled. "Seriously, I hope you consider it. I want to play with that little devil again."

A bittersweet smile appeared on my face.

"I'll think about it. Also, I told you that you could still visit him after we broke up. He was insanely sad for weeks."

"It would've been awkward for everyone else."

"No, it wouldn't have. Everyone in my family loved you."

"That's exactly why it would've been awkward," reiterated Jun. "Talking about awkward, have you told your parents that you've already lost your virginity?"

I frowned, "Why would I?"

"You reckon it's extremely likely they heard us doing it at least once since their room was next to yours and we couldn't even wait to be home alone, right?"

"Yes, but I still don't see the point of telling them. They haven't brought up the topic, and I wouldn't lie if they asked."

He squinted his eyes at me in silence before closing them.

"If you say so."

A long sigh came out of my mouth.

"What about you? Haven't you had any more girlfriends?"

"I have. Two, actually."

My eyes opened wide. "Wait, really?"

"Your doubt is more painful than you saying I wasn't handsome before," he laughed nervously, "but you're right, more people started to approach me as soon as I started taking care of my appearance. That plus a confident facade made me one of the most popular guys in the university."

That surprised me for good.

"How long did your relationships last?" I wondered.

"Less than a year each," he smiled.

All emotion vanished from my face. "Are you serious?"

He nodded, "I am. They weren't that interested after finding out I was a dork inside, and the same thing that happened to us back then happened with them."

I raised one of my eyebrows.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you remember? We both agreed that sex does feel good, but it wouldn't matter if there was no passion. I felt the same emptiness we both felt back then."

Not knowing what to say, I merely replied, "I see."

"Yeah. My friends" —he said as he curled two of his fingers on both hands—"at uni always made fun of me when I told them about it."

"What jerks."

"What jerks indeed. They are not my friends anymore, if you were wondering."

"Good. Do you have new friends?" I asked.

"Online friends only," he answered.

"Me too. What games are you playing, by the way?"

The conversation took yet another detour, but we were getting along faster than I had expected.

We continued talking until the number of our order appeared on the screen above the stall. Jun snatched the ticket out of my hand before I could even react and ran toward the stall. Shaking my head, I followed him, since he wasn't going to be able to grab the food and the drinks all by himself.

Only then did I remember my plan to get revenge when I saw the food on the counter, and I couldn't help but smirk. We grabbed everything and returned to our table.

We sat down and started unwrapping the food. I had just unwrapped my tacos when Jun took the first bite of his giant burrito, which didn't look healthy for breakfast at all. He chewed innocently with a wide smile, while I couldn't stop watching, waiting for his reaction. I probably looked like a creep doing so, but he was too distracted to notice.

About to take the second bite, he abruptly stopped moving the burrito toward his mouth, which he quickly closed. His eyes opened wide and his mouth opened again, this time to let out a breath of fire.

While he processed what was going on, I put my drink down on the floor. He then reached for his drink, but I snatched it away from him.

"What the hell?" he breathed. He stood up to take it back from me, but I moved it farther away while stopping him with my other hand. "What are you doing?!"

"Apologize."

"For what?!"

"For making fun of me for not being able to handle spicy food."

"Are you kidding me?! That was years ago!"

He kept trying to take the drink from me, but I wouldn't let him get any closer. It got to a point where I began to feel guilty.

"Fine! I'm sorry."

As much as I wanted to keep playing with him, the guilt wouldn't let me. And I also wasn't the kind of person to torture others.

I gave him his drink back and, instead of chugging it down, he took a huge sip and left it in his mouth to cool it down. I couldn't help but laugh at his red face and crying eyes.

"Very funny," he fumed.

"Yes," I continued to laugh.

He pushed his burrito toward me. "Give me your tacos."

"Fair enough."

Knowing I wasn't going to struggle with the spicy food, I ate the burrito like a normal meal, and the satisfaction of revenge made it even better.

Eventually, we were done eating. We headed outside but a food coma, combined with the swapping process, hit us harder than I expected halfway through the mall. About to pass out, we sat on a bench near the exit.

We didn't say anything as sleepiness overpowered us when, out of nowhere, Jun murmured.

"The pain was worth it… to hear you laugh."