❦ . ❦ . ❦

The dark brown eyes of the approaching person met Laurence's dazed stare. Disinterest crossed the tall man's expression, fine crinkles finding their way on his forehead, before he gave a curt nod to their guest and made his way to the site hut.

Laurence opened his mouth to give his greeting, but only an intelligible mumble came out. He pressed his lips together, noticing how the man was no longer looking at him and instead seemed focused on his destination.

Because of the lukewarm reception, Laurence was reminded that his former colleagues in the Black Crystal Builders had never been fond of the administration officers since the latter often looked down on manual laborers. He recalled how many of these desk workers from the previous management would promenade on the site whenever they visited, holding their heads high as if they owned every inch of the ground they walked on and acting as if everyone else in the place was beneath them. There might be a decent few who mingled with and treated the construction workers as equals, but the arrogant bunch always overshadowed them.

As the man passed by his location, Laurence peered over his shoulder and watched his retreating form. His regard traveled lower, lingering at the long line scar on the person's upper arm down to his elbow. He knew that mark very well because he had been a witness when the point of a concrete nail protruding from lumber had accidentally gashed his friend's skin a few years ago.

"Oi, Grey, make it fast," one of the workmen called out from his spot near the ongoing building, waving his left hand while holding his hard hat in place with his right.

"Yeah, yeah, shut it," Grey said, the familiarity of his voice stirring up Laurence's memories of all their chats during the previous years. Even with his dismissive words, a snicker colored his tone. "Who made you the boss of me?"

Laurence smiled wistfully, glad to learn that one of his best friends had been doing alright. But, at the same time, a sense of sadness sneaked upon him as he acknowledged it would not be easy to talk to Grey now, no matter how badly he wanted to. At least, not this soon.

He met with Isaac in the project leaders' modular office. After they were provided with protective gears, the foreman gave them a tour of the area.

Laurence tuned out the overseer, who was trying to impress the young boss with his tale about the building's development. He focused on observing the workers in place, noted how some of them would cast curious stares before offering halfhearted nods, while a lot were too occupied with their tasks to spare their visitors any attention. Most of the people were familiar to Laurence, although there were also a few new faces.

Uneasiness came over him when he couldn't find the one person he had been anticipating seeing. He studied each of the workers' faces to make sure he hadn't missed anyone, and yet, they reached the end of the guided tour with no sign of a certain man.

Where in the world are you, Kian?

Laurence thought it strange that one of his best friends was not on a building project where the other was a part of the team. During his time with the Black Crystal Builders, it was already rare for the three of them to be assigned to different locations, and it was even rarer for Kian and Grey to be separated. He remembered there was a time or two when it had occurred on smaller projects, but never on major ones like this.

Laurence's worry escalated as his mind transported back to the night of the accident. He summoned up the last voice he'd heard before losing consciousness then.

"Rence! Laurence!"

All this time, he had assumed it was Kian because his best friend was the only person with him that day whom he knew would be worried that much for his wellbeing. He had been relieved when he'd figured Kian might have been in a better condition than him after that unfortunate incident. But now, he was having some doubts.

Did I get it wrong? Wasn't it Kian?

After all, his head and senses hadn't been in the best state that night for him to recognize the voice or be fully aware of his surroundings.

Could it be Grey?

A little part of his mind told him it might have been his other best friend who'd stayed with him in the ambulance, that a long time had passed, and Grey might have rushed to the location to find them. However, there was also a part that reminded him that if Grey had been there, the man would have run to Kian's aid first.

It was not a secret to Laurence that, despite calling them his best friends, those two had been closer to each other than he ever was to one of them. Perhaps, it was because Kian and Grey had been friends longer than they had known him. He knew the men cared so much for him like their own brother; he knew that if he ever was in trouble, those two would never think twice about dropping whatever they were doing so they could help him. But he was also not oblivious to the fact that if the three of them were in a sinking boat and one could save only a single person, Kian or Grey would not hesitate to choose the other over him. They would have regrets, sure, but their decision would remain the same.

Laurence shook his head, determining it was not the time to brood on a trivial thing. What was more important at the moment was for him to figure out Kian's fate after the car crash.

Did the man suffer any severe injuries that made him unable to do heavy work now? Had he been thrown into a coma too? Or worse...

Laurence swallowed the lump in his throat, his stomach twisting as an unpleasant notion crossed his mind. He convinced himself he was just overthinking, that his best friend was probably sick, or he had an important appointment, so he'd filed a leave of absence today.

As they exited the construction in progress, Laurence caught sight of Grey with another laborer at the rotary drum mixer. His friend's impish grin as he talked to his colleague gave Laurence more assurance that Kian might have been fine. It might be somewhat shortsighted of him, but Laurence didn't believe Grey could still be this happy working for the same company if he had indeed lost two of his important people from the workplace within the previous year.

"What's the matter? You look pale."

Laurence gazed back at Isaac and the foreman. He realized that the site supervisor had stopped speaking to the young CEO and was now eyeing him with a curious expression.

"No... no, sir," he said, shaking his head once again. He snuck a glance at the foreman. Turning back to Isaac, he acknowledged the lines in between his boss's eyebrows. "I'm just... I guess I'm just not used to the smell and the noise of this place. I'm feeling a bit nauseous." He lowered his head to hide his wince at his own lie.

Isaac let out a short hum.

Their visit to the site continued without other problems. The foreman told him he could rest in the modular office for a while if he was still not feeling well. As much as Laurence wanted to take the opportunity to investigate and ask any of the workers about Kian, he feared they would be weirded out if he approached them with random questions about someone. Besides, he didn't want his actions to reach Isaac and give the boss more reasons to be distrustful of him.

Laurence peered through the car's rolled-down window, giving the place one last glimpse as they drove away. A mix of regret and hope played inside him while they traveled the length of L. Canete Street. Regret for not getting the chance to talk to Grey and not seeing Kian. And hope that he would be able to do both the next time fate allowed him to have another encounter with them.

"Are you sure you're feeling alright now? I can still take over the wheel so you can have a break."

Laurence sighed. "No, I've rested enough back there. I'm fine already, Is—sir. It's okay."