For a few more minutes, Laurence stuck around in front of the KTV establishment, entertaining himself with the view of colorful festive lights from the huge house across the road. Laurence went back inside once he was certain he'd gotten a hold of himself.

As he approached their rented space, he spotted his young boss outside the room, lounging by the closed door and browsing through his smart device. As usual.

What's even that something so important in your phone that you can't seem to ignore? If I know, you're just playing Candy Crush. Laurence snorted as he thought of his previous team's foreman and Engineer Abel, who both always spent their breaks enjoying that certain mobile game.

He opened the door, hesitated for a second, and glanced at Isaac to confirm if he would not go in yet, but the man didn't even pay him any heed. With a huff, he re-entered the KTV room.

A mellow instrumental tune played inside, but none of his colleagues were singing. The microphone rested, abandoned, on the coffee table. Everyone was occupied with the food and drink; all eyes focused on the moving texts on the television screen.

Laurence went back to his seat in between his two female coworkers.

"You guys taking a break?"

"Not really," Jonas said. He shoved a forkful of vermicelli noodles into his mouth.

"It's Mr. Ruiz's. He must have received an important message on his phone earlier, so he had to step out a bit. He told us we could take it if his song came up and he wasn't back yet." Yna gestured at the KTV system with her hand. "But none of us knows this. We didn't want to skip it either, in case Mr. Ruiz came back soon."

Laurence turned to the monitor and read the flashing lyrics.

So many questions, no answers at all

The reason I've been able to breathe is no longer breathing

I love you's are nothing but empty words

To you who can hear no more

Kisses are meaningless against your icy skin that can't feel

A contemplative frown formed on Laurence's face. Well, that's kinda dark, but... "I think I've heard this song before," he muttered and started humming with the melody.

This time, Laurence had no excuse to refuse when Odessa picked up the mic and pointed it close to his mouth. His lips rose and tightened. Rather begrudgingly, he took the device from his female colleague and began singing the next verse.

Too late, I can't turn back the clock

I don't need a rewind, but just another chance

To tell you how much you mean in my life

His voice quavered at the first line before steadying little by little. Just as he was about to dive into the outro, the young boss stepped inside.

Laurence threw a glimpse at the door, his fingers around the microphone twitching as his gaze met Isaac's. He averted his eyes and kept reciting the words of the music.

Why do regrets always come last?

I can scream, I can cry,

But none of those can wake you up again.

Once the song ended, Isaac informed his employees he was taking leave first because something important came up.

Unsurprisingly, Warren, who had been acting and treated like a statue the whole time, checked out a minute after the young CEO's exit. He walked off the room, but not before giving his officemates another jeer.

"What's that dude's problem?" Jonas made a face and sipped his beer.

"Forget about him," Yna said, offering the shanghai spring rolls to Laurence, which the latter received on his plate with thanks. "He doesn't matter at all. Let's talk about Mr. Ruiz singing that... I'm not familiar with that song, but, wow. Did you guys hear his voice?"

"We were here too, Yna, and we have working ears," Jonas pointed out.

"Okay, sure. So what I was trying to say is, damn, we must have been so lucky to witness that performance. If those people in the office heard that too, most of them would have gone even crazier for him. But that really shocked me. I'm glad we got to invite him, although I was nervous about the idea at first."

Laurence nodded absentmindedly. He crunched a piece of shanghai roll, licking the crumbs of the fried wrapper that had fallen on his lower lip. Wistfulness visited him as the savory flavor of ground pork hit his tongue. This was one of his late little brother's favorite foods. LJ would often ask their mom to make this roll together with sweet spaghetti on his every birthday.

"Actually, you surprised me too, Florence."

Laurence tore his attention off the fried dish and fixed it on Melvin.

The male supply officer stared at him with an unreadable expression. "None of us was familiar with that last song, yet you didn't seem to have any problem singing it for someone who's supposedly forgotten his..." Melvin stopped and knitted his brows, appearing as if he was having some second thoughts.

There were a few seconds of delay before Laurence got his coworker's drift. His eyes widened.

Way to go, Laurence. So much for not behaving very un-Florence-like. You even did something any amnesiac person would not normally do.

"Ah, never mind." Melvin ran his fingers through his hair. "It's not really any of our business. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gone there. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

Jonas delivered a playful slap on his friend's arm while Yna touched Laurence's shoulder, like they were telling both men not to make a big deal out of it anymore.

"Thank you," Laurence whispered, relief washing over him. He did not say anything more, worried he would only make his coworkers more suspicious if he did.

He let out a deep breath and ate the rest of the shanghai roll in his hand. At the back of his mind, a voice gave him a firm reminder to be extra mindful of his actions and words in the future.

Laurence told himself he might have been safe for now. But how many more oversights would it take before his cover would be blown?