Standing alone within the cramped kitchen quarters of his apartment, Iñigo added the finishing touches to the cake, while Javier and Esther helped clean up the living room. Iñigo held the icing bag, moving with deliberate and delicate motions as he traced an elaborate design over Kenji’s perfectly perfect pandan cake, piping careful designs that danced around each other in dynamic harmony. The more Iñigo worked on it, the more he reminisced on his relationship with Kenji thus far.

Their relationship started simply enough. They had started their friendship from childhood when Kenji’s mother and he moved next door to the Alcantara family home, his mother having recently separated from her husband abroad. While the townspeople had a lot to say about their family, it had never stopped Iñigo from continuing to play with Kenji, who had taken a liking to Iñigo and vice versa.

However, as they grew up, Iñigo began to see Kenji in a way so far removed from friendship. The more they hung out, the more the desire to hug him, kiss him, and to be the only one in his life began to grow more and more, desires he never had even for the prettiest girl in their class. As he confronted these feelings he held for Kenji at the time, Iñigo could no longer deny that there was something different about him. 

He confided in his parents, and soon after, they drove him out of the house, refusing to believe what their precious son turned into. But in place of the love his parents denied him, he felt blessed by the comfort Kenji provided. 

Soon after, Kenji and Iñigo built a bond that seemingly nobody could break, and Iñigo could not hide his feelings for his friend any longer. Even so, he held out on confessing to him for years, and even Kenji was getting frustrated by Iñigo’s constant need to think it over. In the end, Kenji confessed at Esther’s going-away party, under the mango tree of their estate, and they had been together ever since.

While the relationship had been full of bliss, over the last couple of weeks, Iñigo could feel the void left behind by Kenji grow bigger and bigger. Although Iñigo knew that Kenji was frustrated how close he was to Esther and Javier, he could never figure out why Kenji had likened her to “his mistress”. If there was a misunderstanding on Kenji’s part, Iñigo would do anything to fix it. Perhaps he could forget all about it with the party he was throwing for him, and with the corduroy jacket Iñigo so specially picked out for Kenji.

That reminded Iñigo. As soon as he finished piping the last of the icing, he set the piping bag aside to look for the jacket he hid in a box tucked away deep in the kitchen. As he bent down to look for the parcel, he noticed that it was no longer in its hiding place, next to a trash bin that Iñigo could swear he had never emptied.

Next thing he knew, he ran to the bag of trash Kenji had left outside the door for someone to collect. Tearing the bag open, Iñigo braced through the wafts of foul odour in the air inside only to find the parcel ripped open and the jacket shoved into the trash. Iñigo felt an aching twist in his heart.

Soon after, he could see Kenji’s figure turn the corner, trudging toward the apartment. Clutching the tossed garment in his hands, Iñigo stared at his boyfriend, who was hobbling down the hallway in what looked to be a drunken stupor. 

As Kenji finally approached him, Iñigo winced at the strong smell of alcohol wafting from his direction, ignoring the fact that Kenji would not even acknowledge his presence. But what made Iñigo’s heart twist the most was the faint lipstick stain of a kiss left behind on the collar of Kenji’s shirt.

“What happened to you?” Iñigo asked, too disturbed to even pull his partner in for a hug. Kenji wouldn’t look him in the eye. “Tell me, what happened to you?” Iñigo screamed, scandalized by the prospect that his partner might have been intimate with someone else. But as soon as Kenji took a look at the jacket Iñigo clutched in his hands, he could only chuckle.

“As if you’re one to talk,” Kenji shot back and shoved him aside, storming inside the apartment while Iñigo followed. As soon as he came in, Kenji was face-to-face with Esther, who had been setting the table. “Ah, the mistress has arrived,” Kenji said, the smirk on his face beaming as he laughed bitterly.

A stifling atmosphere grew in the room, and nobody could speak a word. Iñigo shot a few glances at Esther and Javier, who took the cue to leave the apartment.Once they were gone, Iñigo took a deep breath and threw the soiled jacket in Kenji’s direction. 

“Why was this in the trash?” Iñigo screamed, but Kenji couldn’t have been bothered. This only infuriated Iñigo even more. But Iñigo was a patient man, he could wait for one reasonable answer, so that he could forgive Kenji once more and brush the whole thing aside.

But that answer never came. Kenji took a deep breath and walked towards Iñigo, pulling him down by the collar so that his eyes met his. He smirked.

“Because that woman gave it to you,” Kenji confidently responded, and before Iñigo could protest, Kenji pulled him into a kiss. Iñigo pulled away. Kenji slouched over, a forlorn look on his face.

“Ah, I knew it,” Kenji said, picking up the jacket from the floor and shoving it back in the trash bin. Iñigo felt his heart crash. “You’re spending so much time with Esther nowadays that you couldn’t even bear to kiss me, huh?” Kenji gave Iñigo a sad smile; a look that only seemed to rile up Iñigo’s emotions more.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Iñigo asked back, tears beginning to form in the corner of his eyes. Kenji stood frozen, but unwavering. Iñigo eyed the lipstick stain left behind on Kenji’s collar and shuddered. “How dare you accuse me when you’ve gone and done the same thing?”

“Then why?” Kenji barked back, his voice roaring from his small body. “Why did you have to leave me for the Samsons every day? Why are you spending so much time with them when you have a perfectly good boyfriend right here? Tell me!”

“Because I was planning your birthday party!” Iñigo wailed, as if reaching a breaking point, and instantly, the colour drained from Kenji’s skin, as he sobered up in an instant. Iñigo took a good look at Kenji’s face and huffed. “And Esther never picked out that jacket for me, I did! And it’s not for me, it’s for you!”

Iñigo’s voice choked over his words as he grew quiet, tears beginning to stream down his cheeks.

“I thought it would be perfect for you,” he said, unable to look his partner straight in the eye. “So I went with them to San Ignacio to pick it up for you for your birthday…” 

Kenji began to feel a deep pang of regret from within his chest. Iñigo was right; the jacket was perfect for him, and he realized how much care went into picking it out. Kenji turned around and noticed the cake that had been sitting on the counter, the cake he had always looked forward to eating every birthday. 

Iñigo glared at Kenji again, his breathing growing heavy.

“But you went off and started being like this to me, treating me coldly one moment, questioning my loyalty the next!” Iñigo’s voice started to pick up, his voice straining out of exasperation, and Kenji ran over to his crying boyfriend to pull him into a hug.

“Iñigo, I’m sorry,” Kenji pleaded, but Iñigo pushed his body away from him. Kenji stumbled onto the wooden couch.

“How dare you?” Iñigo asked Kenji, gasping for air through his choked sobs. “How dare you act like this, when you were the one that did this to me!”

Kenji couldn’t bring himself to speak. If he could bring his boyfriend, who could stand so big and mighty, down to such a state, there was something seriously wrong. He had never seen him like this before.

“Iñigo, forgive me,” Kenji told him, his voice wavering. He clutched unsteadily to Iñigo’s arms, trying to look him in the eyes, but Iñigo refused to meet his gaze.

“Have you lost faith in me, Kenji? Do you not believe in me anymore?” Iñigo cried, his voice softening as he tried to control his tears. “Do you hate it that much that I see Javier and Esther all the time?”

But Kenji could not bring himself to respond. Kenji hesitated, and Iñigo grew tired and weary. At this point, Iñigo could no longer stand the indignance of being portrayed as the unfaithful one, and frankly, he couldn’t tell if he would be able to spend another day by Kenji’s side if every day was going to be like this.

Heaving a sigh, Iñigo walked over to the kitchen and held in his hands the birthday cake he spent countless hours working over, holding it under the base. He walked to Kenji, resolute, as he placed the cake into his hands.

“Happy birthday, Kenji” Iñigo said with a sad smile he made every effort to maintain, leaving Kenji bewildered. A single tear ran down his cheek. “Let’s break up.”

In one last moment of closeness, Iñigo rested his hand over Kenji’s shoulder for just one second, before making his way toward the door.

But as Iñigo made his way out of the apartment, Kenji said nothing. Perhaps he was stunned by the sudden declaration, and he could not bring himself to speak, Iñigo thought. But maybe, just maybe, Kenji wanted this too.

Maybe Kenji didn’t want him anymore. And if that was truly the case, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad taking the Samsons up on their offer.