Caught [Chapter One]

Kinks: Voyeurism, Exhibitionism

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POV: Alex

"This weekend, then?" I confirmed with Mike, Samantha, and Lester.

"Yup. Your place as usual?" Samantha asked cheerfully. "Grabe, Alex, lagi nalang senyo ah! Di ka pa ba nagsasawa maghost samin ng binge weekends?"

"No, grabe lang sila." I joked, laughing that remark off. "I like having people over, alam nyo namang mag-isa lang ako sa unit. Nakakabaliw kaya!"

"Haha, sige, man, we'll be there." Lester adjusted his glasses and hoisted his shoulder bag up before standing up. He checks his phone and sighs. "Sige, I'll be going on ahead na, I still have a work meeting tomorrow at 9. It's getting late."

"See you, man." Mike grinned and clapped Lester's shoulder, making the slim guy wince a bit. No surprises there.

Mike's pretty lean and well-built for a guy of 26. He's got the looks too - fair-skinned, chinito, clean-cut hair that he combs up to one side and holds up with wax. Lester, on the other hand, is a slender guy of 25, nerd-looking in every aspect - glasses, plain shirt, baggy jeans, shoulder bag, messy hair.

"OMG, I have to go na din, it's almost 1am na pala!" Samantha checks her phone as well and gasps. "Gosh, guys, grabe, we should really stop hanging out so late kung magkikita din naman tayo sa weekend!"

"As if it was our fault your sorry office stories took too long to tell!" I jeered at Samantha, squeezing on her arm. Sammy's a bit on the thick side so it's always a personal pleasure for me to pinch at her. She reminds me of a teddy bear I used to have as a kid - cute, cuddly, and oh-so-adorable. Savage nga lang pag tinalo mo, this 28-year-old mother hen, as she often regales us with her office battles.

"Fuck you, Alex, ikaw na ang perfect ang career." Samantha makes a face at me then waves goodbye at me and Mike, who were still seated on the Starbucks place that we had decided to spend the after-work hours in. The four of us have been through a lot ever since we became workmates three years ago - forged in the bonds of fire, ika nga nila.

"You okay, man?" I turn to Mike, who got on his phone when Samantha and Lester had left the coffee shop. "Parang me iniisip ka. No, don't tell me it's Janice again."

"No, sira." Mike scoffs and flashes his cheeky grin at me. God, those lips parting to reveal those nice teeth. I may be your average 27-something guy, but man I feel like I'm 18 all over again whenever Mike does his award-winning smiles. Pang toothpaste commercial, sobra.

"Janice is old news, Alex, we knew it wasn't working out." Mike sighed and scrolled up on his phone. Janice was Mike's ex. Old news, but very bad news. We're glad he's out of that toxic relationship. "No, I'm thinking about how to get to your place sa weekend."

"Psh, you can always just ride with me pauwi sa Friday then sleep over. Suki ka na kaya ng mattress ko." I waved his worries off and smiled back at him. "Kahit buong weekend ka pa mag-stay, to be honest. Heck, we can even share the bed nalang, I'm sure it's big enough for the both of us!"

"Sira ulo ka talaga, Alex." Mike just laughs and slips his phone into his leather satchel. "But thanks, man, hirap talaga kasi magcommute mula samin sa Fairview papunta senyo dito sa BGC. But I don't want to overstay my welcome din naman, baka makaistorbo ako sa mga ganap mo." he gives me that winning smirk of his this time, his lips just folded into that smile that hints at a naughty interior.

Yeah, so I'm gay and I have the hots for my best friend Mike. Sue me.

Ever since he arrived at the office I knew my days would never be the same again. Seeing him first on the work area and last out with us to have dinner and coffee, Mike never fails to keep my spirits up even on the most stressful days.

Alas, he had Janice at the time - his girlfriend of seven years, now his ex. When I said earlier that we're glad he's out of that toxic relationship with that hussy, it was more of I'm glad he's out of that toxic relationship with that hussy. She was nothing but a bitch and a diva to him and I know Mike deserves more than that.

He deserves me.

Ha ha, who am I kidding? I think to myself as I sip the last remnants of my latte, Mike's smirk stirring up memories in my head. Mike's definitely straight - not one of my advances has worked on him no matter how overtly I've tried. They worked even on the most straight-curious Grindr bro I found here in BGC, but man, Mike's an immovable fortress.

Then again, he's probably still missing Janice. Their breakup was just about two months ago anyway. Samantha, Lester, and I practically had to get him back to his feet to his usual self again.

Hence why the weekend hangouts. It was Samantha's idea, actually, and I was more than eager to volunteer my place for it. I know Mike goes home to Fairview, which isn't exactly the most accessible place in the world to commute back and forth BGC, so I was more than willing to offer Mike my place to crash in during these times. Hey, gotta take what I can get, right?

More importantly, though, it was to distract Mike and to give the four of us some friendship time again. We've basically done everything these past few weekends: inuman, food trip, binge Netflix series, boardgames, card games, video games, party games, lahat na ata ng pwedeng party activities nagawa na namin!

This weekend, it's a movie marathon. Lester, ever our nerd and resident geek, wants to put the entire Star Wars trio of trilogies on for watching. I've only watched a bit of it, so I figured it's as good a time as any to do it while in the company of good friends.

Mmm, good friends. I wish Mike sits beside me while we watch. I get tingles when his body brushes against mine and it's a good feeling that I just can't help but get -

"Huy, Alex, okay ka lang? You're spacing out, man." Shit, I did. Mike was staring at me with a worried expression on his face. "You're staring at me so intently, parang hinuhubaran mo na ko sa tingin." he sticks his tongue between his teeth and snickers. God, you and your snarky teases. Sometimes I wonder if nananadya ka or not.

"Oo, bakit? Ayaw mo ba?" I fire back in a witty repartee, smirking back at him. "Tara na nga, baka mahirapan ka pa makasakay pauwi."

"Can't wait for the weekend, honestly." Mike gets to his feet and downs his drink in one final gulp. My eyes couldn't help but stare at how his throat moved as he did. "One day more, Alex!"

I gulp down my libido and just manage a weak smile. "Y-up, one day more, Mike."

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POV: Mike

I buckle myself up in the passenger's seat as Alex starts the car and turns up the A/C. Man, I envy Alex sometimes. He's got everything na halos - a true RK if I ever saw one. Samantha, Lester, and I feel like hampas-lupa compared to this guy.

He's got a heart of gold too, to be fair. He's not above helping any of us when we're in a pinch, and he always seems to make himself available for us whenever anyone's going through something rough. Right now that's me - Messy Mike, as my other friends would call me.

"You good to go, Mike?" Alex asked, looking over the rearview mirror then at me. Damn, this guy's got looks that can kill. Samantha often jokes na sayang that Alex is gay AF, because he could have had his pick of the ladies any day of the week.

I wouldn't know, honestly, but I think that Alex does look good with that moreno toned form he has - like a true-blue Pinoy boy. When the two of us are put side by side, I can get easily mistaken as a foreigner!

"Are you sure you really wanna do this?" I joke at him, checking myself out on his rearview mirror. "I mean, it's fairly out of your way to take me to a bus stop along EDSA. I'm sure the BGC bus is still operational even at this hour."

"It's no problem, Mike." Alex starts to drive, and man does he drive carefully. Running joke naming tatlo nila Lester and Samantha is that Alex takes his bloody sweet time driving that a biker would be faster. But given how Alex's car is new and still smelling store-bought even after almost three months, I can understand why he'd want to take care of his new baby. "We remember the last time you 'thought' the bus was still operational." he laughs.

"Fair, fair, fucker." I snicker back.

We turned at Kalayaan and thankfully it was not as traffic anymore. It's almost 2am at this point and I shudder to think kung anong oras ako makakapasok later if traffic sa pauwi. Fairview isn't exactly near, even by Metro Manila standards.

"Alex?" I asked.

"Hmm?" he asks back.

"Thanks, man."

"Huh? You're welcome, but what for?"

"Wala lang. Di pwede mag thank you randomly?" I chuckled, pero deep down I'm really thankful that my friends are there for me. That Alex is there for me.

"Sira ka." Alex just grins.

"Looking forward to this weekend, grabe!" I stretched my hands as we turned towards EDSA and began to check my things to make sure I don't forget anything in the car. "Work's been a bitch this week and I want to unwind!"

"Ako din, Mike. Nothing like spending a chill day just being with friends."

He pulled over at a gas station near the bus stops and I unbuckled my seatbelt to get off the car.

"Ingat ka, Mike, ah. Baka makatulog ka na naman sa bus." Alex taps me on the shoulder and rolls down the passenger seat window. "Message sa GC when you're home!"

"Thanks, Alex, I will." I said, peering at him through the car window. "Ingat ka din. Kita kits tomorrow and sa weekend!"

"Can't wait." he smiles.

He rolls up the window and drives off. I head to the bus station to get a ride to Fairview, all the while looking forward to yet another great weekend with my friends.

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Continued on Chapter 2