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jhoanna wasn’t going to say it out loud, but she wasn’t exactly thriving in this game.
it wasn’t like she hated these kinds of games, but she definitely wasn’t built for them either. it wasn’t her fault, okay? some people just weren’t made for running, hiding, and precision shooting at the same time . she wasn’t mikha , who moved like a silent assassin, or ate aiah , who had surprisingly good aim. and she definitely wasn’t gwen , who had immediately panicked and tried to surrender within the first thirty seconds.
still , she wanted to help.
which was why she was currently crouched behind a glowing barricade, laser gun gripped tightly, eyes darting around the dark arena.
somewhere behind her, gwen was huddled in a corner, breathing heavily.
“ gweny ,” jhoanna whispered. “we’re sitting ducks. wala tayong natutu long sa team. ”
“ i know but w e can’t go out there,” gwen whispered back. “have you seen them?! they’re scary , jho .”
jhoanna bit her lip. it was true. the other team—stacey, ate maloi, ate colet, and sheena—was ruthless. ate maloi had terrifyingly good accuracy, ate colet moved too fast, and sheena was too into this game. and stacey? that was the worst part.
because stacey was unpredictable.
stacey , who jhoanna knew too well .
stacey , who was definitely lurking somewhere, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
jhoanna could practically hear her smugness through the darkness. she could already imagine stacey’s knowing grin, the way she’d laugh if she caught her.
and yet… their team was losing.
if jhoanna didn’t do something, mikha would never let her live it down.
“ i have to go,” jhoanna whispered, adjusting her gun.
“what?” gwen whispered back, horrified.
“ we need points. i can sneak past—”
“no, you can’t.”
“ i can try .”
and before gwen could protest, jhoanna slipped out of cover .
jhoanna kept low, sneaking between barriers, her heartbeat loud in her ears.
the arena was a maze of glowing obstacles, dim lights, and distant laser fire. she heard ate aiah and mikha shouting somewhere, which meant they were still in the game. good . she had to be quick.
a sudden noise.
jhoanna immediately sprawled onto the floor, heart racing. she stayed there for a few seconds, listening.
silence .
she exhaled in relief.
slowly, she pushed herself up, eyes locked on the corner she needed to reach. just a few more steps—
then , out of nowhere , a hand grabbed her shirt and yanked her into the shadows.
jhoanna barely had time to react before she was pinned against the wall, a hand clamping over her mouth just before she could scream.
she panicked for a split second—until she registered the scent of someone familiar.
a voice, close to her ear, whispered, “ babe , you need to be silent .”
jhoanna froze.
her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, and she immediately recognized her .
“ staks ?!”
she tried to say it, but it came out muffled under stacey’s palm.
stacey smirked but didn’t move. “ i know you. you were about to scream and give yourself away.”
jhoanna glared, mumbling something incoherent. stacey hesitated, then slowly removed her hand.
“what the hell are you doing?” jhoanna whisper-shouted.
“catching you,” stacey said simply .
jhoanna huffed. “ i was sneaking.”
“you were failing ,” stacey corrected.
jhoanna tried to push her away, but stacey didn’t budge. instead , she just looked at her—soft, amused, affectionate.
jhoanna was about to say something, but then—
stacey tilted her head, eyes trailing over jhoanna’s face, and just smiled .
a small , knowing, utterly fond smile.
jhoanna barely had time to process that before stacey leaned in, closing the space between them with a kiss.
jhoanna wasn’t surprised by the kiss itself— stacey did this all the time. but the timing ? that threw her off.
still , she instinctively melted into it, her hands gripping stacey’s shirt.
the kiss was unhurried, lingering, filled with warmth. stacey was always confident, but when she kissed jhoanna , she was gentle , as if she wanted her to feel everything.
jhoanna did.
she felt it in the way stacey’s fingers brushed against her jaw. in the way she tilted her head just slightly to deepen the kiss. in the way she smiled against jhoanna’s lips before pulling away.
then—
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
the game-ending alarm blared around them.
jhoanna blinked, still dazed.
"GAME OVER. BLUE TEAM WINS."
wait .
wait .
WAIT.
she turned to stacey , still processing .
and then—
stacey grinned .
and before jhoanna could even ask , stacey winked and slipped away, leaving her standing there, completely lost.
“ JHOANNA .”
jhoanna turned just in time to see mikha storming toward her, looking furious.
“ i told you to go to the corner and score a point,” mikha all but yelled.
“ i did ,” jhoanna said weakly.
“she did,” gwen confirmed. “but… then what happened?”
jhoanna opened her mout h—t hen shut it.
because then, the memory replayed.
stacey .
pinning her.
kissing her.
distracting her.
jhoanna froze .
her head snapped toward the other team, where stacey was grinning, celebrating, high-fiving ate colet and ate maloi. she looked so happy.
and then—
it clicked.
jhoanna’s jaw dropped.
stacey .
had planned that.
she wasn’t just being affectionate—she kissed jhoanna to distract her from winning the game.
jhoanna groaned out loud , burying her face in her hands.
and when she finally looked back, stacey was watching her .
and smirking .
and then, to drive the knife in further , stacey —still basking in victory—mouthed, " i love you."
jhoanna groaned louder.
jhoanna wasn’t actually mad.
okay , maybe she was.
but it wasn’t the serious kind of mad— she was offended.
stacey weaponized her own girlfriend’s weakness against her.
for a laser tag game.
unbelievable .
which , honestly? fair .
because , really—who does that?
who sees their girlfriend, actively struggling to help their team, to be useful for once, and chooses to pin them in a dark corner and kiss them until they forget about the entire game?!
and now, as they walked toward the restaurant, jhoanna was sulking.
she and stacey were side by side at first, but she had refused to say a single word. not even a glare . just silence .
stacey , of course, noticed.
“babe,” stacey called, amusement thick in her voice. “are you actually mad?”
jhoanna kept walking.
she wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction.
stacey laughed .
and then, before jhoanna could stop her, she reached out, pulling jhoanna into a side hug.
jhoanna gasped at the sudden movement, but stacey was so warm and so steady that she instinctively relaxed. she felt her head fall onto stacey’s shoulder, the fabric of her girlfriend’s shirt soft against her cheek.
stacey’s arms looped around her comfortably, as if this was just where jhoanna belonged.
jhoanna tried so hard to keep up the act, but when she finally muttered, " you're so unfair," it came out muffled by stacey’s shirt.
stacey laughed again.
not the teasing kind, but the warm, deeply fond kind.
and then, as if to make things worse, she kissed the side of jhoanna’s head.
jhoanna felt that in her soul.
and it was unfair because she wanted to stay annoyed, but stacey was too much.
too much in the way she held her, too much in the way she kissed her like she wasn’t the biggest betrayer in the world , too much in the way she always made jhoanna feel like she was the most precious thing to her.
so jhoanna—already losing this battle—lifted her head to look up at stacey.
she scowled. hard .
because how dare she?!
h ow dare she be this soft now when just minutes ago, she was ruining jhoanna’s chances of being a competent team player?!
stacey only grinned, her eyes full of amusement and something else—something softer .
jhoanna hated how easily stacey made her weak.
so , in a final attempt at retaliation, she detached herself from stacey’s embrace and deliberately walked ahead to join the rest of the group.
she didn’t turn around.
didn’t look back.
didn’t acknowledge stacey at all.
from behind, stacey just stood there for a moment , watching her go.
and then, with a quiet laugh, she shook her head, a tender, knowing smile settling onto her lips.
because g od .
she just loves her.