When he was eight years old, his family moved to the US. His father got accepted as a cherry picker in a nearby farm and his mom —who was pregnant at that time— was studying to be a caregiver. He was often left alone at home and he didn't know what to do then. School was even more annoying. He barely spoke English back in the Philippines so he had a hard time adjusting. 

So he went to a nearby park just to kill time. He saw kids playing what seemed to be a mini American football game.

That was where he met Fin.

Fin Naese was an amazing kid. Not only was he an overly confident leader, he also ran really fast the moment he caught the ball. 

Eventually, he joined their group and played football, Fin was the one who taught him English and the sport itself. And since then, football has been his pride and joy. 

Everything went well till Fin's family had to move to Canada. They promised to keep in touch and for the first few months, they exchanged letters. 

However, a year after they became middle school students, Fin stopped replying to his messages.  

He joined Fin's favorite university in hopes of meeting him there but to no avail. He asked people around if they knew Fin Naese. Heck, he even asked the school register if his name was registered in the school roster. He finally gave up then.

As Anton turned to the left corner, passing by the university, he couldn't contain the joy in his heart to see the person whom he considered his brother. Whatever the reason for his disappearance all these years wouldn't matter, he just wanted to have a chat like the old times.

Finally, he reached the jewelry shop. The shop was just at the right corner of the shopping district. It seemed fairly new as the shop's name Maiden's Rose Jewelries were embroidered  with fresh golden paint.

The storefront had many jewelry of different kinds displayed with pictures of cherry blossoms. It seemed kind of out of place since it was already autumn now. But the designs are definitely a mixture of elegance and chic. 

Honestly, it felt a bit feminine for his taste and if his memory served him right, Fin often showed complete disgust in the presence of feminine things. Maybe he started working here part-time? 

He opened the front door as the bells jingled as he entered  inside. There weren't any people around and the store was definitely smaller than it looked. A girl—probably the store assistant—turned and greeted him with a vibrant smile, "Welcome, sir. How can I help you?"

"I..err.. I'm looking for Fin. Fin Naese?" 

"Do you need something from the manager?"

 Manager? Fin is a manager of a jewelry store? He blinked and unconsciously nodded as the woman, Blaire (he caught her name tag while he was in daze) passed by him and headed to the employee's room. 

This must be a mistake, right? Why is he a manager in a jewelry store and not participating in the football tryouts? Why hasn't he answered any of his letters and best of all, why didn't he tell him he already moved back here.

"Sir?" He flinched, his trail of thoughts stopped as the voice behind him caught his attention. It sounded so cool and soothing just like he always thought of Fin.

"Fin?!" As he turned around to face his long-lost brother, he couldn't help but embrace Fin for the first time. "Damn it, dude, I've missed you!"He couldn't stay mad at all. He idolized Fin a lot and all of his worries disappeared just to see him again. 

Soon after, reality hit him when his skin touched Fin's. As Anton's thoughts slowly processed that for a guy, Fin was too slender. He didn't seem tall enough to reach his head and strangely enough, he felt something soft on his chest.

He quickly pulled away from the person as his jaw slightly dropped of surprise. As he looked closely at the other whose eyes with striking dark brown eyes which were widened from (perhaps) the utter shock of his actions. Long jet-black hair that reached to the shoulders, pale skin and what struck him the most were the silver stud earrings all over the corner of the left ear.

This face has a strong resemblance to Fin when he was younger—

—yet, before him was a female version of his childhood friend.

"Y-You're Fin Naese, right?"

"Yeah, why the fuck did you do that for?" She growled. She pushed his hands away from his shoulder, which he didn't realize he didn't let her go while she scruffled her own hair. Her eyes suddenly lit up as if a thought dawdled in her mind, she sighed as she said, "Don't tell me…Antonio Emma?"

"Y-you're the Fin Naese that I know, right?" He looked at her face, bewilderment was visibly shown on his face. 

"Yeah, the one and only," she rolled her eyes as she said that. "Why the hell are you surprised?"

"Y-You're a girl!"

"Of course I'm a girl! We grew up together and you didn't—" she paused as a sudden realization hit her. "Wait, all this time, you thought I was... I was a boy?!" She glared at him as she clenched her fists. 

Behind the scene, the assistant who witnessed everything tried her best to hold her laughter. It seemed that for her, the scene itself was entertaining for her, Fin could only glare at her. 

"N-no, t-that can't be…" His voice trailed off, looking at his own feet. "Fin is a guy. He's the manliest kid I looked up to. There's no doubt that he's a guy!"

However, the way she talked, despite being less deeper than a man's voice, her mannerisms like the habit of sighing and ruffling her thick dark hair, all resembled so much of the Fin he knew. 

And shock definitely made him pale, as his vision turned dark.

"Oi, Emma!"

A loud thud echoed in his ears and he felt his head aching upon impact. Fin's voice became distant as his mind slowly lost consciousness. 

Well, he overestimated himself. He hasn't eaten and slept for days, after all.