The Only Reason

Chapter 18

Sa buong byahe namin papuntang Baguio, I tried my best to stay awake para lang may kausap si Ethan while driving. I managed to do so naman. Pero pagdating namin sa condo ni Kuya—which he barely used since he got it, around four in the morning, parehas kaming knockout.

It was already twelve in the afternoon when I woke up. Nakita kong ayos na yung couch dito sa kwarto na pinagtulugan ni Ethan, so I assumed he woke up earlier than me. Inayos ko muna yung kama't nag-hilamos bago lumabas.

Paglabas ko, I saw him cooking in the kitchen.

Linapitan ko siya. "What's that?" Tanong ko nang makitang tinakpan niya yung linuluto niya. He nearly jumped when he heard my voice. 'Di ko tuloy napigilang tumawa.

"Good afternoon," he said, giving me a peck on my forehead. Nginitian ko siya. "I left earlier to buy ingredients for chopsuey." Sabi niya. Hindi ko nanaman naiwasang tumawa kasi ang slang ng pagkasabi niya ng chopsuey. Kumunot tuloy noo niya.

I pursed my lips to stifle my laugh, and cleared my throat. "You know how to cook it na?" I asked him—more like teased him.

Kasi the last time I tried to teach him, naging maalat yung chopsuey na sinubukan niyang lutuin. Paano ba naman, instead of adding cornstarch, he added more salt. Hindi ko nga alam kung bakit 'di ko rin napansin, eh. Parehas kaming lutang nun.

"I wouldn't be cooking it right now if I don't," pilosopo niyang sagot. Aba, sumasagot na siya ng ganun ah. Pagbigyan natin, birthday boy eh. Inirapan ko nalang kaya natawa siya.

"Kidding. Yeah, I do. Practiced it last time," bawi niya.

While I waited for him to finish cooking, naligo nalang ako and scanned the list of things I planned for us today, and for our stay as well. I crossed out some, since wala na kaming masyadong oras.

Linabas ko na rin yung regalo ko para sakanya para i-abot na sakanya maya-maya. Siguro after we eat lunch nalang.

We then had our lunch. In all fairness, masarap yung chopsuey niya. I'm not gonna lie, mas masarap pa sa chopsuey ko—mga five percent. Masarap pa rin ang akin, 'no!

"What's this?" He asked, coming out from the bedroom with a brown box that had a simple black ribbon on his hand. Mukhang bagong ligo rin siya.

"That's my.. gift for you." Nahihiya kong sambit, averting my gaze to the dining table as I continued wiping it.

Naramdaman kong lumapit siya. "You made it?" He asked. Tipid akong tumango, nahihiya pa rin. I wasn't one who's really good at giving gifts, kaya minsan hindi ko talaga masabi kung magugustuhan ba ng taong bibigyan ko ng regalo, or not.

He then opened the box in front of me. Although nahihiya ako, I still chose to watch him do so after I threw the tissues I used to wipe the table.

When his eyes landed on the polaroids, a letter, and a bracelet I made with the help of Ate, placed there neatly, I saw how they were slowly filled with adoration. He was just quietly smiling to himself as he looked at them.

Napatawa ako nung tumawa rin siya sa isa sa mga pictures na nilagay ko. It was one of our selfies in the bar I got wasted in for the first time, because of Dane, tapos I looked really annoyed kasi pinipilit niya akong mag-selfie habang tawang-tawa siya kasi mukha na 'kong bruha.

"Anyway.. I've got plans for us today," I said, trying to grab his attention kasi hindi talaga umaalis mga mata niya sa regalo ko. "Where to?" He asked, lifting his gaze to look at me.

Umupo ako. "To Mines View Park, and to La Trinidad at Benguet too, so that we could get some strawberries for Mommy, Ate, and Tita at their strawberry farms. We could also go to the Baguio Night Market and get our friends souvenirs today instead of tomorrow, since we'll be leaving early." I responded.