right strings

-065-

-psyche pov-

"okay lang naman kahit samahan mo ako maglinis diba?" tumango ako agad sa sinabi ni heeseung.

kami na lang dalwa ang naiwan dito sa lab para maglinis, kanina nagprisinta sya sa alok ng prof tapos tinuro nya akong partner.

ngumiti lang si heeseung at nagdiretso na kami sa paglilinis. "tapon ko lang 'to"

"okay!" lumabas naman sya agad sa pintuan dala yung trash bin.  nagtuloy na lang ako sa pag aayos ng mga tools at binabalik ko sa mga shelves.

"psyche..." i almost dropped the flask i am holding, buti na lang mabilis ang mga reflexes ni jake kaya nasalo nya agad yon.

"j-jake..." he placed the flask on the shelf from behind. he was so near me, ang bango talaga nya. i can't even move because he was behind me.

i hear myself exhaled the large amount of air that i am holding earlier. i almost run out of breathe because of our position.

buti na lang umalis sya ka agad kaya lumayo ako ng onti. "anong ginagawa mo dito?" i asked him.

"i wanna talk to you..." i know what he was wanted to talk about, i've been avoiding it a lot of times...

"jake, maybe next time? i am cleani-" napalingon ako sa paligid at maayos na ang lahat, nawalan tuloy ako ng palusot.

"i wanted to give you these" he get something from his backpack. it was my sling back last time.

"wha-"

"i get it back for you, don't worry.. i asked them nicely" agad nyang depensa. kinuha ko agad iyon sa kamay nya.

"i don't want to rush you to tell me everything, but i wish you will tell me some soonest" i gulped. he saw everything last time with the three bitches. how could i lie to him?

"but stop avoiding me" dugtong nya, i looked at him shyly and smiled awkwardly.

"i.. can.. tell you some now" i just know jake is someone i can trust to. i only wish he would understand me.

---

"it was since i entered 7th grade, i transfered to my old school. i was introvert because  im only from home school.. and that was my first time socializing with others" i was playing my fingers while telling him my story.

"so.. i was kind of shocked when hyomin, sara and hyeri approached me. the three girls last time. i heard that they are top students especially hyomin so i was kind of shocked"

"i was dumb, you know. so i got bullied by being their friends sometimes. even though they don't treat me as a friend. they treating me as a slave and.. a human wallet" i saw how he balled his fist. i sighed.

"and until they told me that.. dad only asked them to be my company for me to have good grades, dad giving them money and allowances as exchanged, so.. i decided to transfer here to.. heal.." i smiled through the pain, remembering all the pain mentally and physically i was somehow feel exhausted again.

"but don't worry jake, it was not so deep" i gave him an assuring look but it seems like he knows i was faking it.

"did they hurt you...?" maybe he is talking to the wounds that dad gave me, that he saw last time.

"sometimes.. it was just physically, it doesn't hurt" i half lied, it hurts the most mentally.

he sighed deeply. "you have me now" nagulat ako sa bigla nyang sinabi. he faced me and placed his both hands on my shoulders. well i remembered him telling it a lot of times through text messages, but it kind of hit different when he said it in person.

his face was so near my face and i can't stop myself from stopping breathing.

"i will protect you from now on.. i promised psyche"