This is a Love Story

At ikáw pa rin sa hulí

Vlad looked on in nervous anticipation as Karl scooped several spoonfuls of the thick broth.

"There is that perfect balance of flavors, the perfect texture for the broth, the perfect acidity kinemer, the- the- bastá perfect 'to" The man who has yet to learn how to fry an egg pointed at the sinigáng with enthusiasm.

So, Vlad, easily pleased, energetically peeled off the shells from a number of shrimps and generously deposited on Karl's plate. The latter looked at the pile that sat atop his warm rice.

Pota. Humimláy ang káluluwá. Namahingá pánsamantalá ang pusòng nasaktán. Itinumbá lahát ng karupukan. Karl, ang habà ng buhók mong gaga ka. Magpakipot ka muna.

"Gustó mo pa?" Vlad was ready to haul a few more shrimp pieces over to Karl's plate.

"Nope. I'm good na," Karl stared fondly at Vlad and when the latter made eye contact, both of them laughed, a tacit understanding for how cheesy the romantic atmosphere was getting.

When they finished eating, they sat silently across each other in that the small dining table. The citrusy aroma of the leftover sinigáng, the gentle crackling of the flames from the candles, Karl humming a random tune as he traced shapes on the moisture that formed on the glass of cold cola. Vlad wished to etch these tiny details to his memory.

"Pwede na?" Karl's question cut through the silence, his eyes lifted unsurely towards Vlad.

The other looked nervous for a second before he let out a big sigh, "Yes. Pero disclaimer lang, I will blush and sneeze a lot in a few minutes so please bear with me"

Karl laughed and nodded back at his direction.

"So, I've known you long before I got to meet you," Vlad started. Maybe one day I'll be able to tell you all about it but for now...

"But our first meeting was a mess,"

Karl's eyebrow shot up and a cry of protest formed on his lips.

Oh, Vlad thought

"Wait- I mean 'it' was amazing but we were practically strangers and in the five years that I imagined countless of scenarios of how our first meeting would go, I never thought that it would progress in 'that' direction"

"Sadyâng marupók lang siguro akó 'pag datíng sa'yó and so I ended up hurting the both of us"

Vlad placed his elbows on the table and rested his head on his hands wearily. Karl's smile vanished instantly at the sight of his frustration.

"Vlad, I am not blameless for that night. It happened because I made that decision. True that it wasn't a good choice because my heart was in the wrong place, but I wanted it just as much," Karl's fingers curled around the glass a little tighter.

Vlad sighed, "Pero ang fuckshit lang kasí. I spent five years dancing around the thought of wanting to meet you and getting subsequently afraid of the consequences. Five years of trying to look for the perfect timing and poof, si gago nagpadalá lang sa karupukan"

"Pwede namán ipagpalagáy natin na it was because I was simply irresistible di ba," Karl attempted a joke because he couldn't bear to see Vlad beat himself for something that the two of them were guilty about.

Vlad reached over to flick Karl on the forehead, "Wait lang. Moment ko pa 'to"

"Remember how I haven't apologized yet for how my coward burgis ass escaped to a foreign country when I should have stayed and cleared things out with you. I'm sorry for that Karl"

"And I am not even sure if fate had truly been kind enough to bring me back to this place and if this was supposed to be the redemption arc to my story pero I don't want to fuck this up again kayâ I want to set things right and ilalaban ko ito ngayon"

"I look forward to it" Karl interjected gently.

"Wait. Wha- Just to be clear, when I said 'ilalaban' I meant 'yung feelings ko for you," Vlad threw a cynical look at Karl.

"I know"

Blush level: Sassagurl x 1000

Karl stared at the befuddled man before him, "You may have thought that I was going to reject you kanina because it looked like I wasn't over my previous relationship yet but Vlad, I hope you understand that my memories with Russell won't fade that easily. Minahal ko 'yun eh. But my heart is no longer in that place, that much I am sure"

"Because when you left those post-its of cheesy jokes on my fridge, when you randomly stayed over to watch a movie and talked about the most mundane things on days when I felt lonely, when you went to my unit to cook with the silly excuse of your stove being broken just so we could eat together in case I skip meals again, when you did all those things and more, my heart found rest"

"Damn! I should have prepared a speech for my confession. Na-elbow nung 'my heart found rest' yung 'ilalaban ko ang naráramdamán ko'" Vlad muttered.

Karl laughed, "Alám mo may pwede pang tumalo doón sa sinabi ko"

"I love you" Vlad blurted out before Karl could beat him to it.

They both grinned.

"'Lika at binyagán na rin natin ang couch ni Ana," Karl stood up and reached for the candelabra.

"Wha- I'm not- I thought we're going to take it slow this time around. Magsisimulâ pa ngâ lang akóng manligaw eh," Vlad sputtered.

"Charót lang"

"Charóts are half meant," Vlad pouted through his tears. Fuck, why am I crying

"I am starting to fall in love with you, no charót"

END (hindi man lang sila nagkiss sa ending.auq na😭)

(And this is how this Paolo/Ian fic, clumsily disguised as a Karl/Vlad story, ends. The last scene happened on March 12, 2020 (a deliberate choice?), the day when the world's longest lockdown was announced and we know what happened to the rest of 2020: 'yung mga may jowa kagaya nina Karl at Vlad ay may kalandian during that haphazardly imposed lockdown habang 'yung mga single ay gumawa na lang ng dalgona coffee at nag-tiktok.

Kidding aside, 2020 was a terrible year not only because of the pandemic but also because of the way that the government mishandled and continue to mishandle the situation. How they used the pandemic to further their greed and selfish goals at the expense of so many innocent lives was infuriating. And all those things that happened in 2020 continues today so stay vigilant. Speak up. Register to vote)