Unrequited Love

f i f t e e n

Zora

Matapos ang meeting namin with the CEO ay agad na kaming pumunta for the TV shoot. We were holding equipments for the commercial. Isa isa nila kaming pipicturan para ilabas sa TV ang official members. Now i can say that i am really a part of the band. We were just playing some songs dahil imumute naman nila yung video to put voice overs in it. I was actually glad that Kenji knows how to act right infront of the cameras. 

"Okay we're all set. If there will be some problems when we show the final results to you guys, please let us know so we could change it immediately." sabi nung cameraman na kumuha ng pictures and videos namin. Nagthank you na kami at umalis. It's 3:30 p.m. kaya may 30 minutes pa kami para makapagpahinga bago maglive. 

"Inom ka muna tubig, Zora." Sabi ni Elijah. Inabutan niya ako ng tubig. Ininom ko naman agad yun. Nang makauwi na kami ay agad akong pumunta ng kwarto ko para humiga sa kama. Naglaro muna ako ng mga mobile games. 

"AH, Tangina mo naman Minotaur. Di ka marunong!" singhal ko dahil natatalo na kami sa laro. 

"Sinong minumura mo?" tanong ni Elijah na bigla bigla nalang sumusulpot. Hindi ko siya sinagot dahil nakafocus ako sa game. Nakita kong nilapitan niya ako at tiningnan ang screen ko.

"Mobile Legends? Naglalaro ka rin pala niyan?" tanong niya. Again, I didn't answer. Nagulat nalang ako nang bigla siyang humiga sa gilid ko. Napatigil ako sa paglalaro.

"What are you doing?" tanong ko sakanya.

"Continue your game. I wanna watch." sabi niya. I rolled my eyes and continued playing. 

"UY UY!!! ANG BOBO NAMAN NG KAKAMPI MO!" sigaw ni Elijah sa tenga ko.

"Now you feel what i feel pag sumisigaw ak- PUTA!" nanalo bigla yung kalaban. Elijah used his hands to act as a fan because i was sulking. We got defeated and it was a ranked game! 

"May next time pa naman, Zora." sabi niya. Tumango nalang ako. It's almost time for the livestream kaya nag ayos na ako ulit ng buhok at mukha. Lumabas na ako ng kwarto at pumunta ng band room dahil dun gaganapin yung live. May mga staff na tutulong samin para sila na yung bahala sa camera movements and focus to the person who's speaking. Umupo na kami sa sofa. The order goes like this: Elijah, Kenji, Me then Noah. I am not that happy but at the same time okay na rin ako sa idea na yon. 

"We're starting in 3.2.1."

Isa isa kaming nagreet sa camera. We introduced ourselves.

"I'm Elijah Levi Lozano. Drummer."

"Kenji Maverick Silvius. Lead Guitarist."

"The band's main vocalist, Zora Harriet Quizon."

"My name's Noah Clark Leviticus. Bassist."

Pagkatapos ng intro ay may mga questions na tinapon samin yung mga staff until it came to the point where they asked us about the band name. I was not expecting that. How could i even call myself a member if I don't even know our band name? Patay ako neto. 

"Just like before, our band is called-" Biglang pinutol ni Kenji ang sinasabi ni Noah.

"Au Revoir." sabi ni Kenji. Napatingin kami sakanya.

"What is it called? We didn't quite get that." sabi ng isang staff member. 

"Au Revoir. A french word for 'it's not a goodbye, but a see you later'." tuloy tuloy niyang sabi. Biglang lumapit si Elijah sa tenga ni Kenji.

"I thought it was ReCon?" bulong niya kay Kenji. Hindi pinansin ni Kenji yung sinabi ni Elijah at patuloy parin siya sa pagexplain nung band name na ginawa niya.

"I'm half french and half korean so i kinda know some of french language. I named it like this because-" napatigil siya bigla. I have a feeling that this is about Everest again but he was thinking about a good idea to say dahil maraming nanonood samin.

"Because in the near future, when our band rises, and when we eventually get old, we don't want to actually say goodbye to our supporters. We want it to be a see you soon." sabi niya. Pumalakpak yung mga staff. Nagngitian nalang kaming mga members sa sinabi ni Kenji. But deep inside, gusto kong malaman kung yun nga ba yung dahilan kung bakit niya pinalitan yung band name. After a few minutes ay tinapos na din namin yung live.

"That's good. We'll upload it soon so some of your supporters who didn't make it could watch it in youtube." sabi nung lead staff na nagasikaso samin. We all bowed, a sign of respect to the staff and that they did a job well done. Kanya kanya nanaman kami ng mundo as soon as we left the band room. Si Kenji na dumiretso sa kwarto niya, si Elijah na pumunta sa kusina, at si Noah na pumunta sa library ng mansion. Hindi ko alam ang gagawin ko kaya dumiretso nalang din ako sa kwarto ko para makapagisip. 

ReCon GC:

Kenji: Let's call the practice off.

Noah: Why?

Kenji: I'm tired. My energy's drained.

Kenji is typing...

Kenji: I'll have to change the group name.

*Kenji changed the Group Chat to Au Revoir*

Elijah: We're definitely going to talk about this tomorrow. Have a goodnight's rest.

Hindi ako nagtype ng kahit na ano. Pinatay ko ang phone ko. I'm getting tired of thinking. I need to confront Kenji about what he did today. I've decided to take a shower at pagkatapos nun ay pumunta ako sa kwarto ni Kenji. I knocked once, twice pero hindi siya sumasagot. Lumingon ako sa tapat ng kanyang kwarto. The balcony door is open. Lumabas ako dito to get some air. The sunset is pretty. 

"What are you doing here?" nagulat ako sa nagsalita. Paglingon ko ay nakatayo banda sa pintuan si Kenji na kakatapos lang din maligo. 

"I'm just trying to get some fresh air." sabi ko sakanya. 

"But i'll leave if you don't want me to be here." I said. Paalis na sana ako nang hilahin niya yung braso ko.

"You can stay if you want." sabi niya bago siya lumapit sa edge ng balcony. I looked at him weirdly. After a few seconds, pumunta ako sa gilid niya. I made sure we have big space inbetween us. We watched the sun to go down. Natuyo yung buhok ko sa simoy ng hangin. The cold breeze is hitting me like crazy. I stayed for a little bit longer hanggang sa nanginig na ako sa lamig ng todo. I noticed that he took his jacket off. Hindi ba toh nilalamig? Ang kapal naman ng balat neto. 

Bigla nalang akong nakaramdam ng warmth mula sa likod ko. He gave me his jacket. He went back to his place without saying anything. Naramdaman kong namumula ako dahilan ng pagdagdag ng init sa katawan ko. I must speak to him before he comes back to his beasty version of him.

"Was it really for the fans? Or was it for Everest?" 

It's now or never.