His Unexpected Goodbye

Chapter 7

For Chapter 7, play With A Smile — Eraserheads as background music. Video is provided above, credits to the owners.

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We locked stares, he's on the stage right now as he begins singing. With a smile... He knows me too well, it's my favorite song and I'm a die-hard fan of Eraserheads. Listening to him felt as if he was communicating with me through the song, I felt every word. The lyrics itself touched my heart.

I held Vrylle's arm as I slowly start to squeeze it a little tighter, I was so nervous and frenzied that I exerted all force on her arm. I released it the minute she starts complaining that it hurts. It all felt so surreal.

He is enjoying, this is the first time I ever saw Korics look this confident doing something I could never imagine him doing. He is good in singing, but he never shows it to all of us, even to me... Well, now I witnessed it.

"Hey... just chill okay?" Vry says while holding her arm, looking a bit hurt. I hugged her after feeling sorry for causing that. I may have gotten a little too aggressive on holding her. "Your face says it all Rox."

"I did not expect this..." The crowd blasted in noise, but despite the loud shouts and other people singing along... Korics' voice is the only thing I hear in my head, all the way to my heart. "Did any of you know about this?"

"I did." Gaeb approached us, he just came from the backstage after he performed. I caught him wink at Amee before standing closer to me and Vrylle, watching Korics perform. "He told me about this, Miss Elviera. Clearly because he borrowed my guitar."

"Really?" That's all I could say, the moment was just too precious. I wanted to film the entire thing but it was too late and my hands were sweaty and shaking. "Sorry... I'm just so speechless."

"Don't mind her, you know how she is when she gets excited." Venylie suddenly appeared out of nowhere. She looked a bit exhausted. "I missed your first performance Gaeb... and is that Korics singing?!"

"Surprisingly... yes. That's Korics, alright." I said, Vrylle just nodded as she continued to cheer on. Gaeb stood there, smirking. Some girls were trying to get his attention. "Anyways, where were you?"

"I had to go far from the noise since my mom called." Venylie says. "It's about our flight tomorrow... I had her fix it for us since we're going to be very occupied."

"So we really are going... good thing I already packed." Amee said, Gaeb just listened to us, discussing about our trip after this event. "Are the tickets ready?"

"Yes, everything is. The tickets, the arrangements, the hotel, the transportations, everything." She showed us pictures of the hotel rooms. "Tomorrow, around 1:30 p.m, we're off to Surigao del Norte. To Siargao. Let's all meet up at the airport, and guys we can't afford being late."

Korics owned the stage, he was very good. Everyone started clapping loudly as the song is closer to its end, he had this nervous smile on his face. I laughed a bit imagining how anxious he could be up there, the amount of people watching him with us is no joke.

As he finished, Theia stood beside him on stage and everyone cheered. I started thinking about what to say when he comes near me, should I thank him? What should I say? I was so confused but at the same time, still processing what he said earlier.

"Thank you for giving me the opportunity to perform, Nettheia." Korics says while smiling. "Everyone, enjoy the rest of the fundraiser event. Go and try all of the different booths and activities, we'll bring you more performances tonight."