After The Credits

Chapter 3 Back in the Apartment Karl's POV

Karl slumped on a chair in the apartment of his Tito, his home during the school year. Tito Santi let him stay there since it was closer to the campus. The apartment was decently large with a second floor for the bedroom. The first floor had a kitchen to the right of the entrance with a dining table in the middle of it. Next to that was a couch and the chair Karl was sitting on to its left with a table in front of it. Further from the door was the TV that Karl would often watch movies on late at night. To the right were the stairs leading to the aforementioned bedroom.

Karl had grown used to living here, but that encounter with Vlad earlier did, however, remind him of how much of Vlad was left in the apartment. Merely looking at the couch placed images in his mind of Vlad sleeping on it.

Karl brought out his laptop and tried to write a few paragraphs for an article he was assigned to for his freelance job. The pay was alright, but really nothing special. Seeing his name in the byline, however, was the true prize for Karl. He did, however, quickly realize that too much happened that day for him to write properly. He let out a sigh and closed his laptop before reaching for his phone and making a call.

"Anna, 'di ka talaga maniniwala kung anong nangyari kanina."

"Hala, Karl, ano na naman ang nangyari sa'yo?" His friend, Anna, replied through the phone.

"Vlad." Karl answered.

He heard Anna gasp and could just picture the look of shock on her face.

"Nagkita ulit kami kanina. Mentor ko siya sa org namin." He continued.

"Gaga? So ano'ng nangyari?" Anna asked curiously.

"Well... I guess magkaibigan na ulit kami? Alam mo namang 'di kami nag-usap ng isang buong sem kaya medyo weird na biglang nag-uusap na ulit kami. Pero... alam mo, Anna... in fairness, na-miss ko siya." Karl said, not noticing he was already smiling.

"Ay, ang cute! Pero mag-ingat ka, ha. Baka ma-fall ka ulit char!" Anna teased.

Karl felt his face getting red.

"Sabi ko friends lang kami, Anna. Nothing more, nothing less." He said defensively.

"Ang seryoso mo naman, Karl. Siyempre nagbibiro lang ako." She laughed in reply.

"Ay shet, kailangan ko nga palang sunduin ang anak ko sa school. Chika ulit soon! Bye!"

"Sige, bye Anna. Miss you!"

Karl put his phone down and got up to take a shower. On his way to the bathroom, however, he heard the noise of something heavy falling outside his door.

"Shit!"

Karl recognized the voice immediately.

Vlad? Akala ko 'di na siya nakatira sa kabilang unit?

"I swear, Kuya, kaya ko 'to." Vlad's voice said from a distance.

"Clearly, hindi. Nahulog na yung isa mong box, oh! Just let me help you." Another voice answered.

Karl recognized the second voice too. It was his professor and Vlad's brother, Sir Rob.

Karl heard more sounds of stuff being moved around, but no longer heard much talking. The few voices he could hear were too hard to make out anyway, so he gave up on eavesdropping and took a shower.

A few minutes later, Karl got out of the bathroom and heard his phone vibrate on the table. He picked it up and read the message he received.

Vlad: Hi, neighbor. Just thought I'd let you know I moved back into the apartment next to Tito Santi's with Kuya Rob since he wanted to work more closely with me for his class. See you around ;)

Oh. My. God.