Unrequited | SB19 Stell [SB19 Series #3]

20

Mhai’s POV

After Ken confessed, I left him hastily at the table, with a disappointed look on his face. I mumbled an excuse, something about helping out in the restaurant even if Tita Je had given me the night off. At first, he tried to stop me from walking away. But I refused to be held back.

I hid in my room, praying that Ken would never come here. Lester kept on sending me messages, asking where I was, coaxing me out of my hiding place. I blatantly lied and told him that I was not feeling well, that I was on my period. Of course, he had to tell Tita Je. Tita Je was anxious. I had to assure her that I took medicine and was waiting for it to take effect.

Lester wanted to video call. I declined his offer, telling him that I should sleep early. I knew he was disappointed. He had used his extra free days of vacation to spend time with me but I just was not cooperative. I felt sorry for Lester - sorry that I wasted his time. He was looking forward to spending time with me but I blew it.

I sighed as I stared into my bedroom ceiling, listening to the lapping of the waves. It was trying to soothe me, but my mind was elsewhere. Since when did my life get complicated? All I thought about was my one sided love with Lester. But now, Ken’s one sided love bothered me too much.

It was hard to believe that he’d been in love with me for years. I could relate to the pain, the longing, the rejection. I was doing to Ken the exact same thing that Lester was doing to me.

I left him without a proper explanation. I left him without even saying sorry that I could not accept or reciprocate his feelings. I left him ALONE without even a good-bye.

I am hurting Ken.

And yet, how can I give him a piece of my heart when it already had an owner?

Ang gulo ng buhay! I gritted my teeth and pulled my hair out in frustration. I escaped to Camiguin to destress. But it seems like the stress was following me all the way here.

I closed my eyes. But all I saw was Ken’s hurt and dejected face. I punched my pillow and pushed my face into it to muffle my screams. My gad! Kung di pa ako tumanda, walang magkakagusto sakin!

How will I face Ken? How will I face my friend? How will I ever tell him about my feelings?

I badly wanted to escape. I wanted to bolt out of here, never to be seen by Ken again.

I shut my eyes off, blocking the image of Ken on my mind. It was going to be awkward seeing him, with his pleading eyes. Oh, God. How much worse can this get?

***

August 2021

Stell’s POV

“Justin. Pssst,” I called out to him. We were in our The Zone studio, currently rehearsing for our anniversary concert in Araneta.

Justin was not paying attention to our choreographer, Tank, who was busy teaching us the steps to NSYNC’s It’s Gonna Be Me. We have less than 3 months to prepare. It may seem like a long time, but for us, we were already getting anxious. There’s so much to do. So many performances to rehearse.

It was weird having a choreographer. Before, all our dance routines would be choreographed by me, or Ken. Josh, Justin and Paulo would also suggest dance moves and formations from time to time but Ken and I would bear the brunt of the work.

Tank would ask us for suggestions sometimes but it's nice not having to feel so much pressure with the choreography. It also means that we were earning more. We could not afford a choreographer, or a stylist before. But now, we had our regular stylist and make up artists already. It's amazing.