﹒letting go of small things [philippines]

10.

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Book one
Chapter ten

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At the time, the silence was loud.

Philippines slowly pressed the green button on his screen.

...

"Kuya?" Philip sat down. He looked down at the screen, looking at his older brother's profile picture.

He heard a loud breath and voices in the back. "Ili, where are you right now?" Martial had said from the phone as Philip rubbed his cheeks.

"The United States. No biggie.. Im here just to collect important documents from the UN." Philip replied.

"Hm. When are you coming back?" Philip reacted with slightly widened eyes, as he shrugged, "I dont know. Manila was supposed to pick me up." He hummed quietly, in boredom. He was contemplating to end the call, but he didnt want Martial to be mad again.

"Ah." He could hear Martial put down his phone and call Manila's name out.

All the filipino could here was a conversation in tagalog he couldnt make out, and heard Martial clear his throat. "He's going to pick you up soon." He said.

"Where are you staying?"

He frowned. "Kuya, why do you even have to ask? Im safe." Philip chuckled, he just didnt want to tell his older brother that he was staying at America's house. "I'm just wondering. I heard the rest of the southeast asian countries are there. Diba?" Philip sighed quietly.

"Yeah. I met up with them um, yesterday..."

"Alright. But I hope you're doing work more than having fun, besides, this is a buisness trip. Not a holiday." Martial said in his casual voice, which always sounded so scary for some reason.

"Phil!!" A female voice could be heard from the door. As Philip yelped. "Who-" He hung up as he quickly put his phone in his bag.

"Yes?" Philip came up to the door, and saw Palau. "Cmon! We ordered food!" She pointed to the bench on the other side of the pool. "Oh, finally!" Philip grinned.

"What took you so long though?" She raised a brow. Philip shrugged. "I was finding more suncreen." He had lied. Palau nodded as they both walked to Indo and Vietnam.

"Thanks, um, sir?" Vietnam didnt know the formalities in America, and Indonesia laughed at him for that. "Hey guys!" Philip waved as he sat himself beside Indo. "Phil!" Indo said with a cheesy grin.

"Ooo! Pizzaa!!" Palau clapped her hands together while licking her lips. She took a slice of pizza, and bit into it. It was cheesy, and she liked it.

"Oh! This is good!" Vietnam said with his mouth full of the pizza.

Vietnam was bored out of is mind, so he decided to make a conversation. "Now that I think of it, we've never actually hung out with Palau like this." Vietnam said, smiling at her. "That's cause she isnt in the association, but, Id say she's actually fun to hang out with!" Indo pointed out.

"Oh, Palau, have you ever met like, Mr. Asean?" Philip asked while holding his pizza in his hand, "Um.. I think once. We had a little conversation." Palau said while drinking the glass of coke on the table, not knowing who's it was. Vietnam scoffed with anger. "Paalaauu! You gotta stop stealing!!" He stomped his foot. Indo chuckled at him. "Do you think he's kinda scaryy??" He asked Palau with a raised brow.

"Uh, no.. I mean, he is kind to me." Palau shrugged shyly, as Philip looked at her, "He's kind to everyone but us!" He waved his hand in the air.

"Tell me about it." Vietnam chewed his pizza, while raising his glass up to drink what was left of the soda.

"When are you guys leaving?" Palau asked. "I'm leaving in two weeks." Sounds of slurping could be heard from Vietnam and the straw he had put it on his glass. "Im leaving soon. I dont know." Philippines had shrugged while looking at Palau who had asked the question.

"Soon?" Indo raised his eyebrows at him, looking at the filipino's nod. "I'm leaving with Timor Leste and Brunei in a week." He sighed, frowing to Philip. "We wanted to stay here for a bit, we dont have anything work related so I said why not have a holiday." Vietnam rolled his eyes. "You and your schedule. Me, Cambodia and Laos are going to the pacific islands for fun!" He said delighted, but also dissapointed because he'd have to be stuck with the two girls.

"Oh? We're heading up to Canada. Might go skiing. But Ill be there to meet up with Canada for some buisness, with fun comes work." Indo groaned while finishing his last slice of pizza. There was only three left, so Philip took one.

"I have to go home. Shame." Philip frowned sadly. He was jealous of the trips they were going to take. "Ah, if it makes you feel better Singapore does aswell." Palau said, hiding her giggles.

"Anyway, let's go somewhere else!" The filipino offered.