Gateway to the Stars

I

Chapter I

"Are you okay?" napatingin si Hiraya sa gilid niya at nakita niya ang batang lalaki  na lihim niyang kinaiinisan.  Wala namang ginagawang masama sa kanya ang naturang tao kaso hindi niya maiwasan magtanim ng sama ng loob dahil pakiramdam niya inaagaw nito ang atensyon ng Mama niya sa kanya.

Hindi na lang siya kumibo at tumingin na lang siya sa kabilang direksyon kung saan merong nag kasiyahan dahil may party sa Language school na pagmamay-ari ng Mama niya.

Kahit na hindi niya pinapansin ito umupo lang ito sa tabi niya at hindi siya iniwan. Gusto niyang sitain pero ayaw niyang mapansin ng Mama niya inaaway na naman si Min Jun. Anak ng matalik na kaibigan ng Mama niya si Min Jun kaya laki din ng tiwala na aalagaan at ito hindi pababayaan.

"Laya?"

"You're saying my name wrong. It's Hiraya. Not Hilaya or Laya." napanguso siya at nakapamewang. May sasabihin pa sana siya nang makita ng Mama niya at lumapit ito sa kanilang dalawa.

"What are you two doing here? You two should be there at the party" inakay sila ng Mama niya at dinala sa dance floor habang mga ibang bata kasing edad nila ay nagsasayaw na parang may mga sariling mundo. Iniwan silang dalawa ng Mama niya sa dance floor. Nakatayo lang silang dalawa at nagtitinginan sa isa't-isa.

"I'm sorry for saying your name wrong. I promise I'll practice hard to say your name right." He extended his pinky finger to seal his promise. She reluctantly extended her pinky and locked it with his.

Nakita niyang pag kislap ng mga mata ni  Min Jun pero pinigilan niya mapangiti. Ayaw niyang isipin na okay sila at naaalibadbaran pa rin siyang nararamdaman dito ngunit habang tumatagal unti-unting nawawala iyon. You can never hate him for too long. Lee  Min Jun is a force to be reckoned with. He's charming and everyone literally wants to be friends except her maybe.
He tends to be patient with people around him and he's willing to be around them until they open up to him. His way of thinking is too mature for his age.

"We're now friends, right?" He flashed his saccharine expression. Hiraya quickly removes her pinky finger intertwined with Min Jun's.

"No, we're not." mabilis niyang tugon.

"We're friends! Friends dance together too!"

He did his signature moves and urged her to dance with him too. "Sasayaw na yan!"

He tried to tease her and kept on dancing around her. "Come on, it's fun!"

"Oo na!" She joined him and copied his dance moves and jives to the fun music and then the next music played was a Taylor's Swift song. She remembered her friend raving about it having a romantic and magical vibe.

She hated to agree to that but she's right. It's magical. Looking straight into his eyes was dreamy too. Did she notice that now?

Upon realization, she felt her heart skip a beat. The weird sensations she felt made her conscious that she was close to him. Then she heard a deafening ringing noise in her ears.

"Hiraya!" naramdaman niyang may yumuyugyog sa balikat niya. Napaupo siya sa kanyang kama tila gulong-gulo siya sa nangyari. Napatingin siya sa roommate niyang si Charity.

That dream again. Sa isip-isip niya. It's been a while since she dreamed about Min Jun. It wasn't a nightmare but that's the memory of the last time she saw him. He was only in the Philippines for an exchange program and will go back to his home country after 6 months. She never bothered to know his whereabouts. Her mother lost communication with her friend too. She won't know even if she fished for information, not that it matters. She took a deep breath and calmed herself. She could still feel the hard pounding of her heart.