Should I?

5. Five

DAY BEFORE RYEONG'S BIRTHDAY

" And ano sasabihin ko kay Prof kung hanapin ka niya Ryu? " sabi ni Yeji habang naglalakad kami papuntang canteen. Breaktime namin ngayon kaya bumaba kami para bumili ng snacks bago bumalik sa room. 

" Eh, sabihin mo nalang masama pakiramdam ko. Eto naman ni Yeji parang first time! " sabi ko habang cinoconvince siya na pagtakpan ako bukas since plano ko umabsent. 

" Ryu, kaibigan kita and naiintindihan ko kasi si para to kay Ryeong, pero baka naman pwede yung Ian na gumawa ng surprise. Kahit yun nalang iambag niya since mukhang ikaw naman lahat nag prepare. " sabi ni Yeji habang inaantay maluto ang pancit canton namin. 

" Eh ako lang kasi nakakaalam kung saan bahay ni Ryeong. And baka kasi hinde niya magawa ng maayos yung surprise. Sige na Yeji libre kita kahit anong gusto mo. Ako bahala sa pagkain mo ng buong linggo kung yan ang gusto mo. " 

" As much as I want to take you sa offer na yan Ryu, baka maubusan kapa ng pera. Diba kakabili mo lang ng gift ni Ryeong and I know nag titipid ka ever since kasi hinde ka na bumibili ng food sa food hall. Lagi nga kita nililibre eh " 

Totoo naman sabi ni Yeji, nagtitipid ako to buy a gift for Ryeong. And I sometimes skip meals na din. But Yeji always buys me snacks or minsan meals na din since solid kami. She gets me. 

" Yejiiii sige na last na to. Promise, lagi na ako papasok and I'll do good na sa classes. Matapos lang tong birthday ni Ryeong. " 

Yeji sighs, " Sige na nga. Pero libre mo parin ako. Hay kung hinde lang talaga kita kaibigan Ryu. " 
" Yes! Thank you masteryeji! " I jumped and hugged her, I saw her smile and returned the hug but bigla sya nag let go and nag iba ang mukha niya. It seems like she was caught and tried to act like it was nothing. I looked around wala naman nakatingin samin and normal naman samin mag asaran and mag clingy ako sa kanya. Minsan nga nag hahabulan pa kami sa classroom pag trip namin. But i didn't mind it nalang baka nabigla lang siya. 

Umakyat na kami ulit sa classroom after ng break and waited na matapos ang class. 

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"Punta tayo sa juniors natin! " aya ni Dahyun. Nasa audi kami ngayon tumatambay habang inaantay makumpleto kami since ibang crew members namin may mga class pa. Wala din kami magawa kaya sumabay kami papunta sa Junior's Building. 

Habang naglalakad, I saw Yeji with someone. Someone who used to message me. And if I remember correctly, medyo nailang ako sa taong to.

FLASHBACK

" Uy, may nag memessage daw sayo kaso di mo pinapansin " sabi ni Yeji sabay tabi sakin sa classroom. Iniintay namin dismissal ng Prof since tapos na kami sa activity na binigay samin. 

" Sino? Bakit alam mo may hinde ako nirereplayan? " Pagtaka ko. Kasi I know some people message me and I don't tend to reply pag hinde ko kakilala personally and kung hinde ko masyadong feel and approach. Normal lang din kasi na may mag chat sakin but not all nirereplayan ko lalo na kung alam ko hindi naman importante and need or may ibang balak. Not assuming but sometimes you just know. 

" Eh sabi niya kasi sakin. si Somi. Hinde mo ba siya kilala? " tanong ni Yeji 
Binuksan ko ang phone ko and looked for a girl named Somi. And I found the thread, muted and archived. 

" Eto ba yun? " I let Yeji see my screen. " Oo siya, grabe bat naka mute yan? " tanong ni Yeji
" Eh medyo nakulitan ako sa pag chat. You know me naman I don't usually reply to people I don't personally know. And she's very persistent kahit hinde ko pinapansin. hinde naman siya nag chachat ng maayos or nag papakilala. Kaya I muted her nalang. " Yeji is trying to absorb my story as she scrolls through our chat. " Sino ba yan? " I asked her. 
" Wala someone I know lang. Pinapatanong niya lang bakit di ka daw nag rereply. Anyways hayaan mo na pagsasabihan ko nalang wag masyadong makulit. " 
I felt guilty, baka kasi ma offend siya. " Hayaan mo na, sabihan mo lang na magpakilala lang siya ng matino para di ako ma awkward, I'll try to reply nalang din sa kanya if I have time " 
Nag ring na yung bell kaya nagsitayu'an na kami and proceeded sa next class namin. After that, hinde na namin napag usapan ni Yeji, and I thought okay na. 

" Jagii your phone is blowing up. Sino yan? " Tanong ni Ryeong, Nasa cafeteria kami nung naiwan ko ang phone ko sa kanya since bumili ako ng iced coffees. 

" Can you open it? Baka si Mama lang yan " I let Ryeong open my phone since okay naman sakin na ginagamit niya phone ko. Only she knows my password as well as registered ang thumb print niya sa phone ko. 

" It's someone named Somi. oh my gosh, bat parang galit to sayo? " Nagtaka ako so I looked at the messages too. 

" Sana sinabi mo nalang na ayaw mo ako kausap, why did you have to humiliate me kay Yeji? " 
" Why did you let her read my messages to you? "
" Didn't think you're that kind of person. "
" Dont worry, I won't ever message you again. "

" Ryujin Joanne Shin, who is this? and what does she want? " Oh no, my full name. She's pissed. 
" Jagi, it's just someone who's been bothering me pero hinde ko na siya nirereplyan. Yeji asked me about her kasi she asked Yeji why I didn't reply sa messages niya before. Which are non-essential messages and I don't know her personally to reply to her messages. So I told Yeji that. I don't know why she's so pissed. " 
" Do you want me to talk to her? But I can see she really bothered you. Sana sinabihan mo ako. I could've talked to her directly. " 
" No it's okay Jagi, hayaan mo na siya it will just blow up kasi. And she doesnt seem to be capable of hurting me naman so it's fine. I'll talk to Yeji nalang about it. "
"Okay ikaw bahala basta if she bothers you again, tell me. I don't want anybody to annoy you. Only I can do that. "  I smiled and we continued to talk about other things. 

Somi didn't message me again after that. I didn't reply nadin cause it's too awkward. Later on, Yeji told me na Somi has a crush on me kasi kaya siguro ganun but Yeji clarified to her na it doesn't seem I swing that way. I guess sinabihan nalang din siya ni Yeji to backoff. 

END OF FLASHBACK

I wanted to say Hi pero parang umiwas siya ng tingin. I looked at the girl and she just looked at me and back at Yeji. That's weird. But i shrugged it off kasi baka hindi niya lang ako nakita. 

" Mga Ate!!! Ate Ryu! " I hear Yuna calling us before we enter the room. I hugged her and messed her hair a little while she gives me an annoying look. Yuna and I have been close and I treat her as my baby sister. We said hello sa mga kasama niya who we consider our juniors din. 

We watched them prepare for practice nila while conversing for a while. After that bumalik na kami sa Audi and prepared for practice. We had fun and after that we played games. I have to commute and after ko hinatid si Ryeong, sumakay na ako ng jeep. While waiting for the next jeep, gusto ko sana sumiksik sa naunang jeep kasi hinahanap nadin ako ng lola ko and nakailang tawag na si Mama kung di pa daw ako nauwi. Nung chinecheck ko yung space, napa tingin ako ulit..


kasi nakita ko si Yeji, kasama ang babaeng kasama niya kanina. 


Si Somi. 


And si Yeji sa kabilang way ang bahay. 

Nagtinginan kami, and for a moment we both just looked at each other. 
Then she broke the silence, " Ryu! Pauwi ka na pala " 
" ah, oo! bat ka nandito? " I asked without thinking, bahala na siya kung sasagutin niya or not. 
" Ahh, ihahatid ko lang siya " Sabay turo kay Somi. I wonder why. Alam ko napakalayo pa ng bahay ni Yeji from here. I waved goodbye nalang kasi may dumating ng jeep, and I shrugged off nalang the thought na magkasama si Yeji and Somi.