𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 // 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗 𝚍𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚘𝚜

xii. hangover launch?

Amidst the soft glow of morning light filtering through drawn curtains, a disheveled room echoed with laughter and whispering. Justin sat up groggily on the bed, his hand on his throbbing head, nursing a hangover. Looking up, he sees Stell and Xi-Anne, stood by beside the bed, amused.

Stell, with a sly grin on his face, eventually spoke after a brief moment. “Mukhang may malalagot sa mga taga maisan ah. It appears that you had a little Instagram adventure before you ended up here, Jah.”

“Ha? Sinong malalagot? Bakit may malalagot?” Justin asked, perplexed.

He has no recollection of anything that happened last night except going to the boardwalk to watch the sunset, and everything after that is hazy. I guess I drank too much last night.

“Wala kang matandaan? Anong paliwanag ang sasabihin mo dito 'pag nakita niya 'to?” Stell's words don't really register with him, but he notices his phone is in the hands of his friend.

“Anong ipapaliwanag ko ba? Ano bang meron? Ano nangyari kagabi? Pahinging context naman d'yan oh.”

“Ang ganda ng pic na pinost mo sa IG story mo kagabi, Justin De Dios!” Stell remarked as he flipped through Justin's phone.

“Anong pic? Ako? Nag-post?”

Xi-Anne gave a quick laugh. “Lasing ka ngang tunay, Jah! Nag-soft launch ka lang naman sa IG story mo kagabi.”

“Ha? Soft launch? Malambot na lunch?” Justin furrowed his brow, his head still cloudy, and he couldn't grasp what his friends were saying. “Anong soft launch? Yun ba yung sa computer?”

Stell cracked a dry grin. “Ewan ko lang kung makakapag joke ka pa rito.” He then held up Justin's phone in front of him to show him what he had done.

Justin squinted at the phone screen, his tired eyes straining to concentrate. He shivered slightly as he recognized the image from his Instagram story and the story behind it. It was a candid image of a girl, her silhouette draped with an ethereal light, framed by the vibrant hues of a sunset.

“Oh…” Justin's face turned crimson as he recalled his tipsy bravado before he passed out last night. “Is that… Ako ba... Pinost ko ba talaga 'yan?”

He tightly closed his eyes and let out a long, deep sigh as the events of the previous night began to make sense to him, except for when Kiera took over to take care of his drunk state, and he couldn't recall what he's blurting out to her, too. He did, however, recall glancing at that exact photo, debating whether to post it on his account with only his close friends can see while they were at the beach club with some acquaintances. He must have mistakenly pushed the post button due to dizziness, or it may not have been an accident at all.

“It's true then, when you're drunk, you do things your true self wants,” Stell remarked as if it were fact. It certainly is in Justin's case. “Ang cute malasing ah, may pa-soft launch bigla. Tumatapang ang isang Justin De Dios.”

Xi-Anne grinned, enjoying the moment. “Ayaw mag-confess pero ni-soft launch agad. Iba 'tong pambatong mais natin, Stell, ang tapang.”

Justin buried his face in his hands, his mortification evident. “What was I thinking? Paano ko na siya haharapin ngayon? Nakakahiya! I mean, hindi nakakahiya na pinost ko siya sa IG ko pero nakakahiya kasi... malalaman niya na pinipicturan ko siya 'pag 'di siya nakatingin.”