The Coño Boy: Still With You [ 7th Anniversary Mini Book ]

Chapter 8: Into the Night

WARNING: MATURE CONTENT AHEAD.

"Hide your face so the world
may never find you."
~Masquerade, The Phantom of the Opera

There are moments in your life talaga na you get caught up asking yourself "What am I doing here?", followed by "Again, for emphasis, what am I doing here?"

These masks, the colour coded bracelets, and those rules don't really compare to what you are bombarded with once you get inside.

There's the usual food and drinks you would expect from pool parties —kasi most of the hanging out and the chilling happens by the pool. May tents pa nga draped with sheer curtains complete with mood lighting kung saan some guys are gathered.

Pero coming in pa lang, I already saw a pair of guys making out at the lanai leading out to the pool tapos meron pa sa may darker corner of the garden.

Since Darryl a.k.a. KatipunanTop and I a.k.a. Seb13 were already hungry, we decided to get a bite to eat from the buffet.

*You know how private this is kasi walang nagbabantay sa buffet and sa drinks. Naka spread siya as you would expect a caterer to do it pero iniwan lang siya like that.*

Darryl: Let's sit here.

Darryl picked an empty table not far from the pool.

We sit.

Sean: The set-up's kinda impressive ah.

I almost whisper my comment habang looking around the pool area.

There's a group of five guys seated by the pool, their legs dangling by the edge of it being loud pero not boisterously annoying loud while drinking.

Darryl: It's not usually set up like this.

He comments while looking at the same group by the pool.

Sean: By that, you mean?

I ask while twirling my fork into my Pad Thai noodles.

Darryl: This is —what some would consider— the "sosyal" version of an alter party.

He says "sosyal" with his fingers doing air quotes.

Sean: By the way, why don't some guys have their masks on?

I ask before putting the noodles into my mouth.

Looking around, there are a lot of guys here na wala talagang suot na mask. A guesstimate may be 25% of those na I see sa paligud namin.

Darryl: Them? They're the alters na nag face reveal na sa public.

He informs me before taking a sip of his drink.

I take a glance at the guys not wearing masks.

*Discreetly naman, hindi yung halata baka masabihan tayo na it's impolite to stare.*

Sean: And uh —please don't take this the wrong way since I'm asking— are they sorta like you  din na gets income from being one?

Darryl nods.

Darryl: Given na 'yon. Meron iba na in it for the financial gain —others naman they just don't mind if their identity is exposed— and advantage siya siguro 'cause they're open about their identity, mas marami followers nila.

"Huy! Andito ka pala?"

Our attention shifts to an unmasked guy standing maybe 6 or 8 feet away from us.