RIVALRY [ heesun ]

three.

It's been half an hour since Acky's friend arrived, and it's been half an hour na rin akong nakatingin sa table nila. But hey, you can't blame me? The guy is so attractive plus I can't just shrugged off the thought that I might know him. His gesture on the bookshop earlier is kind of rude so I'm at least expecting that he will apologize to me once he saw me. Should I pretend that I drop my phone pag napadaan ako sa table nila? How about I ask Acky about somethin—

"What the heck!? That hurts!" I winced in pain when Simone slapped my arm. Napaka bigat ng kamay!

"Sorry I had to slapped you, kanina pa kasi kita tinatawag hindi ka lumilingon. Buti nga hindi sa mukha eh." Wow ha? Thank you siguro?

"Does it hurt? Sim, you can just pat his arm to call him. We don't need to hurt each other." Pangangaral ni Wayne kay Simone. The latter clasped his hands together to apologize to him but he turn to me with his brows furrowed.

"Ikaw kasi eh. Kahit anong kalabit ko kanina hindi ka lumilingon. Ayan tuloy natampa ka ng precious hand ko."

"So kasalanan ko pa!?" I angrily said, medyo lumalakas ang boses. To compose myself, I sip on my drink.

"Oo, medyo—pero tapatin mo nga kami. Kanina ka pa nakatingin sa table nina Acky eh. May gusto ka ba sa kanya?" Dare-daretsong tanong ni Simone. I spat out my coffee and it goes directly on Simone's face. I didn't do it on purpose!

Some people na malapit lang sa table namin are looking at us, specifically to Simone na mukhang nalalagkitan dahil sa kape.

"Aryse!!" He shouted. Napatayo naman ako sa kinauupuan ko.

"It's not intentional, Sim! I swear! I'm sorry!"

Wayne is just looking us, embarrassment is visible in his face. I'm pretty sure he will deny us as his friends once someone ask him if he knew us.

Nagmadali akong pumunta ng counter to asked for tissues. I also asked for assistance to clean our table since tumapon din sa flooring ang coffee, thankfully the barista is not busy when it happened. Sinamahan ni Wayne si Simone sa banyo to clean his face while I'm here on our table, thinking of writing a 10 paragraphs apology letter to Simone. Gosh, I'm just hoping na he will still treat me as his friend after what happened.

Preoccupied with my thoughts, I glanced at Acky and his friend's table but Acky isn't there. Nandoon naman ang kaibigan niya at busy ito sa kanyang phone. Luminga-linga pa ako, spotting Acky, but I couldn't see a figure of him. Saan siya nagpunta?

"Binugahan mo na ako ng kape sa table pa rin nina Acky atensyon mo?"

I immediately turn my head to my front when I heard Simone's voice. Medyo basa ang iilang strands ng buhok niya at may droplets pa ng water sa may bandang forehead nito. Wayne nudge him to wipe his forehead which Simone did.

"Sorry na nga eh! I'm just curious about something, okay?" I defended myself.

"I think it's better if we go home na. We created a scene here so it kinda bothers other people." Wayne stated. We turned at him with apologetic face. He just smiled.

"It's fine. You guys enjoyed each other's company naman, right?" He asked us at parang robots lang kami na tumatango sa kanya.

"Good. I thought you're still mad at each other. Let's.. prevent that from happening again, shall we?" He always assure us that everything is fine.

My mouth form a pout from what he said. He didn't sound mad at all. Napaka haba talaga ng pasensya niya when it comes to us. He is always this understanding.

"Yes, we are sorry, Wayne. We won't bicker again." Simone apologized. I nodded to agree.

He laughed a little and turn to us with a smile plastered on his face.

"We are not sure about that." The three of us laughed after what he said.

It's not even close to night yet, but we decided to go home already. It has always been like this. We know we are already in the age where going home late at night is fine since we are considered as grown ups. Kaya na namin ang sarili namin. But we were reminded of that we still have family na uuwian. We have to be safe. Wayne always reminds us that there's our family, worried about us.

Napapaisip tuloy ako kung may pamilya ba ako? Kasi whenever I get home, my Mom and Dad don't bother asking how my day went. They don't forbid me to go out with my friends. It's a good thing, right? But it doesn't sit right with me. I don't know. Maybe because it's weird na hindi ko kailangan magpaalam sa kanila. Na papayagan nila ako on whatever the heck I do with my life.

Is that, freedom?

Or they don't just care about their son?

I shook my head at the thought and turned off the lampshade beside my bed to ready myself to sleep.

— ฅ⁠^⁠•⁠ﻌ⁠•⁠^⁠ฅ

short update ! i hope this chapter gives you an idea about Aryse and his friends. they have an amazing friendship, right? :))

i hope you're having a great day!

unó.