Sa halos isang oras kong itinagal sa bookstore ay nakabili ako ng sampung libro na pinag-igihan ko talaga ng pagpili. Ayaw ko kasi ng basta kuha lang nang kuha, mas sayang pa rin pag ganun. We should learn how to spend wisely, kahit na gaano pa karami ang pera mo.
Kumikinang ang mga mata ko habang nakikitang chinecheck out na yung mga pinamili ko. Matapos kong magbayad ng cash ay maliwanag ang mukhang lumabas ako ng bookstore. Kahit mabigat ang mga dala ko ngayon, hindi nito mapipigilan ang adrenaline na nararamdaman ko ngayon dahil sa tuwa.
Ang sunod ko na plano ay tumambay sa isang cafe. I'm going to start reading one of the books I brought while drinking some hot matcha or cocoa... Just thinking about it makes me feel all giddy and excited.
Just when I was only a few steps away from the cafe, I stopped when I heard someone called my name...
But not the name of the body I'm possessing right now...
My real name.
"Yara."
I turned my head to my right, then to my left, not knowing where the voice came from.
What...?
The voice sounded... very soft and magical. Like the call of the gentle breeze in a field of luscious grass and flowers, or the feeling of the comforting warmth of the wind mixed with the gentle heat of the bright and sweet autumn sunlight caressing your face like you were in a dream.
"Yara."
My eyes stopped on a figure wearing a white long sleeved button-up shirt tucked in his white skirt that reached his ankles. He has a long black hair that reached the lower part of his back tied into a half-bun. Even so, from his build, I'm certain he's a man, but I couldn't get to take a peek at his face as he quickly turned around, running away.
Unknowingly dropping the stuff I'm carrying that I couldn't even remember what it was, I followed him like a fisherman in a trance as he's being lured in by a siren.
Maya-maya'y nawawala siya sa paningin ko pero kaagad ko rin siyang nakikita ulit hanggang sa nakaabot kami sa parking lot ng mall, sa parteng walang katao-tao banda.
Wala na akong ibang makitang tao, maski yung hinahabol ko.
"H-hello?" I called.
"Yara."
A giggle echoed throughout the parking lot.
My body stiffened, "S-sinong nandiyan?"
"Me."
I gasped as I quickly turned around, faced with the most beautiful and ethereal man I have ever laid my eyes upon. He's glowing, dagdag pa ang pagka-vibrant ng mga puting damit na suot niya.
He has soft features--gentle eyebrows, soft and innocent-like golden brown doe eyes (the color of the earth as it's veiled with the setting sunlight), a pointed nose (as if sculpted by the most talented artisan) and thin rosy pink lips like it was taken from the petals of pink roses itself.
"Y-you..." wala pa sa kaayusan kong sambit, "Y-you called my name."
He smiled, with it reaching his eyes forming into crescent moon shapes, "Catherine?"
The voice does belong to him.
"Yara," paglilinaw ko, now properly facing him, "You called me Yara."
"Yara," pag-uulit niya. Ang kaniyang hintuturo ay ipinatong niya sa kaniyang baba, "Such a beautiful name," he chuckled to himself before raising his eyes at me, "Yes. I called your real name."
"How?" naguguluhan kong tanong, "How did you know? Who are you? What are you?"
"Simple," he said before slowly twirling around me, his long skirt elegantly fluttering in the wind as he did so.
He's so... eccentric.
"I was the one who brought your soul here."
My eyes widened in shock.
Certainly eccentric.
"You?" hindi makapaniwalang tanong ko, "W-why? W-wait, I have a lot of questions--"
My breathing halted when he stopped behind me, his back on my back and his head turned sideways over his shoulder. He reached for a strand of my hair over my shoulder, softly caressing it to the tip, "Calm down, child. We have a lot of time for that. Like, right now. We can talk as long as you want~"
He released the strand of my hair before moving away a little bit. Nang muli ko siyang hinarap ay nakanguso ang mga labi niya na tila may pinag-iisipan.
"But first..." he said, "How about we change locations first?"
My mouth gaped when the clear blue skies slowly transitioned into a light nightsky dotted with whites of stars. Wavy curtains of aurora borealis with the gradient colors of violet, pink and green hanging across the atmosphere.
Napatingin ako sa baba nang makita na ang inaapakan kong sementadong lupa ng parking lot ay napalitan ng tubig na sobrang linaw at mukhang malalim (hindi ko makita ang seabed, purong tubig na kulay cyan lang) pero hanggang sa sapatos ko lang ang taas nito.
Ang nakapaligid sa aming mga sasakyan at building ng shopping mall ay nawala. Everything cleared up into an empty space, the glowing deep waters and skies stretched out into the horizon, with me not knowing where it ends.
"Ang ganda diba?"
Napalingon ako nang marinig ang boses niya. That's when I only noticed a mini garden surrounding a gigantic luminous bright pink tree. Its branches of pink leaves reached the heavens.
Surrounding the tree, there were plants of greens and flowers of different colors stemming from the waters below our feet. In front of the tree, there is a water well made of cobblestone which had a small roof and winch made out of wood.
Sa gilid ng balon na 'yon siya nakaupo habang nakangiti akong pinagmamasdan. Ramdam ko ang mga mata niyang maigi na nakatingin sa akin.
"I like beautiful things," he continued.
"W-who are you?" was all I could muster, repeating the question I asked earlier because I don't know what else to say. I'm even having a hard time grasping this situation.
If all of these are actually real or just a dream...
"Me?" it seems like his lips never stopped smiling since earlier, "I'm the author of Beloved Jade."
BINABASA MO ANG
Love Operation: Don't Become The Villainess
Romance〚 SEASON 1 || COMPLETED 〛 Not remembering how she died, Yara transmigrated into the hit light novel 'Beloved Jade' as the main villainess, Catherine who gets banished to another country at the end of the story because of her misdeeds against the ori...
