Hatin' Hue: A JOKEN AU

HH 2

"I like your eyes. Pwe!" Han muttered to himself while he waited for Silver to show up for lunch at the cafeteria.

"Huy! Ano, tulala?" Silver approached Han and waved a hand in his face. He said, "Musta hangout niyo ni Hue number 1?" once Han regained consciousness.

He responded, giving Silver a fist bump, "Olats, par. Hue na nga, nawala pa."

A prominently confused expression was shown by Silver, "Ha? Umatras sa deal? Tatlong linggo na lang ah?" he said, munching Han's meal.

"Tol, umatras dahil don sa Kalen ba 'yon?" Han responded, abruptly retrieving his supposed meal from Silver's hands.

"Ah, si Caleb? Ba't naman?" the latter inquired.

"Kapatid pala, hindi mo naman sinabi. Yare tuloy," Han said irritatedly, massaging the temple of his head.

Silver gestured a peace sign, saying, "Nawala sa isip ko. Ba't kasi mga type mo Hue pa? Olats ka talaga diyan! Elite kung elite."

Han pointed to himself and exclaimed, "Type? Dre, baka ako type nila!"

Silver swiftly nodded his head, saying, "Oo pala, I like your eyes," and let out a loud chuckle as the journalism team had it all recorded and Silver was one of those who had watched it. "Lupet ng bespal ko! Talo mo diyan mga anak mayaman," he teased even more.

"Gago, kaya nga kapit-patalim kasi 'di kaya makipagsabayan sa mayayaman na mga 'yan. Need ng areps, repa," Han responded.

Silver made the reasonable suggestion, "Baka kapit-Hue? Ba't 'di ka na lang lumapit sa Hue number 2? Pareho naman sila ng kayamanan if ever," given how much in need Han is.

Han leaped, throwing his arms around his bespal, saying, "Ang talino mo talaga minsan! Tutal kasalanan niya ba't bumitaw si Gold, siya na lang sisingilin ko!"

He continued, fingers resting on his chin as he pondered, "Asan ka ba, Kalen?"

"Caleb," Silver simply corrected him. "Caleb!" he yelled.

"Oo na, oo na, dre," Han responded, rolling his eyes.

Silver kept tapping him and once more yelled, "Caleb!" He went on, "Tungaw! Tinatawag ko future sHueta mo, dumaan, sundan mo dun!"

Han instantly sprang up and proceeded directly to where Silver had pointed. However, he didn't see where he went further. He asked around, "Nakita niyo ba si Caleb?"

In response, the person questioned said, "Ah doon, naka-white siya."

"Thank you, thank you," Han said with a hint of anxiety while he kept looking and scratched the back of his head.

As he reached the end of the hall, he saw a man wearing a pastel yellow hoodie. He grabbed him by the shoulder, saying, "Huy! Caleb!"

He hastily pulled himself together and said, "Ay! Sorry, sorry! Akala ko friend ko," as an unfamiliar face met his gaze.

"Bobo mo, Hate! San na ba 'yon?" he thought and wondered to himself.

A man behind him said, "I'm getting bored, ang dali mo taguan," as he began to play with and pull Han's necklace.

"Aray! Wag ka nga manakal!" Han shot back, annoyance lingering.

After releasing him, Caleb turned around. When Han saw that he was leaving, he hurried up to say, "Teka! May sasabihin pa ako."

"No. You're no fun," was Caleb's reply. He put both hands in his pockets and strode off.

Han lamented, "Pota naman!" as he made an effort to quicken and catch up to his pace. "Ang bilis mo lumakad, dati ka bang ninja?" he said.

Han didn't notice that they had already left the campus, still trailing Caleb. "Quit following. I don't want to hear anything you have to say," Caleb said in an irritated tone.

Han insisted, "Five minutes, de sige, three minutes, pakinggan mo deal ko," and Caleb stopped, turning to face him.

"A minute," he said.

Han began to walk again, saying, "Ayun! Deal! Gento kasi..." but Caleb promptly took hold of his arm and drew him in.

For a brief while, Han felt as though everything had stopped; his heart was racing and hammering, he felt a knot in his throat when he swallowed, and his breathing became deeper. Though it wasn't as close as their previous encounter, Han still had the feeling that a monster was having fits inside his stomach.

"Red light," Caleb muttered. However, Han's mind was just floating, locking his gaze on the person in front of him, making him unable to comprehend anything else that Caleb had said.

He snapped back to reality with a harsh slap from Caleb. The younger one exclaimed, massaging his reddened cheek, "Aray! Kanina ka pa nananakit!"

"I said, kung nagpapakamatay ka, don't hold me responsible," Caleb said, and he began to cross the road.

It was then that Han realized what just happened. His eyes darted to the pedestrian traffic light before settling back to stare at Caleb, who was already almost at the other side.

Though he was hesitant to cross, he persisted in walking since he was eager to speak with Caleb. The next thing he knew was that a car almost hit him. A loud honk from multiple cars on the street made him even more anxious.

Han instantly covered his ears, losing all composure and staying in the center of the road with his eyes closed.

A loud thud from a car made him glance at his back, and he saw Caleb stopping a car just to get across. He heard, "Tangina! Nagka-dent sasakyan ko! Bayaran mo 'to!" and saw how Caleb just threw anything he grabbed from his pocket—a handful of cash.

Reaching Han, Caleb put his headphones on his and took his hand as they crossed the street.

Looking at their hands clenched as they dash across the street while blasting strong metal music, Han's heartbeat doesn't appear to be getting any calmer.

"Who would have thought this kind of music could be romantic?"

As soon as they crossed over, Caleb yelled, "What were you thinking?" With a frustrated tone, he asked, "Walang traffic light etiquette?"

With a bashful glance down, Han shortly said, "I can't see colors."

"I may have been colorblind, but I began to hear colors; Even though it's not possible, I started to see Hue."

To be continued...