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Chapter 11: New Tenant

Chapter 11: New Tenant

Liam's pov

"Here you go." I can literally see how bright his eyes right now as soon as I handed him the Heaven's Ring.

Tila naging pipi si Aris na kinuha iyon at pinagmasdan sa mga daliri niya. He have teary eyes already na nilingon ako. "Thank you. I'm going to be honest. I really doubted your abilities to succeed but. I'm grateful na nagawa niyo nga talaga itong makuha para sa minamahal ko."

"You have all the rights to doubt us." Eg answered, by the way, he's not facing us dahil nakaikot ang upuan niya roon sa wall.

"Teka. Paano niyo pala nagawa 'yon? A-akala ko ba imposibleng makuha 'to?" Aris was too curious about it.

Kaya't ngumiti na lang akong sumagot din agad. "Sorry but it's confidential. Rest assured that we didn't do anything illegal. The important thing is, you have the item."

Napatango-tango naman itong hindi pa rin mapawi-pawi ang ngiti sa labi. "Right. And oh. I-I need to pay you now."

After the transfer, tumayo si Aris na muling nagpasalamat bago masayang umalis dito sa clubroom.

Naiwan kaming dalawa ng kasama ko. And as soon as I closed the door, I turned to him, both hands inside my pockets. A deafening silence ensued bago ako nagsalita. "Can I ask you something?"

Hindi siya sumagot. Still facing back the wall, unmoving from that inclining chair. Para bang nabingi lang ito o sadyang nagbibi-bingihan lang ito roon.

I heaved sigh. "Since kahapon, hindi kita tinanong sa bagay na ito dahil pakiramdam ko masyado ka pa ring occupied sa mga nangyayari. But. I just don't want you to forget that I am your partner now, right?"

"What do you want to know?" His voice sounded grim. So unlike him. I mean, seryoso naman siya palagi sa tuwing nagsasalita but this time sounds more grimmer than usual.

But since napasubo na rin ako, I intends to continue questioning him. "Those masked people... who are they?" I tried my best trying to sound soft for it. Pansin ko kasing kanina pa nakakuyom ang kamao niyang kulang na lang ay durugin ang armrest ng upuan niya.

"They are..." He paused, probably thinking like he don't want to say anything about it. But he continued by the way. "... they're dead people."

Okay. I absolutely didn't expect him to say that. What did he mean dead? What?

I remained speechless sa narinig ko. I wanted to stay silent hindi lang dahil sa wala akong ibang masabi kundi dahil gusto ko ring marinig na sabihin niyang biro lang 'yon.

But. That's the only answer he told me bago rin tumunog ang school bell, telling us that the lunch break was over and we need to get inside our classrooms again.

Tumayo naman si Eg na naglakad palagpas sa akin. I saw how grim his face was bago binuksan ang pinto roon. "I need to go home now, Liam."

Napasunod naman ako sa kanya matapos ko ring maisara ang pinto ng clubroom. "May problema ba?" I'm kinda worried about how he is acting right now. Simula kasi no'ng makaharap niya ang misteryosong babae na iyon, para bang mas nawalan siya ng interes sa lahat ng bagay, except for the game only.

Nakapamulsa siyang naglalakad ngayon, slightly sulking sa tempo ng mga hakbang at postura ng katawan niya. "Nothing serious, really. I'm just kinda tired. Meet you in the house, Liam." Sabay kaway nitong hindi ako nililingon bago ito lumihis ng daan at bumaba ng building.

Sa buong afternoon lessons namin, hindi ko na malaman kung ano ang ginawa namin sa room. My mind was present elsewhere. Tapping the desk repeatedly with my pen. Blankly staring at my teachers face pero ibang-iba pa rin ang nasa loob ng utak ko.