The aroma of coffee made Kenneth's mouth salivate as if he was a dog. Sitting inside the Starbucks coffee shop within the college campus, students and the likes eyed him as if he'd grown a pair of horns. He was unconsciously grinning like a fool for the past 9 minutes as he waited for his beloved caramel flavored coffee.
As Kenneth's eyes roamed the establishment, he spots Topher, his befriended employee making his way to him. As always, Topher had the same old princely smile, making Kenneth blush a little as he stared at the good looking guy making his way to him. The very moment his eyes locked with the mug in his friend's hand, the background miraculously disappeared. The distant laughter's and faint whispers became muted as he savored the sound of Topher's footsteps that accompanied the thought of luscious and creamy coffee , making him curl his toes in excitement and delight.
When Topher came nearer to deliver his precious cargo, he heard distant screams from the blurry background, and then he saw it. He saw how a body collided with his friend and he was frozen on his spot, tremors ran through his spine as his beloved coffee flew in the air. His eyes locked with the coffee mug in shock as he watched it drop in the floor, shattering in pieces that he couldn't count.
The only thing that he could do was make a muffled "No....." a sound so puny compared to the screaming customers within the shop. After the initial shock subsided, he stood and surveyed the room. He saw the one that shattered his happiness. Staring at the back of the guy with a dreadfully stoic expression, he finally realized that there were actually two guys punching and cursing as they spat venomous threats at each other's faces. Driven by the sheer anger and adrenaline rush of having witnessed his coffee being spilled in the floor, he rammed his body at the guy that collided with his friend. He then bit the other guys arm as he furiously scratched the guy's face. The commotion happened so fast and blurry. The last thing that he saw was Topher's horrified expression before a sharp pang of pain erupted in his chest and he felt flying as he drifted into unconsciousness.
"Kenneth woke up in the scent of fried fish that made his tummy grumbled. He groaned and stretched himself as he tried to shake off the drowsiness from his system. Disoriented? Yes, but he could hear his mom humming a folk song as she cooked. "Magandang umaga po nay" he said as he tried to sit up from the bed. Stretching once again, he gained a small amount of strength that his body gained through night's peaceful rejuvenation. His mother just smiled at him and held her arms out as if inviting him for a hug.
He wobbled as he made his way to his mother and upon arms reach; he hugged his mothers left leg, strangling it with all his 7 year old body could muster as his mother continued to cook. "Ang lambing talaga ng anak ko" his father said as he entered their small hut in the middle of the rice fields. They had a simple life in the province. He just smiled in contentment as he savored his parents loving affection. "Mahal na mahal kita Kentoy, wag mong kalimutan yan ah" his mother said as she pinched his cheeks childishly. He smiled and stared at her, remembering her beautiful young face as she stared back at him with those brown orbs that showed genuine love for him as she cupped his cheeks
"Nay, gusto ko pong maging engineer balang araw" he said as he gazed at their vast rice fields."Gusto ko rin pong makabili ng maraming sasakyan". "Wala namang imposible anak, pero dapat mag pakabait ka ah" his father said as he cradled his son in his arms lovingly, "ahhh.... Oo nga pala, eto pala ang pasalubong ko sayo" he said as he gestured Kenneth to look at his side pockets. "ano to tay?" he inquired as his delicate fingers wrapped around the mystic object. "Dream catcher yan, kita mo yang mga maliliit na tali, para kang manghuhuli ng isda, pero dream nga lang ang mahuhuli mo". "Thank you po tay" and being the father; Rommel hugged his son back before kissing him in the head.
Kenneth jolted from the bed as sweat dripped from his forehead. Though his vision was a bit disoriented to the sudden introduction of light, he saw a figure approaching him.... No, it's actually two figures. Closing his eyes again, he breathed deeper, as if he inhaled to fill up all the air sacs within his lungs before exhaling again and then reopened his eyes again. His head throbbed with pain, a bit numbly too but bearable.
"Are you alright?" a foreign guy beside him asked, wearing a fit green t-shirt, he could tell that the guy goes to the gym regularly. Instead of responding quickly, he let his eyes roam the room and came into the conclusion that he was indeed in the campus clinic. The guy's voice was somewhat hoarse and husky; it made him a bit uncomfortable.
"Yes......I think?" he replied as he diverted his eyes away from the concerning ones and darted his eyes into the other guy who stood awkwardly by the door. "Sorry about what happened earlier" the guy in white polo said as he rubbed the back of his head in a childish manner. "I was beating the shit out of this asshole when you barged and joined the fight and then you---". "I'm James and he's Tosh, sorry about what happened" James said as his hazel eyes locked with his. Kenneth could have fainted at the sheer presence of the two hunks in the room with him, if it wasn't for the awkward situation.
Shit! He couldn't stop himself from blushing. Oblivious from Kenneth's mental battle, James leaned more and cupped his neck which made Kenneth's face unusually red as Tosh paced nearer. "Are you sure you're ok? I think we need to send you to the hospital" Tosh inquired as he eyed him warily.
"Nah, I'm fine" and he sit up and tried to stand but pain erupted from his chest area. "Let me help you...?. "Ken, call me Ken". Damn, a foreign emotion flooded him and wtf! This stranger doesn't know anything about the concept of personal space. And to make matters worse, James leaned from behind to help him stand. The contact alone made him shiver unconsciously and James scent..... Jesus! For some unknown reason, he found James actions to be very sensual as fuck. "No!" he was taken aback by his outburst; he saw how James and Tosh visibly flinched at that remark. "I can take care of myself" he said as he gathered all his stuff hastily.
After zipping up the last remnants of his property which included his handkerchief, he stood erect and began a staring contest with the guys. The guys were petrified at his gaze, the always averted their gaze from his, as if they were kids caught sneaking a cookie. He couldn't stop a smile from rising up and let out a girly squeal at them. His laughter was soon followed as their laughter was unified. After their laughter's subsided, the deafening silence was now somewhat comforting.
"Friends? Tosh asked as he held his hand. "Definitely" Ken said as he shook both Tosh's and James' hands. Minutes later, they spoke at each other as if they knew one another for such a long span of time as they made their way outside the building.
"Would we see each other again?" James asked as he gave Ken a playful hug. "Probably" Kenneth responded as he saluted at Tosh and James humorously. "And don't worry about me, I'll be fine" and on cue, his phone buzzed. Upon checking his phone, his eyes bulge upon the ungodly sight. He had 27 messages from his best friend Jared and 19 miss calls. Waving good byes to his new found friends, he went to the park and sat in one of the bench and read.
1:27
Topher told me what happened, where are you ken?
1:34
Ken please..... im panicking right now, where are you?
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3:21 pm
Ken! Please respond.....
3:26 pm
Don't scare me Ken please, where the hell are you?
Before he could finish reading the texts, his phone buzzed and then answered the call. "Where the hell are you Ken?!" even though he sounded pissed, he knew for sure that Jared was genuinely worried and was near to tears. "Park, near the campus clinic" and with that, the call ended abruptly and he unconsciously dozed into a sleep with the thought of Jared's panicked expression.
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