Their Kind of Love | √

Chapter 5 √

"What?!" I exclaimed in surprise pagkatapos ikwento ni Ate Mary ang tungkol sa kanila ni Yuan.

Kasalukuyan kaming nakatambay sa kiosk malapit sa college building namin. We decided to talk about the program for the charity event nang mauwi kay Yuan ang usapan. I'm happy that ate Mary's telling me about her love life. Wala kasi akong ganoon kaya sa love life n'ya na lang ako kikiligin.

"'Di ka naniniwala, no?" bahagyang natatawang sabi niya.

I shook my head lightly, "No. Not that! I'm just... surprised."

She shrugged her shoulders, "Kalimutan na natin 'yon. Wala naman na 'yon, eh."

I looked at her na may panghihinayang. She just told me about how she and Yuan became friends. Not only that pero naging M.U. pa sila! And when Yuan asked her to be his girlfriend, she rejected him! My goodness. Her reason? It is because she was insecure. She told me that Yuan's too gwapo for her. She was afraid of what others would say kung maging sila man. Tsk! She doesn't know that she's more beautiful than she thinks of herself!

"But, ate... You still like him, right?" I asked her.

Malungkot siyang tumango. "Oo naman. 'Di naman basta basta mawawala 'yon. Tsaka nahulog kasi talaga ako, eh."

Again, I shrugged off the feeling of sudden dropping of something inside me. Napapadalas yata ang gutom ko lalo na 'pag si Yuan ang usapan. Wait. That sounded wrong and... green. Erase erase!

I narrowed my eyes at Ate Mary, "Hay. You should told me this earlier para naiuntog kita! Eh 'di sana may super happy lovelife ka na."

Nakangiti s'ya pero bakas rin ang panghihinayang sa eyes niya. She must really like Yuan so much. "Ayoko na kasing gawing big deal. 'Di ko rin naman sigurado kung seryoso siya. Hindi nga kami nakapag-usap ng personal, eh."

Nagtataka akong napatingin sa kanya, "Ever?"

She sighed, "Oo. Text lang talaga. Magkalayo rin naman college naming dalawa so ayun. Ewan ko ba. Kapag nakikita ko siya sa malapit, nahihiya naman akong i-approach siya."

Napabuntong-hininga ako. I hugged her and leaned my head on her shoulder. "Don't worry, ate. Kung kayo, kayo talaga."

•••

Hay. Ilang minuto na akong naghihintay dito sa field, wala pa rin ang mga football players. Ano ba yan.

I tap my cheeks lightly. Am I sure of what I am going to do? Definitely not. But I need to kaya bahala na. Hwaiting!

Ilang sandali pa, may mga nagsidatingan na iba pang girls. Tatlo sila and they look like they're giggling over someone. Pumwesto sila sa bandang dulo ng bleachers. Nanatili lang akong nakatingin sa kanila. They're kind of familiar. And oh, BS Tourism students. Ang ganda nila! Lalo na 'yung girl sa gitna! She looks like an angel. I wonder kung sumasali rin ba siya sa mga beauty pageants like me?

I frowned nang mapansin na nakatingin na sila sa direction ko.

"Hey, Ms. Pancake."

"Oh my gosh!" halos mapatalon ako sa gulat nang may biglang nagsalita! Napalingon agad ako sa kabilang gilid ko at nakita si Yuan na nakataas ang isang kilay. I groaned inwardly. "Do you need to surprise me like that? I didn't know popping out of nowhere is your thing."

"I didn't mean to surprise you. You're just having your own world again." he said nonchalantly.

I blushed. "I'm not!"

I saw the other football players doing some stretching.

"You look guilty, huh? What are you thinking this time? Pancakes?" natatawa niyang tanong.

And my gosh. He's so handsome...

I stopped myself from thinking how handsome he is or how good his laugh is to my ears. Okay, Kisses. Stop right there.

"I am not guilty. And I'm not thinking of pancakes, no!" my cheeks getting hotter.

He smirked, "Well, the way you look at those girls, it's like you imagine them as pancakes. Hmm, say with strawberry coating?"

I stifled a laugh. "Hindi nga kasi! Baka ikaw! You're thinking of them as food? Eww." I tried to say with a serious face. Pero I guess hindi nakaligtas sa kanya na natatawa na ako. His smirk turns into a grin. Gwapo talaga...

Focus, Kirsten!

Bigla kong naalala ang sadya ko sa kaniya. "Nga pala, may itatanong sana ko. Okay lang?"

He shrugged. "About what?"

Alanganin akong ngumiti. "Um, it's something personal so..."

"Then no." diretsahan niyang sabi.

Napanguso ako. "But why? It's not that personal! Medyo lang. Promise." I even raised my right hand.

Bakas ang amusement sa mukha n'ya but sadly, muli siyang umiling. "Still a no."

Bumagsak ang mga balikat ko. "Okay. Sorry." I'm afraid that he might get annoyed of me.

I heard him sighed. Nanatili kaming tahimik. I guess I'm being nosy. His relationship with ate Mary is really none of my business. I shouldn't interfere about their feelings for each other.

Ilang sandali pa, I heard steps. I looked back at the girls and saw them walking towards us.

"You know them?" I whispered to him.

He nodded his head lightly, "Sshhhh."

"Hi, Eduardo." bati nila. I really wonder why our schoolmates prefer to call him Eduardo. Mas pang-millennial naman ang Yuan, 'di ba? Not that Eduardo's not a nice name, it sounds... classic, I guess?

I gave the girls a smile nang mapatingin sila sa 'kin. They smiled back. It seems forced but at least they smiled. Right?

"Hello." Yuan replied.

The girl who looks like an angel took a step forward. Yuan stood up. Mahirap naman kasi talaga makipag-usap ng nakatingala!

"Eduardo..." malambing na tawag ni ate girl. Kinilabutan nga ako sa lambing, e. S'ya kaya ang napapabalitang girlfriend ni Yuan?

Mukhang may seryoso silang pag-uusapan dahil nauna nang umalis ang mga kasama niya. I stood up and prepared myself to leave.

"Don't leave." Yuan's cold voice froze me in the moment.

Napatayo ako ng diretso at nagtatakang tumingin sa kanya. "Huh? Mag-uusap kayo, right? I should leave you two alone."

"She's right, Ed--" Ate girl was cut off by Yuan.

Yuan looked at me. There's no really emotion in his eyes but it's like behind those black orbs, there's a lot of hidden emotions. Nakakalunod!

He gave me his whole attention. Bigla tuloy akong nailang. "You don't need to leave. We're still talking, right? And you want to ask me about something then why are you leaving?"

Napalunok ako sa tono niya. Napaiwas ako ng tingin. Those intimidating eyes... Ugh!

"Next time na lang." Alanganin akong ngumiti. "Uhm, bye." I said at nagmamadaling umalis.

Pagkababa sa bleachers, napahinto ako at napabuga ng hangin. Ngayon ko lang narealize na kanina ko pa pigil ang paghinga ko!

I dared to look back para tingnan si Yuan but my heart skipped a beat nang madatnan siyang nakatingin pa rin sa 'kin.