LSS: CLOSE

Chapter 8

Regina slowly opened her eyes and found herself lying in a bed while her left hand was chained. Hindi ito makapaniwalang naka posas ang kamay nito sa kama kaya agad itong nagsisigaw at humingi ng tulong.

Nilibot nito ang tingin, she's in a pleasant room and in a nice bed. Ang kwarto ay may puting pintura at maaliwalas. Pinilit nyang bumangon, but she still feels groggy.

"Where am I?"

Pinilit alalahanin ng dalaga ang mga huling pangyayari. Takot ang naramdaman nito kaya agad nyang hinanap ang cellphone pero hindi n'ya ito makita. Nakita nito ang isang susi na nakapatong sa lamesa malapit sa kama, agad nya itong kinuha at halos mapa-iyak nang mabuksan ito. She immediately opened the door and was shocked to see a hallway. Para syang nanghina pero kinalma nito ang sarili at agad na lumabas. Binati pa ito ng mga staff na parang walang nangyari. Dali itong lumabas at agad na nakapara ng taxi, dito ay napa hagulgol sya ng malakas.

"Are you okay?" Tanong ng driver. Hindi s'ya makasagot.

"Can we go to the nearest police station, please?" sambit nito. Mabilis namang tumango ang driver at pinaandar nito ang sasakyan. Pagdating sa estasyon ay agad na pumasok ng dalaga at lumapit ito sa dalawang opisyal na asa front desk.

"Yes, may we help you?" tanong ng isang police.

"I want to report an incident, please."

Pinilit n'yang alalahanin ang nangyari at unti-unti ay idinetalye nito sa kanila ang mga naganap . Expecting to believe her, but they didn't.

"Miss, are you telling us you were kidnapped?" Tinignan nya ang mga ito. They were looking at her like she made up the whole story.

"Do you think I'm crazy? Do you think I went here just to make up a story?!" she said in a high-pitched voice.

Magsasalita pa sana ito ng lumapit ang isa pang police at tinitigan ang dalaga. "Aren't you the girl in this article? Aren't you the girl who hangs out with the idol but slept with another man?"

Gulong-gulo ang isip ng dalaga. "What? Did he just say I slept with another man?" Alam n'yang hindi naniniwala sa kanya ang mga ito.

"Miss, there's an article that talks about you. You can check your phone for you to see it. You're even trending." The police looked at her and gave an evil smirk. Bago tumalikod ang lalaki ay narinig nitong bumulong sa kanilang salita. Dahil nag-aral sa korean school ang dalaga ay kahit papano'y naintindihan nya ito. 'Nappeun haengdong i deuleonamyeon pihaeja lago jujang.'

She felt devastated. They were accusing her of making the story up because she was exposed. Ang akala n'ya ay matutulungan siya ng mga ito, but she was totally wrong. Pagkarinig nito ay nawalan siya ng lakas. Wala syang nagawa kundi umalis nalang. Nakita n'yang nag-aabang padin ang sinakyan n'yang taxi kaya walang anuman ay sumakay ulit ito at nagpahatid sa villa.

Pagkababa sa taxi ay agad na tumakbo ang dalaga papunta sa kaibigan.

"Reg! Oh my gosh saan ka naggaling? Bakitt naman hindi mo sinabing may boyfriend ka pala dito?" Regina was confused. "Pagbalik ko sa table wala ka na, sabi ng waitress nakapag bayad ka na daw ng bill at umalis kasama ang isang lalaki. You even left your cell phone."

She handed her phone back and saw an article that caught her attention. She immediately read it and was dumped for a minute.

"For the past few days, Park Jace was seen with a girl who is known to be working in the airline industry. You can see in the first few photos that they seem to get well along together. The woman was also spotted to be in the idol' s group events and the same hotel with him, so they thought he had been dating a fangirl.