I Would Hate To Be You

Chapter 15 [eleven]

Chapter 15

I still can't believe I wasn't able to answer Guian's question right away. Confident naman ako na si Japheth ang crush ko. Pero for some reason, after meeting Nick, I'm having second thoughts. Maybe because he's so warm and friendly. He smells good and he's cute, too.

Teka. Napakasalawahan naman ng puso kong 'to. Pero baka pwedeng dalawa ang maging crush nang sabay?

I was pulled out of my trance when I saw Japheth coming. He's wearing black pants and a plain white t-shirt. He gave me a warm, little smile when he saw me. "Hi, Atom. Thank you so much for coming."

Napangiti ako. "Bakit 'thank you for coming', pinapaalis mo na ba ako?" I teased him.

He immediately became flustered because of it. His face blushed a little and he rubbed the back of his neck. Ang cute.

"No, no," he said, shaking his head. "I was trying to welcome you," he shyly added. "I'm sorry if it came across that way."

I laughed. "I was just joking," I told him. I roamed my eyes around at the expanse of their house. Pang-yamings talaga ang itsura. Pwedeng pumasa na location sa mga house shootings. I looked at him and commented, "Ang ganda ng bahay niyo."

"Uh . . . thank you," he replied, smiling a little. "Do you want to go to the kitchen? I'll let you meet Dad. He's cooking."

My eyes widened out of amusement. "He cooks?" I asked.

"Yes. He loves to cook."

Japheth excused us from his friends and we went to the kitchen. There we found a man who's so busy with cooking.

"Dad," Japh called.

His dad turned around to see us. "Hi," he immediately greeted me.

And wow, he's very good-looking. He's tall and he has fair skin. But unlike Japheth who has deep-set and mysterious eyes, his dad has almond eyes and they smiled, too, when he greeted me. He gives off a very friendly vibe—like we've known each other for a long time.

"I'm sorry for the mess," his dad added, pointing at his apron. Before nearing us, he washed his hands.

"Dad, this is Atom. The one who took care of Jonas," Japh said, introducing me.

"Hello po," sabi ko. Dahan-dahan kong inabot ang kamay ko.

"Hi, Atom. I'm Manuel," he said, smiling. Instead of shaking my hand, he neared me and gave me a half-hug. Which I didn't expect. I was surprised because we just met today but he's treating me like I've been their family friend for ages. "Thank you for taking care of my Jonas. At his age, he's very curious. He goes to a lot of places and he gets lost easily. Lalo na ngayon at kakalipat lang namin sa bahay na 'to kaya hindi pa siya familiar," he added, pulling away from the hug.

"Wala pong anuman. I'd also like to apologize for keeping him at home and not calling you immediately as soon as I saw him. I just had a situation that's why I didn't have a choice," I explained.

"Don't worry. Japheth told me everything and I understand. Laking pasalamat namin dahil ikaw ang nakakita sa anak ko."

"Pero huwag po kayong mag-alala, sinabihan na po ako ng parents ko at ng kapatid ko na huwag na ulit gagawin 'yun. Kaya next time, kapag may nakita po ako na mga batang naliligaw, alam ko na po agad ang gagawin," I told him. I've learned my lesson now. Hindi ko na sila dadalhin ulit sa bahay. Tama si Kuya Boaz, baka mapagkamalan pa akong kidnapper or something.

He smiled and said, "Speaking of. Please say thank you to your parents for me, okay?"

"Sure po!" I smiled back.