CROWN.

• 10

armi

all these years i never truly believed in karma. actually, i do believe a little bit, but because it seemed nonexistent due to the fact that it takes eternity before it makes a move, i lost trust in it.

now, i think i must've undermined karma.

christian martel was right in front of me, throwing a coughing fit as he desperately searched for water to push down whatever he ingested that caused the choke. his eyes were frantically looking around, and as he landed his eyes on me, he plastered a pleading look.

"what? kailangan mo ba ng tulong, christian martel?" of course, asking that was stupid because he ended up just responding through another coughing fit.

his eyes stared at me, almost questioning if i even have the heart to help. i could even translate it to a sentence such as - "armi kuusela, are you really that heartless of a devil?"

dear, do you really think the devil still has a heart?

unknown to him, i have already asked water from a waiter who happened to pass by while christian martel was busy handling the trouble he was in. it has been almost a couple of minutes, i wonder what's taking the waiter too long? i don't want to carry the burden if this guy dies right in front of my eyes.

"sorry for the delay ma'am, here's the wat--" bago pa man matapos ang sinasabi ng waiter, i signalled him to hand the glass of salvation to the guy in front of me who was still struggling. i presume he failed to notice someone was dying right at his very side.

upon handing the glass of water in front of him, martel took no pause and grabbed the glass, chugging the water for his dear life. by this time, the waiter had already left to serve another customer.

"HA!" christian martel let out a gasp of relief. i could only stare at him in a composed posture.

"akala ko talaga mamatay na ako," dugtong pa nito.

"akala ko nga rin eh," i replied.

"after all, devils still have the heart to save a person, thus i conclude."

so you really did think i was a devil, huh. not surprising.

"what makes you say so?"

"the devil was my salvation," he said straightforwardly.

"if i may recall correctly, the waiter was the one who handed the water. do you mean to say the waiter is the devil?"

"hmmm, pwede naman. but i should at least thank my true savior, right? kung hindi siya nakahingi ng tubig sa waiter, would i still be alive?"

did he perhaps see me asking water through hand gestures?

"thank you, kuusela." the gentleness of his voice made me feel a sense of satisfaction. yet again, the same sincerity his thank you held yesterday was present, and if not the same - it was even more sincere.

-

it was almost five when we walked back home. there were no conversations as we walked the way back to the subdivision. it wasn't exactly awkward. rather, the walk held a comfortable silence.

in a matter of minutes, we found ourselves right in front of our gate. i expected the lad to cross the road and make his way towards their gate, but he remained standing a few feet apart from me.

i stared at him with an inquisitive look.

"oh? bakit ganyan ka makatingin, kuusela?"

"hindi ka pa ba uuwi?"

"kung uuwi ako ngayon na, wouldn't that be too ungentlemanly? isa pa, pinangako kong iuuwi kita nang ligtas at hangga't hindi ka pa nakakapasok sa inyo, hindi ko pa nagagawa ang pangako ko." he looked to relaxed, but what he said truly touched me.

i never expected someone to care this much, despite the fact that he's doing this for the purpose of fulfilling a promise.

"fine then, i'll be going in."

once i was inside the gate, i looked behind again and saw him still standing in the same position.

"nasa loob na ako. you should probably head home too, christiane martel."

"i will. thank you for spending the day with me, babe," he said and i shot him a stern look.

still gross as ever with his words.

"when will you ever stop being gross," i muttered under my breath as i saw him crossing the roads and going inside their gate. before closing it, tumingin unlit siya sa banda ko and guess what he did? another greasy wink and a couple of kissy gunshot gestures.

i guess it's in his nature already.

i took out my phone once i stepped inside the living room and checked on my twitter timeline. just as i did so, martel had posted a second ago.

-

martel🔒 @chrstnchoi • 1s
devils dance with fire. we never take it to heart, but that fire sometimes are the salvation we need.
💬     🔁     🖤

-

devils need salvation too.

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i happen to write updates on the spot and publish it right after finishing writing kaya may gaps sa chapter updates hehehehe

buti nga di ako umabot ng isang oras djsjxbsjhds