decoding the boys ✔️

1 - game || edited

NOTE:

hello po! this serves as your content warning po that this story will not end in a happy ending. second lead po ang totoong ending dito. kilig is not the purpose of the story. wag na po basahin kung ayaw nyo po ng gano'n.

i'm only reposting the story po dito para sa mga old readers na gusto pong mag-reread. kung di nyo po bet ng mga ganitong klaseng endings ~ wag na po sana basahin pa.

please po.

thank you.

Javee De Villa

I'm nervous.

Ngayon ang first game ng basketball varsity team namin. Maglalaro for the first time this season ang kuya ko and I'm really nervous. Centrex University kasi ang kalaban kagad. For the longest time, sila talaga ang campus rival namin kaya marami talagang nag-aabang sa game ngayon. Maliban do'n, marami ring nakatutok sa pagtatapat ulit ng star players ng bawat team.

Papunta na nga kami ngayon sa venue, though currently stuck pa sa traffic. I gripped my phone tighter and looked out the window, mas lalong kinakabahan. The car was barely moving down the Macapagal road. Baka ma-late kami.

Biting my lip, I started tapping a finger to the edge of my phone.

"Chill, J. You're starting to look like your brother's stage mother," Lhyle, my only guy best friend, said with an easygoing laugh as he hit the brakes when the car in front of us stopped yet again.

"I can't help it,"sagot ko sa kanya. "This isn't just any other team, you know that. We're up against someone big."

"So? Our team's just as good. Have some faith in your brother. He's not our star player for nothing."

He was right, of course. Si Kuya Jacob nga ang ace player namin, a feat that he was definitely proud of and made little effort to hide. Yung biglang pagsikat niya talaga ang rason kung bakit lalo pang tumindi ang rivarly between Intersci and Centrex (which had been a thing since forever) kasi napakita niya ngang kaya niyang makipagsabayan sa Centrex, who were known for bagging the championship numerous times in the past.

It was precisely why this specific match made a buzz on social media days leading up to it. Halos lahat ng kilala ko, sa face-off lang ng dalawang team nakatutok.

But this rivalry on court wasn't the only reason why these teams were closely anticipated. Honestly kasi, kung rivaly at clash of skills lang usapan, then mas interesting ang competition between UTA and Constello kasi sila rin ang madalas manalo sa cheer dance competitions. No, the match today was controversial because of something else entirely. Something that everyone knew about—even the media—but wouldn't speak of in the open air dahil sa mga high profiles involved.

Open secret na nga na merong bad blood between the two basketball teams, at ilang beses na rin talaga silang nagkaalitan outside the court. I'm talking about actual brawls and physical fights. Kung bakit, I also didn't know.

"Do you really think we can win?" tanong ko sa kanya.

"Oo naman. We have a good line-up this year. Saka mas gumaling pa kapatid mo since last year."

"Tingin mo he can score a lot today?"

"Bakit ba ang kabado mo? 'Di mo naman first match 'to."

"Eh kasi. This is the first time I'm watching him live."

"And?"

"Okay, fine." I blew out a puff of air. "We had a bet. I wanna know who'll win between my brothers."