Taped-Up Heart

X. Wrong Unit

Chapter Ten

Wrong Unit

"Oh... what's with the face?" Yannie asked the moment I sat beside her. Padabog kasi akong umupo doon dahil inis na inis talaga ako!

I rolled my eyes first dahil naiinis pa rin talaga ako. "You wouldn't believe who I just saw."

She smiled. Naaaliw nanaman siya sa pagma-maldita ko. "Who?"

"Tiunggo number two," I told her. "And guess what?"

"What?"

"Siya iyong bagong lipat sa katabi kong unit!" I groaned. "Ugh! Sobrang annoying! Bakit sa dami rami ng unit na pwede niyang makuha bakit 'yung sa katabi ko pa?! At saka, nakakainis! Favorite neighbor ko pa naman si Mrs. Tan kasi palagi niya akong binibigyan ng ulam... saan siya nagpunta bigla?"

She was still smiling. "Asia, don't you think it's fate's way of saying that you two are meant to be?"

Nanlaki ang mga mata ko. "Yuck, Yans! Just yuck!"

Tumawa siya sa naging reaction ko.

"Kadiri ka! Naririnig mo ba 'yang mga pinagsasasabi mo? Kadiri, Yannie! Never! Over talaga my dead sexy hot body!" I rolled my eyes for the nth time.

Yuck. Nasusuka ako.

Me and Achaia Tiu?

Yuck!

Talaga!

"I mean... parang nagco-conspire talaga ang universe para magkatagpo na kayong dalawa ni Tiu. Sobrang unexpected pati ng mga happenings, Asia. One day, bigla na lang siyang pumasok sa buhay mo. I think he's your plot twist, Ash," aniya.

I mean tama naman siya. Biglaan na lang talaga. One day I woke up on his freaking bed! Pero fate? Destiny? My god, sa mga movies and stories lang 'yon nangyayari, and this is reality. This is real life. Walang gano'n. Walang babae na kasingganda ko ang mai-in love sa isang tiunggong katulad niya.

Tinakpan ko ang magkagbila kong tainga as I slowly shook my head. "Nope. Not gonna happen."

She laughed. "Achaia and Asia, huh? Bagay."

And I just rolled my eyes at her again.

* * *

"Asia!"

I smiled in an instant hearing that voice. I faced him and felt my cheeks burn. Oh... my god, Asia, bakit ka namumula?! Gusto kong gawaing excuse sa sarili ko na mainit at gawa ni Mister Sun, pero dapit hapon na kaya bakit ako namumula?!

Could it be?

No.

No.

Just no.

"D-ducci," I smiled at him. Nag-flashback sa akin ang mga ginawa namin kagabi. Iyong kumain kami, iyong sa arcade... at iyong baby namin na baboy.

He genuinely smiled at me. God, willing akong i-alay sa inyo si Tiu makita ko lang ang ganyang kaganda na ngiti ni Duane Ciello Pardo de Tavera sa araw-araw. He rarely smiles, but when he does... it feels like I am in paradise. Sobrang ganda talaga ng mga ngiti niya and I'd give everything just to wake up to that kind of smile everyday.

He tapped my head. Higit na mas matangkad kasi siya sa akin. "Missed you, A."

Mas naramdaman ko ang pag-init ng pisngi ko.

Bakit may pag-miss?!

"Wala ka na bang class?" I asked, changing the topic.

He shook his head. "Nope. Just finished our last class. Hang tayo sa condo mo? I don't want to go home yet. Gabbien's just going to annoy the shit out of me," he said.

Napatawa ako sa kanya. He really hates people that much. Kahit mga kapatid niya inis na inis siya. Kaya kapag nginitian ka ng isang Duane, know that it is real. Totoo talaga. Dahil bihira talaga siyang ngumiti at mahirap siyang pangitiin.

I nodded at him. Hindi naman na bago 'yun. We hang at my condo just to play games lang sa PS5 or sometimes watch movies sa Netflix and minsan naman, wala lang. We just eat. We've been friends for so long... to the point that we're really comfortable with each other.

"You have food?" he asked.

Umiling ako. "Balak ko pa lang mag-grocery ngayon after class, wala na 'kong canned goods and stuff."

He nodded. "Let's go shopping first, then."

Sumaglit kami ni Duane sa grocery store para sa mga pagkain. He even bought a lot! Sobra-sobra para sa akin iyong mga binili niya and he insisted paying for everything.

Until now, it still makes me wonder why China calls him kuripot when in fact, when he's with me, he just... spends all his money. 'Yun bang tipong parang super yaman niya, well true naman na their family is rich pero sabi kasi nila kuripot daw talaga si Duane kaya hanggang ngayon hindi ako makapaniwala.

Kasi saang part dito 'yung kuripot?

"Can't see where's the kuripot in this," I told him as we were on the elevator on the way to my condo's floor.

He snickered. "Who told you that I'm kuripot?"

I shrugged. "China and your brothers."

"Tss, and why would you believe them?"

Kumunot ang noo ko. "Of course, I'd believe them. They are your family and sila ang nakakasama mo araw-araw so, I'm sure na sila ang nakakaalam kung ano ka at sino ka," I told him.

A moment of silence occupied us because he just kept staring at me!

"W-what?" I finally asked him. Sobrang na-awkward na ako sa mga tingin niyang 'yan! Why was he looking at me like that anyways?! I was just asking!

The side of his lips lifted. "Only you know everything about me, Asia. What you know about me is the truth."

I could feel my heart thumping wildly inside my chest, and I felt like at any moment, it could jump out of its ribcage.

I was left with no words, and goodness... I just wanted to freaking get on my floor.

And after a few, the elevator finally opened.

Thank goodness.

Kaagad akong lumabas at sumunod naman si Duane. No one spoke again. Maybe because he felt it, that I wasn't comfortable with our situation earlier—with him looking at me like I meant everything to him.

Because we both knew that that's not it. He doesn't feel that way about me... and I don't feel about him that way either. We've been friends for so long. At alam naming dalawa na hanggang doon na lang 'yon.

We were nothing more, nothing less but friends.

But we both halted when we saw a guy standing in front of my unit, contemplating whether he should knock or not.

I was about to call him nang maunahan ako ni Duane. "Tiu?" he asked, medyo naguguluhan kung ano ang ginagawa niya sa harapan ng unit ko.

Kahit ako, hindi ko alam kung bakit.

He looked at us with shock plastered on his damn annoying face. Nakita ko nanaman ang mukha niya kaya sira nanaman ang araw ko. And for the record, I saw him twice today so double na rin ang pagkasira ng araw ko.

"PDT," he said acknowledging Duane.

Awkward.

Nagtititigan lang silang dalawa!

Nang hindi ko na makayanan, umubo na ako ng peke para mawala na iyong tension sa kanilang dalawa. I didn't even know that they knew each other! Hindi ko na kaya. Iyong dalawang lalaking famous sa school nasa harapan ko lang naman ngayon.

"So..." I said. Tiu looked at me. I immediately rolled my eyes at him. "May staring contest ba tayo dito or what?" I asked, but nobody answered. At bumalik nanaman sila sa titigan contest nila!

"Uhm," I attempted again. "Tiu, do you need something?"

He looked at me. "Is this your unit?"

Kumunot noo ko. Alam niya namang akin 'yun?!

"Wrong unit. Gotta go," he said walking past us.

What the hell was that?