Sex with Benefits

Chapter 23: Shinji

Chapter 23: The Rascals of Heroine

The Heroine is unusually crowded today. Ngayon kasi ang photoshoot para sa Imperial Magazine. Ayaw man niya ng ideya pero hindi niya maitatanggi na maganda ang deal na ito. If they are gonna promote the club, Imperial Magazine is one hell of an advertisement.

Nakabusangot siya habang nagmamasid sa mga staff ng Imperial na tila iniinvade ang Heroine niya.

"Stop frowning, Shinji." Siniko siya sa tagiliran ni Jiro. "You're gonna drive the money away."

"I'm still not comfortable with this deal. Alam mo naman na may issue si Aleia sa photographer nila di ba?" Reklamo ko.

"I know pero kaya nga tayo nandito di ba? We are gonna watch his every move. One wrong move and--" Jiro snapped. "--nandito sila sa teritoryo natin kaya di 'yan gagawa ng kagaguhan."

"We can't be sure of that." Depensa ko.

Inakbayan niya ako. "Chill, bro. Para kang boyfriend ni Aleia kung makaasta ah."

"Fuck off." Inis na iwinaksi ko ang braso niya.

"Loosen up a bit. Besides, malaki naman ang income natin dito." Paliwanag nito.

"Mas malaki ang kikitain nila once na marelease ang edition na ito. We both know that." Sagot ko naman.

He shrugged. "Well, you have a point." Napaisip ito. "Maybe I should've raised the cost of this deal. What do you think?"

Napailing nalang ako at iniwan siya.

Pinuntahan ko si Aleia. Naabutan ko itong inaayusan ng make up artist.

Nag-gesture ako na iwan muna kami nito kaya umalis muna ito sa dressing room.

"How do I look?" Nakangiti niyang tanong at saka tumayo at umikot.

Napakunot ang noo ko. "Isn't it too fit?"

"I dunno. Okay naman ah." Sabi naman nito matapos sipatin ang sarili sa salamin.

"Well... anyways. Are you comfortable? Wala naman kaduda dudang inaakto ang photographer na iyon?" Alalang tanong ko.

Ngumiti siya sa akin. "Yup. I'm fine. Thank you for checking up on me, though."

"Cool. I'll be nearby so just tell me if something's wrong, okay?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

After maayusan ng mga members ay lumapit sa amin ni Jiro ang mga make up artist at stylist.

"Excuse me? What the hell is this about?" Tanong ko nang may iabot ito sa aming damit.

"You'll be included in the shoot. Hindi ba nasabi iyon ni Sir Jiro sa inyo?" Sagot naman nung isang stylist.

Napatingin ako nang masama kay Jiro na mabilis na naglakad sa dressing room para sa mga members na lalake.

"Shit." Nautas ko nalang nang marealize ko na wala akong choice kundi ang tumalima.

Mabilis na tumakbo palapit sa akin si Aleia nang makita ako.

Kanina ko pa siya iniiwasan dahil alam kong aasarin niya ako.

"Is that you, Shin?" Natatawang tanong nito.

Pinihit ako nito paharap kahit pilit akong umiiwas ng tingin.

Aghhh! This is fucking embarrassing!

"Didn't know you're included in the shoot." Bahagya itong napatigil. "Aaaaahhh. Oo nga! You can't be not included. Kasi co-owner ka ng club. They even styled your hair. I like it!"

Namumula na ako sa hiya. She knows too well na ayoko na kinukunan ako ng litrato.

"Stop it, Al." Piksi ko sa kanya pero kumapit pa ito sa braso ko at tinitigan ako.

"Aleia! We wil start the shoot!" Sigaw nang assistant photographer.

Hindi ito pinansin ni Aleia. Sa halip ay...

"You look so yummy today, Shinji." She whispered.

Lalo akong namula samantalang bumalik na siya sa pwesto niya para sa shoot.

Shit!

Napakuha ako ng panyo sa bulsa at pinunas ito sa nagpapawis kong noo.

▫️▫️◽▫️▫️

This year, the request for membership of The Heroine skyrocketed. Maybe after this the number of requests will be doubled or even tripled. Who knows?

The theme of this shoot is to introduce the members of this club. Hindi kasi kami pumayag na pati ang mga facilities ay mafeature. Ayaw namin na maisapubliko ang facilities. Makakaapekto iyon sa seguridad ng club.

Pahirapan pa nga ang paghikayat namin sa mga members para pumayag sa shoot na ito. Marami ang nagreklamo sa biglaang desisyon. And I wanted to kill Jiro right there and then. He made this mess for the sake of his whims. Well marami ang ayaw sumali sa shoot na hindi na namin pinilit pa lalo na ang mga barkada ni Kuya Jiro. Waste of time lang daw yon. Lalo na si Kuya Benjamin at Infinity. He even threaten me that he'll kill me if I insist. He's one scary dude. Si Kuya Emmanuel naman busy daw. Si Mycollo lang at Zackred ang alam ko na sasali.

Sean Mycollo Guzman is a famous model kaya naman jackpot ang Imperial Magazine sa shoot na ito. Zackred, on the other hand, is a casanova so many girls will surely buy the issue of this magazine.

First up is Ryoma Sato. He's a shithead and I don't want him. We were classmates in grade school before I transferred to Philippines. Dahil gaya-gaya ito, lumipat din siya nang makagraduate sa elementary. Jiro just insisted we accept him since he's loaded. Palibhasa isa ang pamilya nito sa pinakabigtime sa Japan. Oh well. Assholes are often the rich ones.

The idea is to feature the member with his favorite racing car. Well... favorite lang kasi matatagalan kung lalahatin ang mga kotse ng kada member. These people are arrogants kaya ang iba dito ay nasa lagpas sampu ang pangkarerang kotse na nandito.

Now that I think about it, The Heroine is a home for assholes. Filthy rich assholes to be exact.

The venue is the main race track. Ryoma is with his Zenvo TS1 GT. Both him and Aleia are wearing race suits.

That suit really annoy the shit out of me. Balot na balot nga si Aleia pero masyado naman itong hapit sa katawan niya. The thought of other members touching her even if its just for the shoot makes me so furious.

This racing suit that I'm wearing is not helping either. Its uncomfortable as fck. Ang init.

May umakbay sa akin kaya napatingin ako sa kung sino ito. "Shin, why did you agree with this shoot?" Tanong nito.

Si Reever pala. Reever Wong, he me and Aleia used to be classmates in Clarkson University. He is also quite an asshole pero yung tipong natotolerate naman.

"Ahh. Jiro already signed the contract when they told me about it. Ayoko sana kaso okay na din ito. Some publicity won't hurt." Paliwanag ko.

"Well maybe you're right. But this Imperial Magazine annoys the shit out of me." Reklamo nito kay nagtaka ako.

"Why? Did they do something sketchy?" Tanong ko.

"Nah. Insulting rather. They will feature us according to the cost of out car. Hah! If I knew, I would have bought the latest car for this. This is so annoying. I'm only fifth in line." Himutok nito.

"So you mean, the first ones have the cheapest car?"

"Exactly. So panglima ako sa huli since I'm fifth in line." Dagdag pa nito.

Napatango nalang ako. Assholes hate their fellow assholes. Oh well.