Beautiful Time [SHORT STORY]

Part 3: You've Got a Friend in Me

Yay! Second day meeting namin ngayon with Jisung and Managernim. Fitting lang daw and initial planning. What's real good about this is my company gave me complete control of the concept pati na rin yung kanta and dance style na gagamitin.

On the way, nanood lang ako ng NCT performance videos and I can say na well-trained sila. Sobrang talented, grabe. Synchronized and on point. Sa lahat ng videos na napanood ko, bet ko yung NCT 127 pero ang fun din ng Dream.

Ngayon lang nagsink-in sakin. Grabe, yung famous sa YT makakacollab ko sa dance series ko. I was informed din pala na some of our vids will be uploaded sa NCT Dance na channel or sa NCT Dream na channel sa YT. I checked out those channels and so far, pinakafun na vid pa rin yung Baby Shark ng Dream, nakakatawa sobra.

"Tuwang-tuwa ah." Pang-aasar ni Sam.

"Ikaw kaya manood." Balik ko sa kaniya.

"Sus, napanood ko na yan. Soft stan kaya ako ng NCT."

"Soft stan? Nuyon?" Naguguluhan kong tanong

"Wala basta fan ka pero di die hard ganern."

Before we know it, nandito na kami sa Adidas Outlet. Kasama na rin namin sila Jisung. Parang ang awkward na uli, sayang naman chika ko kaya chinika ko na lang uli siya.

"Jisung noona!" sigaw ko.

"Aniiiiyo. It should be Jisung oppa." Eh, parang nakakahiya naman yun. Pang nagpapakyut lang yun eh. Naririnig ko si Ate Sam na nag-ooppa oppa habang nanonood ng Kdrama eh.

"Eh, Jisung noona" Mukhang di naman siya naasar at mukhang nag-iisip pa ng pangganti.

"Jen-hyung" he said mockingly. Lah, kuya raw ako.

"Eyyy, whatever." I said. Asar talo ko naman nito habang tinatawanan niya ako.

Nagfitting lang kami ng mga gagamitin naming damit for the shoot pati na rin sa dance practice. Sponsored daw lahat ng Adidas. For our dance practices, we just picked plain black and white clothes. Yung classic na may stripes. Meron ding may design pero more on laid back lang.

Para naman sa filming outfits namin, medyo matchy yung pinapili samin. Wow, sa 18 years ng NBSB life ko ngayon lang ako nagkaroon na kacouple attire. Kahiya ah.

It took us 4 hours or more para sa fitting kaya lunch na rin nang matapos kami.

"Jisung noona. What do you want to eat?" I asked him. Baka magsamgyup na lang siguro kami or ramen.

"Chicken"

Kaya ayun, ending namin Jollibee. Chicken daw eh kaya chance niya nang makatikim ng chicken.

"Do you want to play? If you beat me, you'll have one of my chicken." Hindi ko naman gusto makuhaan ng chicken. I'm just trying to lift the mood saka as if namang matatalo ako.

Nandito na kami sa dorm. Hindi naman kami share syempre. Kasama namin managers namin pero magkatabi lang. Medyo may inaayos pa nga lang sa dorm nila kaya nandito kami sa dorm namin ni Sam which is next door lang naman.

"Why so many rice?" He asked medyo naguguluhan pa kasi may apat na kasamang rice yung bucket of chicken na inorder niya.

"Here in the Philippines, we eat everything with rice. 1 chicken, 2 rice or more"

Tumango-tango naman siya.

"Rock paper scissor shoot, kai bai bo, bato bato pik. EYY JISUNG, why do you keep on losing."

Ang ending ng laro namin, isang chicken na lang natira sa kaniya. Habang ako, 11. Ano namang gagawin ko rito!

"Aigoo. Do you want more chicken, noona?" I asked him. Mukhang malungkot eh. Kawawa naman.

"Yes. Yes" Excited niyang sabi. Lah, chicken lang eh.

"Then show me aegyo" Ngiti ko with matching taas baba pa ng kilay.

"Ehhhhh"

"Ppali. You can do it"

Naghehesitate pa siya pero alam kong bibigay din yan. Dalawang chicken lang naman kaya kong kainin eh. Sila managernim naman nandun pa sa kabilang dorm, nag-aayos.

"Juseyooo~" Sabi niya sabay gesture na parang nanghihingi

"Aigoo. Whatever, you can have your chicken back" Cute naman saka sayang kasi yung chicken.

Habang kumakain, nagkekwentuhan lang kami about sa mga career namin. Ang mature pakinggan knowing na 18 lang kami pareho. Maaga kaming namulat sa entertainment industry.

"Who is your closest hyung among all of them?" I asked curiously.

"All of them." Wow.

"That's great. I think you have very good friendship. You know what, my closest friend is Ate Sam."

"Ohh." Naalala ko naman yung isa kong napanood na video na sabi niya wala siyang childhood friend outside NCT. Medyo nalungkot ako for him knowing na bata pa lang siya nagtrain na siya.

"You're my friend too, right?" I asked him enthusiastically. We'll be working for a month kaya dapat lang no! Saka chance niya na rin para magkaroon ng kaibigan. Dance buddy pa.

"Y-yes." Naghesitate pa.

"Chingu?" I held my pinky finger in front of me while I sang "You've got a friend in me"

Mukha namang natuwa siya.

And he twined his pinky finger with mine as if promising a good friendship ahead of us.

"Friend. That sounds nice."