Safe In Danger's Arms

Four

C H A P T E R  4

I sighed at the sight of girls following the direction where I was heading.

Saglit akong huminto at pumihit patalikod.

"Sir, I can manage myself. Will you please give me the pleasure to be alone?" pagtaboy ko sa panganib na naglalakad ngunit hindi man lang ito humihinto sa pagsunod sa akin. Bukod sa mababaliw na ako sa pagkailang, naiirita na ako sa tinginan ng mga taong nadaraanan namin. 

Binilisan ko ang paglakad at nauna ng bahagya sa kanya. He's seriously messing with my head. At first, I thought he was just some nosy guy, trying to dig into my part in the earlier situation and to be real, I've been low-key waiting for him to bring it up. 

Huminto akong muli at buong tapang akong humarap sa kanya. He also stopped from walking.

"What game are you playing, scientist?" I said trying to sound as rude as possible but the guy just gave me this innocent look, as if I were his mom giving him a lecture!

I scowled at his silence. "Stop following me,"

He tilted his head. "I'm not." he denied. 

Napaangat ako ng kilay. "Shut it, don't follow me." 

Tamad niyang ipinasok ang kanang kamay niya sa kanyang bulsa. 

"I'm following my jacket," he said in a monotone and pointed his index finger at my shoulder.

Napababa ang tingin ko sa aking suot at bahagyang tinablan ng inis. Right, he's following his jacket that I am wearing to cover the blood stains. He let me borrow it for a while. Nice excuse, scientist.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes, and I made sure he caught it before I turned away.

He might be thinking 'How ungrateful this brat is', which is me.

I really couldn't care less, but the issue here is I can't have him following me to my place.

I let out a big sigh when I saw a tight alley. I hurriedly took off his jacket and pulled out a 100-peso bill from my pocket. "Take this. No more following me please, and this is for your laundry," I told him.

Napakamot ako sa aking ulo ng tignan niya lamang iyon. I can clearly see his face dahil ako lang naman itong nasa dilim na parte ng eskinita.

"What? Take it." I shamelessly said. 

Naningkit ang aking mga mata ng tila makita ko ang mahinang pag-iling nito. Guni-guni lamang ba iyon?

Tinignan niya muna ang kaniyang jacket na nakalahad sa ere ng tatlong segundo bago ito kuhanin mula sa kamay ko. 

I slightly flinched when our fingers touched. The memory of him-- hugging me earlier flashed in my mind. Nanlaki ang aking mga mata at wala sa sariling nailagay ang bag pack sa aking harap.

"Thank you and I hope we won't see each other again." anas ko at nilagpasan siya.

Napamaang ako ng maling direksyon ang pinuntahan ko. How stupid can you be, Yue?

I was biting my lower lip as I passed by him once more, going in the right direction this time.

I heard a low chuckle and a deep voice saying,  "See you," 

I ignored it.

See you my foot.

***********

"Man, kung alam ko lang na walang magsisipasukang teacher, hindi na sana ako pumasok o 'di kaya nasa mall na ako nag papa-spa!"