Keiji's POV
Pagkatapos ng pictorial sa court, bumalik na kami sa locker room ng gymnaisum na ito para magpalit bago kami umuwi. Nagpalit na ako ng damit at nilagay ito sa bag ko. Hinanap ko naman 'yung phone ko sa bag ko nang mapansin 'kong wala ito sa bulsa nito.
"Hiro. Ilabas mo na." saad ko habang pinaniningkitan ng mata si Hiro. I guess he's playing a prank on me again, but this time, it's not funny.
"Huh? Ang alin?" inosenteng tanong niya. Kitang-kita sa mukha niya 'yung pagtataka. Huh, I guess he didn't take it.
"Lee?" tawag ko sa kanya na nasa tabi lang ni Hiro.
"I didn't hide anything from you, Kei." I guess he's innocent too. His face says it all. I know these guys, matitibay sila pagdating sa mga gantong bagay. Kaya nilang pigilan 'yung tawa nila.
"Come on guys, one of you must have it." kumunot naman 'yung kilay nilang dalawa.
"Ano ba kasi hinahanap mo, Kei?" tanong ni Hiro.
"Nawawala 'yung phone ko." sagot ko sa kanya.
"A thief, maybe? There's nothing lost in our things." sagot ni Lee. That's kind of strange. And, precise. Bakit 'yung phone ko lang nawawala? If phones were their target they would've taken everyone's phones. But they just took mine.
Nang makauwi kami, agad akong naghanap sa dorm ko. I know I brought it in the gymnasium, and I left it in my bag. But there's a chance it might be here also. I wandered my eyes in this whole room, and on my desk, I found my red phone strangely above it.
Kinuha ko naman 'yung phone ko at umupo sa kama ko para makapag-isip. I opened my phone since it was turned off, and when it finally opened, I tried to look for something different in my phone, but there was none. Posible kayang naiwan ko lang talaga siya dito at nakalimutan ko 'yon? No, I am pretty sure I brought it in the gymnasium.
I was about to text Mayumi when I just realized I lost all my contacts. Even the signal is gone. They took my sim card. Whatever they needed from my phone must be my contacts. A certain contact information of a certain person and whoever took it must've known me and where I live, since they returned my phone in here. Wow, I feel like Sherlock.
Okay, there's no time for jokes now. Kailangan kong malaman kung sino ang kailangan, sino 'yung nangagailangan na 'yon, at bakit at para saan niya ginawa 'yon.
Alright, so the whole team including coach is out of my suspect list. Weird. They're the only ones who know where I live. A crazy fan, I guess? Nah, ano namang gagawin nila sa sim card ko? Contacts ng buong team at ni Coach? Or para rin sa contacts ng buong national team? Well, of course I have those contacts, I'm part of it. But anyway, that seems creepy and unbelievable.
Inisip ko naman kung sino pa ang nakakaalam ng address ng dorm unit ko, including people I've met in the past. Right, I have my suspect. It all makes sense. The dots are all connected to her.
It's Rina.
She's the only person left who knows where I live, and probably wants someone from my contacts. Mayumi. Siya siguro ang rason kung bakit niya kinailangan 'yung contacts ko. She's going to communicate with Mayumi using my number. Possibly to tell her some lies, or something that would break us up.
Shit, this is bad. She's trying to break us up. Iniisip niya bang babalikan ko siya kapag nangyari 'yon? God, she's so stupid if she thinks so. What does that woman want from me? She's got everything. Money, fame, anything a materialistic person would want. Well, except me of course. Mayu's the only one who owns me. A bit cheesy, but who cares.
"KEI!!" sigaw ni Hiro mula sa labas at saka dire-diretsong pumasok sa unit ko. Ano na namang trip ng mokong na 'to? "Oh, there you are." patuloy niya at umupo sa tabi ko.
"Rina's back at it again." seryosong saad nito.
"Yeah, I know." sagot ko sa kanya at sinabing nawala 'yung sim card ko at posibleng siya ang kumuha n'on.
"No, I mean this." tinuro niya naman 'yung phone niya na nagpapakita ng article na may title na,
Rina Koga, and National Team Volleyball Player, Keiji Takahashi let their love bloom again!
Agad na nalukot 'yung mukha ko nang mabasa 'yon. Every word of it is irritating and disgusting, which makes me want wash my eyes. "Bloom my ass." I whispered as I roll my eyes.
Nag-scroll naman si Hiro sa article na 'yon, at pinakita rin doon 'yung mga picture namin dati na magkasama. Jeez, I just want to erase those from my memories right now. I'm glad I'm not clingy with Rina as I am with Mayumi. Those photos were probably from her phone, I deleted all my photos of, and with her.
Dang it, Mayumi's not going to like this. Because of this false and pathetic article, I owe Mayumi a big explanation. And may I add, she is not that easy to convince. Jeez, I hate that liar so much, I'd push her over a cliff.
"So... What are you going to do?" tanong ni Hiro sa'kin nang may halong konsensya.
"To be honest I don't know. Paniniwalaan ba 'ko ng mga tao kapag nagsalita ako tungkol doon? Rina's got a big fanbase. You know what happened after we broke up right?" tumango naman sa'kin si Hiro.
Noong nag-break kami, people, actually most of her fans, think I'm the bad guy. When in fact she was the one who dumped me. Also, I received a lot of bashing because of it, even my playing career got affected. Unbelievable, right? So paano na ngayon, uulitin ko na naman 'yon?
"All you got to do is deny it. Publicly." suggest ni Hiro.
"If I put her to shame, her crazy obsessed fans would speak wrong of me. It might even damage my career. Again." katwiran ko.
"Things you'd do for love, Kei." napatingin naman ako kay Hiro dahil sa sinabi niya. Yeah, I guess I could do that, for the sake of Mayumi and our sinking relationship.
"I guess I have no choice." sagot ko.
Hiniram ko naman 'yung phone ni Hiro para i-message si Mayumi. I have to tell her this whole thing is just Rina's plot to break us up. I know she isn't stupid enough to believe this, but she might doubt me and our relationship.
"So... Anong gagawin mo kay Rina? Aside sa i-dedeny mo 'yung article?" tanong ni Hiro. I'd actually like to assassinate her, but that's bad and too dark.
"Mapapahiya rin naman siya eh." sagot ko sa kanya.
"So, 'yun na 'yon? Wala ka nang ibang gagawin?" tanong niya pa.
"What do you want me to do? Assassinate her? Spread lies about her? That's not me, Hiro."
"Expose the truth, duh. Sino ba kasi talaga 'yung dahilan kung bakit kayo nag-break, 'di ba?" saad ni Hiro nang nakataas ang dalawang kilay.
"You mean revenge?"
"I didn't know exposing the truth means revenge. Her toxic little people should be lighten up by the truth about her true personality off-cam." napangisi naman ako sa sinabi niya.
"Don't worry, since na-kwento mo sa'kin lahat ng nangyari sa inyo ni Rina, I could actually make an article about it right now." 'di ko alam, pero pakiramdam ko ang samang tao ni Hiro. Pero kung tutuusin, tama naman 'yung mga sinabi niya kanina, at siguro, deserve ng mga fans niya na malaman 'yung totoong pagkatao niya.
Binuksan ko naman 'yung Instagram account ko sa phone ko at sinubukan kong hanapin 'yung account ni Mayumi, pero 'di ko ito nakita. Baka wala talaga siyang Instagram. That's too bad, most of Rina's people are on IG, and I know they'll see it quickly when I posted something.
Well, here goes nothing.
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BINABASA MO ANG
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