“Are you okay with that?” he muttered, the warmth of his hand leaving my wrist, disappearing. “Yep, it’s not like may gagawin kang masama” I shrugged before throwing him a smile and walking to the kitchen. I took a glass and poured myself some water. The moment I turned again Akihiko was still sitting on the couch while looking at me. “Di ka na ba inaantok?” I raised a brow in confusion and walked closer to him. It was a short stare competition. Akihiko took a while before answering and he only stared at me while he did. But after a few more seconds, Akihiko shakes his head with a laugh, “no it's nothing, let’s go back to sleep” he stands up and held my wrist again, rubbing the inside part of it a bit. He led us to my room and closed the door behind us, making it dark inside and only the lights from the outside illuminated the room. He removes his hand and I lay on the bed before he lay on the side. There was a deafening silence before I let out a sigh and got myself more comfortable
Brye: Sorry, can’t make it today, let’s go next time. 😊 With that, I placed my phone back beside the night table and stuffed my face into the fluffy pillows that lay below me. That’s fine, at least I have time to do the things that I needed to do. Since it was almost time again to start my 2nd year, I stood up from bed and made it before heading to the closet to pick out home clothes and started freshening up myself. After taking a bath, and wearing the most comfortable clothes that I have, I set up my laptop, the tablet that I owned, and the papers, reviewers as well as workbooks that I have. My table was filled with studying materials that I arranged, papers were stuck on the corkboard and there were notes written on my whiteboard, waiting to be erased. The productive morning started with tea, and I was making some flashcards that I would need for review. The silence was excellent, at least I was able to focus my mind and body with the peace that surrounded me. The scratching o
“So, what happened?” my voice was groggy. It was just a past few minutes when I woke up because of the constant ringing of my phone. “So ayun nga, remember that may guy ako na mineet? During that time na naglalakad kami, nakita ko si Kari” Luke, the source of my somehow daily headache, blabbered. “Anong gagawin ko?” I frowned, rubbing my face. The drowsiness was gone after minutes of waking up and my body was awake. “Gaga, it’s been years, syempre nagulat kami parehas tapos she said kelan daw tayo maghahang out ulit” he continued, using the tone of voice that I knew well, the tone that he uses when he wants to make me realize something, to make me understand what he is talking to. It was a bit of a high-pitched and sounded like a nag to me if I would be honest. “Maybe next week? Packed na kase yung week ko this week and I have plans already” I tell him while standing up and walking straight out of the room. “Sure yan? Icclear ko na rin yung schedule ko tapos inform ko siya para di siy
The door opened with a swipe of the card. Perfect for a maximum of five people and there was a diffuser in the middle of the coffee table. Behind the couches that faced each other, a shelf with a few books was placed. Brye entered after closing the door, immediately slumping down the couch with a sigh. “Do you want some coffee?” he muttered while opening the book and looking up at me. I looked at him before sitting down in front of him. I shook my head before sitting down at the other end of the couch he was sitting on. We sat in silence while reading and my eyelids fluttered heavily with each hour that pass by. “You wanna sleep?” Brye muttered, making me look at him, only to see that he was looking at me with a soft smile on his face. I chuckled, “nope, I can manage” my voice raspy may be due to the drowsiness. “Are you sure? You look like you’d pass out any second now” he teased, his left brow going up. I let out a small laugh before closing the book, leaving the bookmark inside of
We went back to his car after deciding that we should have lunch at Karlos’ restaurant. “You didn’t bring Paradiso today” Brye takes a glance at me while he drove to the place. “I read before matulog, it’s like a lullaby to me” I chuckled lightly getting comfortable in the passenger seat. Brye only nodded after that, nothing to say, and silence swallowed us, only the soft roar of the car was the noise that interrupts the silence. It was somehow in between the border of comfortable silence and uncomfortable silence. Or maybe it was just me. I looked over the window, the shops were in a blur as Brye drove. The vibration from my phone took my sight away from the outside. Mama: Kelan ka bibisita ulit? Hindi ka manlang nag uupdate. I read the text. I fought the urge to frown my eyebrows. Liana: Maybe next week Ma, before po magsimula classes. Sorry po, busy lang magreview. I was left on read. I took a huge sigh before looking out the window. “Something wrong?” Brye muttered softly as
Brye stared at nowhere while he listened to Luke, his words registering in his mind before his sight shifted to the lady who was already sleeping beside him, then shifting to the empty mug beside her. “She doesn’t drink beer” he muttered. Karlos frowned at him before trailing his sight on what Brye was looking at. “Yeah, and?” he frowned in confusion. Brye looked at Karlos before shaking his head, “nothing, just confused” he shrugged before taking his hoodie off and wrapping it around the lady. “You know, if hindi kita kilala Lim, I would’ve mistaken you for her boyfriend” Karlos smirked before pouring himself a drink that the waiter brought. “True, ako din, kung hindi ko kayo kilala” Luke adds, agreeing with his boyfriend. Brye chuckled, “I don’t think so” he dryly chuckled before drinking the contents of his mug empty. “You know I can’t Karlos” he pouted a bit, raising a brow at his friend, making him remember his dreadful situation. “Oh, fuck that, ano naman, just because your bro
A few days more, school started again. I rolled my eyes for the nth time while looking outside the window while Brye drove us to our campuses. “We can just ditch if you want” I heard him jokingly tell me, making me look at him. “Tempting, pero no thank you” I looked over at him. The Brye that I always see in a plain shirt and sweatpants is now wearing trousers, another plain shirt collection of his, a cardigan, and his sneakers. He took a glance at me, raising one of his brows, making me look away, “wala lang” I muttered before seeing my campus from afar. I scowled softly at the sight of the university, dreaded at the thought of going to school again but reminded of the goal that I have. Brye stopped on the side of the gate and I gathered my things, slinging my bag behind me. I looked at him to see that Brye was out of the car. I frowned and turned to see that he opened the door for me. “That wasn’t that necessary,” I tell him before walking out. “But you like it” he shrugs before clo
The absence of coolness from the air conditioning of the café made me feel awful for a split second. We approached them, Ally’s girlfriend has her left eyebrow raised at Brye while they looked at each other. “What are you doing here Lim? Being summoned by your parents?” she deadpanned at Brye while he frowned at her. “Stop snooping your nose on me, Dela Cruz, move on, it’s been years since I beat you in that competition, grow up” Brye retorted and she rolls her eyes, and about time for us to be noticed. “Mika!” Ally jumps at her and Mika automatically hugged her back before Ally pulls me away from Brye, leaving the guy confused and frowning. “This Celi, my girlfriend” Ally grins, making me laugh, “hi, Ally told me many things about you habang nagaantay kami” I smiled at her, and she offered a side hug. The introductions didn’t last long but we promised to make up for another time. I walked towards Brye again, standing beside him while I waved at their car as it drove away from us. “So
After I got out of the car, I ran to the building and waved to Dan before turning to where the entrance was. My clothes were still wet but they weren’t sticking to me anymore and my hair was half dry already. I got to the elevator and pressed the buttons, before waiting for the doors to open. The doors opened for a while and I got in. Before the doors close, a hand stops it. Brye gets into my view, a heaving mess. His hand forced the doors to be open and both of us were surprised to see each other. “Lim!” the familiar voice of Michael echoes across the lobby. I frowned and I was pushed inside as Brye hurriedly pressed the buttons. Just in time, the doors closed before Michael caught up. He seemed to be with the others, Nathan and Katherine.I looked at Brye in surprise. He glances at me, placing his hand on my shoulder while trying to catch his breath. “Okay ka lang?” I mutter to him. I see him frown while looking at my shoulder, his gaze shifting to me. I raised both my brows at him.
The café near the campus, the one we always go to, was packed with people due to the schedule of the mid-term exam week. Weeks after the ‘episode’, Ally has been sticking with me, Brye has been taking extra notice of everything and Luke, well, he’s the same. It wasn’t the first time that he saw me like that. It took me a ton of convincing to get Ally inside Mika’s car so both of them could go home while I waited for Brye. Speaking of Brye, he won’t be able to pick me as well. I told him off because, for the last few days, Michael messaged me that he’s been ditching their meetings, so I gave him a good nag and assurance that he needed. Luke and Karlos were also supposed to pick me up and send me home but Luke just sent me a message earlier. Well, let’s not talk about that message.Dan enters the café. I catch his gaze and smile at him. “Hi, sorry, matagal ba?” he greets me with a hug, in which, I was pretty surprised. Nevertheless, I hugged him back and pulled away with a smile. “No, o
Brye comes back into his room, locking the door after. He goes back to his bed and sits down at the edge. He takes a good look at her. She was staring at the ceiling with a frown on her face, looking so dazed. Brye lets out a sigh. “Lili,” he gets closer to her, tucking her hair behind her ears. “It’s just me, okay? I’m here” he adds, taking her hand and started treating her. Despite that Brye wanted to rest, he couldn’t sit still knowing that she was hurt. While treating her wounds, a deep frown was set on her face. It took him hours to treat her wounds from her hands to her legs. Upon reaching her feet, his breath hitched, stuck in his throat. Brye bit his lip and started to treat her carefully. “Tell me if it hurts, okay?” he tells her despite that she has been quiet since he started tending to her injuries. She didn’t speak or flinch when he tried to dab medicine on her wound, and that concerned Brye.“I’m sorry if I’m bothering you, Brye” she mutters out of the blue while Brye is
It was already the dead of night. The only light source I had was my night light from the other side of the room and my study lamp. When I got home earlier, I took out my reviewers and notes, along with my problem sets. It has been hours. I don’t know how long I have been sitting down here nor how long I have been answering these sets. I’ve lost track of time since the time I started this. My head was almost empty while I was answering these but at least it made me feel distracted. I let out a sigh before stopping scribbling answers on my papers. Beneath me was a pile of crumpled papers of the problems that I failed to answer. I slumped down my chair, leaning my head upwards, gazing at the ceiling. “I’m so fucked” I mutter to myself.Aside from my many problems regarding my family, my personal problems also seemed to pile up. Earlier, I got a message from Dan. He wanted to have dinner with me tomorrow. ‘I guess Brye would be busy tomorrow night, right? Since madami silang ginagawa’. M
My phone lights up.Riri: I’m here na. I perked up and wiped my nose, making myself presentable. The door opens, catching my attention. Brye found my eyes and he smiled. “Let’s go? We have to get dinner pa” he said before carrying my bag. I nodded and stood from my seat and went out with him. We got to his car in silence. On the way there, the window of the back seat was open, revealing Michael, Nathan, and Katherine. My brows went up and looked up at Brye after greeting Michael. “Oh, yeah, fuck I forgot, they’re crashing at my unit mamaya, we have something to do all night, I’m nearest sa university, so my unit was chosen,” he tells me. I nodded. “Gosh, can we go na? Andami pang deadlines na need habulin” Katherine mutters and Brye rolls his eyes. “It’s not that many, Kath, kakain pa nga tayo” Michael retorts. “Don’t mind them, mag-didinner pa talaga kami before going to my unit” Brye assured me before opening the door for me and I got in. He eventually got in as well.“Hi, Celi” Mi
“So, how’s the weekend?” Ally creeps beside me. Miraculously, we got to school together. Mika just dropped her and so as Brye with me. Her eyes were glued to us as Brye suddenly placed a kiss on my forehead. I rolled my eyes at him and hit him lightly before I waved him goodbye. When I saw Ally, she already saw everything. That’s why her grin has been creeping me up. “Parang andaming nangyari sa weekend mo ah” she chuckles while clinging onto me. I sigh, “walang nangyari, Luke just wanted to hang, kaya lumabas kami” I shrug, trying to cut it short. “Wait, sino si Luke?” Ally asks, “Oh right, Luke is my best friend,” I tell her with a smile. She nods and types on her phone, “anong user name niya?” she asks and I tell her despite I was confused why. “Ito ba? He’s gay ‘no?” she holds her phone close to my face and I nod with a laugh.She goes back to her phone and scrolls. We were walking to our first class today and the corridors were bustling with students. Suddenly, Ally gasps, “OMG!”
“Do you want me to?” I hear Brye ask me while he continues to caress my cheek. I nod softly. I close my eyes. I waited until I felt his lips touched mine. It was soft and gentle like my lips were fragile glass. I let out a satisfied sigh. His lips caressed mine while I tried to match his pace. Sighs of both pleasure and contentment escaped us and time felt so slow.The hand that was caressing my cheeks slipped around my nape to pull me closer to him. The kiss gets deeper and I grip his shirt when he abruptly lays me down on his soft bed. The gentle kisses were somehow turning mildly rough. I panted and lost myself in the sensation. “Lili” Brye pulls away for a short time and mutters my name. I lay under him as he hovered over me. Caged under his legs while I pulled him closer to me. “Please kiss my pains away more, Brye” I whisper to him.Brye looks at the lady under him. Her eyes were sparkling and she looked lovely. He caressed her cheek while she tried to pull him closer to her, wa
It was quiet inside the car as Brye drove us home. I was looking outside, my head empty and I felt like my body was floating even though I was firmly seated. There are only a few cars on the road and most shops were closed already. My eyes start to defocus, causing me to see my reflection from the window of the car. I let out a hum. “You okay?” I hear Brye check on me and I hum while nodding my head. “You don’t sound okay” he comments and I frown. I stopped looking at my reflection, shifting my attention to him. “What do you think of Dan?” I ask him, tilting my head to him. Brye takes a glance at me and raises his brow, “Bakit?” he asks me back and I roll my eyes, my head falling to his shoulder, “bakit mo ko tinatanong pabalik? Tinatanong nga kita” I retort and he laughs. “He’s okay, a normal guy” he cuts it short. I was silent, well he was right and there’s nothing more to it for me to say.“How about you, Lili? What do you think of Dan?” he throws the question back. I frown. My hea
I was laughing and dancing mindlessly. Despite the sticky feeling, I mingled with people and had a lot of stupid fun. But, fuck, I think the alcohol had died down in me. I got dizzy and irritated with the people around me. My vision doubled. “Fuck”. An arm wraps around my waist, pulling me close to them. My chest tightened and I turned to push the person away. I gasped, bumping into someone and ended up on the bar. I hyperventilated and I was getting dizzier, mostly, I was still feeling drunk. I tried to breathe in and out to calm myself down. ‘What time is it even? How long was I here?’ My head pounded and I wanted to evaporate as I tried to grip on anything I could.And all of a sudden, a hand pulls me away from the crowd, pushing through the sea of people. I followed the saving grace and we reached outside. The breeze of the cold wind hit my face and I was finally able to breathe. “Cel! Okay ka lang?! Anong ginagawa mo don?!” a familiar voice scolds me. I frowned and gripped his ar