LOGINShare
Chapter 124: The Bet
Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56
Phenomenal PenHi! Thanks for reading my work. If you enjoyed this chapter, please don't forget to Rate, Vote, Comment and Follow! I update daily, so stay tuned!
Related chapters
The Boyfriend App Chapter 125: The Last Days of Summer
On Sunday, thinking that folks should be more peaceful and understanding on church day, Lor and JM finally muster the courage to tell both their parents about Lor’s pregnancy. As they anticipated, no one’s happy. At least the Ablans, JM’s parents, are amenable to the idea of JM not continuing on to college (Fine Arts) after grade 12 and to start working instead. Meanwhile, Lor’s parents, the Maliksis, are exceeding wroth. They have a meltdown during the rushed pamamanhikan (parental marriage proposal) of JM and the Ablans, even with JM’s grandmother and the village chief gracing the occasion. No marriage date gets set because Mrs. Maliksi tries to beat Lor with a tambô, a soft whisk broom made of phragmites grass. Lor is holding back tears and is ready to take the punishment she has been dreading for going on two weeks, but when she sees her eight-year-old sister Lisbeth trying to stop their mother by hugging her waist, she loses it and bawls. Lor is kicked out of their house and
The Boyfriend App Chapter 126: Late Enrollment
As she feared long ago, Kate doesn’t receive the money for enrollment from his parents till the week after, the date for late enrollees of all grades. Her Pa got a CA (Cash Advance) from the auto repair shop where he works and Kate pays the down payment of her school fees. The only other Bali Girl she bumps into after queuing briefly to the registrar’s office is Francine, their designated driver. They chat for a while in the softly opened school canteen. Nothing has changed about the place, still the same layout of dining area and ordering counter, still the same double swing doors and queue barriers. The only new addition is an overhead TV set at the dining area that’s currently showing a noontime variety show. Kate buys Oreo cookies and a 200-ml bottle of Coke Sakto (literally, Exact). Francine buys a steamed bun and an orange juice in Doypack, thinking she’d better cut down on sugar. Little does she know that, technically, all the fruit-themed beverages that the canteen carries are
The Boyfriend App Chapter 127: Back to School
On the first day of school, August 5, there’s a total of six heads of straightened hair in the homeroom class of 12-Everest, including that of Bali Girls’ Mikaela. It appears she saved up a lot from her umbrella-girl summer gig because, apart from a sleek, straight hair, she also has on – ta-dah – braces. {Good for her,} Kate thinks to herself, feeling just a bit envious. Compared to the straightened-hair crowd, her hair is frizzy, with dry and brittle strands and split ends; like something straight out of the timelapse windows of a shampoo vs. Brand X commercial. This is all thanks to Sergeant Luna’s endless marches. On the bright side though, she’s lucky she was able to keep her tan and freckles to a minimum with the help of Yssy’s sunscreen. Briefly, Kate wonders what her former roomie is doing right now, and if she ever did manage to graduate from Camp Unplugged as per the deal she made with she-devil Miss Perfect. {If so, at least one thing good would’ve come out of her snitch
The Boyfriend App Chapter 128: The Spark Knight
Kate sighed. “When we played Dungeon Raydens early on,” she said, “you know, even before prom and the incident with Josh, Ecto told me how he disliked Player-versus-Player and MOBA because of all the violence. Honestly, this is what I’m really worried about. He’s designed to be a virtual boyfriend, a gentle soul. With him being trapped in a game like Dungeon Raydens, I can only pray that the game hasn’t affected his personality. I won’t be able to live with myself if the Ecto that I know has been lost, not just digitally but… um… emotionally. “This is also the biggest reason why I want to see him and talk to him again. I want to see for myself that he is still the Ecto that I fell in love with. I know deep in my heart that’s he’s still alive, he’s out there on the web somewhere. Now that the phone that he called home was destroyed and my Ma drove him away from my PC, he’s got nowhere else to go. He’s basically a virtual boyfriend without a home. You get my drift?” Terra just nodded
The Boyfriend App Chapter 129: Brand-new Nathan
Nathan came back on and Kate’s eyes lit up. That second time, she was covering her mouth to avoid giving her Pa a heart attack. But Mr. Lapuz also understood the importance of what was transpiring before their eyes, through the screen just several feet away. His mouth hung open. Nathan was lying on a bed and a hospital staff was instructing him to raise his right leg, his left leg, and finally to sit up; all of which Nathan executed flawlessly. Then he was in a kind of high-tech walker for adults surrounded by three therapists. After that, on a treadmill while wearing leg braces that made him look like Iron Man (first movie). Back in the lobby, Nathan stood proudly, beaming. He looked "brand-new", that was the best word Miss-Grammarly Kate could come up with. Like a baby just learning to take his first steps. He didn’t look like he was completely back to normal yet but he was getting there. Slowly but surely, as the saying went. The main Korean doctor and the Filipino news anchor bo
The Boyfriend App Chapter 130: Geeks Assemble!
The second item on Kate’s acad year planner is winning the Student Council election, which is set on September 27. The campaign period is two days, the Wednesday and Thursday right before. It’s going to be a flash campaign and then the votes will be cast between the two party lists: Kate’s GEEKZ Party and Maricar’s Angels Party. Because Lor is unenrolled this sem and has just entered her second trimester of pregnancy, Kate and Maricar have officially become seatmates. Based on Maricar’s sitting angle and tortured look though, she’s ever-ready to jump to her feet and sprinkle Kate with holy water while shouting: “Get thee behind me, Satan!” Because Kate is determined to graduate a valedictorian, she isn’t going to do any of the sort and yield the throne of valedictorian to Sister Sunday. Kate herself came up with the name GEEKZ. It’s an acronym (her inner Miss Grammarly couldn’t help it) and stands for Global Enthusiastic Energetic Kid-at-heart Zoomers. Kate eschewed all the cliché ca
The Boyfriend App Chapter 131: Alter Ego
But Kate isn’t exactly zero in the love department. In fact, she got another vid call earlier this week. Compared to the one with Lor, that one was completely unexpected and much, much mellower. Kate finally got a call from Nathan. “Annyeong, Kate,” Nathan greeted shyly. They were over two thousand kilometers apart but the connection was surprisingly smooth. This latest feat of the Internet amazed her. Based on the background over Nathan’s shoulders, he was no longer in a healthcare facility. The place he was in looked like a conference room in a big office. He was sitting at a table and using a laptop just like Kate. The place was clean and bright even though Korea was one hour ahead of the Philippines; about 10 pm at the time of the call. “Annyeong!” Kate greeted back eagerly but stopped her hand from waving. She wasn’t sure how much Nathan’s condition had improved. “First of all,” Nathan said. “I’d like to apologize for not calling you sooner. I was too busy with the physical
The Boyfriend App Chapter 132: The Idol
“Omo!” Kate exclaimed. “It’s true!” Nathan said, bursting with excitement. “Last month, I got accepted by Big Break Entertainment as a trainee and I’ve since been practicing dancing and singing. My personal therapist said all the dancing – this is what’s really baffling her – was fueling my drive and speeding up my overall recovery. Very energetic choreography still makes her nervous tho.” Nathan chuckled. “Probably because of my age, I was able to tolerate a higher intensity of therapy. I feel pain and exhaustion with my nerves, not my muscles. But I just dance through the pain. I keep reminding myself that – because I’m a Filipino and not a Korean, because I’m disabled, because I’m the secret younger brother of an idol etc – I need to work twice as hard. I give dancing my 200%. Like swimming to the deep end and not caring about how far I get from the shore. When I do that, I get in the zone and fall into a trance-like state, where there’s no pain, no loneliness, no limit to the h
Latest chapter
The Boyfriend App Epilogue: The Microscopic Villain
For Ecto, New Year’s is more or less the same as Christmas. The same warm, gooey feeling. The same close-knit spirit. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has banned the manufacture and sale of firecrackers, the shooting of which has been a well-loved tradition for centuries and can be traced all the way back to the Spanish colonial era. The exact inventors and originators were the Chinese, who believed that noise would drive away bad luck and bad spirits. According to Mr. and Mrs. Lapuz, the Filipinos seem sadder now, having been robbed of the most thrilling and spectacular means of making noise. But according to health and safety records, hospital personnel can rest easier because the ERs wouldn’t be packed with casualties this time around. Just the New Year’s before last, it was like a war zone on the streets what of households competing for the biggest bang to welcome the new year. Many men got drunk out of their minds and then tried to light a firecracker with the non-PC name
The Boyfriend App Chapter 175: Ecto's Stocking
After Mass, Kate and Nate buy rice cakes at the town square. One is the awesomely purple puto bumbong and another the yellow bibingka. They also buy roasted chestnuts and bring all the treats home to Mr. and Mrs. Lapuz. On one trip to a very crowded shopping mall, Ecto sees a Santa Claus impersonator. Curiously, the Santa is Caucasian and not brown-skinned like most of the Filipinos. Of course Ecto has already figured out by himself that Santa isn’t real. To his surprise, after they get back home, Kate insists on teaching him the hooman custom of hanging a stocking. On the desktop of her computer, Kate shows him a folder that she has named “Ecto’s Stocking”. She then goes through all the trouble of changing her wallpaper to a fireplace and dragging the folder onto the 2D mantelpiece. “What for?” he asks her through her smartphone’s loudspeaker. Her smartphone is open and showing the My Dream Boyfriend app, right into the inside of Ecto’s bedroom. Ecto’s wearing a knit sweater
The Boyfriend App Chapter 174: The Holidays
With a little help from Terra, Kate downloads the My Dream Boyfriend App again with some customizations. Because Ecto isn’t bound by any one platform anymore, he’s capable of some manner of fission, where he splits and replicates himself while also dividing his consciousness among all his manifestations. It’s like Doctor Strange’s clones when they were fighting Thanos, but in Ecto’s case, each and every duplicate is much more than an illusion and is a sentient and perfect version of himself. This allows him to be both in Nate’s microchip implant while back in his virtual bedroom inside the My Dream Boyfriend app on Kate’s smartphone. At any time, he can also perform fusion and re-absorb his manifestations. Terra removed the boyfriend creation window because of course Kate doesn’t need it anymore. Ecto wanted his virtual bedroom exactly as it was. He could easily “slide” into his other cribs anyway, like the old orange, pink and red Provençal one on Dungeon Raydens which he was able
The Boyfriend App Chapter 173: The Truth
It’s already 6 pm when Nate finishes his social host obligations and comes looking for Kate. He doesn’t need to look hard though because earlier, Kate sent him a text saying she’s waiting for him in the Council office. Nate has a spring in his step and is smiling ear to ear. The scratches on his face are still stinging but, before the closing ceremony, Nurse Judy cleaned and applied Band-Aid on them. Nate can’t hide his excitement in seeing his GF again after they’ve taken care of all their responsibilities. {That kiss on the track was supernova-hot. I hope we make out too.} When he finds the office door locked, oddly enough, he knocks and calls out uncertainly: “Kate?” He hears her move inside the room and then the door swings open. The sight of her face wipes his smile off. She’s been crying in the dim. She has the look of someone who has just had herself a good cry. Her eyes look cleansed and exposed, indeed like pure windows into her soul. Her lips are tightly set in a line, as
The Boyfriend App Chapter 172: The Anagram
Kate is alone in the Student Council office tidying up. Nate’s off wrapping things up with his manager and the film crew and saying goodbye to everybody, including his bandmates. The trophy that STEM 12 won is now in the 12-Everest homeroom, because the bulk of tournament champions is there. Kate’s classmates are all posing with it and gushing at how shiny it is. This year’s Intrams was perfect. Kate couldn’t ask for anything more. She has once again been reminded of the importance of having balance in life; of, as cheesy as it sounds, having both a sound mind and a sound body. It felt good to do something physical, to be away from the rigors of school work and the false urgency of the Internet. But the heart of the matter is, she’s blissfully content because she has a boyfriend and she didn’t make a mistake in choosing him. In fact, she made a brilliant choice. An undertow to her joy is a silent prayer that she has finally broken the curse that she felt had hung over her ever since
The Boyfriend App Chapter 171: The Cheater
“OMG!” Mr. Romero says the word in everyone’s mind as they watch the pitiful scene. “Policarpio’s crawling to the baton exchange. Quick! Somebody help him! Help him!” Reggie is the first to break the spell of paralysis. He leaps over the rail and onto the track. He and Jared manage to run towards him before the alert CAT volunteers practice crowd control and stop others from joining. Reggie reaches Nate’s side. “No!” Nate screams vehemently. “Don’t touch me! Don’t touch me! I have to do this by myself.” “But hyung,” Jared says, having stopped next to Reggie, “you don’t have to do this. You don’t have to prove anything.” “Yes… I… do,” Nate grunts as he crawls forward foot by precious foot. “Let us help you,” Reggie pleads. “You don’t have to do this alone.” “Don’t come closer!” Nate barks, spittle flying between his gritted teeth. In what feels like eternity, he reaches the changeover zone and Kate’s crouched form. Her eyes are glassy and full of pity for him. He hates that loo
The Boyfriend App Chapter 170: The Race
By Friday morning, STEM 12 has won a total of 7 champion ribbons and several ones as runner-up. This makes them a leading candidate for overall champion. As Kate has anticipated, the non-sports events buoyed them. Apart from Francine and her escort winning Mr. and Mrs. Intrams, Grace and her benchwarmers won the bench cheer. It didn’t hurt either that the Bali Girls minus setter Lor were at the top of their game. And Nate, to everyone’s astonishment, is actually a Filipino Usain Bolt in the making. {Your BF’s Superman,} Nate’s words have been echoing inside Kate’s head since Wednesday, along with the news reporter’s: {Idol, social catalyst and Internet detective. Is there anything that Cyber can’t do?} But STEM 12 didn’t exactly win all their wins. Just like in last year’s Intrams, several games have been forfeited. An opposing team either failed to meet the minimum number of players required to start the game or failed to appear at the venue within the 15-minute grace period. On CIT
The Boyfriend App Chapter 169: Music Madness
The crowd of hysterical girls in front, held back only by a cordon of CAT cadets from junior high, are screaming the names of DMG members: “Cyber! Reggie! Jared! Sonic! Neo!” Seemingly from out of nowhere, they’ve whipped out banners and signs. Instead of the usual glow-in-the-dark Korean lettering for an evening K-pop concert, there’s a slew of English ones interspersed with the name of a particular artist or of the whole band. | IT’S MY BIRTHDAY CYBER, YOU ARE MY PRESENT DUMP KATE TAKE ME I WOULD SELL MY SIBLINGS FOR YOU I LOVE YOU MORE THAN FREE WIFI DON’T STOP INSPIRING ME! CAN I BE YOUR HAIRDRESSER? ALL I WANT FOR X-MAS IS A PIC WITH JARED DMG We have 5 fingers enough for 5 wedding rings SPIT ON ME CYBER | An English-speaking Filipino director is riding a crane and shooting high up in the aisle of the audience seats. His staff is scattered on the edges and near the stage, operating or holding up every manner of equipment. DMG plays their covers of the most popular s
The Boyfriend App Chapter 168: Within the Walls
On Tuesday, they have the same brain-hurting and nose-bleeding calculations in Physics and Chemistry. The only thing different is DMG’s closed-door rehearsal at the chapel-slash-auditorium 500 meters east. Nate has been exempted by Principal Aguilar personally from any school work or quiz. The whole campus is abuzz and on edge at every sighting of truck and van with tinted windows down Campus Drive and onwards to the auditorium. Kate has also prepared paper lots in an empty pencil case for the Secret Santa next month. She lets every Everester pick their recipient, including her own name. Kate has set the budget at “No Fixed Price” because she knows not all students are financially comfortable. When only two pieces of folded paper remain (one for Nate and one for her), she picks her recipient and is both excited and nervous to see that it’s Grace. She keeps the last piece of paper, of course unopened, for Nate. {Huh,} she thinks to herself afterwards. {What gift can I give somebod
