Chapter 4 - The Naughty Archi Guy

She went to Ethan's room first thing in the morning. Pero inabot niya itong nakabihis na at naghahanda na para umalis.

"Good morning..." he said as he eyes himself in the mirror. He adjusted his gray slim-fit shirt and put on his navy blue hoodie. He ran his fingers through his hair and his eyes looked totally smexy in his new carbon eyeglasses.

God... Bahagyang tinakpan ni Zea ang kanyang ilong. Halos masukol kasi siya sa bango ng after shave nito. "Paalala ko lang ha. Sa eskuwelahan ang tungo natin, hindi sa club." 

"Good thing you're already here," sambit ni Ethan habang ikinakabit ang maliit na hikaw sa taas na bahagi ng kanyang tenga. It was a silver dot earring. It's so small you won't be able to see it unless you look at it closer.

After he's done with it, he walked towards her and looked at her beautiful face. But she froze when she felt his fingers ran through her hair. He leaned closer, so close she can almost die smelling his dangerously sexy scent. Blood started to rush onto her cheeks. Her heart pounded hard into her ears.

Ethan is not exactly her type. Pero hindi rin naman niya maitatanggi na malakas talaga ang dating ng lalaking na 'to. 

Hinawi nito ang buhok niya at nabigla na lang siya nang may mag-click sa bandang tainga niya. Napatingin siya sa salamin at nakita ang maliit na pulang hikaw na nakasabit roon.

"Here's how we communicate." Ethan rotated the tip of the earring until a small light blinked for 3 seconds. "That thing is an HD microphone and a listening device at the same time. I can hear everything from that at maririnig mo rin ako diyan at the same time," he explained carefully.

Zea smiled. "Looks nice."

"No required parameters, kahit gaano ka kalayo. Pero syempre hindi yan gagana kung nasa ibang bansa ka. Just make sure na naka-on lang siya but you don't have to use it every time."

He grabbed his phone from the table. Napansin tuloy ni Zea ang college form at architecture review materials na nakasalansan sa table niya.

"Are you going to take the entrance exam today?"

"Yup," matipid na sagot nito.

Hindi napigilan ni Zea na matawa, kaya naman napatigil bigla si Ethan sa pagpeprepara.

"Kawawa naman mga babaeng makakasabay mo," kantyaw ni Zea.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Masyado ka kasing nakaka-distract. Baka bumagsak mga kasabay mo sa exam." 

A huge grin quickly crossed Ethan's face. "May epekto naman pala charms ko sayo. Halika nga dito, pa-kiss muna!" biro nito sabay hablot sa mukha ng dalaga.

"Bitiwan mo nga ako!" sigaw ni Zea saka pinaghahampas ang binata.

Natatawa siyang binitawan ni Ethan saka kinuha ang mga naturang forms. "Simula mamaya sa condo na ako uuwi. So you'll be on your own starting today." Lumakad siya patungo sa pinto at muling nilingon si Zea bago tuluyang lumabas rito.

"And it's Errol, by the way."

Napangiti si Zea saka napailing. Naalala niya kasi kung paano sila unang nagkakilala.

She remembered how Ethan swiftly held the knife and hurled it towards her chest. Mabilis siyang umiwas at kaagad umatras. She under estimated Ethan's reach, kaya inabot pa rin siya ng patalim nito. Napatingin siya sa kanyang dibdib at halos mapunit na ang kalahati ng kanyang suot.

She never felt scared in combat before. But looking at him now makes her heart pound.  Muli siyang napatingin kay Ethan habang pinapaikot nito ang maliit na kutsilyo sa pagitan ng mga daliri nito.

"Nice..." Ngumisi ito sabay baba ng tingin sa malusog niyang dibdib.

"Tsk!" asar na napalatak ni Zea. Muntik na talaga siya doon. Kung tutuusin kayang-kaya na siyang saksakin Ethan kanina. But he decided to slash her shirt instead. Revealing a piece of her skin. Bit by bit.

"Husayan mo Zea..." nakangising wika nito. "Kung hindi, lalabas ka ng training room ng hubo't-hubad."

How can she forget Him? When he was the one who trained her in combat knife fighting and made her stood in the training room half-naked. Kaya naman di mawala-wala ang inis niya sa Senior niya. Ngunit kahit na gano'n, she can't deny that Ethan is overqualified for this mission. He is one of the best, worldwide speaking.

From what she heard, he's a genius in hacking and creating highly secured systems. He sold most of it in the black market and he's gaining an awful sum of money for that. Wala siyang idea kung saan nanggaling o anong background ni Ethan. That's why she's glad that they were on the same side.

Kaya naisip niya na ito marahil ang dahilan kung bakit kinuha siya ni Uncle Ram. 

Apartment 803, eto na nga siguro yun. bulong ni Zea sa sarili habang tinitigan ang address sa papel na hawak niya. Pumasok si Zea sa apartment.

This will be her home from now on. She carefully scanned the place and found a couple of  CCTV cameras all over the place. She headed towards the living room.

Pero napangiti siya nang makita ang malaking family picture.

Ayos ah...

She giggled while looking at her picture together with her fake parents.

Galing ng pagkaka-photoshop, parang tunay lang.

Meron pang ibang mga family pictures inside the living room at may mga photo albums pa. Everything is well prepared. Walang butas na masisilip sa pagkatao ni Astrid Garcia.

She went to her room at sumakit ang mata niya sa pink na pink niyang kuwarto.

Pink talaga? Hindi ako 'to...

She looked at her closet. Everything was right in place. School uniform, clothes, dresses, shoes, etc.

Pumunta siya sa study room at bumungad sa kanya ang malaking bookshelf na puno ng mga libro. Sa gitnang bahagi naman nito ay may malaking estante kung saan nakapatong ang isang globe, ilang tropeyo at isang lumang cassette player.

Natuon ang kanyang tingin sa cassette. She moved towards it and let her fingers ran onto its buttons

then pressed eject. The bookshelf's center part immediately moved sideward and revealed a straight hallway towards a highly secured titanium door.

Now we're talking.

Nakaupo na si Ethan sa loob ng classroom at kasalukuyang kumukuha ng entrance exam. Pero hindi niya magawang makatapos dahil kanina pa siya ginugulo ng mga babaeng nakapalibot sa desk niya.

Hay... pasalamat kayo mabait ako sa fans.

Isang pilit na ngiti ang iginanti niya sa mga ito at halos nagtilian ang lahat ng mga babaeng nakapaligid sa kanya.

"Anong kaguluhan ito? Get back on your seats, now!" sigaw ng dalagang proctor.

Mabilis na nagpulasan ang mga babae at bumalik na ulit sa pagsagot ng answer sheet si Ethan na kunwari'y pinag-iisipan pa nang matindi ang mga tanong.

"You!" isang malakas na sigaw ang umalingawngaw sa loob ng silid. "Ikaw na nakasuot ng navy blue na hood."

Ethan stopped and looked at the proctor.

"Ako po?"

"Yes, you! Follow me."

Ethan quickly stood up and followed her outside towards an empty hallway. Maingat pa na tumingin ang proctor sa paligid bago nilapitan si Ethan. "Yung totoo, artista ka ba?"

Napatanga bigla si Ethan.

"Model? Influencer?"

"Po?"

"Huwag mo na akong po-in, twenty-nine years old lang naman ako," nahihiyang sambit nito sabay hampas sa braso ni Ethan.

"May IG ka ba? Baka puwede namang pa-selfie?"

A sexy smirk crossed his lips. He moves towards her, cornered her against the wall, and snatched her phone. "Selfie lang ba talaga, Ma'am?"

Halos manlambot ang tuhod ng dalagang proctor sa init ng hininga nito sa kanyang tainga. While Ethan's other hand is already scanning her high-security identification card hanging against her chest using his high-tech wristwatch.

After a couple of minutes, the proctor went back into the room. "Those who are already finished you may pass your papers."

Tumayo na ang iba at nagpasa na ng answer sheet no'ng biglang pumasok si Ethan sa loob ng silid.

His hair was slightly ruined and traces of sweat was visible on his shirt. He smiled and winked discreetly as he passed by the young lady proctor and silently went back to his seat.

Naupo si Ethan ngunit napansin niyang nakatingin sa kanya halos lahat ng lalaking nasa loob ng kuwarto. He raised his eyebrows as if asking why. Then one guy pointed at his lower left chin. Kaagad tumingin sa salamin ng bintana at nakita ang marka ng red lipstick sa kanyang kaliwang pisngi. 

"Walang hiya, niyare niya si Ma'am," bulungan ng mga estudyante.

Patay malisya niya itong binura saka pangiti-ngiting inayos ang kanyang buhok. Lingid sa kaalaman ng proctor, Ethan was able to access all data from her

Paglabas ni Ethan mula sa Archi Building ay  kaagad siyang pinagkumpulan ng mga estudyanteng babae na namimigay ng flyers. Halos madapa-dapa pa nga ang iba malapitan lang siya.

"Hello po! Meron po kaming charity bazaar event. Kung wala naman po kayong lakad tonight..."

"May lakad ka ba tonight?" Ethan naughtily smiled.

Her face suddenly turned red. "Ah—eh- Kuya."

"Kuya? — wala naman akong kapatid na kasing ganda mo," banat ni Ethan sa dalaga. 

Kulang na lang ay himatayin na ang mga babaeng kasama nito. Sa sobrang pagkahiya ng dalaga ay itinakip nito ang flyer sa kanyang mukha. Pero napatigil bigla si Ethan nang mahagip ng kanyang mata ang Flyer.

Annual SIBS Charity Bazaar Event.

A wry smile crossed Ethan's face.

"Saan nga 'to?" buong ngiting tanong ni Ethan sabay kindat sa kausap.