All Chapters of The Boyfriend App : Chapter 111 - Chapter 120

It’s already 2 a.m. when all the guests have gone home and most of the decorations have been taken down. Kate has changed into her jammies and removed her makeup in the bathroom. On her way back to her room, she passes by the pile of fatigues, camo backpack, combat boots, headlamp etc next to the laundry basket. She and her parents have agreed they would just mail the stuff back to Camp Unplugged. Mrs. Lapuz is standing awkwardly and undecided in the dim hall in front of her and Mr. Lapuz’s room. “Ngek!” Kate exclaims. “Ma! You startled me. Er… why are you still up?” “I need to tell you something, Katie Pie,” she says somberly. “I did something terrible to you.” “I know, ma, and I forgive you. Just forget about it, OK?” “No, it’s not about Camp Unplugged. It’s something else.” “Whatever it is, it can wait till tomorrow. We’re both pooped.” “No, I have to tell you this now. Maybe there’s still time. Maybe you can still fix it.” Kate can’t help but sigh because she can hear her b

Nestled in the rolling foothills of Laurel, Batangas is a picturesque resort-subdivision called Woodland Vista. Spanning 300 hectares, it’s made up of townhouses, condominiums, condotels, pools, private estates, a golf course, a country club and a hotel. Tonight though, it’s just a fathomless pool of inky blackness because there’s an unscheduled power interruption from its energy provider, BATELEC II. Approximately twelve hours ago and 45 kilometers away, a kite got entangled on a power line in Barangay Biga, Sto. Tomas. The anonymous kite-flyer was unharmed but their kite caused a chain reaction of misery that started in the controlling breaker and reached hundreds of thousands of households across one city and four towns along the northeastern rim of Taal Lake. The power has been so erratic that parents were forced to turn off appliances and grudgingly took out candles and hand fans. Kids had to content themselves with just listening to tunes to conserve the battery of their smartph

The news anchor’s somber words float from the studio on screen, across the living room, to greet Kate, who’s walking slowly towards the sectional sofa. It feels like she’s still surfacing from a dream. She thinks if she doesn’t make any sudden move, the dream might not take a dark turn and become a nightmare. “… reports from Batangas that Ji-hoon Kim, more popularly known as Shadow, leader of the K-pop group Monte X-O, has been killed in a motorcycle accident… and that an until-today largely unknown Filipino half-brother by the name of… Nathaniel Policarpio is gravely injured.” Kate’s mouth produces a gasp before she can cover it. “They were apparently being pursued by a van carrying camp counsellors of an Internet addiction rehabilitation center. The reports are that Shadow has been killed. The half-sibling Nathaniel Policarpio is in critical condition. “For those of you just tuning in, here’s the footage from our field team in Laurel, Batangas captured just 30 minutes ago.” The

The red veins and arteries and cute round car icons on Waze turn into an actual kilometer-long gridlock around the hospital. Traffic grounds into a complete halt and Francine and Grace confer with each other whether to turn off the engine. Apparently, hundreds of K-pop fans from all over have shown up this weekend to pay tribute to the fallen star. The Makati police were called in to help with crowd control. Like a street protest, the sea of people is spiky with signs and banners that read “RIP”, “WE LOVE U”, and “SHADOW FOREVER”. Some are holding up Monte X-O merch shirts and posters of Shadow’s iconic silhouette with the glorious dreads. Others are blasting portable Bluetooth speakers and singing the group’s hit songs at the top of their lungs. It’s like a street carnival. A celebration of Shadow’s legacy, not a mourning. “Okay, guys,” Francine says, turning off the engine with a certain finality and resignation. She looks back and announces: “This is it. End of the line. If you wa

“What I’m about to tell you,” Nathan says with just a hint of relish, “is my family’s biggest and darkest secret.” Everyone has gone quiet as though it was ghost story-sharing time at a Bali Girls sleepover. Kate doesn’t think Nathan has achieved enough detachment from the story to enjoy telling it. What she’s detecting in Nathan’s voice is just relief; relief at finally being able to tell another living soul what he has been keeping to himself for so long. “Or at least it used to be,” Nathan caveats. “Now it’s just a matter of time before the media gets to the bottom of everything. Having said that, I don’t want you to feel any pressure whatsoever about being privy to this secret but not being able to tell anyone. I’ve been on the receiving end of such a gag order, and I hated every day and every minute of it.” A pause, but no one dares interrupt Nathan. “What I’m trying to say is, when you leave this room, the story is yours and you can do with it whatever you please. You can go