“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