Chapter 7

Our Impenetrable Love

Chapter 7: Xhyro Gaming

NAGPAKAWALA si Genevieve nang isang buntong-hininga matapos mabilisang makagawa ng isa pang account na hiwalay sa personal niya para makapag-comment. To go out of her way to create a separate account is something even she doesn’t understand why she’s doing.

At least nakagawa na siya at iyon ang mahalaga. Besides, Xhyro sounded really hopeful that she’d be there too. Sa dami-daming magco-comment sa stream no’n, hindi naman siya sigurado kung mababasa nga nito ang comment niya. And, what will she even comment in the first place?

Using her other account, she set up another anime profile picture, VS: Gen as her name, and a cover photo.

“Hala, nakikita pala ‘yung date na sumali,” mangiyak-ngiyak na banggit niya nang makita na ang date joined ay ngayon. Masyado naman siyang halata!

She could obviously choose to comment on her real account, pero dahil ilang taon niya rin itong itinago sa laro, mas pipiliin niyang hindi rin mag-comment sa personal na account niya.

“Bahala na. Hindi niya naman iche-check kung anong date ako sumali,” pangungumbinsi niya sa sarili.

Sunod niyang ginawa ay finollow niya ang page nito na may halos 20k followers na. That’s a lot already! Hindi niya aakalain na ganito karami ang nagfofollow dito. She scrolled through the account and in all of his streams he wore black, usually a hoodie, and sometimes it also has an anime print to them.

Napakagat siya sa labi. He also likes anime?

She always swore that her boyfriend should be someone who also loves anime. Ayaw niya nang pinapagalitan siya kapag nanonood siya!

Hinintay niya ang oras na dumating ng alas syete at mabilis siyang napaupo sa kama nang lumabas na ang notification na nagsisimula na itong mag-stream.

She grabbed a handkerchief real quick and wiped the sweat forming in her hands on the cloth. Bakit naman siya kakabahan? She’s just going to watch!

Genevieve let out a huge breath before clicking on the notification and laying her back to the comfortable bed to watch.

Napakarami na agad ang comments sa stream nito. In less than a minute, there’s already a hundred viewers and it’s going up every second.

“Kamusta kayo? I missed everyone kahit nag-live naman ako kahapon.” Ngiti nito sa camera habang inaayos ang buhok nito.

She sucked in her breath as she took in his amazing visuals. He wore another black hoodie today pero this time, may Attack on Titan print na maliit sa gilid. Wow, he just had to be another AOT fan!

His natural thin lips, a shade of red so beautiful, his dark hair going down his neck which he always ties, leaving strands of it at the front, and those small, hooded eyes, even his eyebrows seemed thicker and fuller than hers!

She’ll admit it again, he looks fucking attractive.

“I’m actually waiting for a comment tonight…” Mahinang banggit nito at seryosong nakatutok ang mata sa nasa harapan nito, probably his computer, reading comments or something.

Comment. That’s her, right? It’s obviously her!

She tried to comment, pero mabilis niya itong inaalis at hindi niya naman alam ang ico-comment dito.

“Anyway, I’m sure that person will comment soon,” he chuckled. “First game, let’s go. Nag-promise pa naman ako na papakitaan ko ‘yon ng sniper skills ko.”

Mas dumami ang comments ngayon, at halos lahat iyon ay nagtatanong kung sino ang tinutukoy nito at baka nga raw girlfriend pa nito!

Girlfriend? That’s insane!

She bit her lip and thought of a way for her to be known in the chat, and her eyes lit up when she thought of something.

In order to support streamers, viewers can give them stars. Tama, ayon nalang ang gagawin niya! Kahit hindi niya naman gusto ang ugali nito at mukhang bait-baitan pa sa stream, hindi niya rin matatanggi na malaking tulong ang magagawa niya kung magse-send siya ng stars. After all, it is money.

Muli siyang nagpakawala nang malalim na hininga bago mag-send ng 100 stars na hindi rin naman umabot ng 100 pesos ang nabawas sa GCash niya. It’s okay, she’s helping him.

With her name VS: Gen, she commented along the given stars; Asa’n ang sniping skills diyan?

A huge lump formed in her throat as she waited for him to see it. Kagat-kagat niya ang sariling kuko habang hinintay na mapatay ito sa laro para makapagbasa na ito nang comments.

Sa comments naman, nagulat siya na ang daming nag-reply sa comment niya.

VS: Gen, diba ‘yan ‘yung magaling mag sg na laging nakapatay kay kuya noon?

Omg, are they like, a thing?

Hala, VS! Ang gagaling niyo po sa leader boards!

Nanlaki ang mata niya nang makita ang mga comments. Yes, they’re a competitive clan, pero hindi niya alam na maraming nakakakilala sa kanila. Siguro nga nakuha talaga nila ang atensyon ng mga tao dahil halos 6-8 members nila kabilang siya ay palaging nasa top 1-10.

“100 stars,” nabalik ang atensyon niya sa laro nang magsalita ito. Nagulat nalang siya nang humagalpak ito sa tawa pero mabilis na nawala at kumunot ang noo nang may tingnan ulit. What? Is there something wrong with her comment?

“Thank you, Gen, for 100 stars,” ngisi nito. “Since you’re challenging that badly, watch closely. Papakitaan talaga kita.”

Napatakip siya sa mukha at pansamantalang binaba ang cellphone niya nang marinig ang boses nito. The next thing she knows, she’s already laughing so badly!

“Putangina,” mura niya. Bakit parang siya pa ang kinilig do’n?

HANGGANG sa matapos ang laro, pasimple lang na nakangiti si Xhyro. He was only teasing her, who knew she’d actually comment, and she even gave him a hundred stars?

Hindi niya alam kung nanood ito sa buong stream niya na dalawang oras ang tinagal, pero masaya na siya sa nangyari kanina.

Sa comments, ang iba ay nakahalata na nakangiti nalang siya at mukhang good mood, pero hindi niya nalang ito pinansin. Though they’re right that he is in a good mood, it doesn’t mean that Gen made him smile like that the entire time! There could be other factors too!

He’s just a little disappointed with her account.

Kanina, nabanggit niya iyon dahil baka malaman niya na ang tunay na account nito, pero may account pa pala ito para lamang sa laro! He didn’t expect that.

“Now, how do I get her to watch my stream every day?” Napaisip siya habang nakatingin pa rin sa screenshot niya na nag-send ito nang 100 stars.

His account is still fairly small, and although he has a decent amount of followers, ang kadalasang viewer number niya ay 200-400 per stream. Umaabot lang iyon nang thousand kapag may id-draw siyang bagong character o baril.

And in that number of viewers, bibihira lang ang mag-send nang gano’ng karaming stars. He truly appreciates it.

Is it even possible that this one girl can make him smile and the next second, he wants to cuss the hell out of her?

Sa sunod na araw, nang makita niya itong online, inaya niya ito muli sa laro. Napangisi siya nang tanggapin nito ang invite niya. He can get to thank her personally. Kahit naman nagsigawan pa sila kahapon, nobody seemed to hold a grudge. Those were just normal in the gaming world. He doesn’t think she hold a grudge, either. Sanay na rin siguro ito makipag-trashtalk-an.

“Rank ulit?” pag-aaya niya matapos siya makapagpasalamat.

“G lang,” sagot nito.

For times he couldn’t count any longer, muli siyang napangiti sa sagot nito.