Side Story: 18th EGO (Part 1 of 2)

AKI

I SUDDENLY got a call from Chihiro yesterday. He calls me on a daily basis, usually after his working hours but there was one time that he didn’t contact me at all. Of course, I panicked a little but I didn’t want to be overly pessimistic so I assumed that maybe he had a tough day and got to bed early.

But that wasn’t the case.

The following day, bigla niya akong tinawagan ng mga bandang alas ocho ng umaga. He sounded somewhat tired and to me, it was as if he just cried. Kinumusta niya ako — kagaya ng palagi niyang ginagawa — pero nanginginig ang kanyang boses kaya walang pagdadalawang-isip ko siyang kinompronta. And when he told me that he had his heat, I almost lost my cool. He explained everything to me, including the fact that he woke up on a stranger’s house on the next day. Naikuwento din niya na ang nagmamay-ari ng tinatrabaho nilang hotel building ang nakasaksi nang mangyari ang kanyang heat.

Halos hindi ako makapaniwala. I knew that unwanted circumst