So, If We Fall In Love?

Chapter 3

I had just finished taking a few minutes to relax before heading downstairs for dinner when I found myself confronted with an unexpected situation in the hallway. I had just exited the room and was gripping the doorknob when I ended up being distracted by a sound coming from my parent's room.

"Tell me?! You must be in that place once more, aren't you?!" A scream emanated from within that room and I could hear it. I am certain that it came from my mother.

Here they are again. Suddenly, I began to feel like I was carrying a lot. I felt heavy. Hearing my parents argue is like having a piece of my soul ripped out of me at every moment.

I moved closer to the entrance to that room and leaned against the wall as I did so. Minutes later, I felt a sudden weakness in my knees, so I slowly moved to the side of the room and sat down.

"Tell me! Hernan, you have no right to deceive me again for the ninth time!” my mother yelled. Despite the fact that it hurts, I feel compelled to remain where I am and simply continue listening to what they have to say rather than leaving the room and going back to my bedroom.

"Gene! F*ck! I spent time with you, I chose you and that is because I love you, and even though we've been married for almost 25 years, you still point out my mistakes in the past! Stop with the nonsense, Gene!” It was Daddy who yelled.

Oh, sh*t. There was never an instance where my father yelled at me in that way. Not even once. Because of this, the things that I hear from them have given me no choice but to be anxious.

"Because you keep doing that sh*t again and again. Hernan, you've betrayed me multiple times and I lost my trust! You ruin my trust. It doesn't matter if I still love you, because you can't take away the fact that what you're doing is causing me a lot of pain.” Mommy retorted in tears. I know because I heard sobs.

They continued to argue, and I felt as though tears were falling from my eyes without my conscious awareness of it. I stayed. I listened. I cried. I was about to wipe it with my palms but someone else stopped me when suddenly someone laid a white handkerchief out in front of me.

I was bending down at the time, so I couldn't see who it was; therefore, I just took it and wiped my tears away. I finally worked up the nerve to look up when I noticed an improvement in the clarity of my vision.

“Gael?”

I was suddenly filled with shame and fear because he saw me like this—we are like this. This is even more embarrassing. I tried to stand up and leave there but just as I was about to lift, my butt fell because my knees couldn't stand up because of the shaking.

I was even more embarrassed. He shouldn't see me like this. I tried to stand up again but he passed in front of me and, to my even more surprise, he sat on my left.

"W-What are you doing?" I didn't ask him a naive question. So, instead of my tears continuing to fall, I focused more on him, especially when he took out his earphones and handed me the right end of them.

"Put this on," he said coldly.

“W-For what?”

It got colder between us when he looked at me. "Just place that in your left ear."

I don't want to argue with him any longer, not only because I can't, but also because I don't have the energy to continue doing so. Because of this, I did what he told me to do and inserted the earphones into my ears just as he instructed.

There is music playing. Although I am familiar with it, I am not able to name a specific song. I have been racking my brain in an effort to recall the song, but I just can't. However, there is no denying the fact that it is calming and comforting. I'm not sure how or why, but listening to music always makes me feel better.

When my parents were having a fight in their bedroom, I was somehow unable to pay attention to it. I closed my eyes so quickly that I didn't even notice when I started to drift off to sleep.

****

It was the sound of something being dropped on the side table that jolted me awake. I slowly opened my eyes and saw Manang Flor standing there, having just set the food on the side table next to me. It seems to me that this ought to be my meal for the evening.

I think Manang Flor saw me open my eyes. This is the reason why she immediately confronted me and started talking to me about it.

"You're already awake, Iha!" she exclaimed as she looked at me.

After lying down for a while, I slowly got up and sat up. I looked at her with a frown. It appeared as though Manang understood the meaning behind those looks.

"Iha, I noticed that you haven't eaten dinner yet, so I brought you something that you can consume right here." Manang Flor responded to me while she continued to stack and arrange my favorite meals.

But what puzzles me the most is why I can't recall how I arrived at this location, and why I haven't eaten dinner yet.

I was trying to remember why I closed my eyes, but all I could think about was the sound of my parents arguing when I walked towards their room.

“How did I get here, Manang?”

Immediately, Manang gave me a look that suggested she was surprised.

You don't remember how you got here, do you? Manang asked with astonishment.

Oh gosh."Would I ask Manang if I knew and remembered?" I tormented Manang.

“Oh!” She seemed to be processing what I had said by the way she scratched the back of her neck. "I really am sorry. But it looks like Gael brought you here."

I couldn't help but frown as a result of what I had just heard. Is that Gael? "How?"

Manang gave a little shake of the head. The explanation he provided was, "I don't know either, Gael just told me to bring you something to eat."

Gael?

My memory of what took place the previous night gradually improved. I squinted my eyes and squeezed them shut. Gael Gael Gael Oh sh*t! Gael heard Mommy and Daddy arguing. How else can I approach him and make a good impression?

Immediately, I turned my attention to Manang. "Can you please tell me where Gael is?" I asked her while looking behind her in the vain hope that the door to my bedroom was ajar and that Gael was already waiting for me outside.

Manang even turned around as a direct result of the way I looked from behind her. "I am sorry, iha. Gael has already left, accompanied by your brother. It is far too late, and it has been quite some time,” she answered.

I reached for my phone, which was sitting on the side table, right around the same time that my eyes locked onto her. I quickly opened it up, and checked the time on my phone.11:15 PM. It was already too late.

My feelings at this very moment are all over the place. There is remorse, sadness, and disappointment. I feel humiliated because I was observed and apprehended; Gael saw how messy my family is. I feel regret and sadness because I was only able to spend one moment with him before we parted ways, and I wish we could have spent more time together.

I don't feel like facing Manang. “In any case, I am extremely grateful to you. I'll just eat whatever it is that you brought whenever the mood strikes me."

"Sure, my dear," Manang answered with a nod to me. She said something more before leaving me and leaving my room. "Just call me if you need anything."

After the Manang had finally left, I did not waste any time and went straight back to lying down on my bed. I opened my messenger right away so that I could talk to my brother and check to see if Gael was currently online.

Searching… Gael—

“Gotcha!” He is online.

I clicked his profile without a second thought and was immediately taken to Messenger.

Choose: There are…

I sat up suddenly. What exactly ought I to say? Thank you? Once more, I scrapped my pre-written chat.

“Hmm… What are you going to say, Tria? Hello? Hello?” My internal monologue began with "I'm sorry for what happened earlier. More embarrassing!"

I gave it a few moments of thought before deciding what to write in the message to him, but nothing made much sense to my feeble mind, so maybe you shouldn't bother.

Never mind. Perhaps I should feel even more embarrassed about him.

Since I saw that Dian is currently online, I will send a message to her instead of to my brother. Naturally, aside from Dian, no one else is capable of comprehending the insanity that is mine.

Tria: Dian!

A few seconds after I sent my message to her, her profile icon suddenly dropped, meaning that she saw my message already. It didn't take long for the witch to reply.

Dian: Yes, Tria? What nonsense did you do tonight, huh?

This is actually Dian, who always thought what I was doing was silly. I laughed a little.

Tria: Crazy! I'm just going to tell you something.

Dian: What? I'm watching a Korean drama right now!

Tria: Stop wanting ‘yan.

Dian: Go spill it though!

And the rest of our night went all chikahans about me and what happened earlier. It's also a bit of a relief to have someone to talk to about these things. Maybe without it, I wouldn't know what to do. Good thing, that I have Dian with me who is willing to ride my antics and trip in life even though she often breaks down.