Erina's Curse (FILIPINO)

Chapter 5

"Okay ka lang?"

Malakas ang kutob ko. Hindi pala, hindi nalang 'to kutob. Sure na sure ako.

Isa akong ipis na maagang namayapa sa kamay ng isang lemon-scented Baygon noong nakaraang buhay ko, and because of my tragic past life, the gods finally decided that in my next life, suswertihin ako sa lovelife.

Kung ganito naman kagwapo at kabango ang kapalit ng mga paghihirap ko noon, I'd happily be an ipis again. Ano kayang skin care routine nito? Wala man lang kapores-pores. Tapos ang pupula pa ng labi, mukhang alaga sa lip balm. Parang ang sarap niya tuloy halikan.....

"Miss?"

He helped me stand up straight habang nakakunot ang noong nakatitig sa'kin. I tried to move my face towards his para sana magnakaw ng halik when he immediately pushed my forehead with his forefinger.

"Anong problema mo?"

Patay. Mas lalong kumunot ang noo niya while glaring at me.

"Hala..sorry, nadala lang."

I answered while smiling awkwardly. Totoo naman yung sinabi ko, nadala lang ako kasi ang inviting ng mga labi niya. Nakakaadik siguro siyang humalik. Swerte naman ng mga naging girlfriend nito. Buti nalang he's single now according to his management. Talagang nagresearch ako about him bago ko napagdesisyunang landiin siya. I may be a b***h pero hindi ako nang-aagaw ng boyfriend. Ako kaya ang pinag-aagawan, chos!

"Whatever. I need to go now. At 'wag ka ngang tumakbo, hindi ka ba marunong mag-ingat?"

Nakakunot noo paring sabi niya sabay talikod na ulit. Parang tanga naman 'tong si future jowa, nagtatanong tapos tatalikuran ako? I tug his left arm to force him to look at me. Sabi na eh, kami talaga ang bagay kasi may sparks akong naramdaman nung hinawakan ko ang braso niya.

"Wait, lang! ba't ka ba nagmamadali? May pila ba ng relief sa labas, ha?"

Pabiro kong sabi habang nginingitian siya. Wala bang ibang facial expressions na alam to? Palagi nalang nakakunot noo eh.

"Miss," may diin niyang sabi. "You look like you have a lot of time in your hands, but I have a lot of things to do so will you please let go of me?" Ayoko nga.

"How about your suit?" hindi ko pa rin siya binibitawan.

"Keep it," he answered while removing my grip in his arm. "I have hundreds of them," tuluyan na niyang natanggal ang pagkakahawak ko sa braso niya.

"Keep it?! Aanhin ko naman yung coat mo eh wala naman akong iteterno dun. Kung talagang ayaw mo nang tanggapin, ibigay mo na din sa'kin yung slacks para complete package na diba?" tinaas taas ko pa ang dalawa kong kilay while looking intently at him.

"What?! Are you out of your mind?"

He looked so confused and furious at the same time. Natatawa nalang ako kasi napapamasahe na siya sa noo niya, nabigyan ko pa ata ng migraine.

"Fine. Dalhin mo sa Saturday," sumuko na din siya.

"Okay, so saan tayo magkikita sa sabado?" I look at him with hopeful eyes.

"Here. Saan pa ba?" hindi ba pwedeng sa bahay mo nalang? Natatawa kong naisip.

"We have weekly evaluations every Saturday, so baka maging busy yung araw ko. Pano kung hindi tayo makapagkita? I'm free on Sundays though," ano ba baby! Take the hint and ask me out already!

"You know what Miss, hin--"

"Erina. My name is Erina," I cut him off.

"Fine. Erina, I don't need the suit. As I've said earlier, I have a lot of spare. Just bring the suit, put it in your locker or something and give it to me when we both have time, okay?" he slowly explained na parang bata yung kausap niya.

"How about....hmm, I'll just message you! I'll tell you when I'm free and we'll see if our our free time matches, okay?" I smilingly told him sabay nauna na akong naglakad at nilagpasan na siya. Sobra na yung kilig ko for today. Pwede na siguro yun.

"Soo Hyun Oppa....." I turned around when I remembered something. He looked at me with questioning eyes.

"See you on Saturday or better....see you in my dreams."

I winked at him at iniwan na siyang nakatulala doon.

Mabilis namang lumipas ang mga araw. We had a group photoshoot on Thursday for a campaign on women empowerment and on Friday, I attended an event hosted by Chanel as I am one of their brand ambassadors. Dumating din naman kaagad sa GreyHouse ang mga bagong product designs for Chanel's newest bag collections. I checked everything and I asked the girls if they want something.

Kesha got the Black, Velvet and Gold tone-metal classic handbag while Leina chose the metallic gold one with the same design. Raqi, as expected, picked the baby pink velvet flap bag. Kahit ano talagang pagpapanggap niyang maging boyish, lumalabas pa rin ang pagka-kikay niya. Sassy chose the gold-tone KissLock bag at humirit pa ng isa kaya inabot ko naman ang isang black classic handbag. Namili na din ako ng bag na idadagdag sa regalong bibilhin namin sa sabado for Raqi's mom.

Pagkatapos nilang mamili, they helped me to transfer the bags in my walk-in closet. I chose three bags for myself. Yung mga pinakagusto ko lang na design. I'll just take pictures with all the bags for the endorements tapos ipapadala ko din agad kay Lara para hindi na siya magpabili pa kila Papa. 

I've been doing this every time na magpapadala ng products ang mga ini-endorse kong brand. I already have a lot of things at punong-puno na ang closet ko. Halos hindi ko rin naman sila nagagamit because the company provides our set of clothing para sa mga performances and interviews. Magagamit ko lang siguro kapag nag-travel na'ko.

After fixing my things, tinawag na ako ni Leina for dinner. We decided to treat ourselves today so they ordered Bulgogi in or favorite restaurant. We wrap the thinly sliced beef in lettuce and added gochujang, a spicy red pepper paste, to taste. Ang tagal naming kumain dahil nagdaldalan pa kami and they've also made me tell them kung anong nangyari noong sinundan ko si Kim Soo Hyun sa banyo.

"Bakit parang laging sa banyo kayo nagkikita? Baka pati first date niyo, sa banyo rin ha," nang-aasar na sabi ni Kesha.

"Banyo couple sila 'te," dagdag pa ni Leina.

"Banyo Queen ka pala eh," natatawang singit naman ni Raqi.

"Ang baho naman grabe," nakisali na din si Sassy sa pang-aasar.

"Sige, next time diretso na kami sa kwarto. Nakakahiya sainyo eh," I said jokingly which made us all laugh.

"Pokpok mo!" they answered in chorus.

Kinabukasan, we attended the weekly evaluation of trainees. I can still remember when I was just a trainee like them. Every week, may evaluation on how much you have improved. The physical and emotional pressure is insane kaya maraming nagbaback-out. Iba pa yung sa monthly evaluation in which you have to perform a solo song, a group song and a dance song.

When I started training in H&H three years ago, 12 kaming magkaka-batch. After just a month, we were down to five. And eventually after almost seven months of ridiculous training, napili ako to debut as a member of GreyArea.

We just finished watching the first 10 trainees when the managers called for a lunch break. Hindi na kami lumabas sa training room because they had the food delivered. Nagkwentuhan lang kami habang kumakain. As early as now, alam na rin naming hindi na kami makakalabas para bumili ng regalo for Raqi's mom so we decided to reschedule, tutal next week sunday pa naman ang birthday niya. 

 Sir Leo, the one who discovered me was also present in the evauluation kaya nakapag kamustahan din kami.

"How are you and Sir Steve?" I casually asked.

Close kami ni Sir Leo lalo na sa kalandian. Maharot din kasi 'tong baklang 'to. But I adore him because he's compassionate and he looks after me, hindi lang dahil sa pinagkakakitaan ako ng kumpanyang pinagtatrabahuan niya but because he truly cares.

"Eto, naglalandian pa rin," natatawa naman niyang sagot sabay hampas pa sa braso ko. Isa din 'tong sadista kapag kinikilig.

He and Sir Steven Choi have been in a relationship for a year now. Sobrang saya ko for Sir Leo because he finally found his one true love. Madalas rin kasi niya akong iyakan noon every time some gold digger asshole breaks his heart. Sobrang bait kasi niya na tipong binibilhan ng kotse ang mga naging boyfriend. But look at him now, spoiled na spoiled kay Sir Steve. 

Kaya naniniwala din talaga ako sa true love eh. Despite of what happened to my parents, I'm still hoping that someone will love me for who I am. Yung broken na Erina at hindi yung perpektong ipinapakita ko sa iba. Mukhang dininig naman na ng diyos at ng isang daang shooting stars ang hiling ko because Soo Hyun is here already. A mere glimpse of him makes my heart flutters na nakakalimutan ko yung mga problemang dala dala ko.

Sir Leo decided to sit with us nang magsimula na ulit ang evaluation. A trainee band whose composed of nine girl members were performing their group song nang maramdaman kong naiihi ako. Nagpaalam ako saglit sa mga katabi ko sabay tayo na para pumunta sa banyo.I was washing my hands in the sink after umihi when I decided to check my phone. It's already 5pm at tatlong banda pa ang ie-evaluate. Paniguradong late na kaming matatapos so I decided to send a message to Soo Hyun na hindi ko maibabalik ang coat niya ngayon.

I searched his name on i********: at nakita ko naman agad. I cannot follow him because that would stir the public eye at paniguradong magkaka-issue kami.

To: soohyun_k216

can't meet u now

busy with evaluations

He's not online so I decided to scroll his feed first. He only has 66 pictures and most of them are candid shots. Ang gwapo talaga kahit sa anong anggulo. I stopped myself from liking every picture dahil sinusundan din ng fans lahat ng nila-like ko.

I finished scrolling his feed pero hindi pa rin siya nagrereply. I've been in the bathroom for too long at baka hanapin na ako so I checked myself in the mirror for the last time and then walk back towards the training room.

The evaluation ended at around 9pm at mamatay matay na kami sa gutom. When we returned home, nag-order na agad si Kesha ng Sam Gae Tang which is a chicken soup and dumplings because we all don't have the energy to cook. After 30 minutes, dumating na rin yung pagkain. Since we're all hungry, tuloy tuloy lang kaming kumain at hindi na nakapagkwentuhan. We continued watching Crash Landing on You in Netflix at pumasok na rin sa kwarto after one episode.

I was scrolling on my phone when a notification pop out.

From: soohyun_k216

K.

Pinigilan ko namang matawa ng malakas dahil baka magising yung apat na bruha. It took him 5 hours para magreply tapos 'k' lang? Ang sungit. Pero cute naman kaya sige papalagpasin ko na yung pagtitipid niya sa reply.

To: soohyun_k216

im free tomorrow!!!

From: soohyun_k216

Who asked?

Nasisiraan na yata ako ng ulo kasi kahit ang sungit niya sa chat, kinikilig pa rin ako. Kahit wala nga siyang gawin kinikilig ako eh. Ang lakas ng tama ko grabe.

To: soohyun_k216

kita tayo bukas pls

I even sent him a pouting gif para magpacute. Baka sakaling pumayag diba. And most people said that no one can resist my charm so baka naman worth the try.

From: soohyun_k216

No. 

To: soohyun_k216

sige na pls pls pls

I replied with a crying baby gif. Grabe na yung pagpapaawa ko dito ha. Inaasar ko lang naman siya kasi alam ko namang hindi pa kami gaanong close para lumabas ng kami lang.

From: soohyun_k216

No. Non. Nein. Aniyo. Bu. 

Did he just f*****g use five different languages to say no? Harsh but hot, huh?

To: soohyun_k216

okay....:((((

Almost midnight na at hindi na siya nagreply. Nakulitan na siguro sa'kin. Nalungkot naman ako ng slight so I just read some new ebooks sent to me by GoodReads, a publishing company. Nung nagsawa na ang mga mata ko sa pagbabasa, I decided to check some pictures sent to me by our photographer. I'm editing some of the pictures I plan to upload when a notification pop out.

From: soohyun_k216

Tomorrow's my sisters' 16th birthday. I'd invite you but we both know that's not possible. I'll just see you on Monday.

I covered my face with a pillow before screaming my hearts out. He'll see me in Monday daw? So he's looking forward to seeing me too? Omg! Omg! Is he already falling for me? Kami na ba? Chos. Hindi pa ako nakaka get-over sa kilig when my phone vibrated again.

From: soohyun_k216

Good Night.

Shit! s**t! He's even saying 'good night' now. Baka sa susunod magpapaalam na siya sa'kin kapag kakain siya or bago siya maligo. Kinikilig ako habang iniisip ko kung anong mga pwedeng mangyari in the future.

To: soohyun_k216

pasabi sa mga kapatid mo 'happy birthday' from their future sister in law

From: soohyun_k216

tss

To: soohyun_k216

pakisabi na rin na sorry dahil wala pa akong regalo but don't worry kasi kapag dinala mo na'ko sa bahay niyo, I'll bring them as many gifts as they want

From: soohyun_k216

Matulog ka na.

To: soohyun_k216

ihhh gusto pa kita kausap eh

Patuloy ko pa siyang nilandi kahit na medyo inaantok na rin ako. Feel na feel ko yung abot tengang ngiti ko eh.

From: soohyun_k216

Sleep.

Hala, galit na yata bebe ko, ayaw daw kasi niyang napupuyat ako kaya sige na nga, matutulog na. Kinikilig pa ako habang nagi-imagine.

To: soohyun_k216

fine! matutulog na po.....good night baby! Dream of me :))) 

From: soohyun_k216

Good Night, Erina. Sleep well and tight.

I slept peacefully that night. With a wide smile on my face, I dreamed of our future together. Unaware of the nightmares that awaits to threaten that future.