Sinful Attachment

KABANATA 4

Chase, Chaos, Charlotte, and Danzel were all together again, just like they always are. Parang normal na araw lang para sa kanila, nothing too special, pero hindi rin boring.

Nasa resto bar nanamaan sila ni Chase, ang kanilang usual tambayan kung saan nila madalas ginugugol ang oras nila na akala mo hindi mga busy sa kanya kanyang buhay at business. Punong-puno na agad ng presence nila ang place, with loud laughter, playful arguments, at nonstop teasing na umaalingawngaw sa paligid.

As usual, nakakagawa sila ng eksena kahit hindi nila sinasadya, parang sila talaga ang nagbibigay buhay sa lugar. Para sa kanila, normal na lang ang ganitong chaos, something na nakasanayan na nila, at honestly, hindi nila ipagpapalit kahit kanino o kahit saan.

“Nang gugulo nanaman kayo dito?” Pabirong bati ni Chase sa kaniyang mga kaibigan.

“Para namang hindi ka sanay?” Charlotte spoke with a bright smile on her face before leaning in to give Chase a quick beso, her cheerful energy showing in the simple gesture as she greeted her warmly.

“Nalulugi na nga business ko kakatambay niyo e. Wala ba kayong mga ganap sa buhay ha?” Taas kilay na tanong ni Chase habang inaayos sa lamesa ang kanilang pagkain.

“Meron, pero dito muna kami.” Sambit ni Danzel.

“Himala at wala sa apat na sulok ng studio yan?” Tanong ni Chase sabay ngusonkay Chaos na nakadukdok sa lamesa. Mukhang pagod at inaantok.

“Mamaya pa raw hapon e.” Kibit balikat na sambit ni Danzel bago kalabitin si Chaos para sabihing nandito na si Chase.

“You okay?” Chase asked Chaos as she approached him, stopping right in front of him with a calm but curious expression, waiting for his answer.

“Mhm.”Chaos answered in a short, low-energy voice, sounding like he didn’t really care as he spoke.

“Anong oras ka natulog?” Mahinang tanong ni Chase kay Chaos.

“Kasabay mo, we were on a sleep call, right?” Chaos answered to Chase’s question, his tone calm and casual as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

“Hoy ano yang sleepcall na yan?” Gulat na sambit ni Charlotte. Ibang klase rin talagaa ang pandinig ng isang ‘to at talagahg umabot pa sakanya ang sagot ni Chaos kahit medyo may kalayuan na ang kaniyang pwesto.

“Namimili ka na naman ng pinapakinggan mo,” puna ni Chaos kay Charlotte, habang diretso ang tingin niya na parang sanay na sa ugali nito.

Agad namang napairap si Charlotte, pero halatang pabiro lang. May kasamang maliit na ngiti ang ginawa niya, parang inaasar lang din si Chaos pabalik at hindi talaga seryosong naiinis.

“Does friends do that?” Inosenteng tanong ni Danzel na ikinatawa ni Charlotte ng malakas.

“Oops, hindi ko napigilan.” Tumatawang sambit ni Charlotte habang takip takip pa rin ang kaniyang bibig, trying to stop herself from laughing sa naging tanong ni Danzel.

Clearly, friends don’t do that. Hindi normal sa mag kaibigan ang mag-sleep call lang without any real reason behind it. Dapat may purpose, may excuse, or at least something na nagma-make sense. Pero sakanila, wala talaga.

It was like they had already gotten used to it. Doing things like that together doesn’t feel strange anymore, mukhang part na siya ng routine nila araw araw. No awkwardness, no hesitation, just something na ginagawa nila naturally.

And maybe iyon yung problema, because the more normal it starts to feel, the harder it becomes to call it “just friendship.”

Charlotte knew, kaya hindi niya mapigil ang sarili niya sa pagtawa. She also can’t understand why Chase and Chaos seem to be acting blind, like they were pretending not to know what they were feeling. It was obvious, at least for everyone else, na there is something going on between them. Malinaw, noticeable, at hindi na kailangan pang i-explain.

But for some reason, they keep acting like nothing is happening. Parang hindi nila nakikita, parang hindi nila nararamdaman, or maybe ayaw lang talaga nilang aminin sa mga sarili nila. And that makes it even more frustrating but at the same time funny to watch, kasi from the outside, it is already obvious na they clearly like each other, kahit pilit nilang dini-deny na hindi.

Para silang bata na kailangan mo pang i-guide sa ganitong bagay, akala mo naman hindi nila naranasan noon kung maka asta ngayon.

“Mag kaibigan din naman kami ni Charlotte pero hindi kami nag i-sleepcall?” Takang tanong muli ni Danzel.

Charlotte finds it more funny na hindi nagegets ni Danzel ang nangyayari sa paligid niya. He seems completely lost, reacting late or missing the point entirely.

“Because we're not them, Danzel.” Makahulugang sambit ni Charlotte habang hindi nawawala ang ngiti sa kaniyang labi.

Her tone is calm, almost playful, pero may malalim na meaning sa words niya na hindi niya na sinasabi nang direkta kay Danzel. She looks at him a bit longer, parang sinusubukan niyang ipaintindi without actually explaining everything. There is quiet confidence sa paraan ng pagsasalita ni Charlotte, like she already accepted something na si Danzel ay hindi pa rin talaga maintindihan.

For Charlotte, it is simple. She and Danzel can only observe from the outside, while Chase and Chaos are the ones actually living kung ano man yung complicated na nangyayari between the two of them. And no matter how obvious it looks, wala pa rin sila sa lugar to force the two to answer.

“Ang magic word for today ay “Go with the Flow” tama? Tama!” Tumatawang sambit ni Charlotte.

“Tumigil ka na, hindi na talaga naiintindihan ni Danzel pinagsasasabi mo, kahit kami hindi na na rin namin maintindihan.” Nakangusong sambit ni Chase na mas ikinatawa ni Charlotte.

“Ikaw Chaos? Gets mo?” Tanong ni Charlotte dahilan para mapangisi si Chaos sakanya.

“Kailan pa naging hindi?” Chaos responded before giving Charlotte a quick high five, clearly gets what she meant. He didn’t need her to explain further kasi gets niya na agad yung point.

May subtle amusement sa expression niya, like he is quietly entertained sa lahat ng nangyayari around them. Nakakatawa rin para kay Chaos na pinapanood niya si Chase at Danzel na hirap na hirap i-figure out yung naging “joke” ni Charlotte while the truth is already right in front of them.