Leading Risk

CHAPTER 14

"Wait... What?!"

She giggled while looking at them.

"Wow! All at the same time?"

She teased, mocking them since they looked funny earlier, but they just threw tissues at her.

"Seriously?!"

The three dumbfounded girls gasped in disbelief. She nodded, took a sip of her water, and realized the noodles she bought were quite spicy, but it was fine since she had been craving spicy food for a while.

She glanced at them while savoring her noodles.

"What happened? Why did you guys meet up?"

Line asked curiously.

Before answering, she wiped her lips with her pink handkerchief.

"I went to Wesley's game over at Filinvest subdivision."

She almost laughed at the faces of the girls, who looked so invested in her story that they had stopped eating.

"And? Did Kai play?"

Rins asked. She shook her head.

"Nope. After the game, we were just walking to leave the place. But then, my brother suddenly called someone."

She shared cautiously, taking another sip of her noodle soup.

"AND WHAT!? TALK FAST GIRL OR I MIGHT THROW MY BAG AT YOU FOR THE SUSPENSE!"

She laughed at Mayue's protest, while Line and Rins shooed Mayue away, but Mayue just raised an eyebrow at them.

"I met Kai's girlfriend... and the girl my little brother called was her."

She got annoyed with her hair getting in the way while she was eating, so she tied it back. She accidentally bit her tongue, feeling the spiciness from the noodles.

After fixing her hair, she looked at the three girls. She sighed when she noticed their expressions had changed.

As if they pitied her.

"And then, of course, we introduced ourselves since we didn’t really know each other, even though... we were literally friends on social media. We even interacted a few times there too..."

She felt her hands shaking a little, so she placed them down and decided to watch people walking outside. There were still a lot of them even though it was getting late.

She took a deep breath.

"And for the first time, I didn’t know this would happen... I-I touched his hand, even if it was just for a second."

She felt really stupid. She noticed the clock hanging on the wall of the convenience store, realizing it was already 9:00 PM.

"I don’t even know why I like that man, but... Lord, why does it hurt so much?"

She said slowly while placing her hand over her face. She didn’t want them to see her like this.

What if she had confessed? What if she made the first move? Would she have been the one spending time with him that night? What if it had been her?

These questions always lingered in her mind.

"It’s not like I chose to fall for him; it just happened. My heart fell for him, deeply."

She didn’t know why it didn’t hurt as much last night when she saw them. She thought she had moved on or at least half of her feelings were gone.

But now that she was telling them what happened that night, it hurt. Maybe she was only realizing now what had really transpired.

She looked up at the three girls who were already handing her tissues.

"What?! Eww, as if!"

She shook her head at them in disbelief.

"No way, I’m not crying over a crush!!"

She protested. There was no way. They didn’t even know each other. It was just her who had feelings for him. She felt a chill—there was no way she'd cry.

"I really feel like he knows, Leyie."

Line said while continuing to eat.

"How many times did we mention him?"

Rins muttered. She cringed, remembering the time she shared a post that was a not-so-subtle message aimed at her crush, Kai.

Never again. So embarrassing.

"You guys are too sweet, psh."

She heard Mayue hiss.

"Bitter, your sister is bitter."

She said, also glancing at the couple outside. He was giving his jacket to his girl, which reminded her of something.

She had been hesitant to share what really happened because she already knew how they would react.

It was going to be more chaotic than AlDub fans.

"By the way, I met the one who I bump last week at uncle John's. The Attractive man?"

She casually said while grabbing Rins’ milk tea, which wasn’t as cold anymore.

"WAIT... WHAT? WHO?"

She smiled at them without showing her teeth.

"I said... I also met kuya yesterday night. He was with Kai."

Recalling what happened that night made her feel embarrassed. Even now, she didn’t know how she and Wesley made it home.

And for the second time—

"WHAT THE HECK?!"

She threw tissues at them for their reaction. She avoided looking at the three girls because she was already so embarrassed by their excitement.

"Oh, and he followed me on Instagram."

She added. She leaned on the table as she heard music start playing in the background.

She closed her eyes for a second, thinking how funny timing could be.

"Ako na lang" by Zia Quizon? Really, Lord?

She raised an eyebrow when the girls beside her suddenly went quiet. Curious, she glanced at them. They were busy on their phones, so she leaned back into her seat.

"Is this him?! @GnruizZ?!"

She immediately sat up straight and looked at them in shock. They were all holding out their phones, flashing his i********: profile.

So this is what they had been doing while they were quiet?

"My gosh, Leyie, he’s so handsome!!"

"Jackpot, girl!"

Rins and Line excitedly said while Mayue continued stalking his account.

"OH MY GOSH! YOU’RE THE ONLY ONE HE’S FOLLOWING! LOOK AT YOU!"

She almost covered her ears at Mayue’s high-pitched voice. Embarrassed, she glanced at the staff and the guard inside the store.

"Sorry!"

She mouthed to them. They just smiled back, probably because they already knew the girls since they often hung out at the store this late.

"So, what happened between you two?"

"Come on, spill the tea already!"

"Hurry up, girl, stop being so shy."

The three girls urged, and she almost wanted to pull their hair for how loud and excited they were.

She looked outside again, noticing that fewer people were walking around now. It was getting late, so she decided to tell them everything that happened.

To be honest, her head was still hurting a little, probably because she had a bit too much to drink last night. She pouted at the thought. It was just beer, but apparently, her uncles and cousins had trained her well—she couldn’t lose to their drunken bets.

She almost wanted to cry. She wasn’t weak; she was only supposed to be weak in front of her mom.

She glanced back at the three girls who were waiting for her to speak. She took a deep breath before telling them everything.

"Sooo, that’s what happened... After that, I think I passed out? I’m not really sure."

She said, feeling a bit breathless. She had been holding back from squealing, but the memory of last night was still making her heart race.

She didn’t know if it was excitement or anxiety, or maybe even a coffee-induced palpitation since her motto was "coffee is life."

But her heart had been beating fast for a while now. She couldn’t help but smile, remembering how he treated her last night. Gosh, acts of service really hit her in the heart, leaving her weak.

"What if?"

Mayue suddenly said, and she glanced at her, already anticipating the overdramatic reaction.

After they finished at 7/11, they decided to walk around Commonwealth Road towards Ever Gotesco. It was getting chilly, but the four of them didn’t care, even though they had no more money.

"Uh-oh, here comes another 'what if'."

Rins joked, and she pouted in embarrassment. She should’ve kept quiet; they had been teasing her ever since. Even the crew at 7/11 had joined in the teasing, as if they were all close.

"So, where’s the blanket?"

Line asked curiously.

She scratched the back of her head, still hesitant to tell them she was supposed to meet up with kuya to return the blanket but declined because she hadn’t washed it yet.

"Hey, I was the guy last night. Could we meet tonight? For the blanket?" August 19, 2023, 12:07 PM

She was shocked earlier at noon while scrolling through her socials when someone suddenly DMed her. She almost dropped her phone into the sink while brushing her teeth at that time.

Without much thought, she declined.

"Sorry, I have a schedule this afternoon and might get home late." August 19, 2023, 1:27 PM

She glanced at the three girls before looking ahead at the road they were walking.

"Hehe."

She laughed softly. They glared at her, and Mayue was about to pull her hair, but she hid behind Line.

"SELFISH!"

Well, that’s enough gossip for tonight.

It took them almost thirty minutes of walking before they noticed it might rain, so they decided to head home.

"Kuya, here's the fare, two of us."

She waited for the driver to hand Line her change before they got off. But before crossing the street to her own stop, she made sure to walk Line home first since her house was just across from where the tricycle dropped them off.

"Tita, here’s your daughter! Safe and healthy. Thank you, and goodbye!" she called out with a smile as Line entered their gate.

"Alright, take care on your way home," Line’s mom replied.

She waved and smiled back, watching as the gate was closed behind them.

"Thank you, 'ta!" she accidentally blurted.

Line froze mid-step and then hurled a shoe in her direction.

"WHAT?! THANK YOU 'TA? REALLY? HAHAHA!"

Her eyes widened as she realized what she had said, her hand quickly flying up to cover her mouth.

"That’s not what I meant, tita! I’ll just head home now," she muttered, her eyes watering with embarrassment. She bolted out of their compound, not daring to look back.

She crossed the road quickly since there weren’t many cars, her mind still reeling from the awkward moment. She was about to enter her street when someone suddenly blocked her path.

Her eyes grew wide when she realized who it was.

She immediately recognized the scent—masculine and familiar.

"Hey," he said.

Crap. She wasn’t prepared for this.