Love Behind The Spotlight

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

THE bell rang once more. Sign na dapat ay mas bilisan ko pa ang pag-takbo para makaabot sa orientation class ko ngayong araw! Oh God! First day na first day late pa ata ako!

Jusko naman Maurine Kim! Bakit naman kasi tinanghali ka ng gising? Shemay!

I continued to run as fast as I could para lang maka-abot sa orientation, pero kung minamalas ka nga lang talaga, saka naman nagkataon na nagku-kumpulan ang mga estudyante sa entrance. Pistiii!

Napahinto ako at agad na napalinga-linga sa paligid. Kung ipipilit ko pa sarili ko sa entrada ng Averitian, tiyak hindi na talaga ako aabot sa orientation!

With that, I decided to go left. Hahanap ako ng pwedeng madaanan para mas maagang makapasok. Orientation ngayon, I need to be there or else...Oh God! Ayoko na lang pag-usapan.

Nang makarating sa kaliwang bahagi ng Averitian, tinanaw ko ang Gate 2, checking if there are clusters of students there too. Halos makahinga ako ng maluwag ng matanaw na maluwag ang gate at wala 'rin duon ang Guard. Kung pwede lang mag-hugis happy emoji ang mata ko, tiyak na nangyari na iyon dahil sa sobrang saya.

I looked around first, checking if there are students or academy staff around.

Okay. Cleared. I smirked before running fast passing the gate---but when I was about to go further, from the side, a man came out blocking my view, that causes me to bump into him and fell...on his top.

Oh. My. Gosh.

Nauntog pa ang noo ko sa noo ng lalaki kaya naman agad ko iyong hinawakan gamit ang dalawa 'kong kamay, dahilan para mas magdikit ang katawan naming dalawa ng naka-bungguan ko.

"Ouch." I reacted while slowly massaging my forehead. Tanging naroon lang ang atensyon ko, wala ng iba pa.

"I know that that hurts but come on, you're heavy Miss." A hoarse and pained voice echoed in my ear which made me suddenly stoic. Pati ata paghinga ko ay napatigil. Unti-unti ay inintindi ko ang winika ng lalaki at nang mapagtanto ang ibig nitong sabihin ay mabilis akong bumangon---kahit na sumakit bigla ang siko ko dahil sa ginawa.

When my eyes landed on the man whose currently on the floor, my eyes widened even more. "OMG!" I reacted before pushing myself away from him. The man look so pained! "I'm sorry!" I added, all focusing on the man's pitiful situation, not minding my aching elbow and forehead.

The man slowly gets up while bitting his lower lip and then he looked at me, with an emotionless eyes. "Next time don't run at the school grounds." He just said before turning his back and walked away while arranging his messed shirt because of the bumping.

I don't know why but I found myself looking at his back while following his every direction---well, the direction he's taking is all the way to my building too so its not necessarily that I am following him. Pero dapat nagmamadali ako para maka-abot sa orientation, kaya lang parang ayoko siyang unahan.

I won't deny that he is handsome. Chinito ang mata. Maputi at may muscles na tama lamang sa kanya. Mapungay ang mata na tila ba pag sinamahan ng ngiti ay natural na nakaka-akit. Matangos din ang ilong nya, luging-lugi ang akin.

Several minutes passed and the man went the other way which made me stop and just followed his back using my eyes, until I cannot see him anymore.

I tsked. "Saang department kaya 'yon? Ang gwapo," I mentioned before walking faster towards our building.

"ORIENTATION pa lang Ms. Kim pero late ka na agad? How can you expect me to trust you kung ganyan na agad ang ipinapakita mo?"

Bungad sakin ng Orientation Officer ng Education Department na si Mrs. Gonzaga. Naka-suot ito ng salamin at nakataas ang kilay. Halatang may pagka-masungit. At mukhang bad shot na agad ako dahil sa pagiging late.

"Pasensya na po, Mrs. Gonzaga. Hindi naman po talaga ako dapat late kaya lang ang dami 'pong estudyante sa entrance at hindi po ako makadaan agad," paliwanag ko naman na sana ay hindi ko na lang ginawa dahil mas sumama ang timpla ng ginang.

"And you dare to answer me," she said, sounding so creepy and frightening.

Napa-iling iling naman ako agad. "Sorry po, Ma'am." I said.

"Papalagpasin ko 'to ngayon dahil orientation, but once you do things like this again hindi na kita hahayaan," aniya.

Tumango na lamang ako bilang pagsagot dito, mahirap na baka mas uminit ang ulo sakin pag sumagot pa ako.

"Okay, dismissed." Dagdag nito na agad ko namang tinalima. I left her office trying my best not to create any sound that might annoy her. Thankfully, nakalabas naman ako duon ng matagumpay. Huminga ako ng malalim bago naglakad paakyat ng 3rd floor kung saan naroon ang magiging classroom ko.

Upon entering the room, everyone noticed me and they all smile. This is one reason why I took the Education Course, halos lahat kasi ay kakilala ko na. My parents are both teachers kaya naman marami silang kakilala, and some of my classmates today are my parents former student's children.

"Maui!"

Napatingin ako sa harapang bahagi ng classroom at nakita ko roon ang mga tropa ko. Nakangiti ang tatlo habang wine-wave wave pa ang mga kamay. Agad naman akong lumapit sa kanila.

"Hey guys!" I greeted before sitting on the empty seat they saved for me. "Kanina pa kayo?" I asked.

Janelle nodded, "Yeah. We three arrived 30 minutes before the start of the orientation. Nagtaka nga ako kung bakit na-late ka," anito.

I just sighed before shaking my head. "Iyong bus na sinasakyan ko nagka-problema. Biglang tumigil sa gitna ng kalsada, tapos ayaw pa magpasakay 'nung ibang bus. Buti nga may rider na mabait at pinayagan akong umangkas sa motor nya." Sumbong ko na sabay nilang ikina-iling.

"Ang malas mo naman, day!" Lumi said. "Balita ko napatawag ka daw sa office ni Mrs. Gonzaga?"

My eyes widened. "Paano nyo nalaman?"

"Nakalimutan mo atang may pakpak ang balita. Kalat na sa buong campus, mare!" Singit naman ni Sophie.

Napabuntong-hininga na lang ako sa nalaman. "Totoo nga talaga yan. Ang bilis kumalat 'non, ah." I just said. "Pero pinagsabihan lang naman ako ni Mrs. Gonzaga, and also she told me that if this happens again, she will not let it easy for me kaya naman from now on gigising na ako ng sobrang aga." mahaba 'kong wika bago saglit na napahinto ng may maalala. "Oo nga pala? Bakit ang daming estudyante sa may Entrance 1? Nagkakagulo sila duon, samantalang bukas naman pala sa entrance 2."

Janelled cleared her throat to caught my attention. Napalingon tuloy kaming lahat sa kanya at naghintay sa sasabihin nya. Sa amin kasing apat, sya itong maraming source pagdating sa mga chismis.

"It was said kasi na duon daw palaging nag-i-stay ang campus crush at hottie ng campus na si Henry Jung."

"Henry Jung?!" We all said in unison.

Janelle nodded, "Yup. Henry Jung, a 3rd year Drama Major student. He's being well-known now since nagmo-modelo na sya sa iba't ibang famous collections." Anito.

Napaisip naman ako. "Henry Jung? Kung ganon, sya ang dahilan kung bakit nagkakagulo ang mga estudyante duon?"

"Yes. Because basically, they want to take a photo with him. Kaso minalas sila kasi sa Gate 2 naman pala talaga dumaan si Henry," wika nito na ikina-laking lalo ng mata ko.

"Wait, sa gate 2 sya dumaan?"

"Oo."

"Eh diba sa gate 2 rin ako dumaan?"

Dahil sa winika 'kong iyon ay napatingin ang tatlo sa akin ng seryoso. Tila ba ngayon lang din nila na-proseso na sa Gate 2 nga ako dumaan.

"Oo nga. Sa Gate 2 ka dumaan! OMG! Don't tell me nakita mo na agad sya?!" Tanong ni Janelle.

"How would I know? I don't even know his fa---wait, Henry Jung diba? Jung? A korean surname! Ibig sabihin may lahi siyang korean, at ofcourse singkit sya?"

"Basically you're right."

Bumalik sa ala-ala ko ang lalaki kanina. 'Yung naka-bungguan ko. He really looked handsome to me the reason why I cannot let my eyes off of him. The fact that that man has a korean looking eyes and we met at the Gate 2, there's a possibility that...

"Why don't you show that Henry Jung's picture to Maurine, Janelle? Nang magka-alaman." Singit namang bigla ni Lumi.

Janelle immediately obliged and scanned her phone for photos, and when she found one, she showed it to me. And as when my eyes caught that man's eyes, I already know it.

The man I accidentally met earlier is that same man Janelle was blabbing about...

So his name is Henry Jung.

I smiled.

Henry Jung...

And that's our first encounter, the encounter that made me fell for him first.