CHAPTER 2 – Bug in My Heart
780 Words
FRANKS’ POV
“Bro, stop staring,” bulong ni Matt habang nakatambay kami sa lab. “She’s gonna think you’re debugging her face.”
“Huh? Hindi ako nakatingin!” mabilis kong depensa habang mabilis din akong nag-alt+tab na parang caught in 4K.
“Sure ka? Eh kanina pa naka-freeze cursor mo sa screen,” ngisi niya.
“Focus lang ako, okay?”
Focus sa kanya, I mean.
Siya na naman—yung girl in the black hoodie. Tahimik pa rin, nakayuko, tapos parang laging may sariling mundo.
No friends, no small talk, no effort. Pero ang weird — kahit gano’n siya ka-cold, people still notice her.
Parang may magnet. A dangerous, beautiful magnet.
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Nagulat ako nang lumapit si prof. “Okay, class, pair coding tayo today. Random pairing.”
“Oh no,” bulong ni Matt. “Please not me with the weirdo.”
“Please not me with the loud one,” sabi ko sabay.
The professor started calling names.
“Manuel… and Dominguez.”
Wait.
“Sir, pwede pong reassign—”
“Walang palitan,” sagot agad ni prof. “Magkasama kayong dalawa.”
Napalingon ako sa kanya.
Rosalia Aleiagh Dominguez.
She didn’t even look surprised. Tumayo lang siya, dahan-dahang lumapit, tapos tumingin saglit sa screen ko.
“Your laptop’s firewall is weak,” malamig niyang sabi.
“Aba, excuse me—”
“Also,” dagdag niya habang nagta-type ng mabilis sa keyboard ko, “you left a loophole sa login script mo. Pang-elementary ‘to.”
Napatulala ako. “Wait, what are you—how did you—”
“Fixed it,” sabi niya, sabay lean back na parang walang effort. “You’re welcome.”
“Hindi pa nga ako—”
Tinignan niya ako ng diretso sa mata. Sharp. Flat. “Talk less, type more.”
Okay. Confirmed. She’s scary.
And insanely attractive.
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Habang nagtatrabaho kami, napansin ko na mabilis siya mag-type. Parang piano player pero galit.
Tapos every time susubukan kong makipag small talk—
“So, gusto mo ba ng—”
“No.”
“Ah, hindi mo pa alam kung ano itatanong ko—”
“Still no.”
Bruh.
---
After class, nakasunod ako sa kanya palabas. Hindi dahil creepy ako, ha—pero curious lang talaga kung saan siya lagi nagpupunta after.
She stopped by a vending machine, bumili ng iced coffee, tapos biglang lumingon.
Caught.
“You’re following me.”
“N-no, hindi ah. I was just… walking.”
“Behind me. For six minutes.”
“Ah… coincidence?”
She raised a brow. “Coincidences don’t have timestamps.”
Bago pa ako makasagot, tumunog bigla phone ko. Nag-vibrate ng tuloy-tuloy.
Pagtingin ko—naka-open yung gallery ko… at may bagong picture. Ako.
Kanina lang.
“H-hey! You just—”
“Just proved my point,” she said. “You’re too easy to trace.”
Tapos umalis siya, iniwan akong nakatayo, hawak phone, habang iniisip kung gusto ko bang mairita o ma-in love.
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Kinagabihan, habang nagko-code ako sa dorm, napangiti ako mag-isa.
“Too easy to trace, huh?”
Binuksan ko laptop ko. Gumawa ako ng maliit na prank code—isang harmless pop-up na lalabas lang sa device ng partner ko sa project.
> “ERROR: Handsome overload detected. Please reboot your eyes.”
Sinend ko sa shared drive namin.
Let’s see kung matatawa siya kahit konti.
Five minutes later… may nag-pop up sa screen ko.
Hindi ‘yung code ko.
Reply niya.
> “ERROR FIXED: Eyes rebooted successfully. Still unimpressed.”
Napangiti ako.
So she knows how to joke… kahit malamig pa rin delivery.
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The next day, pagpasok ko sa lab, napansin ko agad — wala siyang hoodie. For the first time, kita yung mukha niya ng malinaw.
Simple lang. Walang makeup. Pero damn, parang di siya real.
Tumingin siya sandali sa akin, tapos biglang nagsalita:
“Franks.”
Nagulat ako. “Y-yeah?”
“Next time you prank me…”
Huminto siya saglit, lumapit ng kaunti.
“…make it harder to trace.”
Ngumiti siya ng konti — barely noticeable, pero sapat para maglag ng buong system ko.
Heart: error 404.
Brain: system crash.
Ako: “...uh, noted?”
She walked away, calm as always, leaving me with that one smirk replaying on loop in my head.
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That night, I opened my laptop again. May bagong file sa folder namin.
Filename: “Untitled_HeartBug.exe”
I opened it.
Lumabas ang text:
> Sometimes, the best firewalls are the ones you let break.
And below it—
a blinking cursor.
Message box: “Would you like to continue? [YES] [NO]”
Napangiti ako.
“YES.”
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- Writer
