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"Anong sagot mo sa thirty-five?" tanong ni Donghyuck pagkalabas na pagkalabas niya ng classroom, sabay salampak sa sahig. He tries to lower his voice in a hushed whisper kasi there are still some of his blockmates inside.
Ah, prelims season. The smell of cramming ("May tiwala ako sa 11:59PM at cramming skills ko!" "Stop making excuses for your katamaran!"), coffee ("Tama na pagtutungga diyan, huy, alas diyes pa lang—"), and complaints ("Alam mo ba kung anong oras niya sinend part niya kagabi? Fucking ten PM! Tapos copy paste pa! I would know, kasi nakita ko rin yung page na 'yun. Why the hell would you not cite something tapos copy paste pa?! Mare, sana nag-effort man lang siya na academic journal yung source!"). It's the one time where students unite in solidarity, sukong-suko na sabay sabing: "Kaya 'to, no choice tayo. Pinili ko kursong ito kaya ako rin naman may kasalanan."
Ngayon, katatapos lang ng written exam nila for their major for this sem (their college makes them take all the gen ed courses muna for their freshie and sophomore year, kaya tig-iisa lang lagi yung majors. Is this a blessing in disguise?). It wasn't really bad, pero kasi medyo confusing yung questions kaya nakakangarag. Their prof was good . Mautak, magaling magturo, not to mention pogi… Ay.
"Anong question 'yun?" Renjun replies back with a question from where he was sitting on the floor arranging his things. "Yung sa modified true or false 'yan, right?"
Jaemin next to him makes a pained noise. "Kailan ba tayo makakawala sa pasakit na modified true or false?" he asks no one in particular, leaning against the wall with his eyes shut. "Ah basta, tapos ko na yung exam. Ayoko na mag-isip."
Saktong-sakto na kakalabas lang ng room ng isa pa nilang tropa na si Shotaro who looks like all color's been drained from his face. "Puro false naman sa modified, 'no?" sabi niya, sabay upo sa tabi ni Donghyuck.
Naramdaman ni Donghyuck ang pagguho ng mundo niya. "Anong puro false…" he repeats slowly, "gago, may mga true ako d'on." He slaps his hands over his face. "Lord, pakikuha ako. Ayoko na po mag-aral."
"Alam niyo kailangan natin, masarap na lunch," Renjun says brightly, zipping his small backpack and putting it on his lap. Jaemin nods. "Tiger Winx, please. Kailangan ko ng creamy chilli cheese para makalimot."
The boys sit in silence as they moan the stress away. Donghyuck busies himself with his phone, scrolling through his Twitter feed, as Shotaro rests his head on his shoulder. Si Jeno at Yangyang na lang naman hinihintay nila. The two were usually the last to finish palagi sa friend group nila. Gan'on ba kapag matalino? Huwag naman na sanang ipamukha na ginagalingan nila.
After a few minutes their proctor exits the room, papers in hand. Some of their blockmates echo their goodbyes before leaving as well, while some go back in the room to meet with friends. Yangyang and Jeno shortly file out of the room in silence.
"Tanginang modified true or false 'yan," Yangyang says with finality, the rest of his friends nodding solemnly in agreement.
Ah, we love the smell of stress and academic panic in this household. Salamat na lang talaga sa lahat.
They discuss lunch plans, chatting away at how they're going to order the group meals in an attempt to console themselves from the stressful exam. Donghyuck chimes in with suggestions, bits of pandedemonyo na mag-Mango Top sila after, kasi deserve naman nila. No one argues, because they really do.
Nang palakad na sila pababa, tumigil ito when his phone buzzes with a text from the secretary ng home org nila. Donghyuck happens to be one of his EAs or Executive Associates.
Kuya Jungwoo 11:16AM
hi hyuck! available ka ba now? ipapasuyo ko sana sayo yung papers kay jaehyun. dejun's still on his way eh, and i have an exam in 10 mins. nasa lobby ako :D
Napabuntong hininga ito. Wala namang kaso sa kanya magsuyo (that's what he's here for, really…) pero kasi. Crush niya yung Vice President for Internal Affairs nila.
Unang rule ng kahit sinong mag-oorg: bawal ma-fall sa orgmate. Eh kaso naman, Jung Jaehyun's everything Donghyuck wants: matalino, may magandang work ethic, matangkad, pogi. Not to mention he's really friendly too, having been one of the people who welcomed Donghyuck when he was early for his interview noon. Wala naman daw kasi siyang ginagawa kaya nagkwentuhan muna silang dalawa habang hinihintay si Jungwoo na may inasikaso pa sa kabilang org.
Long story short, nalabag niya ang unspoken rule ng buhay orgerist. Inamin niya na isa talaga siyang anak ng mafia boss—ay gago, mali. Sorry, sorry. Anyway, his thumbs shakily type out an 'otw na ako kuys ^^' and swallows a gulp.
Hindi naman siya ganito sa mga dating crushes niya. Truth be told, medyo matapang nga siya eh! Like when he had a crush on Jeno's friend na nameet nila sa 4M one time. Mark Lee of CoS, basketball player. Mga tipo pa naman ni Donghyuck talaga. It went for a while until he received news na Mark was dating a fellow player sa ibang team. Disappointed siya pero nung nakita niya yung guy, tangina. Himlay. Wong Yukhei and Mark Lee looked good together.
"Ihahatid ko lang 'to kay Kuya Jae," sabi nito nang makababa na sila sa lobby. "Habol na lang ako, orderan niyo na rin ako."
His friends give him knowing glances, dahil alam nilang may gusto siya sa senior nila. "Haharot ka lang eh," Renjun teases, narrowing his eyes.
"Tangina mo."
"Ano, gusto mo bang may kasama?" Yangyang asks.
"Hintayin kita, gusto mo?" Shotaro offers. Tunay na mabait sa kanila talaga. Kung silang lima sa ilalim diretso, ihahabilin na niya kay Taro na ikaway na lang sila kay Lord. Instead he shakes his head and shoos them away.
"Alam kong gutom na kayo, mabilis lang naman 'to," he promises, spotting Jungwoo from where he was sitting outside the AB council room. "Sige na, baka wala nang maupuan!"
His friends nod wordlessly, making their way sa labasan. Donghyuck approaches his kuya with a warm smile, to which he gets in return.
"Thank you, Hyuckie!" sabi nito, standing up as he gets ready to leave. "Sorry sobrang clutch ah."
He hits his kuya's arm lightly. "Ano ka ba kuya, okay lang," sagot niya, all bright and cheerful. Jungwoo pats his head. "Inom after this week?" he jokes, pero Donghyuck knows full well it's 100% serious. He's been to their executive board's inuman sessions and his seniors were no joke. Buti na lang din medyo heavy drinker din siya. Hindi siya pinalaki ni mama na mahina, 'no! Jungwoo turns away to enter the room before Donghyuck gets to ask where Jaehyun is.
Pota. Wala pa naman siyang number nito, and his data just expired kanina. Magp-panic na sana siya pero naalala niyang medyo malakas signal ng school wifi sa ground floor kaya nagmadali siyang mag-login dito para magsend ng chat kay Jaehyun.
He pulls up their conversation which was… empty. They only communicated outside personal chats, and this would be a first time for him. He erases and undoes what he's typing for a few minutes before settling for a proper message.
Donghyuck Lee
hi, kuya jae! kuya jungwoo told me to give you the papers to be signed po
he has an exam po kasi and forgot to tell me which room you're in haha :((
nasa lobby po ako, puntahan ko na lang po kayo
As a joke, he types: kailan mo ko kukunin? xd into the text box to screenshot and send to his friends. He quickly does so to their group chat before returning to his conversation with Jaehyun. Eh bilang napakaclumsy, he accidentally sends the unsent, typed message.
Saktong na-seen na ni Jaehyun.
Putangina, pakilamon na po ako. Lord, baka naman. He longpresses on the message only to find na hindi pala 'yun Telegram (pambansang archive ng mga failed landians, charot!) na may unsend function. Facebook, ayos ayos naman kasi.
Donghyuck Lee
KUYA JOKE LANG YUN HAHA
umiral po yung kademonyohan ng aking kamay
Putangina, pwede bang manahimik ka. Stop talking. You're going to make things worse. Jaehyun starts typing a reply. Donghyuck wants to himlay then and there at the empty hallway.
Jaehyun Jung
Hi haha it's okay
Nasa second floor ako near the faculty.
Saving himself from the embarrassment, he just reacts a thumbs up sa message nito at nagsimula nang maglakad. Better if he just gets this overwith. Hay, pota. His friends are never gonna let him live this down. Eh what if Jaehyun tells this to Jungwoo? His kuya's gonna have blackmail material on him na talaga. Fuck. Sa sobrang stressed niya he didn't have time to widen his eyes at his typing style na super pogi. Down bad na talaga.
Wala na, what's done is done na. He arrives at the faculty room hallway and sees Jaehyun alone on his phone, who seems to be alerted of his presence. Ngumiti ito and beckons him to come.
Hiyang-hiya si Donghyuck. Iniisip niya kung mags-sorry ba siya o kakalimutan na lang. How does one even go about this? A deep breath and he comes near.
Ang pogi pogi, ang bango bango, lord god. His dimples are prominent as he smiles at Donghyuck who hands him the folder of papers. "Ako na lang mag-aabot kay Jungwoo nito," he says after reading over them, showbiz-level ngitian still plastered on his face. Panginoon ko, I am not your strongest soldier.
"Sige po," Donghyuck grins at him, a genuine one this time. "Una na ako kuya, good luck po sa exams kung meron pa!" Okay na. Medyo napipigilan na niya yung bunganga niya na dire-diretso. Jaehyun laughs at nods at him.
"Good luck din!" sabi nito, so he takes this as his cue to walk away. Nang bababa na siya, Jaehyun calls for him one more time. Lumingon siya, confused.
"Ano, kukunin kita?"
Buti na lang hindi bumigay legs niya kundi nalaglag na siya dun.