Chapter Text
Whenever the group gets its day off, Maloi usually decides between three things: the first one is to go thrifting around the city and then hang with the people at Cubao Expo; second is to meet up with her other friends and finally bring to life the pre-arranged dates from a long time ago; third and last, is to come over at Colet’s place.
Now Maloi might be a social butterfly, but she acknowledges the essence of having days of peace and quiet, which are achievable through staying at home. Today just happened to be one of those days, and Colet’s condo just happened to be more of a home than hers.
Look, Colet’s condo had a minimalist interior, colored with green by the houseplants she had, and a neatly organized shelf filled with books from various genres that are able to cater to Maloi's taste. The room literally screams ‘healing’. Maloi can’t be blamed.
Well maybe another reason why Maloi chose the third option today is that she misses Colet.
Sure, they see each other daily, but with the consecutive rehearsals for their upcoming concert, plus the multiple advertisement projects that they managed to sneak in, they barely had time to slow down and chill together.
As if their job as BINI wasn’t time-consuming enough, Maloi found out that Colet landed herself an acting gig, with none other than her all-time celebrity crush: Chienna Filomeno. After their group schedule, Colet would excuse herself early in order to attend meetings for the movie she was casted in. It really left no time for them to hang out as much as Maloi would like.
The reward for a grueling week of practice and shoots for the girl group was a well-deserved two-day break, and Maloi thought, what's a better way to spend her day-off than doing the one thing she’s been itching to do the whole week?
It looked like Colet didn’t mind either; she probably even expected Maloi to show up at her doorstep, judging from the way she had prepared another plate to join her for breakfast.
And now Maloi is finally in her element: snug on a green beanbag, with a book in her hand, immersing herself in fiction in an attempt to quiet her mind and chill.
Ideally, it was to chill with Colet, but Colet seemed to be anything but chill at the moment.
Maloi watched the girl in front of her nip on her upper lip and pace through the length of her own living room. She already finished two chapters of the pocketbook she borrowed, and yet Colet is still in the same state as she was the moment she came back from answering a phone call. The movement was starting to get distracting so Maloi finally decided to speak.
“Okay,” she said as she placed the book down, “ayos ka lang ba Colet?”
Colet breathed before shaking her head quickly. “Ayos lang.”
“Ayos lang pero kanina ka pa hindi mapakali diyan?”
“It’s nothing,” Colet rubbed her hands together.
Normally, Maloi would let her off with that, because she knows better than to cross boundaries. If Colet doesn’t want to talk about it, it’s fine - she knows how to respect that.
However, Colet has always been great at concealing her feelings. Sure, she wouldn’t think twice about speaking what’s on her mind when she thinks something is wrong or something could be done better, but her attitude towards her own emotions is different. Colet would go through lengths trying to hide her personal feelings on a matter if it meant preserving the good mood of the other members, because the last thing she wants to do is drag the group down with her own worries.
So the fact that Colet is right there, in front of her, blatantly displaying the nervous wreck she currently is, tells her that Colet might need someone to talk to about her problem, and is just too shy to tell her straightforwardly.
“Colet,” she called, moving a bit to make space for Colet, “upo ka muna dito.”
The older girl hesitated at first, but complied nonetheless. She stared straight in front of her, not bothering to look at Maloi, while waiting for her to talk.
Maloi studied her face for a second, before taking a deep breath. “Alam kong hindi ka mapapakali hangga’t ‘di mo sinasabi ‘yan. Sige na, ilabas mo na. I have time to listen.”
“Huh?” Colet furrowed her brows, confusion and amazement obvious on her face, “Paano mo nasabing may sasabihin ako?”
To which Maloi only responded with a raise of the brow, as if to say duh, ako na ‘to.
Colet sighed, bracing herself to talk. “So, alam mo naman ‘yung movie na na-cast ako ‘di ba?”
“Yung kasama si Ms. Chie?”
Maloi’s left eye twitched the moment she noticed Colet blush lightly. “Yeah, ‘yan nga. About kasi doon ‘yung call.”
“And?”
“Tumawag sila para i-inform ako about sa schedule ng script rehearsal, shooting, lahat na. Tapos na-kuwento na rin sa akin kung ano ‘yung magiging role ko.”
“Ano raw?”
“Eh doon daw kasi sa movie, may part si Ms. Chie na parang pagseselosin niya ‘yung girlfriend niya. So ang ginawa niya, lumapit siya doon sa kilalang playgirl para magpatulong,” Colet looked down to her fingers as she whispered the last part, “which is ako doon sa movie.”
Okay, so they weren’t just starring together, they were going to act together in a scene in the movie, probably all lovey dovey, and Maloi is supposed to watch it to show her support for Colet. It would have been stupid easy if it weren’t for some green monster gnawing on her insides.
“Oh? Anong problema? Hindi ba dapat masaya ka kasi maglalandian kayo? Like hello, crush mo na ‘yan?” Maloi didn’t mean for it to sound as bitter as it did.
Luckily for her, Colet was way too absorbed in her own predicament to even register the bitterness in her tone. “Oo nga, pero kasi…”
Maloi tried to wait for her to pick up where she trailed off, but it was taking too long. “Ano?”
Colet mumbled something that was too hushed for her to hear.
“Ano? Hindi kita marinig.”
“May kissing scene kasi.”
The first thing Maloi felt was disbelief. How the hell did Star Magic agree to that arrangement? Nevermind Colet’s reputation as an idol, they’re talking about making two famous women kiss in Philippine cinema! Maloi didn’t know whether she should be happy that there’s finally some progress for sapphic representation in media, or pissed that the pioneers to that are Colet and Chienna (not really, but Maloi is too pissed to get her facts straight).
But she kept herself in check, and tried to mask her jealousy to the best of her ability. She reminded herself that she’s talking to Colet right now to console her and calm her down. Though it seems Maloi is the one in need of calming now.
“Oh ano naman?”
“Anong ‘ano naman’? Maloi, si Ms. Chie na ‘yun,” Colet whined as she brought her hands up to cover her face.
Maloi rolled her eyes. “Trabaho lang, Colet. Bakit, natatakot kang masyado kang kikiligin tapos ma-inlove kang tuluyan? Paalala lang, may boyfriend si Ms. Chie sa totoong buhay.”
“Hindi naman kasi ‘yun ang problema,” her voice was muffled since she was still hiding her face in her hands.
“Eh ano?”
“Hindi kasi ako marunong.”
“Ha?”
Colet brought her hands down, and shot her gaze flat on the floor to avoid eye contact. “Hindi ako marunong humalik.”
There was a slight pause in the air, and Colet’s ears rang in anticipation for whatever response she could get from Maloi. In a few seconds, she got a loud burst of chuckles, followed by the sound of repeated slapping of the hand against the knee.
Whatever irritation, annoyance, and jealousy it was bubbling inside Maloi’s guts earlier, it was replaced with laughter and adoration in an instant. She couldn’t believe that the problem that had Colet breaking down earlier was her love inexperience! That’s so cute.
“Tawang tawa ka naman!”
“Ganoon ba kasi ‘yon ka-seryoso sa’yo?” Maloi wiped the tears of joy in the side of her eyes. “Parang hahalik lang eh!”
Colet kicked her feet in irritation. “Nakakahiya kaya! Nakakahiya kay Ms. Chie!”
“Eh ano ba, kiss lang naman ‘yan! Gusto mo ba turuan pa kita diyan kung paano?” Maloi jested, still giggling at Colet’s awkwardness over the whole situation.
“Puwede ba?”
What?
It was a joke. Surely, Maloi had said that in a joking manner, meant in a joking way. So why does Colet’s face look so serious right now?
“Anong puwede ba?”
“Puwede mo ba akong turuan Loi, please?”
Maloi reeled back in utter shock, and she took the moment to study Colet’s face. She had a full blush, visibly abashed by her own request, as she fiddled with the hem of her shirt. There were traces of embarrassment in her face, but also, she didn’t look like she was playing around.
Of course, Maloi had to be skeptical about it. She looked around at the surroundings, checking for a camera. Is this a prank? Maybe some of the other girls were in on this too? It doesn’t really feel like it, though she wouldn’t put it behind them to do such a thing.
Once she's sure that it wasn't a prank, she started to think about the proposition seriously. It really was just a jokey joke to Maloi, when she said those words. She didn't even mean anything by it. It was so surprising that Colet took up her playful offer immediately, as if she was waiting for her to do that. Was she?
Besides, was there really a need for her to learn how to kiss? It was just for show, a peck would probably be enough. The camera and editing should do all the work for them.
Maloi laughed inwardly when she realized that Colet probably hadn't even though of that. She was probably too overwhelmed by the thought of having a kissing scene with Chienna.
But, was she really going to pass up on the chance to kiss Colet?
Colet looked away, and Maloi noticed that even the tip of her ears were red. “Okay lang naman kung hindi, I mean nasa sa’yo naman kung-”
“Sige.”
“Huh?”
“Sige,” Maloi repeated as she let out a deep breath. “I’ll show you how. Para hindi ka mapahiya sa crush mo.”
Jeez, what the fuck happened to taking the day off to slow down? And what happened to not crossing boundaries?
Colet wasn’t lying about not knowing how to, not that it matters to her though.
There they were, still seated on the green bean bag that is now probably deflated to half its original size due to their combined weight. Colet had her eyes closed as Maloi worked her magic, nipping and biting on the other’s lips. It tasted like mint and chapstick, strawberry chapstick, and Maloi couldn’t help but smile when she realized that Colet probably anticipated this happening, causing her to use lip balm despite being inside her own home.
The intoxication brought about by the taste, as well as the scent of Colet’s perfume, started to dizzy Maloi as she broke away from the kiss. She looked at Colet who was trying to catch her breath. “Okay na ba 'yan?”
“I, umm,” Colet breathed in, “I think I could use a little more practice.”
Maloi grinned before leaning in again.
What a day off.