Chapter Text
Minghao as Maru Xu
Junhui as Joaquin Wen
Hindi mapakali si Maru dahil 6pm na at 'di pa siya nakakauwi sa anak niya. Maraming customers since it's weekends kaya wala siyang magawa kundi malate na naman ng uwi. For sure, Mako will be upset but he knows how to soothe his son with just Jollibee spaghetti and everything will be fine.
“Bossing, uwi ka na kaya? Baka naghihintay si boss baby sa bahay niyo."— sabi ni Hoshi, his barista.
Napatawa siya, “ Ano ka ba! Mako is fine there and he knows that i'll be late."— sagot niya.
“Sure ka kuys?"— singit naman ni Dino, his cashier.
“Yes. Don't worry about him may kasama naman 'yon, anong ginagawa ng mga tito niya."
Tumango na lang ang dalawa at bumalik sa kani-kanilang pwesto.
Napahinga ng malalim si Maru.
Ayaw man niyang iwan si Mako sa mga tito nito hindi dahil wala siyang tiwala kundi, he feels guilty whenever he'll go home na tulog na ang anak niya and their so called, Maru and Mako time won't be done because he's overtime in his café bagay na naiintindihan ni Mako dahil hindi siya nagkukulang magpaliwanag dito. As a parent, kahit naiintindihan ng anak niya, may guilt pa rin but, what can he do? He needs to do overtime sometimes to provide for him and his son.
Minsan nga ay niloloko siya ng mga kaibigan na maghanap na ng partner in life para may katulong sa pagpapalaki kay Mako and he just roll his eyes and rebut, “Im a strong independent man, I don't need someone to take care of us.” and from there, titigil ang mga kaibigan nito at ibang chismis naman ang ilalatag.
"Tito Hannie, tagal pa po si Papa? Miss ko na si papa."— may bahid na ng lungkot ang boses nito sabay nguso.
Hannie, is not your strongest soldier kaya kinurot niya ang magkabilang pisngi ng bata sabay sabing, “ So so cute talaga! Should we call him?”
Umiling ang bata at nagpatuloy sa pagkain. Huminga na lang ng malalim si Hannie at nagtipa sa cellphone niya.
Hannie: Te, yung anak mo rito miss ka na daw. Pauwi ka na ba?
Maru: Oh my baby :( pauwi na 'ko, im double checking the locks lang.
Hannie: sabi sayo ibigay mo na ‘yan kay Dino or Hoshi. Paalala lang na may anak ka na hindi na katulad dati na kahit anong oras pwede ka uwuwi. Anw, ingat.
Maru: I know. Kaya nga dadaan ako ng jollibee, e. Thank you Hannie! Bawi ako😚
“Where's papa na po?”
“Pauwi na, dadaan lang raw ng jollibee.”
Nagliwanag ang nga mata nito at ngumiti na habang nanonood.
—
Nagmamadali si Maru papasok ng jollibee dahil uwing uwi na rin siya at miss na miss na rin ang anak at ang higaan niya.
As of now, nausad naman ang pila pero panay silip niya sa relo hoping na maabutan na gising ang anak.
Napahinga siya ng malalim, he will commute pa man din dahil coding siya ngayon.
"Fucking hassle."— bulong niya.
Nasa counter na siya at nasabi na rin ang order kaya umupo muna siya sa vacant seat.
He kept tapping his fingers on the table, gustong gusto na niya umuwi. Gusto na niya umiyak or kaya magkaroon ng powers to teleport para in a snap of a finger, ay nandoon na siya sa bahay nila. Pero dahil normal siyang tao, wala siyang magawa kundi maghintay.
Patience is virtue nga raw sabi ni Lao Tsu.
“Excuse me, can I sit here?"
Sounds familiar.
Nag angat siya ng tingin and there, he saw the face na matagal na niyang hindi nakikita. Napatulala pa siya bago sumagot, “Y- yeah, sure."— tumikhim siya at kinapa ang cellphone sa bulsa.
Why now?
Di mo ba 'ko favorite, lord?
"It's been awhile Ru—
“Maru."— pagtatama niya
The guy in front of him chuckled
"Sassy as ever."
Maru rolled his eyes at tumayo na dahil tinawag na ang number niya.
He didn't bother to look at the man who shared a seat with him instead, diretcho siyang lumabas na parang hindi narinig ang pagtawag ng isa. Saktong may taxi sa harap kaya mabilis siyang sumakay.
Huminga siya ng malalim.
"Pinwheel village po."— sabi ni Maru at hindi na lumingon pa.
—
"Anong mukha yan, beh?"— bungad ni Hannie kay Maru.
"‘wag ka na mangasar. Im overwhemlmed na."— sagot ni Maru
“okay...”
“ Is Mako still awake?”
"Yep, nasa kwarto niyo na.”
"Thank you, Hannie.”— sabi nito sabay yakap
Nagulat si Hannie sa higpit ng yakap ni Maru sa kaniya.
“Uh, are you...okay?”
Mas lalong humigpit ang yakap ni Maru sa kaniya at isiniksik pa ang mukha nito sa leeg niya.
“five minutes hug, please? I'm so tired.”— bakas sa boses nito ang pagot at parang maiiyak na.
“Oh, my big baby.”— sagot ni Hannie at hinigpitan rin ang yakap niya.
Makalipas nga ang limang minuto bumitaw rin si Maru sa yakap at huminga ng malalim. And Hannie being the best friend of all universe, he waits.
“Something happened?”— he carefully asked.
Tumango lang si Maru looking anywhere but Hannie para kasi itong mind reader, kaya gusto mag play safe muna.
“ Do you want to talk about it? Wala pa naman si Cheol to pi—
“I saw Quin kanina.”— sagot niya.
Natigilan si Hannie.
It's been awhile since the last time he heard that name.
“He... Talk to you?”
“Hm. I ignored him."
He gave his best friend a tight smile and rub his both shoulders to sooth him because thats the least he can do.
“It's valid, Maru. You have every right to ignore everyone, okay?”
Tumango lang si Maru at ngumiti and that's when they heard a beep outside. Si Cheol.
Sinamahan na ni Maru si Hannie hanggang gate to say goodbye.
“Good evening Cheol, sorry sa abala ulit.”
"You're not abala Maru, and it's Mako so, of course liliparin talaga namin siya to baby sit him, yeah?”
Maru is so thankful that these kind of people surround him and his son. He's so lucky.
"Okay, i won't keep you long. Bye and good night!”
“Goodnight too! Say hi me to Mako.”— sabi ni Cheol at pinagbuksan ng pinto si Hannie.
Pagpasok niya sa loob, he saw Mako na nakaupo sa hagdan while waiting for him. He smiled.
Ito na ang buhay niya ngayon. Café owner, not so loaded wallet, and a cute son. What a great life.
Ngumuso naman si Mako na kanina pa nakatingin sa jollibee paper bag na nakalapag sa mesa sa sala.
"Sorry i'm late, Mako.”— he said sabay lapit dito at yumakap.
Mako giggled.
“ I understand po, Papa.”
This is what he thanked every day. Universe gave him a son na naiintindihan ang lahat.
“ Thank you, Mako ko. Look, I brought you jollibee.”
Ngumiti ng pagkalaki si Mako, iyong makikita mo lahat ng mga ngipin.
“Thank you, po!”— sagot ng bata.
—
“Welcome back, pre!”— DK
Ngumiti naman si Joaquin at naupo sa sofa. They booked a private restaurant for a dinner at dahil na rin umuwi si Joaquin.
“Ba't parang you're not happy to see us?”— biro ni Won.
“May nakitang multo kasi 'yan.”— sagot ni Gyu sabay tawa.
Nakatanggap naman siya ng suntok kay Joaquin. Nagkatinginan ang lahat.
“Ah, multo...”— Vernon.
“Tigilan nyo, ah. Pag uuntugin ko kayo lahat”— sagot ni Joaquin.
“I wonder kung anong reaksyon ni Quin when he saw him.”
“Same old.”— mabilis na sagot ni Joaquin sabay ngiti na parang wala sa sarili.
“Wala to guys.”— sabi ni Cheol sabay tawa.
“Sino ba naman kasi makakausad kung ‘di pa nagsisimula natapos agad HAHAHHAHA!”— Sabi ni Gyu.
“Will you stop? Not funny.”— and that's their cue to drop the topic.
They know Joaquin. They know when and when not to push his button.
The latter shouldn't be an option.
“I'm kinda curious though, how's he from the past years?”
“Ikaw na to, Cheol.”— sabi ni Won
“What? Why me?”
“Kayo lang naman ni Hannie nakaka lapit, do'n?”— sagot ni Vernon
“So, How's he Cheol?”
Natagalan si Cheol sa pagsagot.
“I think he's doing fine.”
Hindi alam ni Cheol kung dapat pa ba niyang dugtungan ang sagot niya kasi wala siya sa posisyon para magsalita.
“does he have a partner?”
“ 'di malabo 'yan tol, lingunin pa naman yon.”— sagot ni Gyu
“Excuse me?"— sagot ni Joaquin na nakasalubong ang kilay
“Great wall of Wen, yeah?"
“Tangina wala nang matinong sagot na nakuha sa inyo!”— sagot nito at nagtawanan ang lahat
“Pero pre, in all seriousness, see it for yourself. We're not in the right places to tell you.”— seryosong sagot ni Cheol
“Pinakaba mo naman.”—sagot ni DK
“That's the only answer I can give! A lot happen syempre, ilang taon na ba ang nakakalipas?”
7 years…
Tumango tango naman sila.
Hindi naiwasan ni Joaquin mapangiti. Sa ilang taon niyang nawala halatang walang pagbabago ang isa, masungit pa rin at mukhang laging iritable. Hay, Maru...
"Wala 'to guys.”— biro ni DK at lahat sila napabaling kay Joaquin.
“Mas malala ka pre.”
“Fair point.”
And Joaquin goes back to the old life he treasured the most. Where they only worry is how would they survive the semester and how would he sway his sassy boy; Maru. Na medyo mataray at pilosopo kausap lalo kapag masama ang timpla ng mood nito. He can endure that, what he didn't understand ay ang pag laho nito sa buhay niya even his friends tikom ang bibig whenever he asked where is the boy and so he stopped not loving him. He stopped asking him and set aside his ‘why’. And here he is, it’s been seven years but he still loves the sassy guy from the psych department.
Now that he saw Maru with a child he can’t help but wonder if things work out, malamang siya ang isa pang magulang nito. But, how Maru ended up with a child? Is he lonely? Or does he want it to be a parent?Shot mo na
“Joaquin.”— sabi ni Cheol.
“Ino-overthink niya interaction nila ni Maru.”— banat ni DK.
“Does being a father suit me?”— wala sa wisyo nitong tanong
“Ang lala mo! Hahahaha!”— sagot ni Mingyu sabay bato ng tissue sa kaniya.
“I’m serious!”
“Maybe…?”— sagot ni Vernon.