Outrun The World

Chapter 13

"Ma! Ma!" Rica called as she and He Tian ran towards her parents house. "Ma!"

"Ah, too noisy and it's this early in the morning too! Like father, like daughter!" Daniella complained in Visayan language as she was having coffee on the veranda. She glanced at He Tian's pale face and immediately understood that the guy had been looking around, in the storm, for Mo Guan Shan.

"Shan ran away and He Tian asked me for help! Come on, let's tell the whole barangay and search for him! What if he, OMG Ma, what if he wandered off to the river!" Rica shouted as she held her mother's hand to mano before squeezing it while she imploringly stared at her nonchalant mother. He Tian also held his hand out front so she gave her right hand and he bent low to press the back of her hand on his forehead.

His fingertips were wrinkled by being drenched in water for some time, and fingertips were so cold that she actually felt bad for the child. She weeped inwardly, while trying to maintain her poker face.

"So, what happened, He Tian?" Daniella asked the quiet guy. Without Mo Guan Shan around, they actually talk in their local language because He Tian could understand it and could speak a little too. "Why would he run away like that?"

"Ma!"

"I honestly don't know, Auntie Dang. We were talking just fine. . . I don't know," He Tian answered, eyes vacantly staring at her but not seeing anything. His mind frantically searched places where Mo Guan Shan might have been. He looked to be on the verge of breaking down and he's dripping wet, shivering with the cold. "Please, help me."

Daniella sighed and stood up before reaching out to the hanging towel by the corner of the veranda and offered it to He Tian.

"There, wrap yourself in that and go straight home. Shan's asleep in Rica's old room and he's been through a lot, so let him rest. And you rest too. You settle things once you've properly calmed down."

"He. . . He's here?!" He Tian asked, almost choking. As he wiped his face with it, they noticed a red bump in the middle of his forehead but mother and daughter decided to not comment on it.

That was the first time they witnessed the mighty He Tian break and Rica wanted to laugh out loud right in front of his face just to spite him. Who knew that this day in their lives would come?

Daniella closed her eyes and nodded, as if they're giving her a hell of a headache.

"Now go, and fetch him later, whenever he's ready to go home."

"Ah, man. I was worried sick! Good thing he found his way here, Ma!" Rica said, voice still loud. She's still pumping with adrenaline due to alarm and excitement, being woken up by a panting He Tian who looked as if he was chased by a santelmo. The look on his face when he actually begged her for help, she could only roll on the floor laughing.

But of course she knew of Mo Guan Shan's suicidal tendencies, so she bolted right out. Although she wasn't dumb enough to forget bringing along an umbrella.

"No, your father found him along the way to the fields. He's way off the path but Kabang recognized him, I guess. So the dog whined until your father followed and found him asleep, hugging his knees."

"Oooh, Kabang," Rica said and looked around, eager to pet the heroic dog but all she found under the table were her puppies. "Where is she?"

"Went to the fields with your father."

"Can I see him? Please, just a peek will do. I just want to make sure," He Tian pleaded, lips almost blue but his eyes still determined.

"All right, take a peek. But don't wake him up or else I'll whip your ass outta here."

He Tian came up and went inside, still damp but suddenly energetic. He opened the door carefully and peeked inside, his gaze landing on Mo Guan Shan's exposed shoulder and towards his still-wet, reddish eyelids. He's been crying. He cried himself to sleep and it's all his fault.

And maybe not being aware of what he did wrong was far worse.

He wanted to kiss him and embrace him, wake him up to tell him he's sorry and that whatever he did, he won't ever do it again. But he could feel Daniella's impatience at the back of his neck so he sighed in resignation.

He had waited for Mo Guan Shan all his life. Of course, he could wait for a couple more hours, or days even.

"I'll be going now, Auntie Dang. Thank you for taking care of Guan Shan. . .and please take good care of him while he's here."

"Of course, of course. You can count on it," Daniella answered with a genuine smile that she's been withholding for a while just to show He Tian that she can be stern when it matters.

Rica left with He Tian and she watched the two figures get smaller as they retreated further.

This arrangement reminds her of the first time she and Rico fought, just weeks after their marriage. She ran off to her mother's house to hide and lowkey punish her tactless husband for making fun of her flabby waist. Such a petty matter but sometimes, you just get hurt for simple reasons like that, especially when you're caught off-guard. Rico was distraught and so, he camped right outside their house because her father refused to let him in. Oh, the sad look on her husband's face as he longingly stared up at her closed window while she would peek at him from inside through a tiny hole she bore on the wall.

Couples fight once in a while and for her, it's what gives a relationship some spice. Might even make their love-making exciting because make-up sex will never be out of style.

She smiled, thinking about He Tian's devastated face. Who knew that the grandson of the wealthiest Chinese businessman in this part of the Philippines, the headache of the family, would be flustered enough to beg them for help?

And who knew that a boy could manage to strip him bare of his carefree façade, after being such a sleek playboy while growing up?

She sipped her coffee and grimaced. Too cold.

* * *

Notes:

Santelmo - Filipino folklore version of will o' wisp but scarier because they say if you encounter it and you run, it chases you.

Mano (po) - in Filipino English they say "Bless" and usually Bisaya people use the English term because we have way more English in our vocabulary. Sadly. Personally, I hate the fact that most of us die without knowing the real Visayan term for a lot of things. Like ice.

Anyway, as you may have noticed, mano means hand in Spanish. We have a lot of Spanish words too. So "mano po" may be translated to "Your hand please," and so that hand blesses the receiver. I'm was a rude child so I don't do it. Haha.

Ahh, I just love our language so much.

Anyway, I hope y'all have read the 19 Days update. Haha.