universidad de ramos follows the lives of eight students who are studying in this boarding school. after the disappearance of one of the residents in the house of hanan, a new student was (not) welcomed by the hanan residents.
based on the belgian-d...
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the hanan house.
nica stares at the house, amazed. she has never seen a 3-storey house that is bahay na bato. although the house is clearly old, it has been restored by the school over the past few years. the exterior consists of a wall made of stone on the first floor with two small curated windows at the side and a big wooden door with sculpted designs, making her confused if it's made of narra or other kinds of wood.
the exterior of the second and third floor are the same. a sliding window made from pieces of wood and a specific shell to cover the square parts of the window and white paint, covering the woodwall.
nica smiles, "it feels like i'm in intramuros!" she gleefully said to no one but was cut short by the door that although it only opened a bit, released a loud and long creak sound because of how heavy the door is. she sighs heavily and gets her bag, full of her clothes, from the ground to walk inside the house.
universidad de ramos.
"okay class, before we begin," the history teacher said as she enters the classroom. the students started to settle in their seats, "ligaya sison?" a girl from the further back of the classroom raises her hands warily, not sure why was she called by ms. padilla, their history teacher.
"mr. delos santos said he wants to talk to you. it's something about an urgent matter as i can sense in his worried tone. i'll excuse you to my class for the day." the girl, named ligaya, nods and packs her things up. her classmates quietly watched her leave the classroom and ms. padilla started her lesson.
patrisha, ligaya's best friend, looks at mara, "what do you think is that urgent matter?" she asked in the middle of ms. padilla's lecture.
mara looks at patrisha, "maybe about her parents?" she answered in a hushed tone, afraid that they will get caught but it's too late.
"mind sharing what you two are talking about?" ms. padilla said, making patrisha and mara quiet. "oh, you two were chatting earlier in my class. again, mind if you guys share what you two are talking about?"
ms. padilla continues her lecture when neither of them talked. patrisha looks at mara with a sorry face and continues to listen to their history teacher.
the hanan house.
"from where we are standing, this is called the foyer and when you enter this room, this is where the sala and the eating area are located. the other door leads to the kusina where the housemother, nena, usually is." victor, the caretaker of the house said as he tours nica around the house. she smiles and nods as victor continues to tour her inside the house.
when they reached the paintings in the sala, nica saw the two portraits, one man and one woman. "who are these?" she asks victor as she points out the paintings.
"the original owners of this house. mr. and mrs. lopez-araneta. unfortunately, they didn't live in this house for too long as they were met by an accident while doing their research in the northern part of luzon." victor answered.
"really?! my family's from the northern part of luzon too!" she exclaims but was met by victor's emotionless remark. her smile faded and was about to ask a question when nena, the housemother, pops in the sala from the kusina.
"oh, victor. enough with the history of this house! kids today don't want to hear those silly old stories!" victor shrugs after hearing nena's voice and walks out of the room but comes back after.
"is nica's bed ready, nena?" he asks.
nena nods, "i already fixed ligaya's things inside the box that you gave me and placed it right beside the door's room." she answered.
victor walks out the room again, leaving nena and nica to tour around the kusina as she offered her assistance in fixing nica's things in her room.
✧
nica settled her things on the unoccupied part of the bedroom she was told to stay in. the residents of this house are still in school and will later go home after their last class. on the floor, she noticed a photo of two girls wearing a halloween costume and as she picked it, someone pulled it from her.
"i believed this isn't yours, ms. santos." victor said, making her startle.
"but who's that?" she asked curiously.
"none of your business." victor replied as he walks out nica's room. she looks around it and noticed that her roommate's decor and things are all bright pink. "well, this is going to be fun i guess..."
