AGS 5: Kiss of the Red Lotus

Chapter 3: Past Deal

This chapter is dedicated to Ate coffeexated. Happy, happy birthday, mhie! Sana happy ka ngayong birthday mo ^___^ 

♥♥♥

Calvin, Melanie, and I had a "colorful" childhood.

When we were kids, Melanie used to be with us because Calvin was with us. Calvin was with us because Cai-lin was with Kuya Jian. I must be with Ahia Jian because no one else would look after me aside from him. And we have never been and will never be friends since then.

Calvin was that sweet boy who would give us flowers—para kay Melanie at para sa akin. Not that he wanted to, but it was a must. Like why Ahia used to give Cai and Melanie hairpins every time we had a gathering.

I was five when I first met Calvin. Hindi siya eye-catching for me to root for someday. Mukha kasi siyang mahina, and I was looking for someone like Ahia na protector. But Calvin was so protective of Melanie, while Mel saw him more as a sidekick than a knight in shining armor.

He would tell us about the family's plan na someday, magpapakasal sila ni Melanie and they would dominate the mining industry. Yet Melanie wanted to dominate the fucking world—literally—like how she explained the scenes from an alien movie or something.

I do wushu. At the age of five, I could stand for half a day with one foot above the palm-sized width of the wood. Literal na pinagpawisan ko ang bawat training. I knew how to hold a broadsword at the same age. I used to sleep with my mind awake for a sudden attack.

I really thought that that was normal—yung ite-train ka for martial arts kasi hindi lang ako ang mag-isa. Marami kami. It wasn't our life. It was only a part of it kasi marami ring academic tasks.

Doon ko nakilala si Melanie, who always wanted to have what everyone has. Basta lagi niyang tsina-challenge lahat, and she always wanted to be the best among the rest . . . and I never gave a shit about it.

Hindi naman kami magkakagalit lahat noon until Melanie wanted to challenge me sa halos lahat ng ginagawa ko na ginagawa ko naman na before her.

It annoyed me a lot. I mean, not that I wanted to do those things for myself, but I was forced to learn everything all at once, tapos siya na never pinilit, gusto niyang hamunin ako. It was offending for me because she had the life I've always wanted, the freedom I've always longed for—and there she was, treating my life as if I was born to be the second best with everything I didn't want to do.

If she wants war, I will give her war.

I was recalling that day when my anger was too much to hold. Hindi kasi ako kasing-chaotic niya dahil para siyang unggoy na hindi mapakali sa iisang lugar.

We were seven years old, roaming around the rose garden of a grand hotel in Ilocos when Melanie was proudly bragging about the news to us.

Ikakasal nga raw someday si Ahia kay Cai. Ahia was eleven years old, and Cai was seven. Then Calvin would marry Melanie someday, as per their parents' agreement.

It was more of a business agreement than a romantic shiz. Prominent family ang mga Phoa, and they ruled the Filipino cuisine since the 1700s from mainland China mula pa sa panahon ng bartering period during the Spanish era. You can't just shrug off the truth na bago pa mag-exist ang napakaraming sikat na restaurant sa buong bansa ngayong 2000s, established na sila three centuries ago.Then there was this monkey named Melanie who wanted to dominate the world.

She was walking alongside Calvin. I still remember her lines like a favorite song in my head, "Ikakasal kami ni Calvin, tapos pupunta kaming Texas. Manghuhuli kami ng mga UFO."