NEMESIS.

022 • sunrise

sunrise

Soonyoung is persistent. Jihoon is not ready.

Kanina pa sila nag-uuli sa mall, at ngayon naman ay katatapos lang ng movie na pinanood nila. Kasama si Seungcheol, yup. Hindi nga alam ni Jihoon kung ano ang significance ng pagsama ni Seungcheol ngayon kaya bakit kailangang nandito siya? But Jihoon knew Soonyoung was the reason why Seungcheol is here.

"Jihoonie!" Seungcheol casually put his hands around Jihoon, who became a blushing mess after that. "May bibilhin lang kami ni Soon, ha? Samahan mo muna si Chan."

Jihoon and Seungcheol are not close. Yes, they talk sometimes but mostly it's all about school. Kung hindi niyo naitatanong ay journalist kasi si Jihoon sa school nila (kasama si Soonyoung) at madalas na siya ang nagpapacheck ng diyaryo sa president ng school (which is Choi Seungcheol). Photographer siya kaya nang isang beses na kuhanan niya ng litrato si Seungcheol para sa front page ng kanilang diyaryo, he instantly fell in love with his smile. Seungcheol then became the subject to each of his shots.

Kaya naman ngayon ay nagtataka talaga siya kung bakit sobraaaang casual lang umakto ni Seungcheol sa kaniya. They're not friends to begin with, just strangers (with feelings, read: Jihoon) who became acquainted due to school purposes. It's not that Jihoon doesn't want to be friends with Seungcheol, heck he wants more than that. Medyo nagtataka lang talaga siya na bakit biglang close sila nang ganito kahit hindi naman sila ganoon nag-uusap dati? But he likes it, he would be lying if he says he doesn't. Maybe he should thank Soonyoung later.

Sa ngayon, ang kailangan lang niyang problemahin ay ang kapatid niya na kasalukuyan niyang kasama habang tumitingin ng video games sa Toy Kingdom.

"Ano sa tingin mo ang mas maganda, hyung?" nagulat siya nang bigla siya nitong kinausap. "Itong Seven Deadly Sins o Overwatch?"

Jihoon doesn't know what to answer, well mostly he doesn't know how to answer. Should he act casually? Pero baka mainis sa kaniya si Chan, kaya instead na magsalita, itinuro na lamang niya ang pinili niya which is Overwatch.

Hindi nga niya alam kung bibilhin ba iyon ni Chan kasi heck, ang mahal kaya noon. Ilang beses na niyang inasam na bilihin iyon pero wala naman siyang pambili.

"Overwatch?" hindi ito nakatingin sa kaniya at tinititigan lang ang Overwatch na naka-display sa harapan nila. "Yeah, I think that's better than SDS. I mean, I'm better at playing Overwatch than playing SDS so I'd choose that, too."

Jihoon just smiled to himself. Kahit papaano ay nababawasan ang kaba na nararamdaman niya dahil sa casualty sa pagitan nilang dalawa. Mukhang hindi rin naman gusto ni Chan na sirain ang magandang atmosphere sa pagitan nila, so he took that opportunity to talk to Chan about everything.

"Hey, Chan?" lumapit siya nang kaunti rito. "Mind if I ask you something?"

Hindi tumingin sa kaniya si Chan, pero sumagot ito. "If it's about our parents, then yeah. I won't mind."

"It is about our parents," Jihoon sighed. Gusto niyang mag-Korean pero baka hindi pa masyadong maka-cope up si Chan kaya kailangan niyang mag-English muna. "and you, of course. Why did you come back?"

It was now Chan's turn to sigh. "Mom wanted to come back. She wishes to check up on you."

Jihoon scoffed. Gusto siyang kamustahin ng nanay niya? That's so noble of her. Idinamay pa niya ang kapatid at ang tatay niya, na sigurado namang napilitan lang na sumama.

"Dad wants to see you, too," Chan continued. "He's been asking mom to fly back to Korea just to see if you're doing well. Last night, they were talking about something which lead to this. I didn't know what it was because they were talking in French, so I'm sorry if I couldn't spill the tea for you. But most importantly, we flew here to ask you to come with us."