"Are you sure you can finish that?" I asked him, with my mouth slightly gaping. I also couldn't stop staring at him with so much bafflement.
There's this store called Hot-Star Large Fried Chicken situated here in Shilin Market that serves this ridiculously humongous chicken. We just left the stall where he ordered the spicy flavor and now, he's holding this colossal thing in his hand. Good God, it's bigger than his face!
"Neighbor, there's a reason why it was named chicken, not chickent." He laughed. I grimaced and rolled my eyes. That's so lame. "Grabe, tumawa ka naman. Kahit out of pity lang," he added, chuckling.
"Why would I? It's not funny," I winced.
He scrunched his nose and slightly pouted. Dismissing my refusal to humor him, he gazed at the chicken and happily declared, "Sobrang solid nito! Feeling ko kapag may nagtangkang mang-holdap sa'kin tapos sinampal ko gamit ang chicken na 'to, makakatulog siya."
I secretly sighed. Sometimes, I simply don't understand the way his mind works. There are times when I feel like we live in two disparate worlds. I couldn't fathom the reason why he seems utterly fascinated by the little things. What he finds funny doesn't make sense to me either. Case in point, this—what's happening right here and right now.
"How about you? May nagustuhan ka na ba sa mga nadaanan natin?" he asked while we're walking alongside each other. I don't exactly know where we're heading now. I'm just following him.
We arrived here in Shilin Market thirty minutes ago. And all we did since then was leisurely go wherever. It turned out that he doesn't have a concrete plan about how we're going to go about today's excursion. Not even a list of stores he wishes to visit. And the last time I catechized him about it, he just gave me another speech about enjoying the moment and not worrying about the little details. But instead of comforting me, all those words did was make me feel more anxious. Unfortunately, my internal sentiments failed to be quelled inside me, because my face decided to manifest every inch of worry I had.
As soon as he saw the panic-stricken look on my face, he neared my side and gently nudged my elbow. He smiled at me and said, "Don't worry. I got you."
I don't exactly know how those four words were capable of quieting every clamor of anxiety inside me, but all I know is that after he spoke them, there was an unfathomable peace that found its way to my heart. Almost in an instant. And because of that, I finally made peace with the idea of just following him where he wants us to go. I don't think he plans to purposely lose me, anyway. Or murder me.
"Nothing tickles my fancy. I'm also not hungry," I answered.
"Palagi na lang." He scoffed. "De kahon ka palagi sumagot kapag tinatanong kita tungkol sa pagkain, 'no? Laging I'm not hungry ang sagot mo. Auto-reply ba 'yan, neighbor?" he teased, chuckling. I didn't laugh. Instead, I only gave him a vacant look. He cleared his throat and asked, "Kanina bang nag-lunch kayo, kumain ka nang maayos?"
I fought the urge to roll my eyes. Is the universe trying to make up for all the lost time I spent without him? Wala nga siya kaninang tanghalian, ngunit nandito naman siya ngayon at tinatanong ako kung kumain ako nang maayos. Ano ba ang depinisyon nang maayos para sa kaniya?
"I did."
Well, at least according to my definition.
"Maniwala," he sarcastically answered with a grimace. I mentally sighed. Why is he asking if he doesn't want to believe me? He stopped in his tracks and faced me, "Alam mo? Sayang kapag nandito ka na sa Taiwan tapos hindi mo naman matitikman 'yung mga pagkain nila. So, let me propose something. Kahit na sinasabi mong hindi ka gutom—which I highly doubt, by the way . . ." He chuckled, causing him to halt mid-sentence. Because of his ridiculous remark, I failed to not roll my eyes. He cleared his throat and continued, "Try mo—natin pa rin 'yung mga pagkain. Out of curiosity, bilhin natin 'yung mga sikat na pagkain para malaman natin kung bakit sobrang hyped nila. Kung masarap ba talaga o sakto lang. Kagaya nito." He raised the chicken he's holding. "Pwede ring random na madadaanan lang natin tapos feeling natin masarap, bilhin din natin 'yun. Tapos, alamin natin kung bakit sikat na sikat 'yung milk tea. Kung bakit ang laking populasyon ng mga tao ang addict na addict doon. I-try natin lahat ng mga milk tea stores dito hanggang sa masuka na tayo at isumpa natin ang lasa." He laughed. That immediately rendered a deadly glare from me. "Joke lang. Grabe naman 'yung tingin mo sa akin. Pero serious na. Basically, my proposal is that tonight, let's splurge to immerse ourselves in Taiwan's food culture."
