P.I.L.I.T - The Oldskul Chronicles

S01E01

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TRACK 1: Jodeci

[K-Ci's Point of View]

Early morning, I got up as soon as I woke up from my bed. Hindi na ako nagsipilyo at kumain pa ng breakfast. Pumunta ako agad kila ninong at humiram ng kotse, nag-drive pa rin ako kahit hindi naman ako marunong.

My serious face lighted up with a smile nang palapit na ako sa destinasyon ko. Nakita ko na ang building ni Mr. Lee. Ang problema, kailangan kong apakan ang brake ng kotse na ito! Malapit na rin akong bumangga...

...at bumangga nga ako.

Nanlaki ang mata ko nang buhusan ng tubig ang bintana. And I was even more shocked when JoJo started yelling at me dahil ginulo ko ang mga bulaklak na kanina pa niyang dinidiligan.

"Ku-kuya! Alam mo ba? You should know where you're going!" Padabog niyang hinampas ang hose sa daan, he crossed his arms.

I got out of the car. "Bruh, I can explain. Hiniram ko lang ang kotse na 'to kay Ninong."

"Oh, tapos?" Tinaasan niya ako ng kilay.

"You never see me drive before, right? Hindi ba?"

I wanted to complain to him about why he's doing this. He really thinks mas matanda siya kaysa sa'kin! Eh, ako ang kuya sa'ming dalawa.

I angrily told him, "Kaya ka siguro nastress sa'kin--"

"Enough, you've said too much. Come with me, Hinihintay na tayo ni Mr. Lee."

I sighed. I didn't say anything more to my little brother. I went to my car, pero hinila naman ako ni JoJo sa balikat ko.

"I'll handle the car, mauna ka na doon kuya."

And so, I walked my way to the record station and headed for the elevator, ayaw ko umakyat. It's just not my style.

I pressed the button to go to the basement floor, I'll wait for my brother there.

~

[JoJo's POV]

Pagdating ko sa basement, I parked the car that K-Ci borrowed, he said that kotse raw ito ng ninong namin.

I don't even know who he's talking about, yung ninong na kilala namin ay si ninong Keith Sweat.

I got out of the car. The elevator exactly opened when I thought of heading for it. Nagtagpo na naman kami ng asungot kong kuya.

"Where to?"

"I'm going to the place where I won't see your face," pilosopo kong sagot sa kanya, habang nagsasalubong ang mga kilay ko.

Bumuntonghininga si kuya at sinabing, "Ano, tara na sa taas?"

Hindi ako nagpatalo sa pagiging cold ng kuya kong ito. I stayed here, placing my hands on my hips and smiled playfully at him. Sumimangot siya, but what made me panic was the elevator door closing. Nilagay ko ang kamay ko between the closing doors.

"Nananadya ka ba?" I asked with all my authority, he nervously shook his head. God, I hate it whenever he makes his comeback! Malala na siya.

"Tara na nga!" I exclaimed. K-Ci, without talking, pressed the button going to the 5th floor where the office is.

~

[K-Ci's POV]

I lightly knocked on the door to the office.

"Come in," a voice of an aged man prompted.

Natatakot ako... na kahit hindi naman dapat for a man like me, I was so afraid that Mr. Lee will be mad at us because of our timing, especially when I have never seen him before. He's the most respected person in this country that everybody knows.

"Good morning po, Mr. Lee," my brother and I greeted politely.

Napansin kong naunang dumating ang magkapatid, din, na si Devante Swing at Mr. Dalvin. Si Devante na may hawak na baso ng milk tea, at si Dalvin na pinipiga na parang stress ball ang Hello Kitty plush niya.

"So, are we late?" I asked Mr. Lee to make sure.

"No, both of you are in perfect timing," mahinahong sabi ng ginoo. "Please take a seat, K-Ci and JoJo." And so we did.

"Hmm, you guys gained points from our Mr. Lee the first time around!" Devante said, habang umiinom ng milk tea niya.

Pinagsabihan naman ito ni Dalvin. "You know Dev, 'di mo dapat ginagaya si JoJo, nasusungitan mo na rin tuloy, bruh." Binalik niya sa pink bag niya ang stuffed toy niya.

Binatukan siya ni JoJo. "Manahimik ka nga, Dalvin! Baka mamaya, gawin kong punching bag ang Hello Kitty mo," he warned. Yumuko si Dalvin, na tinawanan ni Devante. I kept a straight face.

If these two would not be in our lives right now, I won't mind. And I feel like gusto ko na silang banatan eh!

"The reason why I called you here is because I want you to do something," Mr. Lee prefaced.

"What is it, Mr. Lee?" tanong ng kapatid ko.

"Well since you guys are now complete and I'm supposed to just be putting Devante and Dalvin into my plans, and both of you..." Tinuro niya kaming dalawa ng kapatid ko. "...have arrived only now."

Lumunok ako. I just don't know what will happen next. Maybe he's going to throw us out!

Matagal ko nang pangarap na maging sikat na singer ako, but the dream became more achievable when JoJo and Devante supported me. It's such a waste that it'll end like this.

"I'll have you go out and make music, from now on you'll work for me as trainees." Internally, natuwa ako sa sinabi ni Mr. Lee, but my heart started to beat. Nervous pa rin ako.

"Ano nga ulit pangalan ng group niyo?" tanong ni Mr. Lee. Kasabay noon, siniko ako ni Devante sabay bulong ng, "nakalimutan ko eh."

"Jodeci po," sagot ko. Humagikhik si Mr. Lee at ngumgiti. "And what does it mean by that, Mr. Cedric Mercado?"

"Kami kasi ni Devante ang nakaisip noon." At kumuha ako ng memo pad sa desk ni Mr. Lee. Sinulat ko roon ang meaning ng "Jodeci".

"Ah, pangalan pala yun ninyong apat," the old man commented.

Actually Devante just took the credit for him joining the name. He didn't join his brother, and if he did, magiging Jo-De-Da-Ci na kami—ang pangit sabihin! We ended up with Jodeci para hindi cringe banggitin.

Mr. Lee, along with Devante and Dalvin, went on with his talk. I tried to listen, but all I heard were "profit of our company," "music," "R&B Genre," hanggang sa wala na ako maintindihan.

Good grief. The industry is too greedy.

Tinaas ni JoJo ang kamay niya. "So when do we start, sir? Pwedeng ASAP?" Tumingin ito sa'kin, and he smirked.

"Kung kailan ninyo balak..." Natigilan si Mr. Lee when Devante cheered.

"Woohoo!! Sabi sa'yo Dalvin eh! Pwede na muna tayo mag-chill!"

Tinakpan ni Dalvin ang tainga niya, reklamo niya, "Ingay naman nito!"

Sumenyas si Mr. Lee para manahimik kami. Nagpatuloy siya sa pagsasalita.

"Pero pwede naman kayo magsabi sa'kin pag mag-sa-start kayo. Right now, take a look at the list of your competitors." Sumulat si Mr. Lee sa memo pad niya at ibinigay niya sa'kin.

I looked at it right away, these names seemed familiar.