Author's Note (The Villain Series 1)

Kabanata 17

Nataranta naman si Noa. Napalingon ito sa paligid upang masigurong hindi sila napansin ng ibang nasa loob ng library. Buti na lang ay nasa dulo silang bahagi kaya hindi sila masiyadong kita ng librarian.

"W-what the hell are you crying for?"

"I want to write!" sigaw ni Adamas. Napalakas ang boses nito kaya napaigtad si Noa.

"Shit! Lower your voice!" sita ng babae pero patuloy lang ito sa pagngawa na animo'y nakalimutan na nitong nasa loob sila ng library.

"I want to write! I want to be good at literature too! I love writing, so why would you put the blame on me?!" His big drops of tears were still falling from his eyes. Namumula na rin ang buo nitong mukha. "Is it illegal to love the same thing? Can't I write because you want it too?"

"I said lower your voice!"

"Hindi ako nakatulog kagabi kakaisip kung bakit bigla kang nagalit tapos ito lang pala? You're hating me because I won the contest? Why would you?"

Napanganga na lang si Noa dahil hindi na nakikinig ang lalaki sa kaniya.

"What will you do now, my Noa? You made him cry." Natatawa siyang nakatingin sa dalawa. Hindi niya inakalang magsisimula sa ganito ang istorya ng dalawa.

"Fine. I'm sorry, so shut up." Iniwas ni Noa ang tingin.

"Are you really s-sorry?" He pouted. Humihikbi itong nagpatuloy. "You don't look like you want to say it at all."

She rolled her eyes. "What do you want me to do then? Kneel, beg and be your slave?"

"Can you stop being sarcastic? You know that's not what I meant." Muling ngumawa si Adamas.

"Oh my gosh! You're being annoying!" Napasapo ito sa noo dahil sa lalaki. Naglakad ito papunta sa lalaki. May kinuha ito sa bulsa bago umupo sa tabi nito.

She wiped his face with her handkerchief, making him freeze in surprise.

"W-what are you doing?"

"Manahimik ka. Kapag umiyak ka pa, palalabasin tayo rito," sagot ni Noa at patuloy na pinahid ang mga luha nito sa mata.

Isang maliit na ngiti ang sumilay sa kaniyang labi habang pinapanood ang dalawa. The color of Adamas Laurien's emotion changed the moment Noa sat beside him and started wiping his face.

"I'm sorry." In the end, he was the one who ended up apologizing.

Hindi naman kaagad sumagot si Noa. Pinagmasdan nito ang lalaki bago bumuntonghinga. "No. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that to you. A lot of things just frustrate me lately and I ended up bursting out on you, so I'm sorry."

"You're not mad anymore?"

"I'm still agitated. But you're right. You are not the one to blame. Maybe your poetry is just really better than mine." Tumayo na ito at bumalik sa upuan nito kanina. "And you're free to dream the same dream that I have."

Kaagad na sumilay ang ngiti sa mga labi ng lalaki matapos iyong marinig.

What an easy guy.

Magsasalita na sana ito pero naunahan ito ni Noa.

"Don't mistake my words, Laurien. That doesn't mean that we could freely converse because we have reached a somehow good end." She crossed her arms. "After this collaboration, we are not going to see each other, okay?"

Tumango naman si Adamas.

But that didn't really happen.

The collaboration led them to be closer. Hindi natupad ang plano nilang hindi na muli pang kakausapin ang isa't isa pagkatapos ng collaboration dahil may nabuo na sa pagitan nila.