Hatin' Hue: A JOKEN AU

HH 5

Caleb woke up abruptly from his snooze on Han's porch, startled. He hurt himself by going too quickly. Growling, he held his wound and said, "Ouch."

Han came running to help him. "Ayan! Umuwi ka na dapat," the man chastised the man.

"Umuwi nga ako," Caleb said, clutching his knife wound to his stomach. Then he said, "Sayo."

Han continued to stare at Caleb, who just so happened to be looking on his wound. He instantly looked away and took a deep breath as soon as Caleb's eyes met his. His eyes darted away from Caleb's as he spoke, "Maliit lang bahay ko. Hindi ka magiging komportable dito."

"I wasn't planning on staying," Caleb replied, still having his gaze fixated on Han's beautiful eyes. He added, "I just wanna thank you for blocking the others earlier."

"Palpak nga," Han mumbled.

Not seeming to hear what Han said, Caleb questioned, "Ha?"

Caleb only nodded in response to Han's announcement, "Wala. Simula pala bukas, hindi kita mababantayan sa campus. Start na ng training, nasa court ako buong araw."

"Kaya humanap ka na ng bago mong bodyguard," he said, infuriating Caleb.

"Si Silver. Kilala niya lahat ng students pati staff, sigurado maproprotektahan ka niya," Han went on to say.

With a hint of disappointment, Caleb remarked, "That wasn't his job. Ang trabaho niya, bantayan ka."

That was when he turned to leave Han. Rather than stopping him, Han helped him all the way back to his car and then watched him drive off.

Silver blurted out, "Tanga ka!" as he and Han strolled into the court. He went on, lecturing his friend as they took their seats at the player bench. "Ba't mo hinayaan umalis? Pinuntahan ka na nga tapos 'di mo pa sinuyo? Halata namang nagtampo," he said.

One of the players greeted Han with a fist bump and said, "Teo!"

Han said, "Okay na dito, Silver. Pumasok ka na sa class natin. Sabihin mo na lang kay boss, naihatid mo ako nang maayos sa teritoryo ko," before dribbling the ball and sprinting into the court to play with his teammates.

When Silver returned to their class, he noticed Caleb seated near the window. "Ssob! Nasa court na si Hate, lalaro na."

With his eyes fixed outside the window, Caleb said, "Okay. No unfamiliar faces there?" without giving Silver a sidelong glance.

Silver joked, "Wala naman, same tarantado faces nandon," while ensuring Han and his former teammates were safe on the court.

Caleb hasn't seen Han in days since he's been too preoccupied with his basketball training.

While Silver and Caleb searched the cafeteria for a place to eat lunch, Silver said, "Doon sila Crimson," pointing to one table.

Crimson held out his arm and said, "Here!" to them. "Calamine, I've got your favorite," he said, welcoming Caleb to sit beside him.

Austin declared, "I'm done," and he hurried away.

"Ang aloof," Silver said, causing Crimson to giggle.

Crimson responded, "You can't have two Hues on one table."

Silver nodded and let out a soft chuckle.

"Has Han packed lunch for himself?" Caleb inquired abruptly.

As he cut his steak, Crimson asked, "Han na naman? How come I haven't met your new bodyguard yet?"

With haste, Caleb answered, "He's busy."

Looking at Silver's food, Caleb said, "Ooh, I like what you're having."

Silver said, "Sure ka? Tinola 'to ha?" looking shocked.

"Yeah, let me try," Caleb said, licking his lips.

When Silver said, "Sige, share na tayo—" Caleb grabbed his plate right away.

"Trade," Caleb proposed, handing Silver his dish.

After tasting Silver's food, Caleb exclaimed, "Wow! Crimson, get another one of this."

A little confused, Crimson still followed Caleb's order and asked for another tinola. Caleb said, "Pabalot mo ha?"

Undoubtedly, Caleb's behavior during lunch earlier startled Silver; he truly stands apart from other privileged students on their campus.

They saw Han and his teammates holding their sandwiches as they made their way back to the classroom. Caleb tucked the tinola he was carrying behind his back very quickly.

Nevertheless, Han pretended not to see Caleb.

Silver asked Caleb, "Hanggang kailan ba kayo hindi magpapansinan?"

Caleb gave a shoulder shrug and carried on moving.

As soon as their last class ended, Caleb said to Silver, "Mauna ka na umuwi. I need to go somewhere." He ran to the court and took a seat on the bleachers while looking for Han.

In front of Caleb, a cluster of girls had also entered the court and taken seats on the bleachers. They started cheering for Teo, which caught the MVP's attention. In the hopes that Han hadn't noticed him, Caleb hastily covered his face with his bag.

All Caleb wanted was to watch their game, but he had to conceal his face most of the time because the girls in the bleachers would cheer whenever Teo scored. The girls screamed again, this time as though Teo was about to approach them, and Caleb had decided to leave since he couldn't even watch clearly.

Just as Caleb was ready to leave, a man obstructed his path. He gave the man a gentle glance, and to his surprise, Han was standing right in front of him. "How'd you know I'm here?" he questioned, his voice barely audible over the deafening screaming of the girls.

Han said, taking Caleb's bag, "Who wouldn't? Limited designer bag 'tong bitbit mo. Maganda naman laro ko ah, ba't aalis ka pa?"

"Shh! Pwede quiet muna?" Han exclaimed at his fans. He turned to Caleb, who had been talking a few seconds ago. "Ano 'yon, Cal? May sinasabi ka kanina eh," he said.

Shaking his head, Caleb pushed Han. Han leaped to pursue him as he exited the court straight away.

"Huy, Teo! Undertime ka na naman! Yare ka kay coach bukas!" one of his teammates shouted as they saw him sneaking out of their training once again.

Han didn't even bother; Han kept grabbing his stuff and running after Caleb. He yelled, "Caleb!" and got him to stop.

Han grabbed his arm so he couldn't step away further. "Nagtatampo ka ba?" Han asked frankly.

Caleb knitted his brows in response.

"Nagtatampo ka nga," Han continued.

"Cute mo!"

To be continued...