Paradox [BoybandPH]

t w e n t y - e i g h t

"DI KA PA ba uuwi?" Ford asked.

For the first time in my life, medyo nahirapan akong sagutin yun. He must have sensed my hesitations, kasi nagsalita din siya kaagad.

"Ah, oo nga pala. May magsusundo sa'yo."

Naramdaman kong uminit ang pisngi ko sa di malamang dahilan. Screw that, alam ko naman talaga kung bakit. But I don't wanna sound defensive kaya I asked him back instead, "Ikaw ba? Di ka pa uuwi?"

"Pauwi na 'ko actually. Susunduin ko pa si Loisa." He smiled.

I nodded.

A part of me is still having a crush on him. Hello? Akala niyo ba jowa lang ang mahirap i-let go? But a bigger part of me already accepted the fact na kay Loisa na siya. Sila man o hindi, masaya ako sa kanila. Besides, kaibigan ko si Loisa. I know her enough to know she deserves someone like Ford.

We said our goodbyes, samantalang ako nagbabrowse sa phone ko habang naghihintay.

Di ko alam kung ilang minuto na ang lumipas, but I was too engaged with the vlog I was watching, to look who just went in the locker room.

"Ready to go?"

Butterflies erupted in my stomach, I calmed myself. "Nope."

I heard him chuckle.

His musky scent invaded my nose and I usually hates it. Siguro nasanay na lang ako. I felt him sat beside me and took out his phone, too.

"My dad called again."

He said a few minutes later. That got my attention. And as much as I love Shawn Dawson's vlogs, my curiousity to know what Joao is talking about is stronger.

"And?"

He drank first from his water bottle, I didn't bother to look away and watched his adam's apple bob up and down.

Shameless me.

He sighed before started talking, "Ayun. Same old shit. He wants me to pursue his dreams or else he'll cut off everything."

"Ang heavy ha. Nasa teleserye ka ba?" I tried to lighten the mood, hopefully it worked.

He chuckled humorlessly, "Sana nga eh. In that way I'll just wait for the director to shout cut and everything's done. Kahit ilang take pa, pero alam mong matatapos din naman."

Grabe. Mas heavy 'to.

I badly wanna joke about it too, but I bit my lip to shut up. I heard him sigh again.

Nung nakaraang araw, dinala niya ako ulit don sa rooftop ng apartment nung kaibigan niya. With a couple of bottles in hand, he started opening more about himself. Dun niya din nabanggit ang tungkol sa issues nilang mag-ama.

"You wanna talk more about it?"

"Two bottles?"

I smiled, "Two bottles."

He stood up first then extended his arms for me para tulungan akong tumayo. I quickly sent a message kay daddy, that we'll have dinner outside again and he simply replied with an okay.