ghosted. // taesana (completed)

37

nagulat ako sa pagtaas niya ng boses sa akin at pagtigil niya ng kotse, pero nasa tabi kami ng daan.

"you cheated on me, that's the truth, right?" tanong niya sa akin. umiling-iling ako. "do you think i'm fucking stupid to cheat on someone i love?"

"so you love me?"

his question caught me off guard and i immediately looked away, ignoring the question. "answer me, star, do you love me?" tanong pa niya muli at hindi ko pa rin sinasagot.

do i love him?

"just drive!" wika ko sa kaniya at tinitigan niya pa ako lalo.

"that is the truth i deserve, star. do you love me? do you really love me?"

"fuck! oo! okay? that's why it hurts, taehyung, kaya ako nasaktan nang sobra nung nawala ka bigla. pero for now, taehyung, that is not the truth you deserve."

"then what is this truth that i truly deserve? god, star! you're confusing me."

"just drive, stupid! i need to clear some things at home." i rolled my eyes and he started his car again while looking at me, umiwas naman ako ng tingin.

i heard him chuckle, "atleast nalaman ko na mahal mo ako, i love you too, star." tumawa siya at naiinis pa ako.

tahimik lang kami sa loob ng kotse niya at maya-maya ay nakarating na ako sa bahay. pumasok ako and saw mina, maxine, dani, and smile at the living room, watching movies.

"you can leave." wika ko kay taehyung and he raised his right eyebrow to me. "i said you can leave, go!" i pushed him and shut the door, and locked it.

"oh? unnie? ano nangyari sa inyo? lq?" tanong ni smile habang nakatingin padin sa screen ng tv.

"luh? lumabas pala kayo?" gulat na tanong ni mina sa akin.

"hoy ang ingay niyo!" rinig ko namang sigaw ni jasmine and slammed the door. nagising yata sa ingay namin, sabagay, 6 am palang naman eh.

napakamot ako sa noo ko at umupo sa tabi ni maxine.

napanood na rin muna ako sa movie and waited for the others to wake up, nahanap lang ako ng timing, ayokong i bring up yung topic bigla kasi baka sumama pa gising nila ako pa yung may kasalanan.

nang patapos na ang movie ay nagising na ang iba, umupo rin sila sa sofa at nagcecellphone lang.

dumiretso naman si jamie sa kitchen para magluto ng breakfast, hindi naman ako kakain dahil kumain na kami ni taehyung.

medyo matagal kami ni taehyung sa 3pm, medyo awkward lang, tsaka sobrang cheesy niya nakakairita. puro kaharutan sinasabi niya sa akin, hindi na daw niya ako ighoghost o iiwan.

edi wow nalang sa kaniya, narinig ko na yon eh, sa kaniya lang din nanggaling. he also told me na nanliligaw na siya, and told me to take my time and not rush things. it's good na alam niya na i don't want to rush things, hindi pa kasi okay ang lahat ngayon, para sa akin.

natapos na sila magbreakfast at nagbalikan na sila sa sofa, i coughed, to get their attention. lahat sila napatingin sa akin, they seem nervous about something.

mina and maxine looked at each other, communicating using their eyes. it looks like they know something.

"who edited the picture?" i asked, no one answered, so i repeated the question. "who edited the picture?" nagtinginan sila, waiting for someone to raise their hand, or speak.

"oh? ngayon walang aamin kung sino nagedit?"

"edited what picture?" tanong ni nicole unnie sa akin and i sighed, "picture namin ni mark, duh?" i rolled my eyes at nagtinginan nanaman sila.

"that was edited?" gulat na tanong ni kryss at napahawak pa sa bibig, napakadramatic ng gagang 'to.

"that was edited?!" mas oa na tanong ni maxine at binatukan naman siya ni mina, "oh gaga! akala ko ba alam mo?!" napa face palm naman siya at tumawa si maxine.

"wait, ano? edited yun? pinakita samin ni mark yun dati." wika ni dani at nagtinginan nanaman sila.

"oh! then he said na you're dating him and claims na you said na you deserve him and taehyung doesn't." sunod na wika ni dani at kumunot ang noo ko.

"so? naniwala naman kayo?" i raised my right eyebrow and crossed my arms.

"mina, you knew?" tanong ko kay mina at tumingin siya sa akin.

"ahh, mina, you knew? but you didn't even bother telling us about it? we sounded and acted like fools, and believed that shithead." matigas na sabi ni jamie kay mina.

"gosh! why didn't you speak up? look what happened to star! she wouldn't be this brokenhearted if sinabi mo agad dati." napakamot naman ng noo si nicole and mina rolled her eyes.

"really? so now it's my fault? is it my fault you guys didn't confront star about it? i don't care if nagmukha kayong tanga, i don't need to explain and inform such things to you. hindi ko kasalanang nagmukha kayong tangang kakapaniwala sa bullshits ni mark."

tumayo si mina at dumiretso sa kwarto niya upstairs, i heard maxine's loud sigh.

"and you knew it too, max?" tanong naman ni jasmine kay maxine at nanlaki ang mata ni max nang malipat sa kaniya ang usapan.

"i didn't want to assume things! that's why naniwala nalang ako kay mark!"

"uhuh, that's why ikaw ang naglakas loob na sabihin ang lahat kay taehyung, right?" matigas na wika ni nicole.

what? si maxine ang nagsabi? pero alam niya yung totoo? frick, i'm so confused right now!

"you forced me, unnie. you and jamie, sinabi niyo pa na we shouldn't tolerate what star has done. ako pa ngayon ang may kasalanan?" maxine sighed again.

daniella, kryss and smile were silent. they are the youngest in the group and the oldest members are the ones fighting.

"bakit hindi mo man lang sinabi sa amin na mark was just probably making things up or stories? gosh! maxine!" singit naman ni jasmine.

"stop this nonsense fight." malakas na sabi ko kaya napatigil sila, dumiretso ako sa taas, at kumatok sa kwarto ni mina.

"you may enter." rinig kong wika niya kaya binuksan ko ang pintuan ay nagpatuloy sa kwarto niya.

"chaos. nakakastress sa baba." she rolled her eyes while playing mobile games.

"if you're going to blame me too, and claim it's my fault for not speaking up about it, i'm sorry in advance." she said, her sorry was sincere even though focused siya sa paglalaro sa cellphone niya.

"no, it's okay."

we were silent for 3 seconds and she spoke once again,

"i don't want to say this, but all of them knew. alam nilang lahat ang totoo, i told them about it before, bago pa sabihin kay taehyung. no one believed me, the truth. and now they're claiming na it was my fault for not speaking up, crazy, right?"