□ Prepare to sing with all your heart.
Fi tried her best to play hostess for the next three days, taking Gabriel to places he'd never been to the last time he was here. But because she had to factor in Christmas-rush traffic to their travel time, their itinerary was rather limited. He didn't mind.
On the first day, Fi had Carlos (who was already on Christmas break) drive them to Calauan, Laguna, so they could enjoy lunch at a restaurant called Isdaan. Gabriel found the place disorienting at first, what with grand Buddha sculptures displayed alongside cartoon characters and statues of famous people. He enjoyed taking silly photos by the sculptures while waiting for their food to arrive, though.
"Gabe, have you tried eating with your hands?" Carlos asked as platters of fresh seafood cooked in various ways—grilled, baked, sautéed in butter—were placed on their table. Fi giggled.
"No."
"Oh, you really should. The food tastes better that way," Carlos said, leaning over so he could take Gabriel's spoon and fork away. "Fi, do the honors."
Gabriel observed Fi while she picked off a bit of flesh from the grilled tilapia, dipped it in a mixture of soy sauce, calamansi, and crushed pepper, and put it on top of her steamed rice. Then, she gathered the rice and fish into a small ball between her fingers before bringing it into her mouth.
It looked easy enough.
He watched her relish the morsel of food, brushing away a grain of rice by her bottom lip with his thumb.
The gesture made Fi blink twice and look away. She picked up a glass of water and drank from it.
"Fi, are you blushing?" Carlos asked. Gabriel could tell he was fighting the urge to laugh out loud.
Fi shot her friend a glare, then turned to Gabriel. "What are you waiting for?" she snapped. From across the table, Carlos let out a snort, then quickly diverted his attention to his plate.
"Your turn," she told Gabriel.
"Yes, ma'am," he said, unable to suppress a smile upon seeing Fi's cheeks turn a nice shade of pink. Carefully, Gabriel mimicked what Fi had done, but ended up spilling half of the food he picked up with his fingers. It made her laugh, and she spent the next ten minutes teaching him how to eat kamayan style.
He wasn't sure about the logic (or was it some sort of magic?) behind it, but the food did taste better when he used his hands to eat.
Fi took him strolling through Luneta Park the next day, and they enjoyed some dirty ice cream he surprisingly missed. And because he finished a total of five ice cream cones in just a few minutes (in his defense, they were tiny), she began teasing him about it.
"I should look for some ice cream eating contests around... make some good money out of them while you're here."
"This makes me assume you've joined them in the past."
"Not ice cream. Hotdogs."
Gabriel coughed. It took every bit of willpower to keep himself from making a naughty comment, and in the end he just cleared his throat to stifle a laugh.
She threw him a playful punch on the arm. "Don't think I don't know what you're thinking."
"I beg your pardon?" He placed a hand against his chest, as though offended.
With one eyebrow raised, Fi said nothing and just stared at him. He mirrored her expression and stared back, and soon they were laughing like idiots in the middle of the park.
"Come on. Where to next?" Gabriel asked and took her hand. Lifting it slowly to his lips, he watched the tender smile on Fi's face turn into a scowl when he gnawed at her hand instead of kissing it. She shoved her hand to his face and he bolted, laughing, enjoying this—Fi chasing after him for once.
They ran in circles around the park until they both got tired and decided they needed something to drink. "We'll settle this in a more civilized manner later," she said. And he agreed.
A good part of their afternoon was spent getting lost among the paintings and artifacts in the National Museum, which was within walking distance of Luneta Park. Fi brought him to a small turo-turo—literally "to point," because you point at what you want to eat, and they serve it to you. It reminded Gabriel of the hole-in-the-wall Fi liked to frequent back in Seoul: cozy, welcoming, and served tasty meals.
After dinner, she took him for another walk to a nearby wet market where they bought fruits and chestnuts before riding a jeepney back home.
"You're not bored, are you?" she asked him, her voice loud enough to be heard over the Christmas songs blaring from the cramped vehicle's radio.
He shook his head, unsure why she would think that. "Not at all."
On the third day, Gabriel found himself in a karaoke room with Fi and a bunch of her high school friends and their plus-ones. Karaoke was, apparently, as much of a sport in the Philippines as it was in South Korea. Then again, Gabriel had never gone to a karaoke room with friends in Seoul. It was always for a work outing and more about making good with your superiors than having actual fun.
"I'm sorry I had to drag you into this," Fi whispered to him as Carlos belted out a Bon Jovi classic. "I didn't want to leave you alone at home."
He gave her hand a reassuring pat. "It's fine, I'm having fun," he whispered in return. He also kind of fought the urge to kiss her on the cheek, but he let his bottom lip brush against her ear anyway.
There were about fifteen people in the room, twelve of them complete strangers to Gabriel. He wasn't exactly averse to being social, but it was comforting to have Fi sit so close to him. She would often rest her hand on his knee, even. He liked that.
"You do know they're going to make you sing, right?"
"Oh, I know. Don't worry."
She clicked her tongue. "Aigoo. Wipe that confident smirk off your face, aigoo," she said, picking up a piece of chicharon from the selection of snacks on the table and shoving it into Gabriel's mouth.
The piece of deep-fried pork rind made a satisfying crunchy sound between his teeth as he chewed. Carlos had already given him a heads-up about this karaoke session and, more importantly, the possibility of Gabriel getting grilled by their friends.
We're a pretty chill barkada, Carlos had said about their group of friends. Only two are guys, so we're going to be outnumbered. I'm pretty sure the girls will be charmed even before you say a single word, though. With that face of yours.
Gabriel couldn't remember why he expected a less-than-friendly atmosphere, but the warm welcome brought him a sense of relief. He did his best to respond to the questions thrown at him, and soon he found himself making small talk about this and that.
"Gabriel—it's your turn to sing!" With the flair of a TV show host, Carlos pointed the microphone toward him. "Do you have a song ready?"
"24552."
Fi's friends cheered when Carlos punched the numbers into the machine and Kiss from a Rose flashed on screen.
"All right, let's see if I'm drunk enough for this!" Gabriel slapped his knees lightly and got up, taking the microphone from Carlos, who urged everyone to clap. The room erupted in cheers. "Good evening, everyone. Sorry for crashing your party."
"Oh shush! Any friend of Fi's is a friend of ours!"
"You mean boyfriend!"
"So is this song for Fi?"
A grin appeared on Gabriel's face. "This. And every song I'm allowed to sing later on."
He wasn't the best singer, but he was a little drunk. Perhaps liquid courage was all he needed so he could make a fool of himself in front of strangers.
Before he came to Seoul years ago, one of Gabriel's side jobs required him to walk down a ramp wearing nothing but underwear. Strangely enough, standing here now made him feel just as naked. Maybe even more.
Was baring his thoughts through song in front of Fi and her friends worse than baring his body? Maybe. But he was already here, so... might as well.
"You actually sing well! And here you said you couldn't sing," were Fi's first words to him when he returned to his seat.
"Never said I couldn't," he corrected, recalling how the Amethyst Entertainment staff tried to persuade Gabriel to sing for the company Christmas party last year. "I said I didn't want to."
"And yet—" She held her arm out toward the small stage area in the room.
Gabriel gave in to his desire to kiss her right then, leaning in togently press his lips against the side of her face. "This is different," hewhispered. "This is for you."