My heart is pounding.
心臓がドキドキしています。
Shinzo ga dokidoki shite imasu.

San Pablo City, Laguna; Jan. 30, 2023; 8:32 am.

ELIANA's mother, who was currently doing the laundry, noticed that the dishes were still not washed, and said, "Eliana! Kanina ka pang wait nang wait for diyan! Hindi ka pa naghihimpil ng pinggan!" 

Eliana was tapping busily on her phone while in the room. She continued to tap her phone, and message the latest Instagram story of Japanese volleyball player Ran Takahashi, saying, "Inay, saglit lang!" (Translation: Mother, wait for a while!)

She has a super-duper crush on the young man, which developed when Eliana recently watched Ran's YouTube video. When she finally met him, everything seemed magical. She feels butterflies in her stomach and sparks, which makes her more enticed by Ran. It turns out that she is fond of Ran.

It makes sense that Eliana would develop a love for Ran because of his ability to hit and save the ball. Saying, "Napaka-galing niya talaga!"

She doesn't despise volleyball; she has been watching it on Philippine Free TV, but the ball always whacks her face because she cannot control it.

Her love for volleyball intensified because of . . . "Ran . . ." Eliana looked at Ran's profile. "Ilang beses na akong nag-message sa 'yo pero 'di mo ako nare-reply-an," she said to helfself full of frustration since she's waiting for Ran's reply. "Wala akong karapatan, pero nasasaktan ako." (Translation: How many times that I messaged you but you reply me back; I have no right, but I am really hurt.)

Eliana said with tears in her eyes, put her phone on charge, and then left to do her duty in the kitchen. While she washed the dishes, she felt her heart grow heavy.

Tokyo, Japan; 9:32 a.m.

"Good morning everyone!" Ran said as he left the room. He smiled and said hello to everyone as usual.

His friends who were also his roommates responded, "Ohayo gozaimasu!"

Ran prepares carbonara, his favorite Italian dish, in the kitchen. And Yamamoto waved at him and said, "Can I share with your carbonara?"

As soon as Ran was given the go-ahead, he cooked his meal and gave it to Yamamoto. He then checks his phone and logs into Instagram.

He couldn't understand why, even though many of his followers were sending him the same messages, he was curious to look at message requests. He sensed an odd sensation that aroused his curiosity.

However, their team captain Yuki Ishikawa unexpectedly entered their room to invite everyone to accompany him for a walk.

Yuki Ishikawa said, "Get up early; we're going for a walk nearby."

"Yup," Ran replied, turning to face his senior. "In addition, you owe me a steak.

San Pablo City Laguna; 9:02 a.m

Eliana finished washing the dishes and looked at her phone again while checking the message, but still nothing.

Her sister came in suddenly and Eliana started crying. "Oh, anong nangyari sa 'yo?" (Translation: Oh, what happened to you?)

"W-Wala," Eliana said and smiled. (Translation: Nothing.)

"Weh?"

"Ano . . . nag-chat ako kay Ran, nagbabaka sakali lang na magbasa ng message malay mo ma-notice ako!" (Translation: Uhm, I chatted Ran, trying that he would notice my message!)

"Imposible iyan teh. Sikat 'yan eh, kaya matik na hindi 'yan magbabasa ng message," Jay said. "Masyado kang delulu." (Translation: That's impossible, Sis. He's famous and automatically he won't read messages; You're such a delusional.)

"Oo na! Pero malay mo soon!" Eliana said. Her voice shows that she is emotional but has a "don't give up" tone. (Translation: Fine! But what if soon.)

Later, Jay left, so she thought of opening TikTok to have fun. After that, Eliana suddenly saw Ran's video that made a trend of if we ever broke up, so she thought of imitating him.

After a while, she finished uploading it to TikTok and put it in an IG story at the same time, she tagged Ran Takahashi.

Just copying @ran.volleyball0902

As she was bored, she chatted in a group chat with her college friends.

"Bagay ba kami?" she asked, then sent a video of her with Ran. "Boyfriend ko 'yan." (Translation: Are we compatible?; He's my boyfriend.)

"Ang cute mi," Vincent said, knowing that Eliana was in fangirl mode so she suddenly chatted with their GC. Because Eliana's mima was supportive, Vincent just let it go.(Translation: That's cute, mi)

"Weh, kilala kita wala kang boyfriend," Jennifer said but Eliana knew that she also supported her. (Translation: Weh, I know you! You had no boyfriend.)

"Boyfriend ko nga 'yan!" she said while laughing at what she was chatting about. (Translation: Yes, he is my boyfriend!)

Eliana laughed as she returned to IG. She checked Ran's account but still no update, which is why she was nosy about who looked at her IG story so she looked at it. And her heart almost stopped beating because of what she saw.

"Ah! Ran Takahashi saw my day!" she screamed so loud. It's good that the rain is pouring heavily because her mother will surely scold her. "My baby seen my video!"

She updated again and said that Ran saw her IG story and she even said, "I can't!! My heart is fluttering!" Then she added."You made my day @ran.volleyball0902."

After all of her anxieties, it was allayed because of Ran's simple viewing of her IG. That made her heart explode. "I hope it was forever. I hope that one day I meet him."

Later on, Ran suddenly saw her IG story again. So Eliana is even more euphoric. She did not expect that a famous personality from Japan would notice her through her IG story. That was her first time being noticed by a renowned personality. In addition to that, she had a crush on him, so her heart was overflowing because of the simple act of appreciation by the young man on the lassie's IG story.

"Makikita rin kita soon, Ran."

(Translation: I will see you soon, Ran.)