Chapter 26

"Chini... answer your phone." Nanginginig na ang kamay ko kasi kanina pa niya nire-reject ang tawag ko. I know she's doing this because we weren't answering her calls and messages as well.

"She's still not answering?" BJH asked and I shook my head. "Okay, I'll try to give her a call."

Jin-hyeong scooped his phone out of his pants and dialled Chini. Nagulat ako kasi it doesn't take too long when she answered his call. Hinayaan ko sila mag-usap habang puno pa rin ako ng problema kung paano kami makaaalis ni BJH dito sa isang restaurant while we're avoiding the commotion outside. Hindi kami makaaalis ng airport if they would swarm us. Wala kaming palag do'n.

We're trying to get Chini kasi mas maraming connection 'yon so she can help us. Mi-sun and Dong-yoon just love the attention. I think nagpa-interview rin kaagad sila sa mga reporter since they went to Jeju and to the place we have been. And now that they just announced their arrival publicly and they knew na kasabay kami sa flight nila, they are already waiting for us to come out of the airport and it's gonna be hell on earth.

Saglit lang ay natapos nang kausapin ni Jin-hyeong si Chini. That was quick. Ano naman kayang pinag-usapan nila?

"Anong sabi ni Chini?"

He shook his head. "She's not going to pick us up here," anunsyo nito. Napauwang ang bibig ko nang sabihin niya 'yon sa akin. I was literally confused inside my head kasi anong gagawin namin dito ngayon sa airport. Para kaming na-trap. "She's on a meeting with the boss. They just started the meeting."

"What about si Seung-Gi? Maybe he can help."

He shrugged off. "I don't know. Chini can only ask for him, not me. We should just go and not mind them. We'll just give them what they want to know. Just smile. Let them kill with it."

Napalitan akong ngumiti sa sinabi niya. And looks like desidido na rin siyang umalis kaya hindi na ako umangal pa. We grabbed our stuff and then we just get out of the restaurant. Nakahihiya pa dahil wala kaming binili. We're just trying to take our time pero mukhang hindi sila aalis hangga't nila kami naco-corner.

Some people recognized BJH as we're heading out of the airport. Sumusunod sa amin ang mga camera phone nila. Iyong iba ay tinatawag pa ang pangalan niya and then there were foreigners na naglakas ng loob na lumapit at makapagpa-picture pa talaga sa kanya. Though BJH gladly take their requests at ngumiti ito sa kanila na para bang walang dinadalang problema.

Nang matapos iyon ay binilisan na lang namin ang paglalakad nang marating namin ang exit. We're not wrong when the media's already waiting for us.

"Jin-hyeong..."

"You'll be fine. Don't talk. Let me do this," pagpanatag ng loob nito sa akin. I'm not even sure if it really helps me, but how he handled most of the situations comes out good, so I'll just let him do all the work and be right behind him.

When we stopped so these people would start asking Jin-hyeong's some questions. Nakayuko lamang ang ulo ko at umiiwas na makuhanan ng litrato ang pagmumukha ko, though I don't think its avoidable since gagawa at gagawa talaga sila ng paraan para makuhaan ako ng picture. Though one thing that escalated it when Jin-hyeong called everyone out.

"Gman," he called and everyone froze for a moment. "Naege mulerbosipsio. Narl girockhashipsio. Na sazineul manhi jjiger, hajiman gniorl akkige gnioga hamkke hal su absi, tonen uriga ternago nan dangsin jilmuna dadap. Nuhndle ihaehani?" (Stop. Ask me. Record me. Take a lot of photos of me, but spare her. She has nothing to do with this, or we will just leave and I won't answer any of your questions. Do you guys understand that?)

Though some people agreed, they still questioned him.

"Ywae kishassa?" one asked. (Why did you kiss her?)

"Ywae gruhge hassni?" another one asked. (Why did you do that?)

Just like what BJH said, I let him talk about it and he just told me what they needed to know. Hindi na siya nagpaligoy-ligoy pa ng sagot.

"Gnionen na yeoza chinguga aniya. Gnionen na gaein bioshoipnida. Nanen gdili urirl jjocnen guteul mumchul su issdorock kishassda. Ise da mionghwakhangayo?" sagot nito. (She's not my girlfriend. She's my personal assistant. I just kissed her so they would stop chasing us. Is that all clear now?)

Still, maraming hindi pa rin satisfied sa sagot niya at napuno pa ng pagtataka ang iba ngunit bago pa man nila ituloy ang mga ibabatong tanong nila, Jin-hyeong grabbed my hand and he pulled me out of the crowd. It took us some time until we're off of them and just got ourselves a cab heading to his condo unit.

We both heaved out a deep sighed when the taxi drove away. It was such a relief to get away with them, but the feeling of being chased all over again is something I can't do. Pero nasanay na si Jin-hyeong do'n. This is the price of the showbiz industry, lahat ng mata ay nakatutok at naka-sentro sa isang taong pinag-uusapan at hindi nakalalayo si BJH do'n—maging ako sa sitwasyong kinalalagyan namin ngayon.

"I'm sorry..." panimula ni BJH. Napakunot ako sa sinabi niya.

"Bakit ka nagso-sorry? You just got us out of those people."

He shook his head, "Yeah, but that's not what I was sorry for," pagpaiintindi nito sa akin. "I think they might be right that I put you into this situation. I didn't ask for your permission and now you have to deal with this drama. I'm really sorry, Raijine."

Napahilamos ni BJH ang palad niya sa niya. He's so disappointed how it all turn out and I know that it could be done in some way, wala na rin naman kaming magagawa dahil nangyari na ang bagay na 'yon. I reached for him and caressed his back so he would know that I'm not mad or felt bad about it.

"Hey, Jin-hyeong... ayos lang 'yon. Hindi na big deal para sa akin 'yon. Alam ko naman itong pinasok kong trabaho at inihanda ko rin naman sa mga ganitong posibilidad. Even back in Jeju and the past two years, I'm okay with it. It's just what they have to say and we cannot argue on how they wanted us to be in this spotlight, but they make our names relevant so I guess that also helps."

"Surely does," he muttered. Napabitaw na lamang ito nang malalim na hininga at umayos sa kanyang pagkauupo. "Don't worry, I'll set this right. You don't have to put yourself into this kind of trouble again."

Ang sabi ko nga okay lang ako pero si Jin-hyeong paulit-ulit. I didn't say it out loud, but if that's gonna make him feel better then I will let him. Muli akong nanahimik sa pwesto ko gayundin si BJH.

I grabbed my phone out of my purse. I was about to create an IG story nang dumaan sa feed ko ang post ng isang guy na hindi ko matandaan kung kailan ko finallow. His name is Valerio and he's from Australia—based on the location he pinned on his post. Bondi Beach, Australia. He's quite fine with his long, blond hair and it's quite perfect dahil isa siyang surfer and a life guard. It does make sense.

It doesn't take long when we finally reached the Seoul Forest Trimage. The driver dropped us at the front and it was a relief for us that no one was waiting for us outside. Paparazzi knows where he lives. Actually, karamihan ng mga Korean superstar ay nabubulgar din kung saan sila nakatira kaya minsan 'yong privacy na gusto nila, hindi na nila nakukuha since people loves to invade space and privacy.

We headed inside the building and went straight to the elevator lifting us up to his unit floor. Pagkalapag ng elevator, we just walked inside and was slightly confused and terrified when we found out that the lights are opened and we're hearing some people talking and it's coming from the television. Just as when we bound to the living room, we saw Chini and her boyfriend cuddling on the couch there.

Chini shifted her head to look in our direction. She immediately gets up from laying down on her boyfriend's stomach and she muted the TV. They both eating popcorns and watching some American chick flick movie.

"Nandiyan na pala kayo," she casually said. PSG just waved at us. "Sorry, we made a little mess."

Umikot ang tingin ko sa paligid. Hindi naman gano'n kakalat, but the pillows are everywhere. Wala namang reaksyon si BJH. He just put our stuff down and he seated across the couple.

"So, you said you're at the meeting," BJH spoke.

Humalakhak si Chini. "I know that's a good lie at naniwala kayong dalawa 'yon. I know this happens when I've heard that you guys had the same flight with those two so we planned to stay here while chilling and then let you struggle there kasi hindi kayo nakikinig sa akin! At ano 'yong kiss-kiss niyong dalawa? Bakit may pa-gano'n?"

He sighed. "It's for them to stop following us. It worked."

"But it didn't stop when you came back here," she pointed out. "But good thing for both of you who made it out alive there. I've been reading online that you were trapped inside the airport. That was hilarious!"

"That's not funny, Chini," he countered. "Any of it was never funny."

Chini fixed her poisture at sumeryoso ito. "Well, if you guys just answered my calls and messages, I would be there to save you guys, but it's for both of you to have your lesson. Ang sarap kaya mag-chill lang."

BJH heaved out a deep sighed while I slowly found somewhere to seat. Kanina pa ako nakatayo at pinapanood lang silang dalawa. Pinakuwento ni Chini kay BJH kung anong nangyari during our stay in Jeju and he's not talking so she shifted her attention to me. Nabuhayan ako ng dugo sa tanong niya. Tiningnan ko pa si BJH to get his permission, but he didn't say anything. Still, Chini insisted so I told her what happened for the rest of our stay in Jeju.

She keeps sighing so loud when I kept uttering Dong-yoon and Mi-sun's name saka siya iiling-iling. She really looked disappointed of how we planned it, though sumusunod lang ako sa utos ni BJH pero sa akin bumabalandra ang lahat since I'm his assistant—pero assistant nga lang naman ako. I don't make the decisions for them.

"Why did you guys have to meet with them?" tanong ni PSG.

"For fun," BJH answered. "And to give what they want. They won't stop coming at us so I've accepted their invitation. In the end, I still took their spotlight away and the attention was on me."

"Yeah, right. It was funny how they copied your post and visit the vendor on the Seongsan Ilchulbong." He chuckled.

"Just don't ever do it again, Jin-hyeong," utos ni Chini.

"Okay, stop," BJH said, fixing his posture and sat properly. Sumeryoso rin ang kanyang mukha at pananalita. Napaismid si Chini at PSG at nakinig sa sasabihin ng alaga nito. "The reason why I go to Jeju and brought Raijine with me is to have some peace. I tried getting away with this. I know this is part of our world, but I needed some peace of mind rather than hearing people telling me what to do and such. When I was in Jeju, I've got to do whatever I want and not minding out of what they would say. I posted that picture because I find genuineness in her so I tried helping her out and that's not to cause my popularity to rise. I thought I could get some rest after my military, but work already come my way then it hit me. I had to get away with this life for a few weeks so I can take care of myself. I did that not to be cruel for you, but for my being. It helps me so I hope that you can understand that. It's suffocating me, Chini, but I came back now, so don't choke me with all the workloads. I'm gonna rest for now. See you later."

BJH stood and left us in the living room. He headed back to his room and we're filled with silence and it feels like no one would like to speak first. I'm not surprised about what he said. Nabanggit na rin sa akin 'yon no'n and I don't blame him. If that's what he feels, kailangan niya rin ilabas 'yon so people around him would know about

"Gano'n na ba ako ka-toxic?!" takang tanong ni Chini.

"Uhm... maybe he's right. You're a little bit condescending at times," PSG said, shrugging off.

She sighed, shaking his head. "If I just had known... but anyway, I'll try to be a little less mean now. But it seems like Jin-hyeong wouldn't get away with projects now. He would love this. I'm sure he will."

Sa ngitian pa lang ni Chini, I know that it will be good for BJH. Though I felt bad for Chini who's just doing her job and then she didn't know she's already suffocating him, but that's her lesson as well.

We all need to work out on something, but I guess, starting this day we'll come to achieve something greater, and who knows when.

***

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoy this chapter! Let me know your thoughts! I would appreciate it so much!

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