The following weeks of assisting Casey on her training at the diner was a just a breeze.

Martin was quite surprised at mabilis lang matuto si Casey sa mga gawain sa diner. She was not even acting up, hindi maarte lalo na sa mga gawaing paglilinis. Kaliwa't kanang tawanan pa nga ang inaabot nilang dalawa habang nagtatrabaho sa kusina.

There was even a time that they went home late since they got wet after splashing water to each other in the kitchen.

Tumambay pa sila sa malapit na milk tea shop, and somehow they managed to get to know each other more.

"Habang nagtatarabaho tayo, you keep mentioning your sister, Kesha. How is she?" Ang tanong ni Martin kay Casey while both of them are waiting for their milk tea.

Casey looked at the sky above, it was dark as the clouds covered most of the stars. "She's doing fine naman. Medyo makulit nga lang. Hindi kami masyadong close no'n pero alam niya naman na I care for her. Hindi kasi ako malambing na tao," aniya.

"Paanong hindi malambing?"

"I rarely show emotion sa family namin. I cringe whenever there's moment na may yakapan, iyakan, or mga heart to heart talk. Hindi ako sanay sa gano'n, though I can say mas comfortable akong umiyak sa taong hindi ko kapamilya," Casey smiled.

"I see, gets ko naman yung gano'ng situation." Martin looked at the sidewalk in front of the shop. May mga namataan siyang naglalakad na mga mag-partner, he can see most of them holding each other's hand, looking at each other's eyes with smile carved on their face. He somehow wishes he can feel it too.

"How about you? I haven't heard anything about your family?" Casey asked Martin.

"Well," umiling-iling si Martin. "It's quite a very complicated family, you know what I mean? Masyadong magulo yung background namin. The reason why I'm here is due to a serious business matter," ani Martin.

"Business matter? You mean, working student?"

"No, it's quite deeper than that. I'm not just a normal college student working his way to graduation, but I work for something else kasi," dagdag pa ni Martin.

He wants to share a lot of things yet he couldn't do so. He know the difficulty of the subject matter they were talking about. Hindi pa siya handang sabihin ang lahat tungkol sa magulong connections ng pamilya niya. If he wants to keep his inner peace, silence and ignorance is the key to it.

No reason to overthink, no reason to be bothered at all. However, Casey comes into view and started to disturb Martin's sacred rule. She wants more, she craves more, and in fact, her nature makes Martin feel so vulnerable. Na sa isang tingin lang ng babaeng nasa kaniyang harapan, she would be able to get information right away.

That Casey could work as an interrogative agent if given the chance to do police officer works. She will fit in the good guy's shoes.

"Hindi ka naman nagbebenta ng drugs ano?" Pabirong sambit ni Casey.

"Hell no, I will not do drugs at any given time."

"Akala ko eh. And speaking of drugs, nabalitaan mo na ba yung mga drug cases sa campus natin? May nagpapakalat daw kasi ng party drugs doon," Casey asked him.

The topic she brought up piqued Martin's interest. "I heard about it. May idea ka ba about that? Any theories? Thoughts?"

Casey shrugged. "Personally wala, but I know some of my classmates na may idea sa nangyari. I didn't bother asking them about it, wala naman akong pakialam sa kanila knowing na it's their decision to take drugs and live a miserable life."

"You know what, can I meet those friends of yours?" Martin asked her that made Casey a little bit surprised.

Halata sa pagkunot ng noo ni Casey na nagulat siya sa tanong nito. Why would Martin suddenly gets interested about her friends who knows what could have happened?

"Weird, but why?" she asked.

"I'm actually writing a case research."

"And what's this research for?"

"Minor subject?"

"Minor subject. Pero bakit yun yung topic mo?"

Martin does not want to lose his cool. "Look, this is a great opportunity for us to find out what happened. Naisip ko kasi na puwede kong ibunyag yung nangyayari sa campus natin knowing na walang ginagawa ang school administration natin tungkol dito."

"Pero masyadong risky kung itutuloy mo 'yan."

"I've been risking the whole time, Casey."

"Well..." Casey slowly looked away. Hindi niya alam kung anong mararamdaman niya sa nangyayari.

"I mean, you have some friends who have information."

"Fine. Hindi ko lang alam kung ba't bigla kang nagka-interes about sa party drugs na kumakalat sa campus. Na-mention ko lang naman siya kasi akala ko you're part of it," Casey slowly nodded. "Pero sige, if you want to write a research about it. I'll help. I'll ask some of my closest friends who knows more about it. Pero Martin ah, labas ako rito."

Ngumiti si Martin. "Sure, sure. That's why I asked only to meet your friends at ako na bahala sa lahat."

"Ano pa bang magagawa ko, ang cute cute mo pa naman manghingi ng favor," natawa na lang si Casey kahit aminado siya sa sarili niya na kinakabahan siya para kay Martin.

"You never fail to make me feel flushed," bulong pa ni Martin.

Before Casey could ever say a word after what he whispered, the cashier called them asking them to get their orders.

Sabay silang tumayo at kinuha ang order nilang milk tea, they were happy to see their drink prepared. Kahit na may kaunting basa pa sa kanilang mga damit, the coldness of being wet didn't bother them anymore.

Inihatid muna ni Martin si Casey sa bahay nila. He booked a car to fetch them and bring them home.

"See you tomorrow," ang sabi pa ni Martin kay Casey bago ito pumasok sa gate ng bahay nila.

"See ya, anyway, saan ka nga pala nakatira ngayon?" Casey asked.

"Sa Dormisteryo," ang sagot ni Martin.

"Seriously? Doon ka nakatira? I have heard bad news about that dorm," gulat na sambit ni Casey. She was thinking about the negative things she might have heard about the building.

"Hindi totoo ang mga 'yon, it was just bad publicity." Depensa pa ni Martin. "Anyway, mauna na ako at naghihintay si manong driver," ang sabi pa nito.

Tumango na lang si Casey. "Alrighty, goodbye. Ingats sa pag-uwi."

As both of them bade each other goodbye, Martin saw a glimpse of the window at the second floor of Casey's house. Bahagya itong nakabukas at nakita niya ang isang babae na nakadungaw mula roon.

Is that Kesha? Casey's younger sister? He thought.

But before he could even look furthermore. The car sped up and leaves the vicinity. Nakauwi namang maayos si Martin ngunit sa pagpasok niya sa loob ng dormitory, someone was waiting for him already.

"Do you have any updates?" Ang tanong ng lalaking nakatayo sa may veranda, he was not looking at him yet he provides a very intriguing aura even from behind.

"Meron naman akong balita," sambit ni Martin.

"We need to get more, Martin. Time is running out, we're not playing here."

"I know. In fact I have someone who can help us find more information about this, discreetly," sambit ni Martin.

"Who is this person?"

"My new colleague."

"Are you prepared to lose someone?"

Hindi nakasagot si Martin sa tanong ng lalaking nakatayo sa may veranda. He knows one thing for sure, this is dangerous for Casey.

"Looks like this someone new is not just someone for you," sambit pa nito.

"Hindi ko siya idadamay sa bagay na 'to, Pa."

"Remember our goal, Martin. We need to stop them. Remember what happened to your mother," dahan-dahan na humarap sa kaniya ang tatay niya.

Martin's father has a scar on his left eye. It is blind yet Martin can feel it can see things he couldn't even see clearly. "You're a part of our family, Martin. You know what dangers our family have to endure. If you don't want things to get messy, do your task as I told you."

"Yes, Pa. Ginagawa ko naman ang lahat ng kaya kong gawin," ani Martin, he somehow felt sad about hearing it from his dad.

Losing his mother made him feel like he's a material his father can use to help their company. He was given a task to follow in this place. He must stop this drug trade happening at the campus.

But the task is much harder than what it poses. He knew what those people behind the scene are capable of. And his father entrusted this task to him as they're also facing other casualties somewhere else.

"Good. Anyway, you'll have newer tenants here. I expect they'll be here in the next couple of days," dagdag pa nito.

"Are they part of the project?"

His father didn't answer but slowly walks to his direction. "You must be tired, magpahinga ka na lang muna."

His father handed him an envelope that he knows for sure contains money as his allowance. Agad ding lumabas ng unit 16 ang papa niya at tuluyan nang nilisan ang Dormisteryo.

As Martin pondered about what's happening, he somehow regrets involving Casey to what's really happening.

But as part of the project, he will do his best to fulfill his part despite risking of losing everything that he may have right now.