Chapter Four

Being hit by a van was none of the lists that I had yet—fine, to do while I was here.

Pareho kaming napatitig ni Chelsea sa puting van na nasa harap namin. All we could see was the dark tinted windows restricting us from seeing the inside. My heart was in a fast pace and my breathing was in a hitch. Muntik na kaming masagasaan! Sa isang pedestrian lane!

Like, what the—! I stopped myself. There was a more raging human beside me.

"Hey! Bumaba ka riyan! Hindi mo ba nakitang naka-green stoplight?! And damn, why can't I see a single traffic enforcer here?!" Pinagsasapak ni Chelsea ang bintana ng pinto ng passenger's seat. She was so infuriated that I didn't know how to calm her down. And how could I calm her if I, myself was having a hard time retrieving the normal pace of my heart?

Hindi pa rin ako nakaka-get over sa nangyari. Kung hindi lang dahil sa mabilis naming pag-atras pabalik sa gilid ng lane ay baka nasagasaan na kami. Hindi ko rin alam kung mabuti bang kami lang ang narito ngayon dahil hindi ko ata kakayanin ang makakuha ng atensyon ng maraming tao.

Hinawakan ko na lang ang braso niya para matigil siya. "Chelsea…" tawag ko sa kaniya sa mahinang tinig. We were kind of getting anyone's attention now and that was not good. Attracting more people's attention was the least thing I wanted to happen while I was in this place. I just so hated attentions.

Chelsea sighed exasperatedly. "At aba, patigasan ba ng mukha rito?! Hindi man lang ba siya bababa para makipag-areglo?" And she couldn't seem to calm down.

"Chelsea, hayaan mo na lang." I held her arm and tried to pull her forward to get going. Pero mukhang wala siyang balak magpapigil.

"No. Matatanggap ko kung nasa Pinas tayo, pero nasa Korea tayo, Hanselle!" She jerked my hand away that startled me but I got preoccupied when she again hit the tinted window several times.

Patigasan nga dahil walang may gustong umatras. This wasn't good. We were not from here kaya gusto kong umalis na lang at huwag nang palakihin pa ang gulo since wala namang nasaktan sa aming dalawa. At nasa kalsada kami!

"Shit! Sumasakit na ang kamay k—" She stopped rambling abruptly when the door of the front seat suddenly pushed open.

Lumabas mula roon ang isang medyo obese na lalaking nakaputing bukas na zip-up hoodie, ipinapakita ang puting t-shirt na panloob niya at itim na cap. He looked messy and stinky. Magulo ang buhok niya at gusot ang puting T-shirt niya. May suot din siyang eyeglasses na nagkukubli sa mga singkit niyang mga mata.

He looked spent and wasted more than messy to be honest.

"Sorry for what happened. We're really in a rush," the man said in a monotone voice while looking at us apologetically. He kept the car door opened as if making things just as fast as possible.

Napanganga kami ni Chelsea dahil sa biglaan niyang paglitaw at dahil sa mga sinabi niya. The raging girl stopped and just stared at the man in daze. Hindi namin naintindihan ang mga sinabi ng lalaki pero nakakagulat pala talaga kapag harap-harapan kang nakakarinig ng taong nagsasalita ng Korean.

Just, it felt weird.

Sanay akong nakakarinig ng French and Chinese languages during my college days from my classmates because some of them were foreigners, but hearing a Korean spoke kinds of felt weird. Kasi sa K-Drama ko lang sila napapanood noon, minsan ay sa ilang mga BTS Bomb videos.

Nang makabawi ako ay nilingon ko si Chelsea para lang makitang nakatitig pa rin siya sa lalaki. Iniisip din ba niya ang parehong iniisip ko at nararamdaman ko?

"Hey!" I nudged at her.

Napatalon siya sa gulat at muling bumalik sa reyalidad. Mabibilis ang paghingang hinarap niya ang lalaki. "You… y-you almost hit us. Can't you apologize for it?" kalmadong tanong ni Chelsea sa mahinang tinig.

I mentally chuckled as her raging mood went missing. That fast. Just because there was a Korean guy in front of us.

"Ah! Sorry for what h-happened," the man apologetically said, speaking hard English in a Korean accent. He must have realized that we were not Koreans and we couldn't understand his language.

Muntik na akong mapangiwi sa paraan ng pag-iingles niya. It was familiar. Freaking familiar. Hindi ba't ganoon kung mag-english ang ilang trying hard na Korean actor o actress sa mga K-Drama'ng napapanood ko?

"Hey manager, what's taking you so long?! We need to rush!" From inside the van, at the front seat, a man peeked and shouted.

My heart took a pause as I shockingly stared at the very familiar man. Nasa loob siya ng sasakyan at nakasilip sa bintanang hindi namin namalayan ang pagbubukas. Together with him inside the van was the other members of LUX, others were sleeping while the others were busy with their phones.

There was no K-Pop fan who wouldn't recognize them! They were like one of the most famous K-Pop boy groups nowadays.

"Oh my god! Am I really seeing Byun Bien of LUX!?" Chelsea shockingly remarked, recognizing the handsome Idol too. That was what I wanted to ask myself too.

I was not a fan of LUX but I knew every member and I couldn't believe this, Byun Bien of LUX was actually, really, materializing in front of us now with an innocent expression. Siya ang nasa tabi ng bintana kaya siya ang nakikita namin.

"I need to settle things here," the messy man told Bien as he signaled him to close the window. Tumango si Bien at bago bumalik sa loob ay tinapunan niya muna kami ng nagtatakang tingin at isang mapaglarong ngiti. Paradoxical expression he had there. The tinted window then came to our sight again.

"Omo! Omo! It's really Bien!" And my friend here started to get hysterical and by all means.

Ang buong akala kong tatagal na aregluhan ay na-uwi sa pagbabalik ng lalaki ng notebook ni Chelsea matapos ang ilang minuto. Ito malamang ang manager ng LUX, seeing how Bien easily followed the man earlier.

"I can't believe you settled everything with just their signatures," I told her, disbelievingly.

We finally crossed the street safely.

Chelsea, just like me, wasn't yet over what happened to us awhile. Though, signature lang nina Bien, Key at Yeol ang nakuha namin dahil tulog ang iba at hindi na namin inistorbo pa. Mukhang tuwang-tuwa naman si Chelsea kahit na ganoon dahil hindi na nawala ang ngiti niya. Ngiting tagumpay ng isang fan.

I wondered, would I ever get over if it was BTS? I might die. To much exaggeration but I knew BTS' effect on me.

What was so good about being almost hit by a car? That was meeting Idols in a most unexpected accident, in a most unexpected place. Very phenomenal, ang suwerte naman yata namin?

"This is more interesting than dragging them to the police station, you know…" She shrugged looking ahead our way. "But really? LUX ba talaga iyon?! If only they agreed to take photos with us pero naiintindihan ko namang hindi puwede iyon lalo na at nasa public place tayo kanina."

Wala sa sariling tumango-tango ako sa sinabi niya. We saw the whole members of LUX. One of the most influential K-Pop boy groups worldwide. I had used seeing celebrities due to my work environment pero iba pala talaga kapag nakaharap mo ang mga taong nasa kabilang panig ng mundo mo.

What had happened made me so speechless.

"Anyways, let's put your thing in good use," aniya nang huminto siya para humarap sa akin kaya't napahinto na rin ako. Hinila niya ako sa isang sulok, making one of the establishments as our background.

Napansin kong isang noodle restaurant ang nasa likod namin. It had hangul signage and an image of a bowl of noodles. Hindi ko na kailangan pang alamin kung isa nga iyong noodle restaurant dahil sa imahe.

Inginuso niya sa akin ang Polaroid camera kong nakasabit sa leeg ko. I nodded as realization hit me. Ah, she wanted us to take a photo here. Maganda nga namang kumuha ng litrato rito. We took one photo and we were satisfied. Nagpatuloy na muli kaming maglakad, well, again with the topic of LUX. Hindi kasi talaga kami makapaniwalang nakita namin sila.

Of the million people here in Korea, encountering a K-Pop group was just a small chance to have. Not to mention we were both a K-Pop fans from outside the country. Naiisip ko kasing mas malaki ang chance ng mga hindi K-Pop fans kaysa sa aming mga nangangarap talaga.

Well, it was how it always had been for fans.

And damn, they all looked stunning! Para silang hindi mga tao. Their faces were just too good in person. Their looks were deceiving. They were good looking behind the screen, but damn, those looks were beyond just handsome!

I then wondered again… how did it feel to see BTS face to face? I might tongue tie.

Chelsea grinned at me as we shopped at the little shelves inside the convenient store. I could only imagine a Cheshire cat smiling at me as if I got caught doing something absurd.

Nagtatakang nilingon ko siya. "What?" I asked, confused of her action. Kanina pa kasi niya ako nginingisihan. She was becoming a little bit creepy.

"Lumalabas ang pagiging Korean stan mo. So that's how you are when you are comfortable," she said nodding like she just understood something about me.

I pursed my lips. Why was she being observant now? Pero sabagay, observant naman talaga siya. She already suspected me when we were still in the Philippines and just had got her assumption confirmed when we had arrived here.

Dinampot ko ang isang rice cake na nakita ko sa estante para lang ma-ilayo sa kaniya ang paningin ko at naghanap pa ng puwede kong bilhin.

"You are avoiding eye contact, why's that?" She asked me in a teasing tone. Hinahabol niya ang paningin ko kahit na yumuyuko na ako.

I raised the rice cake I got from the shelf. "I'll take this," wika ko na hindi man lang sinulyapan ng tingin ang packaging ng pagkain.

"Sure? Did you even look on its price?" untag niya, nasa tono pa rin ang pang-aasar.

Hindi ko na siya nilingon pa at nagtungo na ako sa kabilang estante. Mga biscuits ang naroon at mga bars. Walang makikitang foreign products, puro mga local goods ng Korea. I see. That was how loyal they were to their country.

"Come on, Hanselle! Nahihiya ka pa rin ba sa akin? We are both a Korean stan here! There is nothing to be ashamed of!" she convincingly told me, slightly exaggerated.

Muli akong dumampot ng kung ano sa mga bars pero this time, I got a bar with cheese flavor. Well, at least that was how I saw it since it had yellow packaging, isa pa, I liked cheese flavors. Next stop was the fridge. Wala akong makitang Dutchmill kaya nagkasya na lang ako sa nakita kong Yakult. I got a pack of it. Kumuha rin si Chelsea. Iyon pa lang ang nakukuha niya simula nang pumasok kami rito pero naintindihan ko iyon dahil bumili na siya kanina.

"Hm, ano kaya ang puwede kong gawin para mapalabas ko iyang pagiging taklesa mo. I know, I know you have it too. You are just too shy to show it," sabi niya na tipong siguradong-sigurado sa sinasabi niya.

I smiled secretly. You don't have to drag it out forcefully, it will show eventually. You just have to wait, I mentally said.

Bukod sa mga napili ko, bumili rin ako ng mga chips na madalas kong kainin sa Pinas, nag-try rin ako ng ibang chips na Korean made. We even tried the ginseng candy that we often saw in dramas. Well, our trip didn't end there…

"Ah Miss!" Tinawag ni Chelsea ang isang babaeng dumaan sa harap namin.

I face-palmed because of that. Mang-iistorbo talaga siya ng tao para lang sa trip niya.

"Waeyo?" The girl passerby confusedly asked.

"Can you take a photo of us? Here's the camera," Chelsea nicely asked the girl.

Kumunot ang noo ng babae at umiling. After bowing, she left. Sabay kaming nagpakawala ng buntong-hininga ni Chelsea dahil doon. Hindi ko masabing nahihiya na ako sa mga pinanggagawa niya. Seriously?

"Sana kasi nag-aral muna ako ng hangul e! Wala tuloy nakaka-intindi sa atin dito!" naggdadabog na sabi niya.

"Hayaan mo na. I think we can manage to take a photo… I mean, selfie," I told her trying to light up the secondhand embarrassment I had been getting.

"Pero mas maganda kung kita whole body," malungkot niyang sabi. Her shoulders were down and she was pouting, showing how sad she was.

In the end, we just took a selfie. We stopped after getting a few shots. Tiningnan namin lahat ng shots namin. She took all of it from me. Siya na raw ang magtatago ng mga iyon.

Nang magsawa kami ni Chelsea, as the dusk came, napagdesisyunan naming bumalik na sa hotel. We had gotten too conscious now as we were crossing the street. We could afford to cross path with another celebrity, we couldn't afford to lose our lives for the second time. But we did not foresee what would happen…

"Oh my God, no, no!" Isinatinig na ni Chelsea ang gusto kong sabihin.

We stared breathlessly as the approaching car screeched its way towards the oblivious lady crossing the pedestrian.  Parang naulit lang iyong senaryo namin kanina. The car, the stop light and us. Only this time, it wasn't us, it was a lady. And gratefully, just like how our scene ended earlier, the car took a harsh halt.

Instinctively, we ran towards the lady. Mukhang gulat siya dahil sa humintong sasakyan sa harap niya. The window of the car slid down. Iniluwa noon ang ulo ng isang babae.

"Yah!" the lady driver shouted. "Are you stupid?!"

"Mianhaeyo!" the lady said as she gracefully bowed, her was voice too soft but too stern too.

Napansin ko ang ayos ng babae. She looked ordinary but I could see brands all over her. Mula sa nakalawit na mga hikaw sa mga tainga niya, nag-iisang kuwintas sa leeg niya, ang kaniyang floral blouse pababa sa itim niyang saya hanggang sa mga suot niyang heels. They were all shouting elegance and brands but her total appearance didn't look that way. She was all but simple.

"Get out of the way, old lady!" the girl in the car once again shouted.

Hindi ko naintindihan ang mga pinagsasabi nila, nevertheless, hinawakan ko ang braso ng babae at inalalayang gumilid sa side lane. The car then took off as we all watched it disappear from our sight.

Humarap sa amin ni Chelsea ang babae. She had soft features and looked too innocent. May dala siyang kung anong mga bagay na binalot sa tela. I knew what were those. I often saw those in dramas. It could be foods, well, pagkain talaga dahil ganoon ang nakikita ko sa mga drama pag nagdadala o nag-uuwi sila ng mga homemade foods.

"Thank you," she formally told us. I could understand basic Hangul due to the influence of K-Drama I had watched.

Binatawan ko ang kamay niya at ngumiti. "It's nothing," tanging sagot ko dahil hindi naman ako sigurado kung nakaka-intindi ba siya ng Ingles.

The lady smiled widely. "You are foreigners?" she bluntly asked.

Napanganga kami pareho ni Chelsea. The accent she used was not so good but we were still stunned to know that she could speak English. Tumango kami ng sabay ni Chelsea.

"I see. I hope you are loving the city. Seoul is lovely. That's why I chose not to bring a car. It's nice to see the city," she told us, indicating the nice weather of the city or maybe, the city itself. I really didn't know. She said it generally.

"Ah Miss, we can cross the street together," alok ni Chelsea sa babae na malugod naman niyang pinaunlakan matapos magpasalamat ulit.

And jus like that, we crossed the street together. Now, I had one constant memory of pedestrians. Two almost accidents and one Korean acquaintance.

Nalaman naming hindi siya taga-Seoul, she was from Busan and just came here to visit her son that was so busy to find his way to Busan to visit her. Aniya ay sobrang excited lang daw siya na makita ang anak niya kaya't hindi niya napansin ang traffic light kanina.

For a mother, she was surely sweet and thoughtful.

Naalala ko tuloy si Mamang. They were kind of the same. Nandiyang magugulat na lang ako dahil pagdating ko ng bahay, sobrang linis ng lahat at puno na ng pagkain ang refrigerator ko. Only a note was left to explain everything. Turn out, it was my mom.

Well, mothers were the best.