Ellie's POV
It’s been a weeks since I ask Hugo, what happened to him and from that moment I never ask him again. Hindi ko na rin alam kung paano nagsimula, pero naging madalas na ang pagkikita namin ni Hugo tuwing gabi. Minsan sa tapat ng 7/11, minsan malapit sa university na pinagtatrabahuhan, minsan sa park kung saan kami natambay. Hindi ko alam kung bakit, pero sa tuwing magkasama kami, naguusap. Gumagan ang pakiramdam ko.
Ngayon ay ako nakaupo ako sa bench nitong parke, kararating n'ya lang may hawak na kape. Tinanggap ko sa kanya ang paper cup ng kape. “Careful, mainit pa ‘yan,” ani nya.
“Thanks,” sagot ko, tinanggap iyon at ngumiti ng bahagya. Tahimik s'yang tumabi sa’kin while sipping his coffee. Malamig ang ihip ng hangin ngayon, makulimlim rin ang kalangitan. Samantala, mapusyaw ang liwanag ng katabi naming lamppost.Tahimik naming pinagmasdan ang madilim na kabuan ng parke. Dinaramdam ang kapayapaan ng hanggang sa marinig ko siyang magsalita.
“So, how’s your internship? You mentioned you’re handling highschool students, right?”
“Oo,” napangiti ako. “Ayos naman ang mga students ko. Minsan matitigas ang ulo, pero may mga sandaling nakakatuwa silang kasama. I taught them how to write short poems yesterday. One of them wrote, ‘My teacher is the sun that helps me grow.’” Napatawa ako ng marahan. “Hindi ko in-expect ’yon sa isang sixteen-year-old.”
“That’s nice,” sagot ni Hugo. “Basically they're pre teens and they can be honest in ways adults can’t. Sometimes they say what we’re too afraid to admit.” Ani n'ya at humigip ulit ng cafe.
“What about you? You used to be a reporter, right? You must’ve met a lot of people.” Tanong ko. Looking at him. Waiting for a response.
Tahimik siya sandali, parang may pinipiling salita. “Yeah,” aniya. “I remember one boy I interviewed years ago. He was only twelve. I wrote a feature about children who stopped studying to work. He told me he wanted to buy medicine for his mother. He worked at night cleaning the streets.”
Napahinto siya. “A week after the interview, I found out he died. His fragile body couldn’t handle too much work, and that cracked me up. I couldn’t even finish the article. I kept thinking, what's the point of telling stories if the people in them are already gone?”
Tahimik ako. Hindi ko alam kung paano s'ya sasagutin. Nakatingin siya sa malayo, hawak ang paper cup na halos maubos na ang laman. Napatingin ako sa kamay n'ya. May mga tahi ito na hindi maitago ng suot n'yang sleeves ng hoodie nya.
“You know,” he continued, “being a reporter isn’t just about exposing corruption or chasing headlines. It’s about seeing people, their lives, their pain and realizing you can’t save everyone no matter how much you want to. That's what I thought before. You just write, hoping someone will care enough to change something.” Mariing sabi n'ya habang nakatingin sa malayo.
“Maybe you did,” sabi ko. “Maybe someone who read your story started caring.” Tumingin s'ya sa gawi ko.
He smiled faintly, as if half-believing it. “Maybe.”
Napatingin ako sa kanya, and for a moment, I saw a kind of quiet exhaustion behind his calm expression. Parang ilang taon na siyang pagod, pero patuloy pa ring lumalaban.
“Teaching’s not so different,” sabi ko naman. “You plant something in their minds, not knowing if it’ll grow or fade. You hope they remember the good parts, not just the lessons, but how you made them feel.”
“Exactly,” sabi niya, tumango ng marahan. “We both work with stories, just in different ways. You teach new ones, I used to tell the stories of the old ones.”
“Then maybe that’s why we get along,” natatawa kong sabi. “Pareho tayong mahilig sa mga kwento ng tao.”
“Yeah,” he said, smiling for real this time. “And maybe that’s why we both understand loneliness, too. You teach kids who’ll soon forget you, and I write about people who’ll never be remembered.”
Napangiti ako nang mahina. “Still, we try. That’s what matters, right?” tanong ko.
He looked at me, eyes soft and a little sad. “Yeah. That’s what makes us human.”
The wind brushed gently past us, scattering dry leaves on the ground. For a while, neither of us spoke. We just sat there, two people from different worlds, bound by the quiet understanding that we both cared, deeply, painfully, about lives that weren’t our own.
“How about you? Hearing all of this from you makes me think that your work as a journalist messes you up and you are caught in an accident?” Tanong ko. Here am I again asking this sensitive topic to him. I'm just curious about what happened to him.
“That is so intelligent of you. We've been talking for ages now, so I trusted you. I will tell you what happened to me. How do I get these scars and stitches?” Ani n'ya 
“I’m all ears,” ani ko.
“It all started when my wife died. I do everything to cope up, I go on dangerous missions to get information and almost risk my life because I told myself that I don't have something to lose, I lose my life already I lose my life so I still risk it. I received a tip from someone.“
“Tip about?” Tanong ko.
“Tip about unethical human experimentation,” ani n'ya at huminga nga malalim.
“Unethical Human experiments?” mahina kong ulit. “Akala ko, mga kwento lang ‘yon sa balita.”
Tumawa siya nang mapait. “I wish it was.”
“Still,” sabi ko, halos pabulong, “ang hirap paniwalaan na may ganun pa rin ngayon.”
“Yeah, the owner denied the allegation, saying that just created medicine,” Why does it feel like I heard it before. “But that doesn't stop me Ellie, like I said I infiltrated the laboratory and got myself killed, when I wake up I'm back but in different pieces, from that moment I question my existence.” Dagdag pa n'ya, mabilis na niyupi ang paper cup na hawak n'ya.
My chest tightened as the words he said sank in. “Hugo, that's horrible. They killed you, experimented on you and brought you back like that?” I took a shaky step toward him, my voice cracking. “They used you like some kind of science lab project. Those monsters.”
“I’m the monster now, Ellie,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper.
I shook my head, my heart twisting. “You’re not a monster. Your appearance is different, sure, but you’re still human, still you.” Ani ko trying to comfort him.
He gave a sharp, humorless laugh. “You think I’m still human? I don’t even feel human anymore, Ellie. Whatever they did they stripped that away.”
For a moment, neither of us spoke. The hum of the dim lights above was the only sound between us. I could see the pain in his eyes, the kind that went deeper than scars. Though I can't feel his pain, I think it's hurt him so much. Now I regret asking about it. He just relieves the pain over again.
I took a slow breath. “What company did this to you, Hugo? Tell me?” Tanong ko. Hoping that I will help him to throw a case against them.
He nodded slowly and met me in the eyes. “Ciano Research Corporation.”
At the mention of the name, my heart skipped. “Ciano?” I echoed, almost whispering. Tila kinapos ako sa hininga. 
“Yes. Why?” tanong n’ya, napatingin sakin, his brows furrowed slightly. Wondering.
Hindi ko siya agad nasagot. Parang akong hihimatayin. Tila may nakabara sa lalamunan ko, nahihirapan akong magsalita. Nahihirapan akong sabihin ang bagay na natuklasan ko. Bagay na alam ko na sisira sa pagkakaibigan na Meron kaming dalawa. Ngayon ay nakatitig pa rin sya sakin naghihintay ng sasabihin ko. “That company,” Bulong ko. “My father owns it.”
Napapikit s'ya bigla at mapahilamos ng mukha. Parang natahimik ang paligid namin. Ang tanging naririnig ko lang ang tibok ng puso ko at ang atensyon ko lang ay nakatuon sa mukha ni Hugo. He let go a sigh that echoed to my ear. A sigh of disbelief to what I said.
“Your father?” he repeated. “Ellie, your dad is—”
“Mr. Roderick Magtibay,” I said, cutting him off. My voice trembled as I forced the words out. “The CEO of Ciano Research.”
For a moment, neither of us spoke. His face turned pale under the light. Parang dahan-dahan siyang nauupos. 
The realization hit us both, his scars, his stitches, his story about the experiments and the man behind it all, coincidently was my father.
“I didn’t know…” I whispered, my throat tightening. “I swear, Hugo, I didn’t know anything about the experiments. I'm sorry! I'm sorry! ”
He took a deep breath, eyes locked on me, pain flickering behind them. “Ellie,” he said softly, “do you have any idea what that company did to me? What did your father’s research turn me into?”
“I didn’t—” my voice broke, “Hindi ko alam promise. I thought Ciano was just a pharmaceutical company. Alam ko na may ginawang illegal si Papa pero hindi—”
“Maybe you didn’t know. But I lived it.”
He looked away, his hands trembling slightly. “Your father killed who I used to be.” His tone wasn’t angry, just… hollow. 
The words sliced through the air. I felt my chest tighten, my eyes stinging. “I’m sorry,” I whispered, but it sounded useless too small to fix the distance that suddenly grew between us.
The silence that followed was unbearable. The cold wind brushed past us, rustling the dry leaves on the ground. For the first time, I feel the cold wind brushing my hair. Realizing what pain my father inflicted on this man.
Hugo stood up slowly, his voice quiet but heavy. “You should go home, Ellie.” Utos n'ya.
I wanted to stop him, to tell him that I’m not my father, that I’m not part of that cruelty, but no words came out. I could only watch as he walked away, disappearing into the mist, leaving me alone on the bench. Under a dim lamppost.
Nanatili akong nakaupo sa bench, hindi pa naubos ang kape sa paper cup na hawak ko. Kasabay nito ang pagbuhos ng ulan. My father created a monster, his name is Hugo. He's a monster now for loathing his existence. And yet, as I thought about Hugo, I couldn’t see only the scars and the pain, there was still something human in him.
I wondered if he even remembered the person he was before all of this, or if that part of him had been buried beneath the experiments and the suffering. The weight of it pressed on me, a mix of guilt and helplessness. How could I carry the knowledge that my father had destroyed the life of someone who had shown me nothing but honesty and kindness?