Tumakbo ako papalapit sa kanya, pushing past a few people who appear to have bathed in cologne. He had his hands in his pockets and his face was expressionless at hinawakan ko ang kamay nya.

Nabigla sya sa ginawa ko, "What are you-" he exclaimed, surprised.

I instanlty leaned in at bumulong sa kanya,"Please don’t act weirdly. Pretend to be my boyfriend,"

Strawberry guy, as I call him, stares at me blankly, at tinginanan ang mga lalaking nakatayo sa likod ko.

Napansin ata ng mga lalaki na hindi ako kilala ni strawbery guy at sinabing, “Hindi, miss, mukhang hindi ka nga kilala ng lalaking to-" the second guy began, but was cut off.

"Do you have a problem with my girlfriend?" Strawberry guy raised his eyebrows, cutting his sentence off.


Nabigla ako dun kaya I masked it bago pa man nila ako mabuking. Thank goodness ang bilis nyang maintindihan ako!

“Sure ka? Girlfriend mo sya?” They kept mocking us. I looked at Strawberry Guy and told him to do something—anything...

Bigla nya akong hinawakan. Tightly. I mentally gasped.

Napaangat ako ng tingin sa kanya, watching how serious he was.

Well, hindi niya naman kailangan mag act sa pagiging seryoso dahil kuhang kuha nya. Kumuha sya ng pera sa kanyang wallet at tinapon to sa mga lalaki.

It took the guys a moment to realize what was going on as the money fell to the floor, but they were quick on their feet at kinuha ang mga pera sa sahig.

“Pera ba gusto nyo? Then come here, get everything, and stay out of my girllfriend’s way. This is going to be the last warning for you.” Strawberry guy from beside me said in a low and deep voice, attempting to intimidate them while still holding my hands.

Nararamdaman ko kung gaano ka pawis ang kamay ko at bigla ako napapray na sana hindi nya napansin to.

Gumana naman ang plano ni strawberry guy kaya biglang tumakbo paalis ang tatlong lalaki sa harapn namin.

Napasinghap ako. Finally.

"Now, if you'll excuse us," Strawberry guy said, dragging me away from the scene, muntikan pa akong madapa pero hinawakan nya ako. Tinulungan nya pa akong bitbitin ang mga karga kong grocery bags.

Nang makaalis na kami, a wave of relief washed over me... I hadn't realized how much sweat had accumulated on my brow until now.

Once we were out of the mall and on the streets, binitawan nya na ang kamay ko.

He gave me a cold stare before walking away without saying anything else.

I felt a little guilty for dragging him into this mess.

Pero may utang na ako ngayon sa kanya. Kailangan ko siyang pasalamatan…

"Teka, sir!"

I called out, pero naglalakad na sya ng palayo sakin.

I was thinking about his name...oh..hindi ko nga pala alam anong pangalan nya!
"Strawberry guy!" I yelled. That was the first thing that came to my mind.

He freezes, and I take advantage of the opportunity to catch up to him.

"First and foremost, I apologize for dragging you into this. Sorry po talaga, sir,” Pagsisimula ko pa nung makuha ko na ang atensyon niya. “Tinatanong nung mga lalaki kung meron ba akong boyfriend…. I didn't have any, so I was desperate to find a guy just to play a part. At bigla kitang nakita so…." I rambled a little too quickly.

"Strawberry guy?" Tanong nya pa matapos akong magsalita.

Tumango ako, "I'm afraid I don't know what your name is. And you are obligated to apologize to me from what you did back at the shop.” Sagot ko pa.

"Apologize to you? If anything, ikaw ang dapat na magpasalamat sakin. You've got guts, miss.” He said this with a blank expression on his face.

I'm not sure why it bothers me, but it does. Can't he show even a tinge of emotion to allow me to read him?

I let out a sigh. "Those words you said were quite harsh," I said, making a sense out of him.

He rolled his eyes at me and mumbled, "Childish and shallow,"

I glared at him, "Narinig ko yun!”

"Why don't you stop wasting my time and just thank me for what I did earlier?” he asked as he crossed his arms. ‌ ‌”Ikaw ang dapat na magpasalamat.”

Napansin ko kung pano sya magsalita ng tagalog. It seems he’s not that fluent with the way the words seemd stiff from him.

I snorted at that before responding, "I will only thank you after you have apologized.”

"No, I will never." He replied.

Ganito ba gusto nya? Damn. My temper is quickly rising, and I'm sure I'll lose control of my desire to punch that face any minute now.

"Okay then," I said dismissively, habang kinukuha ang aking mga grocery bags at iniwan na sya.

Screw him.

Ayaw kong magpaapekto pero inis na inis na ako. Ayoko nang makakausap ng mga taong kagaya nya.

I wished I hadn't chased him down and given him his change! Why did I even bother to show kindness? I should've known he'd turn out to be an obstinate jerk! ‌ ‌

***‌ ‌

After that incident, umuwi na ako para makapagprepare sa trabaho mamaya.

Customers weren't as frequent, and I had to restrain myself from playing games on my phone out of boredom.

I'd learned my lesson the first time around.

I was thankful that Mr. Tim, the owner, and manager of this store, is on vacation. Kasi kung hindi, baka fired na ako dito sa trabaho.

Bumalik ang mga sinabi ni strawberry Guy's sakin. ‌

"If I were the owner, I could have fired you for playing in the middle of your work,"

Napailing ako. “Fire my ass." That irritated me to no end. Though I despise admitting it, mayroon siyang point. At work, I had been irresponsible and careless. But at the very least, sana sinabi niya ng maayos!

Emma, ang katrabaho ko, was still at the store, beaming excitedly when it was my turn in the shift. "Nakita mo ba yang lalaki na yan?” Tanong nya pa at tiningnan ko kung saan sya nakaturo at nakita si strawbery guy.

I raised my eyebrows at her. What about the strawberry guy? That rude guy? ‌ I had already known that Emma likes handsome boys and that man is sure hot but she wouldn’t want a very rude guy like him right?

"Kanina pa yan mga isang oras na…tinatanong kung saan ka," she said, squealing excitedly..

Strawberry guy noticed us and turned to look at me, our eyes suddenly meeting. Napatili pa si Emma habang tinitingnan kami.

She gushed at me, "Is that one of your admirers?” Before I could even reply to her, nagtanong naman sya, “Is this going to be your own romantic love story, Snow? Omg!Nasesense ko na!”

I gave her a sidelong glance, sighing at her state. . Emma and her irrational fantasies. Tsk. I thought I had already grown accustomed to it, pero minsan sobra na rin ata sya mag-imagine. Parang pang mental na level na.

"Hindi ba tapos na ang shift mo?" I said, cutting off her delulu state.

She looked at me in disappointment, "Pero gusto ko makita ang love story mo,” I playfully hit her at that and she stopped, “-never mind.......bye, Snow!" sigaw nya pa habang paalis.

In displeasure, I crunched my nose at what Emma was just saying.
Is it a love story? Gust kong masuka sa mga sinasabi nya. Ew…

I couldn’t help but glance at the strawberry guy again, who was still looking at me with an expression I couldn’t read.

Bakit sya nandito? Baka tungkol sa incident last time sa mall?

Strawberry guy stood up and walked around like he owned the place. My gaze was drawn to his cold green eyes.

"Excuse me sir…do you need anything?" I spoke up. If he's going to mess with me again, I swear... I couldn't even conceive of what I'd do.

He turned to me, leaned on the counter, at bigla siyang napatingin sa nametag ko, "Your name is Snow, right?”

I gulped. Bakit nya tinatanong?