February 10, 2020

“Reporter Kang,” Hyewon immediately turned her head to the person who called her. 

“As usual, you'd do a field report,” her supervisor handed her a file. She took it and flipped through its pages. 

“I know there are risks, but we need someone to do this. Most of us here are quite older and more susceptible to diseases,” the supervisor talked through as Hyewon still reads the file. She looked up to her supervisor and flashed a thin smile. 

“I understand Sir. I'm fine taking it. It would also be a great experience.” 

“Well, I'm glad you'd look at it that way, but always be careful.” 

“Yes Sir,” Hyewon responded as she made a salute gesture. Her supervisor left chuckling lightly. As soon as she turned back to her table she sighed immediately. 

“I promised Mom I wouldn't do a field report for the meantime, but what else can I do?” she murmured as she reviewed the file given to her again. While reading, she could hear her mother's nagging voice as they just had a phone call last night. 

“I'm telling you Hyewon, don't take field report duties for now.” 

“Even if it's not COVID related?” 

“With the whole world slowly getting cases of this virus you'd think there would be other things people would talk about?” her mother questions. 

“Yes Mom, definitely,” Hyewon answered nonchalantly.
Her mother hissed through the phone.

“Just! Do as I say. Whatever you report you'd need to go outside so there are chances you get exposed to the virus,” Hyewon sighed inwardly.

“Okay Mom,” she answered half-heartedly.

“Okay good. Goodbye Hyewon, take care. Love you.”

“Hm. Love you too,” Hyewon didn't waste any second and ended the call.

“Hyewon, we should go,” she ended her thoughts and looked up to the guy she closely works with.

“Sure, get everything ready in the van and I'll follow later,” she wore her blazer and took her phone, the file she was given to and a voice recorder. She almost forgot to wear a mask but was able to do so.

The ride to their location was fast and she helped her partner to set everything up. They went inside a building after checking in to security. The press briefing started just in time as they entered. She her recorder while her partner was filming live. She types on her phone the important details and was able to raise a few questions about the recent developments regarding the virus.

After the press conference, she finalized her news report and lowered the mask from her face.

“James, are we good?” she asked her cameraman. She held her mic firmly and settled down as James gave her an ‘okay' sign.

“Good day Philippines,” the newscaster asked her a question and she immediately answered. “Yes Jen, I am currently reporting live from the Department of Health. As we have been tuning in a while ago, the assistant secretary of DOH confirmed the first recovery of COVID-19 after its first case was reported last 29th of January.” The rest of her report went well and she is finally done.

“And… cut!” James ended his filming. He took the mic from Hyewon and as she was on her way to their van, she felt her phone vibrate. She got a hunch on who the caller is.

“YAH KANG HYEWON!” Hyewon took her phone away from her ear for a moment.

“Mom, before you scold me,” Hyewon huffed a sigh. As always, her mother has luck in catching Hyewon's reports at the right moment. “How am I supposed to survive if I don't do field report duties?”

“Hyewon-ah, I'm just worried.”

“I know Mom, but I can't leave work behind. It's not just for a living, it's my passion.” She heard her mother sigh on the other line.

“Aigoo, Hyewon-ah. You're so persistent. How can I stop you from doing what you love?” Hyewon can imagine her mother pressing soothing circles on her temple on the opposite line. She breaks off into a wide smile.

“You can't resist me Mom.”

“Yes, yes you're right Hyewon. Just be more careful. I won't remind you to eat well because I know how much you love it.”

“Yes Mom, I will. Bye,” Hyewon was about to end the call when her mother said something.

“Hyewon-ah, you looked beautiful on T.V. just now.”

~*~

February 14, 2020

“Festivities will still proceed as scheduled with stricter health measures.”

“No! Postpone it, or better yet– cancel it!” Yena complained as she took a seat in their locker room while tuning on the news. She took a sip of her soda as she takes a break from another tiring shift.

“I don't think everyone would be able to comply with the rules,” a woman joined in taking a seat beside Yena.

“Oh Yuri, done with the briefing?”

“Well, yeah, it was quite…” Yuri didn't know what to say anymore and just shrugged. Yena just stared at Yuri and took her glance back to the T.V.

“I just hope nothing bad happens…” Yena muttered.

~*~

March 6, 2020

“Philippines' first local transmission case of COVID-19 confirmed.”

Chef Lee's popular Korean restaurant is still booming despite a few cases being reported on the neighboring city.

“More pork belly on Table 10 please!” a waiter shouted. The kitchen helper immediately prepared a kilo of pork belly to serve. While the staff are busy working at the main hall, a group of 5 dressed in corporate attire with face masks were outside. The hall manager spotted them immediately and she proceeded to entertain the new arrival.

“Good afternoon! A table for five?” she asked.

“We’re not here to eat. We are actually from the local health department,” he showed the I.D. hanging on his neck. “We would like to talk to Ms. Chaeyeon Lee about a customer named Maribel Garcia.”

“Uhm, okay. I’ll call for her immediately. Would you like to wait inside?” the hall manager offered.

“No. We’re good here,” the man immediately declined. She walked back inside the restaurant and went to the kitchen.

“Chef, someone’s looking for you,” Chaeyeon’s attention shifted to the hall manager and she let one of her chefs take over her task. She followed her hall manager through the main hall until the door. She instructed the hall manager to come back to her work.

“Good afternoon, how may I help you?” the man immediately showed his I.D. and told him their purpose of visit.

“So, you were saying I may have contracted the virus?” she confirms.

“Yes. And possibly if not most, few of your staff. The customer has tested positive already.”

“Can you give us a little bit of time? We’ll close immediately after these set of customers are done.”

“Sure. And since they have frequented your establishment, we would also like to have a word with your customers, just to make sure about certain things.”

“I understand Sir. You can wait and take a seat here,”

Chaeyeon immediately came back inside her restaurant, and informed all of her staff in the kitchen. Next, she talked through all of her remaining customers. An hour later, she let the local health department officials enter.

“Good afternoon, everyone. The owner here might have told you already about it so as not to raise any panic among all of you. You may have not been in close contact with our primary subject, but please, if you have flu-like symptoms, do not hesitate to call your local health department for assistance. We want to be careful as much as possible so please be honest and initiative in reaching out to healthcare professionals. This matter doesn't only concern your personal health, but the health of many people who would be in contact with you, in case you have gotten the virus,” right after the healthcare official spoke to the customers, his subordinates talked to the customers who have some questions, and distributed contact numbers for them to contact to in case of emergency or health concern. After their interaction with the customers, the members of the local health department interviewed the restaurant employees one by one.

“Ms. Lee, Ms. Garcia told me that she has been in prolonged close contact with you as the owner of the restaurant, since she had a small gathering for the night she ate here,” Chaeyeon nodded to confirm her customer's statement.

“Yes, that's right. She is also a regular here so we were very much accommodating to her and she personally requested for me to arrange the small gathering here,” she added.

“Because of this, you must undergo a test to confirm if you are positive of the virus, as well as one of your waiters who helped you serve the dishes.”

“Since we also worked closely with the rest of our staff, could you please have them tested too?” Chaeyeon asked. “I would just like to make sure that we are all clear…” the official looked at her and smiled.

“That would be fine Ms. Lee. It is very kind and initiative of you to do so.”

After their individual interviews, Chaeyeon left the restaurant to the hall manager.

“Kaye, have it closed for a while until we're done with quarantine. Also, take a rest in your homes, don't engage in close contact with other people,” Chaeyeon reminded everyone. They were escorted by the health official and rode to the quarantine facility.

~*~

March 9, 2020

“March 7, suspension of work and classes in various areas were announced. Yesterday, March 8, the government declared a public state of emergency. Classes in Manila suspended until March 15.”

“Hitomi!” a classmate of Hitomi waved her hand.

“Mia,” Hitomi called on her friend and Mia was about to hug her when—

“Oops, no hugging for a while,” Hitomi held out her hand in front of her to decline Mia's hug. Mia pouted a bit and Hitomi couldn't do anything but let out a chuckle.

“I'm sorry Mia, Mom reminded Yujin and I not to engage too close with other people. Friends are no exception,” Hitomi explained.

“No worries Hii. We also saw that in the news but we didn't pay much attention to it,” Mia responded with a hint of regret.

“Ah! Since we can't hug, let's just do this,” Hitomi lifted one of her legs, and gestured to Mia to do the same. She then bumped her foot on both sides of her friend’s foot. Mia beamed in realization.

“Hii, let's add this!” she twisted her hip along with their lifted legs and they giggled at the new greeting they came up with.

“This is great!” they suddenly joined their hands together for a high-five due to their excitement.

“Oh-!” Hitomi widened her eyes from surprise.

“Let's just sanitize with alcohol,” Mia immediately suggests.

~*~

“Kids, settle down!” the grade 1 students went back to their seats instantly.

“Today, we are going to practice something!” the teacher started cheerfully. The kids then paid more attention to what's coming next.

“We will teach you how to wash your hands properly. Do you perhaps know why we should do that?” Yujin raised her hands quickly.

“So that no germs will stick to us!” she answered enthusiastically.

“Very good Yujin. If we wash our hands properly, it will shield us from possibly getting attacked by germs! Now, pay attention carefully,” the teacher demonstrated the steps, and the students would go along with her, rubbing their hands together as if they were washing it.

“Then, so that we must not forget these steps, we can sing ‘Happy Birthday' two times. Washing our hands as long as we sing it will surely help in making sure that we washed our hands properly. Now, I'll take you to the washroom by three so that you'd see how it works,” she told the first three kids in the first row to come with her. After a little while, Yujin's turn came and she's inside the washroom. She and her classmates applied soap on their hands and spread it on their hands even to their wrists, down to their fingers.

“Happy birthday to you~” Yujin sung happily as she washed her hands along the rhythm.

~*~

Ms. Yabuki's class is currently ongoing. Her subject, Science, is one of Hitomi's favorite subjects. The class was diligently listening to the lecture when Ms. Yabuki felt her phone vibrating.

“Excuse me everyone, I need to answer this message for a moment. Hitomi, please take over the PowerPoint presentation and just move over to the next slides while you're all taking notes.” Hitomi stood up from her seat and went over to the table. Ms. Yabuki went outside the classroom and upon reading the message she went straight to the Principal's Office.

“Ms. Yabuki is finally here and all the teachers are now complete,” their principal cleared and finally went on with her announcement.

“The Mayor just gave an announcement just now, and he decided to suspend classes starting today until for the rest of the week.”

“It’s almost our last period. The announcement came in too late, can we just finish our last period to wrap things up?” one of the faculty members commented.

“Well, all we can do is comply. It's urgent, so we must let our students go home. After dismissing your classes, come back here sooner for an emergency meeting.

Meanwhile, Hitomi's class is getting noisy as Ms. Yabuki is taking a long time outside.

“Hey! There's news that our Mayor suspended classes… for the whole week!” a classmate yelled as she showed off her phone with the headline.

“Yehey!” some of the students cheered as they will get to go home a little earlier than their dismissal time.

Hitomi just remained silent. How can her classmates just celebrate like that? Class suspensions are fun to look forward to especially during the rainy season, but this is something else.

“Students!” The whole class immediately quieted down and some students hid their phones as Ms. Yabuki was finally back. Hitomi also walked back to her seat.

“So, the announcement must have reached you guys already huh. You all looked eager to go home.” Her eyes scanned through the students before continuing. “Before I dismiss you, you should all go straight home, no hanging out at the mall with friends. Also, the project that I discussed earlier in the discussion is due next week. Class monitors, just make sure the classroom is in order before you leave. That's all, goodbye.”

The students all stood up and simultaneously greeted Ms. Yabuki with, “Goodbye and thank you, Ms. Yabuki,” and everyone proceeded to get their things and leave the classroom one by one.

Hitomi is left with Mia and her fellow class monitors and they hurried up cleaning and setting the chairs properly. Hitomi and Mia are not going home yet. They still have a meeting for a school event and they are waiting outside of the meeting room with her schoolmates from different grade levels.

“Sir Will,” one of the students greeted the teacher they were all waiting for.

“Good afternoon everyone. Uhm, it was scheduled for us to have a meeting with the upcoming school event but I guess we should postpone it for now. You should all go home and take some rest. Have a safe trip back home.”

~*~

“Yujin, Hii!”

“Mama!” Yujin went ahead of Hitomi and ran to Sakura.

“Let's go home,” Sakura pulled the car door open and helped her kids hop in. She settled on the driver seat and sped off.

“Why were you the one who picked us up Mama?”

“Mommy heard the news and since I was also on the way home, I decided to stop by and pick you up so that she wouldn't have to go out. So what did you guys do at school?” Sakura asked a question as she drove along the road.

“I followed what you and Mom said. I didn't get near too much with other people, even my classmates,” Hitomi responds.

“Hm, very good Hii. But I bet there are still people who don't, right?” Sakura followed up.

“Yeah. When we lined up for flag ceremony, we still kept the same distance with our fellow students. There are still a lot of us who would talk and mingle with others in close distance.”

“Then just like what me and Mommy told the two of you, keep being careful.”

“And together with Mia, we thought of a new greeting where we don't need close contact with each other, but then after that we accidentally did a high-five. But don't worry! Mia hurriedly gave me some of her sanitizer to sanitize ourselves.”

“Okay Yujin's turn now!” Yujin started off as soon as Hitomi finished. “Teacher taught us how to wash our hands and that we can sing ‘Happy Birthday’ while doing it. Also–” Yujin raised her hand and showed the back of the palm of her hand. “I got a star! I answered teacher's question and told her germs will attack us if we don't wash hands.”

Sakura glanced through the mirror and looked at Yujin. “Oh~ that's great Yujinnie!” Sakura smiled widely at her daughter, while Hitomi complimented her sister for being very much attentive even at her young age.

The ride continued quietly, and as they were listening on the radio…

“President rejects suggestion to put Metro Manila under lockdown despite the rise in coronavirus cases.”

----------

And the first chapter is done! I don't know why but I have been slow in writing for the whole week. I just finished writing this now. I guess cramming works for me? Lol.

TMI for BDA (Better Days Ahead):

On the Prologue, I already showed Sakura being able to go back home after her 2-week quarantine, and just here on Chapter 1, I started with February 10. I suddenly figured, I shouldn't have included Sakura's back home from quarantine in the Prologue because at that day, it would have been between February 17 or 18, since she most probably flew back on Feb. 2 at night, and arrived on Feb. 3 in the afternoon (I'm just being cautious in dates hahahaha. Pardon me). Also, I don't have an in-depth knowledge about the measures our health department is taking and about school affairs so I'm just relying on my imagination and what I think is the logical and rational thing to do. Well, I hope at least that's how they are doing it, right? Btw, we're almost at 165k cases. This story would focus more on the citizens' personal lives.

Anyway, that's only it. I haven't shown Chaewon and Minjoo right? I'm actually still thinking what Minjoo would do in the story. Should I change her occupation? And, last... I don't want to jinx it but, I might update again sometime within the week. Hehe. That's all for today, till the next read!