I woke up in the middle of the night and realized na nakatulugan ko pala yung movie na pinapanood namin. Ning’s asleep na din beside me so bumangon ako ng konti to check on K and Winter sa kabilang bed.

The two are nowhere to be found.

Did they go somewhere? 

No messages from K on my phone, and wala din from Winter. I felt slightly worried since it’s past 4am na and the streets aren’t as safe this time of the night. Right now, I can only assume na magkasama silang dalawa. Baka naman bumili lang sila sa convenience store or nagpahangin sa labas.

I lied back down and fiddled with my phone as I try to wait for them to return.

More than an hour has passed na ng marinig kong magbukas yung door ng unit. I don’t know why I pretended to be asleep nung nakapasok na sila, pero I don’t think they noticed naman.

I could hear their footsteps as they discreetly tried to go back to bed. No one was talking and wala akong ibang marinig kahit konting bulong from them.

Humiga na sila pareho and for some reason, I can sense na nakaharap si K sa direction ko. I was about to sleep for real until I heard someone shuffling on their side of the bed.

“Winter, if you want pwede akong makipag palit ng pwesto kay Giselle.. Are you feeling uncomfortable?” I overheard K’s voice.

Winter seems to have trouble sleeping...

“Hindi naman. Okay lang ako. I think medyo nawala lang yung antok ko kasi lumiliwanag na din..” Winter said.

“Sure?”

“Oo, makakatulog na din ako maya-maya. Tulog ka na Karina..”

“Okay. Good night, Winter..” 

“Good night!”

After that exchange, they both immediately fell silent.

I’m curious kung saan kaya sila nanggaling.

Maybe I’ll just ask them tomorrow.

The room was already bright nang magising ako and saw K sitting at the edge of the bed. It looked like she just woke up as well.

Winter’s still sleeping soundly beside her, same with Ning. It's very evident because of their alternating snores.

“Morning, K!” bati ko sa kanya.

She was startled by my greeting and quickly looked in my direction.

“Oh hey, gising ka na pala pre. Good morning..”

“You’re the first one up pala. Natapos niyo ba yung movie last night? I was so sleepy during the third one, nakatulugan ko na..”

“Uhh.. Hindi na namin natapos yung movie.. Halos magkasunod lang kayo ni Ning na nakatulog, and then..” she paused for a second and instantly took a peek behind her.

“..W-Winter and I went to the r-rooftop for a bit.” She said, stuttering some of her words.

Ohh. So that’s where they went!

“Really? Sayang, I would’ve loved to go din sana! How was the view?”

K’s eyes slightly widened followed by a tinge of red forming on her cheeks.

“O-Okay naman..maganda..”

K seems a bit out of it this morning. Is something up?

“Pre, are you still sleepy? Hindi ka ba nakatulog ng maayos?” I asked out of concern.

“No. Yeah. Okay lang ako!” She suddenly sat up straight and lightly tapped both of her cheeks. “Nakatulog naman ako ng maayos.”

“Sure ka?” I raised my brows in suspicion.

She nodded and averted my gaze. “Yes, yes. I’m good!”

Parang may something...I just couldn’t tell what it is.

Before I could think of how I would get her to spill, I was distracted by the sudden loud yawn from behind.

“Hi mga pre..ang aga niyo naman magising!” Ning sat up and stretched her arms wide. “Anong oras na ba?”

“10 am na Ning,” K answered while looking at her phone.

Ning suddenly let out a smirk nang makita niya si Winter na tulog pa. She was about to go near the bed para gisingin siya but K stopped her.

“Ning, hayaan muna natin matulog si Winter. Parang di kasi siya nakatulog agad kagabi..”

“Ahh, ganun ba? Sige maya-maya nalang natin siya gisingin..” Ning agreed while scratching her head.

I remembered bigla yung narinig kong convo nung dalawa last night. 

Until what time ba sila nagpuyat?

We decided to take turns na lang muna sa pagligo while we let Winter sleep longer. 

I’m sure hindi lang ako ang nakapansin, pero the whole morning there was this air of awkwardness between K and Winter.

As soon as Winter opened her eyes, or to be more accurate, as soon as she was violently woken up by Ning, unang-una agad niyang hinanap si K. 

We told her that K’s in the bathroom, taking a shower. She looked around and let out a small sigh of relief, which I found odd. 

Pero I think mas weird na she didn’t get mad nung niyugyog siya ni Ning to wake her up.

“Bes, ikaw na susunod na maligo kay pareng Karina. Bilisan mo dahil gutom na kami.”

“Okay.”

Winter got up and prepped her clothes near her cabinet where I was brushing my hair.

“We didn’t get to eat breakfast so let’s have brunch instead,” I told her.

“Okay.”

After getting her stuff, she moved near the dining table and stood mindlessly habang inaantay na matapos si K.

Moments later, nagbukas na yung bathroom door and K stepped out, spotting Winter na nakatayo pa rin sa may table.

She quietly tapped Winter’s shoulder which caused her to slightly jolt. 

“W-Winter, tapos na ako maligo,”

The other girl just nodded, quickly grabbed her clothes, and went straight into the bathroom.

K’s eyes followed the other’s movement with a worried look.

“Problema nun?” Ning noticed with a puzzled face.

“Parang naalimpungatan ata siya?” I answered, confused din sa behavior ni Winter.

“Yeah, mukhang antok pa nga talaga si Winter..” 

After packing up our bags, we had a quick brunch sa Tapa King.

Even as we were eating kanina, the two were not talking with each other as much as they normally would. K tries to bring up a topic and Winter would just nod, smile, and