Chapter Five | First of Firsts

Irene

“The last pair would be Irene Chua and Seulgi Gabriel.” Medyo nagulat pa ako nang marinig ko ang professor namin sa Asian Literature III na banggitin ang akin pangalan. Ang buong akala ko nga ay hindi niya na ako tatawagin. Iniisip ko pa kung tama talaga ang desisyon ko sa pagpili ng Modern South Korean Literature in Translation as my free elective.

Lumingon pa ako sa likod para lang makita kung sino ang partner ko. The name really does not ring a bell. There’s something about her as I see her raise her hand. She’s seated at the back, as opposed to my usual seat in the front.

“This is quite a nice pairing.” I hear the professor comment. “I expect a lot from the both of you.” He added and I just nodded in response.

Medyo naiintriga ako sa kapartner ko because how come I haven’t noticed her before? It’s my last year as an AB Literature student, but I never have met her. Sa sobrang konti ng kumukuha ng writing degrees, laging dalawa lang ang schedules for our core course subjects. It’s just a mystery to me, dahil sobrang odd na ngayon lang kami nagkaparehas at sa isang free elective pa. 

I would’ve preferred to have gone solo pero napaka-pilit ng prof namin at dapat daw by pair ang gawin. If I know, tinatamad lang siya magcheck ng napakaraming paper dahil mas efficient nga naman kung six instead of twelve papers lang ang magiging ganap.

As it is the first day of classes for this semester, Dr. Guevarra, our professor, got on with the rubrics and all the other stuff that concerns the course subject. Naging prof ko na siya sa isa sa mga core subjects namin before, and I can attest that she’s a fun and competent professor, just that mahilig siyang magpa-partner for papers.

The bell rang right on schedule. Nagmadali pa kong ipasok lahat ng gamit ko sa bag dahil nakita ko na palabas na sa room yung partner ko. The only way I can catch up with her was to pull her arm dahil medyo nakalayo na siya ng room. Heck, napakabilis niyang maglakad. Ninja ba itey?

Paglingon niya sa akin, hindi ko alam kung nahulog ba ang buong langit. I stood there in front of her, speechless. Did our eye-contact just stun me like that? “Seulgi, right?” I had to say something to save my skin. I’ve never been this dumbfounded with anyone.

“Uh, yeah.” I heard her say. May naglagay ba ng araw sa nahihiya niyang ngiti?

“I’m Irene Chua, we’re partners for Asian Lit III,” I tried to sound as casual as I can be. I usually don’t feel nervous kapag makikipag-kilala and I don’t like it that I’m suddenly being like this.

“Oh, I was going to give you my hand for a handshake but you already have it.” She shook her arm. She smiled at me with her eyes this time. Nahiya naman ako bigla at binitawan ko ang kamay niya. May sira ata ang sistema ko ngayon. Hindi ko alam kung anong nangyayari sa akin.

“I guess, I’ll see you around?” She looked at her watch, mukhang nagmamadali siya.

“Yeah,” I replied aimlessly nodding my head. I watch her as she half jogs away from me.

“Well, that was painful to watch.” Jennie, my best friend, said. May ngiting nakakaloko sa mukha niya. Kung ano man ang iniisip niya, hindi siya nagkakamali.

“Isn’t that Seulgi Gabriel you were talking to?” Sabi naman ni Solar, isa pa sa mga kaibigan namin. They actually both took the same free elective at naiwan ako dahil naubusan ako ng slot. Curse these bruhildas.

“So, you know her?” I ask in curiosity. Mukhang ako lang ang hindi nakakakilala sa kanya.

“Totally! Like you know the Gabriels who own the publishing company?” Jennie chimed in like it was a matter of fact I should know.

“Kapatid niya si Wendy Gabriel from AB Comms, yung kaklase ng jowa ko.” Dagdag naman ni Solar. Okay, teh! No need to tell us na may jowa ka para ipamukha sa amin na wala kami.

I formed an ‘O’ with my mouth. Okay, so that was Seulgi Gabriel of Psycom Publishing. Wait what? Did I just meet Seulgi Gabriel of Psycom Publishing? Ulit. Did I just meet Seulgi Gabriel of Psycom Publishing?

“Dibs mo?” Jennie looked at me with sarcasm. And when she saw I was giving her the serious face, she said, “! You like her, don’t you?”

“Wait up! Wait up! What are you guys talking about? We’re just partners for our free elective paper, nothing more!” I try to deny dahil mukhang baliw ‘tong si Jennie at Solar sa pang-aasar sa akin.

“She cute though. Kaso tahimik nga raw yan masyado sabi ni Byul sa akin. Creative Writing ata course niya.” Sabi naman ni Solar. Nagsimula na kaming maglakad papunta sa cafeteria. I find myself wanting to know more about this Seulgi.

“And?” I thoughtlessly asked. , oo nga.

“Akala ko ba hindi mo type?” Sabat sa akin ni Jennie. She looked at me with such amusement.

“I never said that,” I answer with a shrug. We found our usual spot sa cafeteria and sat at the table.

“Just a heads-up ha, ingat-ingat sa mga ganyan. The quiet ones are the wildest in bed.” Akala ko naman napaka-seryoso ng warning nito ni Solar.

“Etong si Solar, napaka-bastos ng bibig! Dahan-dahan lang! We don’t even know if she’s straight or not.” Saway ko sa kaibigan ko. Sa aming tatlo, siya lang ang may jowa. Well, si Jennie naman, I know she likes both men and women. At ako? Their ual preference doesn’t matter to me.

“Who’s straight or not?” Bigla namang sumul