Rush hour at five. Pinaka ayoko talagang inaabutan ng mga ganitong oras. Mahirap sumakay eh. Mapipilitan tuloy akong mag-jeep. Hindi naman sa ayaw ko, kaya lang hindi talaga ako mapakali sa dumi ng hangin sa Maynila. Kadalasan kasi, dagdag sa usok ng mga sasakyan, may mga naninigarilyo pa, which I really hate.

Health freak. Lagi nilang sinasabi, why don’t you try a burger, Seohyun? Masarap naman siya eh. I can only wonder why people dig fast food so much. Di ba nila alam na nakamamatay yung mga yun?

Sa jeepney. With much hesitation, I boarded. Pero…kailangan ko na rin sigurong masanay. Sa usok, sa init, sa sikip, sa pollution, sa paulit-ulit na pag-aabot ng pera. Natural ‘to sa college life sa Maynila eh.

I ignored the constant pausing of the vehicle as the driver persistently gathered passengers and instead focused on making a mental list of things that had to be done when I finally reach home. The color of the sky hinted that it was going to rain soon. Unti-unti, napupuno na ng mga pasahero ang jeep.

“Kris, isa na lang ata yung upuan!” I felt alarmed when out of nowhere, I heard a very loud voice. I thought for a second that we were going to be held up, but when I turned,  I found that it was just a very tall girl with an even taller guy who looked like they were about to board the jeep.  “Antay na lang tayo ng isa pang jeep!”

“Dito na, dito na.” the tall guy insisted with his deep manly voice. “Baka abutan pa tayo ng ulan.”

“Eh pa’no ka?”

“Sasabit na lang ako, sumakay ka na.”

“Mababa—” the girl was utterly cut off when the guy gave her a stare. Makuha ka sa tingin, ang sabi. “Ito na nga oh, ito na…” pouting, the girl finally boarded the jeep.

“Sooyoung, hawakan mo ‘to.” The guy held out his bag to her and she took it with a retort.

“Oo. N