We entered the waiting area or kung gusto mo 'lounge' para mas sosy. Hoho. Walang sali-salita, tahimik lahat para bang "kru, kru kru" ang dating. May konting takot pa nga akong nararamdaman.

"Holy kamote, I think this is a bad iea. We should've just left the envelope at the reception area", I though to myself. Gustong-gusto ko na talagang tumakbo palabas ng building. You feel me?

Habang nakaupo kami sa may couch feeling ko parang may nakatingin sa akin. Goosebumps eh. Siniko ako ni Yeshane. "I feel like someone's staring at us". Napamulagat ako. Di lang pala ako ang nakaramdam nun. I scanned the room unintentionally. I caught my breath when my eyes landed on the lady at the table outside the office. Siya ata ang secretary. Napangiwi ako. Di ba dapat presentable ang nasa secretary's table? Nangilabot ako lalo dahil di pa niya tinatanggal ang titig niya sakin. Shemps, nakipag staring contest ako. Kahit na humahapdi na mata ko. Feeling ko mananalo na ako sa no-blinking-staring-contest namin nang lumabas ang isa pang babae/ secretary #2 at pinapasok kami sa office ng Chairman.

"Hwow!", YeShane exclaimed with amazement.

"This room is HUGE!", dugtong ni Geyo.

Ako naman walang masabi, pareho kami nina Henlie at Abie...speechless. Tumakbo na ata mga bunganga namin at lumulundag lundag sa may couch. Ang laki ng room! Para lang suite sa hotel! Sa may medyo gitna, nanun ang isang malaki at eleganteng mesa. Behind the study table was an old man sitting. He looked so elegant with that elegant looking suit but then at the same time, he looked kind and fatherly. He was even smiling.

"You can sit down, mga iha", nagsalita siya. Kami naman eh dahan-dahan sa pag-upo na para bang masisira ang couch.

At dahil lutang pa rin kami sa elegance overload, di namin napansin na tuloy-tuloy ng nag-explain ang matanda. He said something about the papers being important, blah, blah. For me, I just can't concentrate. I was too busy staring at the wicked samurai hanging on the wall beside the man. I bet my companions weren't even listening.

"Uhm, sir matanong ko po...", biglang nagsalita si Abie. "Sino po ulit kayo?".

Napa-facepalm ako at napatingin kaming lahat sa matanding lalaki, anticipating for his answer.

The old man smiled at us kindly and said, "Just call me Mr. Lim or better yet Lolo Lim, I am the owner of the Metrobank Group of Companies around the nation. Ako din ang may-ari ng NAIA".

Hindi kami makapagsalta at naka-stare lang kami sa kanya ng bongga with our mouths hanging. Literally! I mean, here we are face-to-face with like one of the richest man in the country! Daebak!

"Wow!", bigla kong nasabi ng malakas. Pero okay lang naman dahil tumawa lang ang matanda.

"Because all of you gave your time to bring me back these documents, I can't just let you walk out of this room without giving you rewards in exchange", bglang sabi ng matanda.

"Uh...', sabay-sabay naming sabi. Di kami makapag-isip ng isasagot namin.

He continued speaking, " I know that all of you kids are honest, so I'm going to give you each cheques worth 20,000 Peso each". Wow! Straight to the point..

"Uh...", sabi namin ulit. Pero sa isip ko, okay na ang pera pero dahil sa madami akong gustong bilhin, mauubos agad sa mga walang kwentang bagay. Nagkatinginan kaming lahat and I know na pare-pareho kami ng sentimiyento.

 

Nag-ipon ako ng lakas ng loob at oxygen sa lungs. "Sir, your offer is very tempting but I...We don't think it's a good idea to give us cash that big. I mean we are only kids, we won't know how to deal with it." I explained while my mates just nodded.

"Oo nga po, Mr. Lim. Hindi naman po kami humihiling ng reward. Gusto lang po naming maibalik yung envelope sa inyo", sabi naman ni YeShane.

Mr. Lim just kept on smiling kindly at us and nodded. "Very well then, if that's what you want. I would just like to thank you again with all my heart for returning the envelope".

After ng meeting, we were escorted by the secretary outside the office. But before going back to her desk, she asked me to write down our address and home numbers but I just wrote down our "tambayan/hangout" address. Before walking towards the exit, I looked back at the lady in the desk outside the office. Whoa! She was still there unmoved and stared at me. Kinilabutan ako patakbong sinundan mga kasama ko. Natawa lang ako. Talo ako sa contest namin. Hoho.

------

The next day, we went to our tambayan (an apartment not used by Geyo's aunt) to do some spazzing/ fangirling. At the doorstep, we saw a large package. Siyempre, nagtaka kami. Sino naman ba ang hindi? Dumaan ang neighbor at sinabi na may nag-iwan daw lang dun. At dahil sa wala kaming pakialam, pinasok na lang namin ang package at binuksan.

Sa loob ay may isang note:

"Mga iha, I just can't let this moment pass without rewarding your honest actions. I hope this little gift will give you the best adventure in your teenage life! -Lolo Lim."

"Ano daw?", sani ni Abie.

"Ewan ko. Tingnan nga lang natin.", I answered.

Well. Well. Well. Natulala kaming lahat nang tumambad samin ang nasa loob ng box. 5 plane tickets to Korea back and forth. All expenses paid! Wait, meron pa....Hotel accomodation at the Grand Ambassador Hotel for 6 days and 5 nights all expenses paid ulet (w/ food na yun!)! Plus 30,000 pesos each na pocket money!

OMAY GAAAD!!! Is this a dream?! Ano to?! Gisingin ninyo kami! Waaahh!! Ay, wag na pala!!!

"Is this real?!!", biglang sigaw ni YeShane.

"Di ko alam. Di ako makapag-isip!", sagot ko.

"Mas malaki pa ito sa offer niya kahapon!", sabi naman ni Henlie.

*Di pa rin makapagsalita sina Abie at Geyo.

Nagtinginan kaming lahat. Then biglang nagtitili at nagtatatalon.

"KYAAA!!!!", yun lang ang naririning ng mga kapitbahay. LOL.

 

-END OF FLASHBACK-

 

*Ding dong* "Attention all passengers, Flight 7 to Seoul, Korea is now boarding".

"Yappi! Tayo na, flight ata natin yun!", sabi ni YeShane sabay siko sa tagiliran ko.

"Aray! Grabe ha!", I asnwered jockingly.

"Kanina ka pa kasi tulala ate", sabi ni Henlie, Geyo nodding behind her.

"Tara na nga!", sabi ko habang tumatawa.

Hila-hila ang mga trolleys namin, sumakay na kami sa may entrance.

Yes mga readers! This is it! Di to panaginip!

Korea, here we come!!!!