"That's exactly what I've been waiting for. When that woman really comes, I'm going to worship her! I'm going to tell her all the nonsense Mario did! That will be the end of this f*cker. Just pray that that girl is not a liones!"
"You fools! You're even praying for me to be battered by a woman?!" Mario answered exaggeratedly.
Every part of his being was arguing about whether he should tell his friends what was bothering him. He was not used to hiding something from them and it seemed to squeeze his heart at the thought of keeping secrets from the people who always sympathized with him in everything he went through in life. But he was also worried that when M and the others found out about it, they would look at him differently. They might become angry with him. What's worse, it might end their friendship. M treated Aki differently and specially, far from how he treated other women. That was why he knew M was serious about her.
"Seriously, Bro… Hasn't anyone been able to grab your attention among your girls yet?"
Mario was just smiling and shaking his head at his friends. He was still thinking carefully about what to say to them. "There's no one," he answered shortly.
'No one stole my attention among my girls because the only one that piqued my attention was not just any girl. Not one of "my girls" out there. She's my friend's woman. My best friend's girlfriend,' Mario said to himself incoherently.
"That's fine. We're still young. You're only nineteen. Let's enjoy first. But be watchout, you might miss her. You'll regret it later, especially when the girl you're waiting for is already around," M advised foolishly.
The only thing that Mario could answer to his friend was a smile.
'If only you knew, M. If only you knew.'
"I don't think I have anyone else to wait for," said Mario, who aroused the interest of his friends.
"So, you already found her? Is that what you've been having trouble with for the past few days?" Matthew asked.
Now Mario has piqued the full attention of his two best friends. This was the first time he had a serious conversation with them about a woman.
Mario reluctantly nodded at Matthew's question.
"Are you having a hard time winning her heart? She doesn't trust you because of your playboy status?" M asked one after the other. This was the only thing he can think of that could be the reason why his friend Mario was having problems with women. Even Matthew was thinking the same thing.
"No," answered Mario with a sad smile. "I guess it would be easier if that was the only problem," he continued and laughed weakly at himself.
M and Matthew stared at Mario for a moment. It looked like their friend was really serious. And it looked like he was having a serious problem. This was the only time they have seen Mario having such a problem with a woman in their approximately ten years of friendship.
The two were silent as they waited for Mario to continue what he had to say.
"I love my brother's girlfriend," Mario said seriously. His tone was tinged with pain.
Matthew and M became even more silent at his statement.
"Shut the f*ck up, Mario," began M who was obviously disappointed and had lost interest in what Mario was saying.
"You don't have a brother, F*cker!" Matthew continued, rolling his eyes at Mario. "I thought it was serious."
Mario laughed sadly at the reaction of the two. Laugh that he tried to look cheerful. Like his natural laugh. His real laugh. Just like usual.
"Aaaaaah!"
Together they looked at the source of the scream.
"Sis! Waaaaaah!"
The three of them laughed the moment they heard Mharc's shrill voice.
"I don't want to watch it anymore! I don't want to watch it anymore! Aaaah! Turn it off! Turn it off!"
"I think they're watching a horror movie," said Matthew who was still laughing because of what he heard from inside the house. He threw his mouth another three peanuts before shaking his head.
"They have the courage to choose horror, but they are cowards themselves," commented M, shaking his head as well.
"Aaaaaah! Aaaah!"
"Turn it off, Sis!"
"I don't want to! You do it! Aaaah!"
They burst out laughing again when they heard the screams of the two young women.
The two young ladies just continued shouting while still watching. But the three gentlemen who were drinking in the yard fell back to silence.
Before the silence between the three of them deepened, Matthew couldn't stop asking. "Seriously, Mario, what's wrong?"
"I love the girlfrie—"
Even before Mario finished what he had to say, M immediately hit him. At the same time as the young man's hand landed on his head, a piece of peanut also hit his reddened face. It was from Matthew's hand that the latter was going to bite but ended up throwing at Mario.
"Be serious, you F*cker."
Mario laughed weakly at what his friends did. 'That fool's patience is really short,' he thought about M.
"I'm serious." Mario's facial expression was dead serious.
Matthew and M couldn't figure out what to believe. Mario's words and actions show that he was serious about what he said but they know very well that he was an only child.
"That's life... She's taken," Mario continued and laughed softly. Every word he uttered was accompanied by a weak and strained laugh. Trying to cover up the pains that were burning in his heart.
"WOW. This is really serious," Matthew said.
M smiled at his friend. A happy smile. Despite his friend's problem, he felt happy for him. He was happy to know that his friend had found the woman who could change him. The girl who he hoped could also make Mario happy.
"Oh, what's the problem? Aren't you used to snatching girls in a relationship? That's your thing, Bro," M teased his friend.
Again, Mario only gave his friends a forced smile.
'Right. That's my thing. That was. Many relationships have been destroyed because of my doing. If I were still the Mario in the past and if it was another time, maybe I would have done it. But that's not the case. I can not do it. I don't want to break M and I's brotherhood.'
"Like what I've said, she's my brother's girl. She's the woman of the very person who I consider to be my brother. The girlfriend of one of the most important people in my life," he said sadly.
Mario felt like crying because of what was happening. He felt so heavy. And the thought that the person he was referring to was now in front of him and worried about him did not help to ease his suffering.
"Your cousin?"
Mario answered M's question in the safest way he knew. To smile.
On countless occasions this evening the Cubic Meter fell silent again. Then all the lights around them suddenly went out.
"Aaaaaaaah!"
They heard Mharc and Aki's screams. A lot louder this time. They ran fast. Frightened, they were racing to where the Cubic Meter was.
"Waaaaah! Brother!" Mharc cried while clinging to her brother's left arm, sitting on his left lap. Her beautiful face showed nervousness. There were also a few drops of tears in her round eyes.
"Riri!" Aki, who was on M's right, also screamed in fear.
"Why are you two crying?" he asked while the two young women couldn't answer because they were crying so much. They trembled and crammed themselves into him.
"Don't be silly! The chair will fall!" he scolded them. He wanted to feel sorry for the two women in his shelter. But every time he remembers that they themselves are the perpetrators of why they were so frightened, the pity that springs up for them recedes.
'You have the audacity of choosing a horror movie. But you can't even stand watching that.'
On the other hand, Mario just stared at Aki and how she hugged M.
He was nervous.
He was jealous.
He felt sorry for himself but he tried to stop it.
He wished it was him who Aki would run to in situations like this.
'I'm Mario Legazpi. I was not serious in every relationship I've been to. It's funny how I ended up in this kind of situation now.'
Mario couldn't do anything other than fake a happy smile and bear the pain he was feeling while watching how his best friend comforted the girl they both loved.
* * * * * *
Mario Legazpi
Nineteen years of age
Born September 14, 1997
A Mortal
Freshman Music Student at Maburac University
Well-off; Happy go lucky; neglectful student; playboy but now tormented by love.
Ready to change for a woman but stuck and forced to break the illicit love that blossomed for a friend.