Absinthe

Chapter 21: Pampa

"You sit like a girl," Jiwoo said, tapping his right thigh onto my left knee.

"Huh?"

"Look, your legs are closed up real tight," he explained, snickering.

What in the world was wrong with him? Why did he tell that Brenda girl we're together?

Is he really gay?

Was he staring at my thighs because he's interested in me?1

No way!

I mean, no thank you!

"Where are you headed?" Jiwoo continued with his questions. "And what's up with your car?"

"Do you have to ask?"

"Well, I'm your boyfriend for today, right?"

Holy hell. How could he say something as serious as that so flippantly? I stared at him in an attempt to discern what exactly was going on in his head, but I got nothing.

"Starstruck by your boyfriend's face?" he asked, chuckling once again.

I looked away and contemplated on how I would respond to this man. I had spent the last few years of my life playing mind games with executives and other powerful men in the corporate world. Not a single time had I been at a loss for words. And yet, I couldn't figure out what this guy was playing at.

"You could at least say thank you," Jiwoo continued.

"Huh?"

"Your boyfriend just bought you siomai, gulaman, and LRT tickets. He deserves a kiss, don't you think?"

"Can you stop with the boyfriend thing already?"

"Oh? My girlfriend's being a bit unreasonable today. Is it that time of the month?"

"What the fuck?"

"Should I get you sanitary napkins or something?"

I remembered his exchange with the other finalist at our workstation, Matt. Jiwoo had been ruthless at that time, and Matt had basically been left speechless.

"Right," I said, admitting defeat. "Thank you very much for the snack and the ticket. Seriously, though, you can now quit the boyfriend thing."

"For a second I thought I was wrong about you again," he said, tapping my knee with his thigh for the second time.

"What do you mean?"

"Never mind."

I turned to look at him again. "Tell me."

"Well, I know a few pieces of siomai are nothing compared to what you've done for me. I'm grateful for that, so I wanted to do something nice for you, even if it's just buying you street food or something."

I kept silent.

"I thought you didn't appreciate it is all."

There was a hint of shyness in his smile. It was the kind of expression meant to garner sympathy. I decided that the best course of action was to change the topic and steer it in a direction I was comfortable with.

was my turn to tap my knee against his

for it, and I ended up paying for everyone in the jeepney, eating a lifetime's worth of hair, and, as you saw

everything that had

- Manila. I wanted to buy

"ZM Manila? Let's go somewhere else. I know

to come. I'm sure you have

protested loudly. "Let me go with you. Trust me. And besides, I'm

I know you only said that to get rid of the

me, bumping his leg against mine for the nth time.

"No buts."

you'll end up

adult, and I can

at me attentively. It was the same intense gaze he had given me when he became infuriated over my getting a free pass to the finals. This

in front of us said. She seemed to be

I help you?" Jiwoo said, almost

a tuft of hair behind it.

are. I'm chatting with my boyfriend here," Jiwoo answered and grabbed my hand, seemingly for

display of affection she was seeing. "I'm sorry to disturb you." She walked away and sat at an empty seat a few paces to the right. Jiwoo didn't immediately let go of my hand. I had to pry

that mean to

you I'm on

the fact you acted

think

honest. We're not really boyfriends, remember?" I said,

a bit. Then he said something that made my heart

Should we

at that point. And the

said. "But I'm serious about being friends with you. You're pretty cool, you

"..."

his face. "We're both

think, but I was thankful for his honesty. Now, I knew how to interpret his actions. I knew not to overanalyze everything he said. They were jokes,

Jokes between friends.

Station.

here!"

Jiwoo said.

As soon as we

tight," I heard Jiwoo say as he grabbed my hand. "To your wallet." Then he winked and headed toward the crowded

the white shirt on Jiwoo's back. Within the next few minutes, I felt exactly 4 different hands dive deep into my back pockets, trying

we were about to cross the street, Jiwoo turned and grabbed the

need to lose weight," Jiwoo said, forcefully taking out the guy's hand from my

fuck you talking about?"

or you were trying to cop a feel from my

eyes widen in both shock

said as he snatched his

we paused in front of a small kiosk selling all sorts of items at the corner of the street. He tossed some money over to the old lady manning the counter and took a bottle of water from the open ice box in front of

weather, you'll get dehydrated faster than

my throat. The smoke and pollution of the capital's most crowded place had

said, pointing further ahead. "Can you still

of water before tossing it into the trash bin already full to

I had been so preoccupied with keeping my wallet safe that I had totally forgotten about my

me a worried look . Before he could ask, I told him

the most annoying way. "I guess your boyfriend's buying you a new one today," he said, taking my hand and dragging me again. It didn't take

of every other ZM Super Mall, this one was low, small, and rather dull. It lacked the gardens and other gimmicky features usually

right before I started university. I had just passed the entrance test for the country's premier state university—the University of the Philippines, or UP for short—and had heard from my mom that I wasn't getting any form of financial support

UP. I recalled how scared I had been of not having anything decent to wear, how I had juggled several part-time jobs

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