Chapter 7 (1/2)
As an author, I have two sensei to thankful for: one is Google, the other is Jhing Blanco.
¹Ulysses and Marco- These two men are characters from the novels that shares
the universe of 23:11 written by the same author, Pilosopotasya.
Ulysses came from as one of the female protagonist's brother
while Marco is the male lead in (Tempted) and was also mentioned
on being quoted by Miko:
”I remember the words of my pal Marco who's a professor.
He said'If you stretched your arm, that's 'free will';
but if you hit someone in the process, that's your limit.”
I'm thinking about translating those novels too but yeah… we'll see.
#SilenceBackfired
“When the lips could not speak, perseverance will deliver the message.”
-x-
“What's up with you now?” Facio asked Miko. “Are you sick? Is it SARS?” His questions made few of them laughed.
They weren't surprised when Miko did not use his voice to talk, he instead erased the words on the whiteboard he brought and wrote:
I'M NOT SICK.
”Then what?” asked another. “Did you went to the karaoke last night and sang to your heart's content that it made you lose your voice?”
I STILL HAVE MY VOICE.
“Aha!” Yayo, the pregnant editor who was severely fond of Miko, exclaimed. She tried to get the mouth mask from Miko but he stopped her. “Do you love KPOP? Koreans often use those mask ah!!”
Jhing’s heart pounded in her chest when she saw the smiling eyes of Miko which were almost gone because of his chinito eyes. What's even more annoying is the fact that his mask is really cute.
He couldn’t really take everything seriously, could he?
“What's that for then?”
IT WAS AN ORDER.
July asked, “Who the heck would order you to do that kind of trip?”
Jhing panicked in a matter of millisecond when her eyes met Miko's so she quickly turned away to stare at her computer.
What a shame because Jhing didn't see Miko's smiling eyes as he wrote:
THE BOSS
That earned laughter from most of the book department, even Ms. Vams and Ms. Stels smiled at Miko's antics.
“You're high, bro,” Facio commented.
While everyone was laughing, Jhing decided she was too busy with work to understand Miko's weirdness. But when she couldn't help but take a glance, her palm immediately flew to her forehead the second she read what he wrote:
(/ﾟｰﾟ)/ HA HA HA HA＼(ﾟｰﾟ＼)
What the fu…. This is so embarra.s.sing.
Miko always has ways to give simple things extravagance.
So annoying.
Sure, Jhing didn’t hear his voice for the past few hours but the thing is, the noise still didn't stop! The chatters even became louder at the cubicles near Miko because that guy kept drawing stupid stuff on his whiteboard.
Oh fine, he's the artist and sure, he quickly became close to everyone unlike her. After all, he has nothing to do with his life. He's like a child!
When lunch came, Miko left because his friends invited him to go eat. Jhing wasn’t interested in who he was with but her co-workers were curious so she unintentionally found out that Miko was with Ulysses and Marco¹ - whoever those men are.
Who cares?
“That guy does every kind of stunts,” July said over lunch.
Jhing also noticed that whenever Miko is gone, the editors will always talk about him. Not that she was complaining….
…. wait, she really wants to complain.
Can we change the topic?
“He's weird,” Yayo said as she munched on her bread. “But in a good way… He’s so cute.”
“My gosh, if you keep thinking about Miko, your child will be born like him.”
“Why not?” she said as she patted her 5-month-old tummy. “He’s appealing, has a sense of humor, different weird but cute antics, and I think he has a big heart too. I’ll dig a son like that.”
Jhing almost choked.
“Oh Jhing,” July said, smiling, and offered her a gla.s.s of water. “What happened to you?”
Jhing made up an excuse “Something just got caught in my throat.”
Big heart? G.o.ds.
Nothing won’t end with Miko.
When Jhing came back, no one was in the office because everyone was still hanging out in the pantry, lobby, or outside the building. She dazedly looks at the monitor until a hand from behind placed a mug on her table. Again.
The mug of juice made Jhing’s heart skipped a bit.
She turned around and met Miko’s eyes. Despite the black mouth mask, which is so cute because of its cat lips, hiding half of the latter’s expression…. Jhing is 100% certain that he is smiling. Grinning. Teasing.
Miko showed the whiteboard to Jhing.
MANGO – ORANGE JUICE?
Jhing didn’t have the chance to talk, decline, or get the mug away from the table when she heard familiar voices. s.h.i.+t. Their co-workers! Jhing went into panic mode. She wanted to stand up and leave Miko but she was stunned when he himself suddenly walked away.
When the group reached their chairs, Miko was already sitting in his cubicle. He looks so serious while working. On the other hand, Jhing was staring at the mug.
She didn’t drink even a single drop from it even after the day ended.
The following day, Miko was still not talking. The act was not a big deal anymore so everyone just let him be foolish. Plus, they were all busy with work. They don't have much time to play around.
Even Miko was surprisingly serious.
Amazement was evident from Miss Zue’s face when she saw the book department concentrating on work. Even the remote-controlled helicopter was ignored, collecting dust on the top of the shelf.
Miss Zue got the attention of the team, “We have a meeting at 3pm in room A3,” she said. “Don't be late ah!”
Everybody said their “Yes ma’am”, but Miko, still with his mask on, held his whiteboard up high with writing and a drawing:
SIR YES SIR!!!!! (￣^￣)ゞ
Ohmygoodness.