Imagine yourself being invited to a Videoke Party. There are nine of you in the group and one turns out to be the odd one out. Looking around, you see all of them inside the room - including the outcast. Everyone seems to be paired with someone and you feel a little pity to the one who was left out. You wondered how come he has no partner, when he can easily get one the moment he steps inside his favorite watering spots. He's not that bad looking either to be ignored by someone. Perhaps it was his miscalculation that brought him to this most unfortunate situation. Whatever his reasons are, you just feel guilty that you could not keep him company.
It all began a few days earlier. The newest couple in the group organized a get-together. I don't know, perhaps they just wanted to be seen and brag at how they ended up being together. You know how new couples are. Anyway, everyone was invited, including one of their friends who has a wife and kids, and still chooses to find another guy to keep him company. Funny. The guy he is with right now, which we will call Piolo for this entry was once involved with one of the guys belonging to the new couple.
Anyway, I do not know how Piolo and this guy who is married came to be. What I do know is that Piolo loves to flirt around and the guys in the group find him very attractive. I find him too effeminate for my taste, so I let him be. I just don't want him near my periphery.
Expecting that there will be pairings during the gathering, the leader asked the odd-one-out if he could be assured of his presence. You see, this odd guy has this habit of committing to an activity only at the last minute. He avoids being expected. Understanding the leader's situation, he confirmed his presence without double-checking his activities the day he was needed. However, as a suggestion, he told the Pinuno to bring someone from his legion of thread watchers. It's high time to reward the most loyal subject of his little empire.
Past 7 in the evening the following day, they met somewhere in Cubao. The leader followed the odd guy's suggestion and brought along a kid from the thread. His name was Ardent, a 19 year-old guy who's just new in the non-straight scene. The leader assured him of protection from those who might prey on his charm and innocence. His core members, after all, have this tendency to make karir to those the leader introduces to the group.
An hour later they all showed up in front of Music 21 in Timog Avenue. They were in full force - The new couple, the leader and his new apprentice, and the married guy and Piolo. The pairings made the odd guy feel awkward so he reverted back to his soloflight/free-spirit mode. I guess things would have been easier if he was fine being with the married guy and his boylet. Since they had only met twice and had a history of revulsion toward one another, he felt almost an outsider.
Barrels of draft beer kept coming and going inside their small room. Food was everywhere but since the Odd guy had prematurely binged in a nearby fastfood restaurant earlier, hunger was never his concern. Later that night, another pair decided to join the group leaving the odd guy more unease with the people around him. Good thing the new pair were never couples - they were friends, perhaps with benefits. As song after song was being sung in the videoke, the more he fills his glass with beer. In the end, he just surrendered to the truth that he was alone.
I cannot deny that at that moment he was seeking any semblance of belongingness. He is not tough as most people would think. At the back of his head, probably he was cursing himself for not keeping a squad of boylets to choose from and tag along on occasions like this. He might have remembered another party, in another group, where there was literally a mad rush among the attendees to find someone to show at the event. Good thing, the odd guy was taken so despite showing up alone in the party, he can always tell his partner to pick him up.
This time, things were different.
Halfway through his stay at the videoke night, I noticed him staring at his phone more than the people around him. He was busy texting someone - perhaps his supposed to be pair for the night. I cannot really fathom what his thoughts were, but I'm sure he would have invited his new cyberfriend if it was appropriate to do so.
At past midnight, fates have overturned the relationship between the pairs. Drunk to the point of being a little rowdy, everyone was casting their eyes toward the pair of another. The married guy found one of the guys who arrived later a little more interesting than his boylet. His boylet, Piolo, was planning to make a move towards Ardent who sat quietly beside the leader. I would learn from the leader that Piolo actually asked Ardent if he could stay in his place the next morning. Pinuno was busy crooning to senti songs, which some of us never heard before. He seems contented finding his new junior. As for the couple who organized the gathering, they ended up doing a duet of the cheesiest love songs they could find in the song list. Days later, one of the couple would sought our help to look after his beloved while he resumes his projects out of the city.
Looking around, I found the odd guy staring at the mirror
whose eyes' reflection stared back at me.
He left early that night telling everyone that he's needed elsewhere. Since everyone felt how out of place he was, he was able to leave without much protestations.
I learned the following day that he chilled in a coffee shop somewhere in Katipunan, where after a half hour of waiting, found himself sliding in the front seat of a red Mazda 3 sportscar.
He might have endured an evening being the odd one out, but the night ended with him, having a pair of his own.
It all began a few days earlier. The newest couple in the group organized a get-together. I don't know, perhaps they just wanted to be seen and brag at how they ended up being together. You know how new couples are. Anyway, everyone was invited, including one of their friends who has a wife and kids, and still chooses to find another guy to keep him company. Funny. The guy he is with right now, which we will call Piolo for this entry was once involved with one of the guys belonging to the new couple.
Anyway, I do not know how Piolo and this guy who is married came to be. What I do know is that Piolo loves to flirt around and the guys in the group find him very attractive. I find him too effeminate for my taste, so I let him be. I just don't want him near my periphery.
Expecting that there will be pairings during the gathering, the leader asked the odd-one-out if he could be assured of his presence. You see, this odd guy has this habit of committing to an activity only at the last minute. He avoids being expected. Understanding the leader's situation, he confirmed his presence without double-checking his activities the day he was needed. However, as a suggestion, he told the Pinuno to bring someone from his legion of thread watchers. It's high time to reward the most loyal subject of his little empire.
Past 7 in the evening the following day, they met somewhere in Cubao. The leader followed the odd guy's suggestion and brought along a kid from the thread. His name was Ardent, a 19 year-old guy who's just new in the non-straight scene. The leader assured him of protection from those who might prey on his charm and innocence. His core members, after all, have this tendency to make karir to those the leader introduces to the group.
An hour later they all showed up in front of Music 21 in Timog Avenue. They were in full force - The new couple, the leader and his new apprentice, and the married guy and Piolo. The pairings made the odd guy feel awkward so he reverted back to his soloflight/free-spirit mode. I guess things would have been easier if he was fine being with the married guy and his boylet. Since they had only met twice and had a history of revulsion toward one another, he felt almost an outsider.
Barrels of draft beer kept coming and going inside their small room. Food was everywhere but since the Odd guy had prematurely binged in a nearby fastfood restaurant earlier, hunger was never his concern. Later that night, another pair decided to join the group leaving the odd guy more unease with the people around him. Good thing the new pair were never couples - they were friends, perhaps with benefits. As song after song was being sung in the videoke, the more he fills his glass with beer. In the end, he just surrendered to the truth that he was alone.
I cannot deny that at that moment he was seeking any semblance of belongingness. He is not tough as most people would think. At the back of his head, probably he was cursing himself for not keeping a squad of boylets to choose from and tag along on occasions like this. He might have remembered another party, in another group, where there was literally a mad rush among the attendees to find someone to show at the event. Good thing, the odd guy was taken so despite showing up alone in the party, he can always tell his partner to pick him up.
This time, things were different.
Halfway through his stay at the videoke night, I noticed him staring at his phone more than the people around him. He was busy texting someone - perhaps his supposed to be pair for the night. I cannot really fathom what his thoughts were, but I'm sure he would have invited his new cyberfriend if it was appropriate to do so.
At past midnight, fates have overturned the relationship between the pairs. Drunk to the point of being a little rowdy, everyone was casting their eyes toward the pair of another. The married guy found one of the guys who arrived later a little more interesting than his boylet. His boylet, Piolo, was planning to make a move towards Ardent who sat quietly beside the leader. I would learn from the leader that Piolo actually asked Ardent if he could stay in his place the next morning. Pinuno was busy crooning to senti songs, which some of us never heard before. He seems contented finding his new junior. As for the couple who organized the gathering, they ended up doing a duet of the cheesiest love songs they could find in the song list. Days later, one of the couple would sought our help to look after his beloved while he resumes his projects out of the city.
Looking around, I found the odd guy staring at the mirror
whose eyes' reflection stared back at me.
He left early that night telling everyone that he's needed elsewhere. Since everyone felt how out of place he was, he was able to leave without much protestations.
I learned the following day that he chilled in a coffee shop somewhere in Katipunan, where after a half hour of waiting, found himself sliding in the front seat of a red Mazda 3 sportscar.
He might have endured an evening being the odd one out, but the night ended with him, having a pair of his own.
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