Chapter 18: Danica's Day Off

Danica's POV

This morning, Imari gave me a set of keys while I ate somefried Spam, rice and Kikoman sauce in the kitchen alone.

"Ate Danica? I'm going to work overtime at my shift in Jollibee so here's an extra set of keys for the house. You said you're going out, right?"

I took it from her and clasped it between my fingers. "Yeah, today's the day!"

Imari patted my back and smiled.

"Take care on your quest. I gotta go clean the garden and I'll see ya at dinnertime." She said, walking out of the kitchen, then heading to the narrow hall outside for the back garden.

I grinned as I finished my breakfast.

Actually...today's the day I've been waiting for a year ago.

I've saved enough money, I've invested effort and time for taking that step closer to my dream...eagerly anticipating the moment it became reality.

Looking out the kitchen window, the sun has never been brighter.

I'm going to buy a ticket, a friggin' concert ticket for ASTRO's concert!

So excited!

I'm lucky enough to have ASTRO share the same roof with me, plus the additional fact that I can now actually accomplish my goal of buying that ticket I've been drooling over now.

Yes, having the boys under the same roof with me is not enough; I'm gonna attend their concert, too.

Gonna have my cake and pie, too..!

The boys left early for rehearsal as usual, and with Imari going to the fastfood throughout the day, I'm the only one left in the house.

But not for long.

After taking a bath, I changed into my White Glow tee and black skinny jeans. Grabbing my sling bag, I hurriedly put on some black socks before jamming them into my white rubber shoes. I donned a violet cap to complete the look, set and ready to go.

Today's my day off...and I'm gonna spend it juuust the way I want it to be.

Walking out of the resthouse and into the street, I hailed a tricycle and rode out of the subdivision into the highway.

"Miss, saan kayo?" The driver asked.

"Manong, terminal po."

As the ride sped off, I brought out my phone and opened Messenger. I grinned as I opened our group chat with my fellow Arohas...

D: Good morning, chingus! Saan na kayo?

H: Papunta pa lang kami ni Nina sa mall. Ikaw?

D: Ako rin, papunta pa lang. Malayo pa byahe ko.

B: Danica-Eunnie! Good morning po. Ingat po sa byahe.

D: Thanks. Bianca, where na u?

B: Naghihintay na po ako sa loob ng SM.

H: Wow, ang bilis mo naman!

B: Hi, Ate Hannah. Malapit lang kasi ako, one ride away lang po.

D: Shucks. Sana makaabot ako. Marami nang tao jan?

B: Opo. Mga fellow fans natin. I'm so excited..!

D: Kita-kits tayo jan, mga sis. Update-update lang. See you all soon

I closed the app and returned the phone in my bag.

Hannah, Bianca and Nina were girls I met way back in 2016. We've stayed in touch ever since, I can't wait to fangirl with them again.

When the tricycle dropped me off the terminal, I jumped on the latest bus I can catch. Of course, since I'm so excited, everything seems to be moving slow.

The bus, for one. When it drove down the highway, we all got stuck in traffic.

Nothing new. But now it's driving me nuts.

Because concert tickets usually get sold out within MINUTES. I felt like reaching for my deep reserves of patience in my soul.

I kept checking out my G-SHOCK wristwatch every once in a while. I've started tapping my foot, cracking my knuckles. Checking my makeup, doing some re-touch on my liptint.

Sighing in gloom...

The bus would move, then stop. It would go, stop. Move one meter, then pause. Again and again; over and over.

I bet my merch that I should've bought a bike and went Tour de France to reach my destination.

Feels so near, yet sooooo far.

Why?!

Sitting close to the window, I still felt fortunate to have ridden on an air-conditioned bus. In this urban jungle, with this hot traffic, I would've sweated buckets of sweat already had I chosen to ride on an 'ordinary' bus.

Bringing out my beige cardigan, I draped it around my shoulders and tied the sleeves together at my chest.

Honestly, I've faced this kind of traffic lots of times in my life. But it's different this time.

I'm going someplace significant, as in a once-in-a-lifetime type of thing.

It's not like ASTRO comes to the Philippines every year, you know. That's why it matters so much to us Filipino Arohas.

Fighting boredom, I plugged in my white earphones and tried to distract myself by listening to some of ASTRO's songs. Hearing their voices blending in the music immediately brought a smile to my face.

To witness these boys perform live on stage, I'll definitely make sure that-

I'll be there.

Walking past SM Megamall's spacious entrance, I saw my gang. The girls screamed when they saw me, LIKE TEN FEET AWAY.

"DANICA...? AAAAAAAHHHH!"

I ran to them, squealing in glee.

"CHINGUS! OMAIGOUDNEZZ, LONG TIME NO SEE!"

Bianca, Nina and Hannah gave me a group hug.

"How are you?"

"We missed you!"

"At last, we're complete!"

A wave of euphoria swept over me as I looked at each of them.

I noticed that Bianca, Hannah and Nina wore their violet Aroha T-shirts...

"So glad we're reunited again!"

"Danica, why aren't you wearing your Aroha shirt?"

"Quiet, they're still in the laundry..!"

We lined up for the queue of tickets together, since we're planning on choosing the same seating arrangement at the venue.

Thank goodness the booth hadn't opened yet.

Bianca was right. We're early birds so there's not a lot of fans yet.

But before noon, there would be hundreds and thousands of people lining up for this special occasion.

"Yah, chingus...let's hit up the mall for some food after this, I'm sure we'll be hungry after waiting so long." Hannah said.

"What? We'll be 'HUNGARY?' " Nina teased.

"No, hungry! Haha!"

Bianca suddenly started to sing. "Annyeong, ijeneun annyeong..."

I laughed out loud.

"Oh my gosh, Bianca. Why are you singing that?!"

Bianca paused and gave me a funny look. "Because we'll be waiting 'So Long' by Paul Kim, duh."

We all laughed like crackheads.

Then, we advanced in the queue once again. This might be called traffic, but this will be the best kind of traffic there is.

I wiped a tear out of my eye from laughing too much.

Too bad I can't share my moments with ASTRO to them.

I don't really want to keep secrets from my friends, but... I guess I'll keep it from them for now.

And maybe I'll tell them all about it later...when I'm sixty years old and still lovin' ASTRO.

-Extra Extra-

It was 7:00 in the evening when Danica finally stepped out of the tricycle a short distance away from the resthouse.

Carrying the groceries she bought on the way home, she came face-to-face with a group of men standing by the metal gate, staring at the house quietly.

A disconcerting feeling settled at the pit of her stomach, assuming these mysterious hooded men to be hoodlums. Balancing the bags in her arms, Danica squeaked when it almost fell to the ground.

They all snapped their heads around, their masked faces arousing suspicion deep in her bones. They rushed to her and immediately grabbed the paper bags from her.

Danica yelled, startled.

"Sino kayo? SINO KAYO?!"

The masked men started acting out in a frenzy that one of them placed a hand over her mouth to quiet her.

"Shhhh, noona..."

Danica calmed down when she heard the voice.

"Rocky..?"

The masked man who held her let go and stepped back.

"Ye."

Danica's eyes observed the varying height and build of the men standing in front of her. The fact that there were six of them confirmed her hunch about them being ASTRO.

Placing a hand over her rapidly beating heart, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Ah~you guys scared me. What are you guys doing out here in the open?"

The boys looked at one another.

"Um..." Moonbin began, "you see..."

"...we couldn't get inside the house." Rocky ended.

Danica couldn't tell if she heard right. "Huh?"

"We were wondering if you could open it for us," Eun Woo added.

Danica nodded, shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly. "Mm, sure." She started digging in her sling bag and a chill swept over her.

"Uh-oh."

"What is it?" MJ asked.

"The keys- they're not in my bag..." Danica took off her cap and ran a hand through her hair. "Sh*t."

Rocky paced on the asphalt, arms folded in front of him. "Imari noona told us that you have a spare set of keys. She said so this morning."

Danica searched through her bags again nervously, desperately trying to assure herself that she didn't lose it.

Her hand brought out what they've been waiting for...

The boys came near to look at it, curious.

"What's that?" San Ha asked.

Danica sighed in defeat. "The ticket for ASTRO's concert..." She replied wearily.

They all became silent. Crickets can be heard in the background. Danica hurriedly shoved it back in her bag in exasperation.

She tried to think long and hard.

"Hmm...I think...I left the keys...in my room!" She exclaimed, her eyes shining as she clapped in glee. "That means I didn't lose it, thank goodness." Danica paused when the boys weren't rejoicing with her.

Her happy face fell.

"Oh, right. We still can't get inside-" She frowned. "-wait a minute," she went up to the smallest member and examined him.

"Jin Jin, Tita Rita gave you a spare set too, right? Why aren't you saying anything?"

Jin Jin avoided her eyes but MJ placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Jin Jin-ah, you should tell her. Just be honest."

Jin Jin nodded and faced Danica as he lowered his mask. "About the keys, I...accidentally flushed it down the toilet."

Danica gasped in astonishment.

"Hah?!"

She covered her mouth in shock. She glanced down at her watch: 7:30 PM. She turned to look around the quiet surroundings anxiously.

"How long...have you guys been standing out here, exactly?"

Jin Jin ran a hand down his face, exhausted.

"About thirty minutes until you came."

Upon hearing this, Danica's eyes widened and her gaze landed on the ornamental bushes outside the resthouse's fence.

Wide and perfectly trimmed into box shapes, it can serve well as-

She grabbed Jin Jin's arm and dragged him to the nearest bush.

"Hide here, hurry!"

"What are you-"

"Just do it. I need to keep all of you hidden..!"

When Jin Jin squatted behind the bush, she proceeded to pull MJ so he can do the same.

MJ chuckled. "A-are we playing a game, Danica-ssi?"

She huffed.

"Yeah, it's called 'Avoiding the Fan Mob'," She gestured to the rest of the boys to hide in the bushes as well.

"If anyone recognized you-- we'd all be in trouble. Eun Woo, Bin-ah, you guys okay?"

"Yeah." The two called from their respective bushes.

Danica frantically scanned the streets although empty.

"What about Ddana and Rocky?"

"We're doing fine," Rocky called out.

"I'm hungry, though." San Ha said, who was cuddling the paperbags.

Danica shushed them. "Stay still and don't attract any attention."

Seemingly alone in front of the gate,she took this time to whip out her phone and quickly dialed a number.

The recipient picked up.

"Hello?"

"Yah, yeodongsaeng~ is your shift finished...?"

"Not yet, bakit po?"

"You're not going to like this, but..." Danica sighed. "I'm outside the house right now and I remembered I left the spare set of keys in my room."

"So what about the tenants? Have they arrived yet? Makakapasok po kayo kapag dumating na sila."

"About that..." Danica said, fidgeting.

"What?"

"Jin Jin lost his keys-"

"ANO?!"

"-and right now, we're all sitting out here in the open."

Imari huffed through the reciever.

"Ate Danica, make sure no one can see them. I'll go home as soon as I can. Their privacy is our priority. Bye, ingat po."

"Bye, you too." Danica replied, ending the call.

-end of Chapter 18: Danica's Day Off