Regina slowly opened her eyes and found herself lying in a bed while her left hand was chained. Hindi ito makapaniwalang naka posas ang kamay nito sa kama kaya agad itong nagsisigaw at humingi ng tulong.
Nilibot nito ang tingin, she's in a pleasant room and in a nice bed. Ang kwarto ay may puting pintura at maaliwalas. Pinilit nyang bumangon, but she still feels groggy.
"Where am I?"
Pinilit alalahanin ng dalaga ang mga huling pangyayari. Takot ang naramdaman nito kaya agad nyang hinanap ang cellphone pero hindi n'ya ito makita. Nakita nito ang isang susi na nakapatong sa lamesa malapit sa kama, agad nya itong kinuha at halos mapa-iyak nang mabuksan ito. She immediately opened the door and was shocked to see a hallway. Para syang nanghina pero kinalma nito ang sarili at agad na lumabas. Binati pa ito ng mga staff na parang walang nangyari. Dali itong lumabas at agad na nakapara ng taxi, dito ay napa hagulgol sya ng malakas.
"Are you okay?" Tanong ng driver. Hindi s'ya makasagot.
"Can we go to the nearest police station, please?" sambit nito. Mabilis namang tumango ang driver at pinaandar nito ang sasakyan. Pagdating sa estasyon ay agad na pumasok ng dalaga at lumapit ito sa dalawang opisyal na asa front desk.
"Yes, may we help you?" tanong ng isang police.
"I want to report an incident, please."
Pinilit n'yang alalahanin ang nangyari at unti-unti ay idinetalye nito sa kanila ang mga naganap . Expecting to believe her, but they didn't.
"Miss, are you telling us you were kidnapped?" Tinignan nya ang mga ito. They were looking at her like she made up the whole story.
"Do you think I'm crazy? Do you think I went here just to make up a story?!" she said in a high-pitched voice.
Magsasalita pa sana ito ng lumapit ang isa pang police at tinitigan ang dalaga. "Aren't you the girl in this article? Aren't you the girl who hangs out with the idol but slept with another man?"
Gulong-gulo ang isip ng dalaga. "What? Did he just say I slept with another man?" Alam n'yang hindi naniniwala sa kanya ang mga ito.
"Miss, there's an article that talks about you. You can check your phone for you to see it. You're even trending." The police looked at her and gave an evil smirk. Bago tumalikod ang lalaki ay narinig nitong bumulong sa kanilang salita. Dahil nag-aral sa korean school ang dalaga ay kahit papano'y naintindihan nya ito. 'Nappeun haengdong i deuleonamyeon pihaeja lago jujang.'
She felt devastated. They were accusing her of making the story up because she was exposed. Ang akala n'ya ay matutulungan siya ng mga ito, but she was totally wrong. Pagkarinig nito ay nawalan siya ng lakas. Wala syang nagawa kundi umalis nalang. Nakita n'yang nag-aabang padin ang sinakyan n'yang taxi kaya walang anuman ay sumakay ulit ito at nagpahatid sa villa.
Pagkababa sa taxi ay agad na tumakbo ang dalaga papunta sa kaibigan.
"Reg! Oh my gosh saan ka naggaling? Bakitt naman hindi mo sinabing may boyfriend ka pala dito?" Regina was confused. "Pagbalik ko sa table wala ka na, sabi ng waitress nakapag bayad ka na daw ng bill at umalis kasama ang isang lalaki. You even left your cell phone."
She handed her phone back and saw an article that caught her attention. She immediately read it and was dumped for a minute.
"For the past few days, Park Jace was seen with a girl who is known to be working in the airline industry. You can see in the first few photos that they seem to get well along together. The woman was also spotted to be in the idol' s group events and the same hotel with him, so they thought he had been dating a fangirl.
However, photos of this lady were leaked online while going to a certain hotel with someone. Fans concluded it wasn't Jace who he was with, but it was another man whom they believe was the girl's boyfriend.
The fandom of the group started tweeting about the girl's behavior like how dare she play with their idol etc."
"Hindi ko maintindihan. Hindi ako sumama sa lalaking 'to papuntang hotel." Pilit nito sa kaibigan. But seeing her friend's face, alam n'yang hindi rin ito naniniwala sa kanya. "Don't tell me you don't believe me?" Sabi nito habang humihikbi.
"Hindi naman sa ganon pero kasi-"
Hindi pa natapos ng kaibigan ang sasabihin ay patakbo na itong umalis at pumasok sa kwarto. Kahit mismong kaibigan nito ay hindi naniniwala sa kanya kaya naisipan nitong magkulong.
Sunod sunod na notification bell ang pumukaw sa attention ng dalaga. Agad n'yang binuksan ang kanyang IG account and it surprised her to see message requests from unknown people. Hindi man n'ya ini-accept ang mga mensahe ay nagbasa padin ito.
'How dare you play with Jace!'
'Two-timer!'
'Slut! You don't deserve to be working in an airline. You're a disgrace.' Ilan lamang ito sa maraming mensahe na natanggap n'ya. Ang iba pa nga ay pagbabanta na kapag nakita nila ito ay baka kung anong magawa nila.
Sa kabilang villa naman ay hindi mapakali ang binata. Jace was walking back-and-forth nang pansinin ito ng mga kasama.
"You're making us dizzy."
"Yeah, if you want to confront her, then talk to her." sabi ng lider ng grupo.
"Why would I do that? We're not even in a relationship." Mahinang sagot nito. Actually, he just made up for that reason.
"Exactly! You're not in a relationship with her and yet you act like a worried husband." Sabi ng isang binatang mala-anime character ang itsura.
"Hey, the airlines released a statement, and it's trending right now." Lahat sila ay napatingin sa kanilang cellphone at binasa ito.
It was a statement from an airline company where Regina is currently working.
"An article came to our attention regarding one of our aircrew members. We are in further investigation regarding this matter as we do not allow such actions that could drag our company's reputation. Therefore, we will suspend the said crew until further notice."
"Woah, that was really something serious," they said. "Would our company release a statement, too?"
Maski si Jace ay napasinghap sa nabasa. 'How did it come to this?' He needs to know. Agad n'yang tinawagan ang kanilang manager at nakiusap na 'wag munang maglabas ng statement tungkol sa nangyari. He felt bad for her, regardless if it's true or not. He thinks he has to do something. Kung hindi 'din naman nalink ang dalaga sa kanya ay hindi naman lalaki ang issue ng ganito. He needs to investigate. Agad nitong kinuha ang mga litrato na pinadala sa kanya at tinignan isa-isa. Agad din nitong linista ang pangalan ng hotel kung saan nakitang may kasama ang babae.
ILANG araw pa ang lumipas ay walang nagbago, lagi padin nakakatanggap ng mga masasakit na mensahe ang dalaga at puro hagulgol nito ang maririnig. Ilang araw din itong nagkukulong sa kwarto, halos 'di nga lumabas ito sa silid kung hindi pa pinilit buksan ni Jazy ang pinto.
"Girl, kain ka naman," said Jazy with concern.
"Wala akong gana," matamlay na sagot nito.
"Tingnan mo naman, ang tamlay mo na. Kahit konti lang, you still need to eat. How can we go out if you're acting like that?"
"Paano ako makakalabas? Halos oras-oras akong may natatanggap na mensahe."
"Wag ka na muna mag phone, okay? At saka, wag ka na muna magbukas ng social media account mo, andami nilang toxic."
"Paano pa ko makakabalik ng trabaho nito?" she was devastated. For straight six years, ay siya ang nakakakuha ng OFA (Outstanding Flight Attendant) award. Paano ay napaka hands-on nito sa mga pasahero. Mahal na mahal nito ang kanyang trabaho, lalo na nung mamatay ang kanyang kapatid ay nakatulong ang trabahong ito dahil kahit paano ay naibsan ang lungkot nya. Just then, she received a call from their supervisor.
"Ms. Alterro, I think you know why I called you. An article came to our attention. Could you please explain what happened?"
"Ma'am hindi ko po talaga alam ang nangyari but believe me, hindi ko po alam ang tungkol sa litrato at lalong wala po akong nobyo. Hindi ko po gustong madamay ang pangalan ng airline."
"I know, you were one of our top air crew members, but Regina, you were linked to an idol. Alam mo ba kung gaano kalawak ang fandom ng grupo na 'to? We are being bombarded with tweets and calls saying bad things about the airlines. You are still carrying our company's reputation even while you are on a vacation. We just had a meeting and I'm sorry, but we have decided to suspend you."
"Suspend? But, that's unfair."
"We are currently investigating about the situation. I know you should be back at work in a few days, but you need to stay where you are. Okay? May mga fans ng grupo ang laging nakaabang sa mga co-crew members mo dyan sa airport ng Korea and stones were being thrown at them. Imagine na may mga nadadamay. Kaya wag ka na munang magtrabaho at delikado 'din para sayo."