⏳ 3 Years Later 📍 Location: Ryan's Apartment — 6:48 AM
> Me (softly, remembering): "It's been three years and seven months." "I'm surviving. Barely. But surviving."
That last siopao moment? It never left me. The warmth. The taste. The promise I made silently while chewing.
> Me (internal monologue): "I had to make things right. For Mom. For myself. For every ₱25 siopao that tasted like a second chance."
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☀️ Scene — Same, Ryan's Apartment
> Me (eyes squinting, hand blocking light): "AHH! What is that—hope?! Sunlight??"
I sat up slowly, hand dramatically reaching for the ceiling like I just got resurrected in a soap opera.
> Me (smiling wide): "After three years… I finally did it." "Law degree: UNLOCKED."
🎓 Flash montage: Graduation stage. Holding my diploma like it's a championship belt. Classmates crying, laughing, posing. Even Sir Sexy shook my hand and said:
> "Congrats, Mr. Hawkins." (Internally: Sir. Please. Control your veins.)
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🛁 Scene — 7:02 AM | Bathroom
I took a bath with the confidence of a man who passed Remedial Law by luck and caffeine. Then stood in front of the mirror—wearing my expensive (Lazada-sale) tuxedo.
> Me (smacking cheeks while applying baby powder): "Let's scam the scammers. With legal backing."
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🍳 Scene — 7:34 AM | Dining Table
Breakfast? One egg. Three grains of rice. A coffee that tasted like regret.
> Me (sipping coffee): "Yup. Still tastes like law school loans."
I grabbed my degree certificate, held it like Simba in The Lion King, then stormed outside.
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🚌 Scene — 8:02 AM | Street, Waiting for Bus
Me, showing off my diploma to no one:
> "Good morning world! May degree na ako! HAH!"
Then a bus rolled in. Full.
> Conductor (shouting): "Sir! Sa taas may space pa!" Me (panicking): "No choice. Baka ma-late ako sa future ko."
I climbed up like a warrior ascending Mt. Province.
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⏩ Scene Skip — 1 Hour Later 📍 Anti-Scammer Department HQ — 9:12 AM
I stepped off the bus like a hotshot K-drama lead entering the final episode.
> Me (strutting): "This is it. My origin story ends here— or begins here. Di ko sure. Basta something dramatic."
Glass doors opened. People in suits. Giant screens. Security everywhere. I took a deep breath and walked toward the Director's Office.
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🏢 Scene — 9:18 AM | Director's Office
I entered like a man on a mission. The Director looked up from his paperwork. I walked forward... …then slammed my college diploma onto his desk like I was dropping a search warrant in a teleserye.
> Me (dramatic): "Here. Proof I'm no longer a joke."
The Director blinked.
> Director (grinning): "Ikaw?? HAHA! Seryoso ka talaga ah!"
He stared at the diploma. Then at me.
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🚪 Scene — 9:23 AM | Department Hallway — Delulu Strut Mode
I barge out of the Director's office like a wanted man in a suit. Grinning. Glowing. Giggling slightly. Every employee I passed?
> Me (nodding with swag): "Good morning, future teammate!" Me (to janitor): "Hello, Mr. Clean Energy!" Me (to water dispenser): "You hydrate lives, king." Me (internal monologue): "Yeah. I'm totally not overcompensating. I belong here. Totally."
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🎞️ Flashback — 3 Minutes Ago
> Director (smiling, sincere): "Well Ryan, total nakikita ko namang seryoso ka…" extends hand "Welcome to the Department." Me (trying not to fist-pump): "Salamat po. I'll make you proud. Or at least… legal."
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🎉 Scene — 9:25 AM | Rooftop, Probably Not Allowed Here
I stood under the sky, diploma in one hand, the wind dramatically hitting my face.
> Me (shouting): "I'M OFFICIALLY IN!" Me (laughing to myself): "HAHA! From delulu to department!"
Then I slipped on the wet floor sign.
> Me (on the ground): "Gravity: 1, Confidence: 0."
🌇 Scene — 9:27 AM | Rooftop, Still Delulu
I stood at the edge of the rooftop—arms wide open. Diploma flapping in the wind like I was in a low-budget K-drama intro. Imagining my future. My salary. My future wife...
Then I looked down. And there she was.
> Me (eyes widening): "Rachel?!"
She was walking by below. Cool. Casual. Like she didn't witness me lift a random dude three chapters ago.
> Me (yelling, hopeful): "Hey Rachel! Hellooo!"
She looked up. Squinted. Raised an eyebrow.
> Rachel (shouting): "Hey, what?!"
My heart jumped. My brain shut down. My mouth took over.
> Me (screaming from rooftop): "I LOVE YOU!"
Pause. She blinked.
> Rachel (deadpan): "Didn't hear you, idiot!"
My soul left my body. I panicked.
> Me (sweating bullets): "I SAID… HOW ARE YOU?!"
> Rachel (arms crossed, smirking): "Learn to confess properly, Romeo!"
She walked away—still smirking.
> Me (whispering dramatically, wind blowing through my budget hair): "One day… one day."
I looked far away, eyes locked on the sky like it owed me answers. Yup. That's the sun. Still rude. Still bright. But me? Still breathing.
> Me (softly): "It's been three years and seven months."
I smiled. A small one. The kind that tries to hide something bigger.
> Me (thinking): "I'm surviving. Barely. But surviving."
The breeze brushed my face again. Not dramatic this time. Just gentle. Almost like a reminder.
> Me (softly): "Maybe… I should visit Mom today."
A pause.
> Me (nodding to myself): "Yeah. Let's go."
CUT TO BLACK.