The Greatest Supreme

hat had slipped my mind about the 90s films, literary pieces from antiquity, and contemporary literature.

Then at some point, while I was browsing the internet, a news article piqued my interest. There was a picture of a familiar face.

—VIRAL: Netizens dubbed one of the International College Clash contestants Smarty Hottie…

I impulsively clicked on the headline.

{ PICTURE }

—

MANILA, Philippines – The 6th International College Clash finalist Zekiel Radnier, a Filipino-American, is now making an internet buzz as his celebrity-like face and charisma captivated the attention of the netizens. His extraordinary performances in the competition are also notable— that is why the internet citizens dubbed him Smarty Hottie….

—

There was a smirk on my face.

Ridiculous.

But wasn it a good thing?

”Are you narcissistic or something? ”

I slightly flinched at the voice that came from behind me. I didn notice him at all.

”Rin, you
e awake… I just accidentally came across this article, and I couldn help but feed my curiosity. ”

I checked the time; it was already 6:58 in the morning.

Then, my head turned toward the man behind my back and what I saw was his half-asleep manner. His eyes were still half-closed, but a gentle smile was also visible on his face.

Haaa, you
e creepy, Rin.

He put his face closer to the screen, and I slightly leaned towards the air away from him. I stared at his messy hair while he observed the screen for a while. Then he moderately tilted his head towards me.

He spoke with a low voice, ”You know what? You thought that I wouldn notice? ”

Whats with this jerk?

”What do you mean? ” I replied.

He smiled slightly then told me, ”Your appearance. ”

”Whats with my appearance? Oh, you
e telling me that Im attractive? Please, I already know that. ”

”Silly. ”

”Whats funny? And whats with your manner of speech? ”

Yes, there were times he was like this, especially whenever he was half-asleep or drunk.

”You
e not someone who fixes his hair, dresses in nice clothes, and smiles so brightly in public, Zekiel. ”

”Come on, of course, I need a good impression. I mean, its public, so what do you expect? ”

”But you behave differently when you
e in the States. Whenever you publicly speak, you just behave just the way you are. ”

This is getting annoying so I had no choice but to use this method.

”Remember what I told you last month? It has something to do with impression management. We portray different faces or should I say persona in various stages in life. Lets say that the US and the Philippines are those stages; we are performers performing in these stages. On every stage, we portray distinctive faces, and those faces are made up of performances. These performances refer to how we act, behave, and interact with other actors in front of the audience, which differs depending on the situation and type of audience. ”

Rin was just blankly staring at the screen, having no changes in his expression.

I continued talking, ”And these performances created impressions, most likely by the audience. But, there is a governing rule upon these faces and performances… reputation. Reputation, however, is created by these performances, and at the same time, reputation also creates what kind of performance we will make. ”

Rin broke his silence, ”…You have to maintain a positive impression and reputation at least in this place, am I right? ”

I could sense the faint seriousness in his tone of voice.

Why so serious, man?

”Yes, as simple as that. ”

”But thats not the point, Zekiel. ”

”….. ”

I heard my name twice in his mouth. Whenever Rin called me by my name, it was an indication that he was being serious.

Damn it, did he notice?

”Are you really just some narcissistic bastard… or is it just part of your bullshit plan? ” Rin said nonchalantly.

”What plan are you talking about? ”

”The very reason why you joined the quiz show… to meet your old friends. ”

”…Rin, stop with your baseless arguments. ”

”Don even try to gaslight me, Zekiel. ”

It was the third time I heard ekiel.

Theres no reason to be dramatic, Rin.

He continued, ”Youd rejected many competition offers, yet when you knew this competition would be held in this place, you accepted right away. ”

”Its because the prize is more valuable. And if I really wanted to go here just to meet those people, I would have done that a long time ago, even without this competition. ”

”…That might be true. But the question is if that really is the case. ”

”….. ”

”You just said that you would have done something like meeting your dear old friends in this place a long time ago, so you
e admitting that you really wanted to go here, that you joined this competition for that very reason? Don tell me that you don want to meet them. I know you missed them so much after all these years. ”

”…Even if the words you have just said are true, what even is the connection of fixing hair, dressing nicely, and smiling brightly at the public, plus joining this competition in meeting my friends? ”

”Because you know the fact that you are here doesn mean that they would be here too. You just have no idea where to find them, and you
e just taking risks and uncertain possibilities. You might not even consider that they might be in another country or that they might be dead too. ”

”…Don say that. ”

”You just used this platform, this publicity to be famous, so that they will know that you
e finally here. ”

I looked and smiled at him. ”So what if I wanted to meet them? Whats wrong with it? ”

”Do I really have to tell you? ”

”….. ”

He finally turned his head towards me after staring at the screen for a long time. His eyes were still half-closed, though.

”So that you wouldn look pathetic and desperate… So that it would lessen your guilt. ”

”….. ”

…I couldn speak. Was he always this quite sharp?

”Tell me, Zekiel. Am I wrong? ”

At his question, I smiled gently and raised my right hand in the air and…

Smack!

”Aw! What was that, dude?… My back hurts so much. ”

I finally saw his wide-open eyes and his outgoing demeanor.

”Rin, your mouth stinks. ”