The Greatest Supreme

The competition between South Africa and I was already over.

[That concludes the semifinal round for Set B. The official tally: USA got 165 points while South Africa gathered 100 points. Congratulations to our finalist from the United States, Zekiel Radnier!]

Claps. Cheers. Scream.

The claps and cheers seemed to be louder than yesterday…

* * *

I was already backstage after I received the interviews. I saw Rin sitting in a chair with his arms and legs crossed. Then, he stood up and approached me while grinning.

He told me, ”I thought youd lose. I mean, the girl from South Africa won first place yesterday, but surprisingly, you won today with quite a margin. Is it luck or are you just holding back? ”

There was a smirk on my face.

I replied to him, ”Its by chance. ”

”Pft. To be honest, you
e quite impressive, you know? How did you know about all of those things? Do you have a mind palace or something? ”

”Theres no way. Im not that extreme. ”

Rin narrowed his eyes. Then he opened his mouth.

”You
e quite popular these days. ”

”What do you mean? ”

”Do you even know that you became viral? The netizens are referring to you as Smarty Hottie. ”

What a funny name.

Well, I didn have much time to surf the internet since I needed to focus. I didn even know the faces of the competitors in Set A.

”…Really? As if that matters. ”

”Anyway, theres also a beauty in Set A. Shes the real deal, man. Actually, she will be competing with you tomorrow. Gosh, Im jealous of you. ”

”Your type? ”

”…Of course, who wouldn ? But damn, she was just way out of my league. Maybe someone like you can get her. ”

Hm, I don know if this jerk was exaggerating or not. Now that Rin mentioned it, Im slightly curious, but Im busy so lets just see tomorrow.

Tap, tap.

I heard someone approaching us. I averted my gaze from Rin, and when I looked at the person…

I froze.

What I saw was a girl with a pixie cut with piercings on her eyebrows. She was wearing a black bomber jacket with a white shirt underneath. She was also in black jeans and a pair of black boots. On top of that, she was someone familiar to me.

Whats her name again?

The person spoke to me in a mellow voice,

”Zekiel? ”

Oh right, I remember now. She was a schoolmate when I was still here.

I smiled at her and replied,

”Yes. May I know who you are? ”

”Hindi mo na ako kilala? ” (You don know me anymore?)

”….. ”

I recognized her face, but I had already forgotten her name.

”Samantha Manansala, ” she told me.

I pretended to be shocked by using my right hand to cover my mouth.

I then spoke,

”Oh… Samantha. I remember now. How have you been? ”

”Hindi ba ako dapat ang magtanong sa iyo nan? ” (Shouldn I be the one asking you that?)

Rin alternately looked at me and Samantha several times. He finally butted in.

”Do you know each other? Aren you the representative from the Philippines? ”

Samantha took a glance at the man beside me.

Then she answered, ”Yup… But **, I didn win because of that monster… By the way, Zekiel, who is he? ”

”Ah. His names Rin Ardolf, a close friend of mine. ”

Rin then smiled as I introduced him.

Ringgg.

It was Samanthas phone.

”Ah, sorry, sorry, ” Samantha hurriedly said as she took the phone call.

[Hey, where are you?]

Samantha looked at us and spoke, ”Im sorry, I have to go now. Zekiel, lets meet again. ”

I smiled and nodded at her message.

She had already left. I quickly glanced over my watch; it was already past four in the afternoon.

”Rin, lets go now. I need to prepare. ”

* * *

I was reading a book on my bed when Rin asked me out of the blue.

”Zekiel, how did you know each other? Is she your ex? ”

A crease formed on my forehead, and at the same time, my lips curled up.

”Of course not. Would you greet your ex like that? In truth, we had no special relationship. ”

”Hm… I see… By the way, what are you going to do tomorrow now that almost everyone in the public recognizes you? ”

”Doesn matter, Ill just carry on. ”

”Hm, okay… Hey, Im going to sleep now. ”

”Okay, good night. ”

As Rin switched off the lights from the ceiling, I turned on the lamp beside my bed.

He went to his bed and covered his whole body with a blanket.

I closed the book I was reading and put it on my side desk.

I grabbed some clothes and a towel and went to the bathroom. Then, I removed all of my clothes and checked myself through the half-body-size mirror against the wall. My toned muscles were already losing their mass… I think I need to get back into shape.

The shower was on, and my scalp felt the cold water. Then the water flowed throughout my body, and various thoughts entered my mind.

Thinking of it, Samantha was her class top student. During those times, we were able to interact with each other since we were once picked together to represent our school in a local group quiz bee. We
e not really friends; the more accurate label was acquaintance.

Now that we had our reunion through this quite grand competition, I have truly realized the smallness of this world.

If we truly live in such a small world, was it possible for it to shrink even further?

I need to at least see hem before I return.

Wait, should I ask Samantha…? Will she be watching tomorrow?

I was already done showering and I also put some clothes on. I exited the bathroom while dying up my hair using a washcloth.

I sat on my bed and turned off the lamp.

A night has passed.

* * *

Ringgg.

I woke up to my phones alarm. I glanced over the other side of the room and Rin was still sleeping. I turned off the alarm and eventually saw the time.

05:46

I switched on the lamp and readied my laptop.

Then, I went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth. Afterward, I washed my face with cold water.

I looked in the mirror.

”You need to get more attention, Zekiel. ”

I left the bathroom while wiping my face. I hang the washcloth on the chair beside my bed. Then, I sat on the chair.

I brought my laptop to the table, opened it, and went to the search engine.

I was immersed in searching for information that 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. ”