Chapter 32
After getting a warning and being sent to the counselor's office, the teacher finally calmed down and canceled the parent call.
However, the ten of us still received a stern warning.
"If something like this happens again, none of you will be safe anymore!"
After that, we were finally allowed to return to our classroom.
"Fuck, that was intense!! I thought I was dead!" Calvin said while wiping the sweat off his forehead.
"Yes, next time just shut up, will you?! We all got dragged into it because of you!" Joms complained as if he wasn't one of the reasons we got in trouble.
"Well, this is still better. At least we won't need to squat this time. My legs still hurt whenever I remember that punishment," I said while taking my seat and continuing to write my script for the next vlog.
A few hours passed without me even noticing what was happening in class.
I simply didn't need to listen anymore.
Even the hardest lessons were things I already knew from my previous life. Maybe I didn't master all of them, but at the very least, I already understood how they worked.
If the teacher looked at me right now, I probably appeared to be a diligent student seriously taking notes.
Then suddenly, someone touched my shoulder.
"ARHHH! HEY!!"
I jumped from my seat in shock.
That completely caught me off guard.
"Man, don't sneak up on someone like that! You might kill somebody someday!" I complained while holding my chest.
I swear my heart almost jumped out.
"Hey, you scared me too! Why did you react like that?!" Ernest replied.
"So what do you want?" I asked begrudgingly before continuing to write, clearly showing an "I'm busy, fuck off" attitude.
"Hey, Maica from the other class is looking for you," he said with a wicked grin, probably expecting me to feel excited that a girl was looking for me.
However, my reaction surprised him.
"Tell her to fuck off."
Then I continued writing.
I think the timing matched my previous life.
Something similar also happened back then. However, during that time, she personally came to talk to me herself. Maybe things changed because I had a group of friends now.
You could call me immature or petty.
However, the trauma she caused me wasn't something easy to forget.
There was never a time when I didn't question myself because of her.
Was I lacking in something?
Did I do something wrong?
I even changed myself just to look and act better to the point that I slowly lost my own personality.
The damage to my confidence stayed with me even after becoming an adult.
There was only one person who helped me get through it.
"Ayyy… just how stupid was I?"
I quickly pushed those thoughts away and forced myself to focus on work again.
I'd rather spend my time building fame than waste it on a woman who wouldn't even become part of my future.
I glanced at Ernest as he left the room to deliver my message.
He would probably soften my wording anyway. He was a nice guy after all.
Thinking about it now, I should probably apologize to him for raising my voice earlier.
Class eventually ended, and it was time for practice.
During practice, I noticed Maica several times sitting in the audience while staring at me.
I simply ignored her and focused on practicing.
I wasn't interested in revenge or anything like that.
In this life, I wanted to focus on things that actually mattered.
Besides, she still hadn't done anything bad to me in this timeline, so it was better to just avoid her peacefully.
Practice continued without any problems.
The popularity I gained earlier slowly faded away, so the audience became much smaller compared to before.
That was expected.
After all, if people saw someone every day and knew he wouldn't disappear until graduation, eventually they would stop paying special attention.
Then it was finally time to go home.
3:30 PM At Home
I didn't go to the internet café today because I had nothing new to upload.
Because of that, I opened my barbershop earlier than usual.
"Hey, you're open already? You're early today!!" someone nearby called out.
He was basically my cousin since almost everyone in this barangay was somehow related through extended family.
"Yep! Want a haircut?" I asked while standing up and preparing my tools.
"Yup! Make it stylish. I honestly don't know what haircut suits me, so just pick something good," he said before sitting down.
I immediately wrapped the barber cape around him and started combing his hair while thinking about a hairstyle that would suit his face.
"Oh! Before that, can you do me a favor?" I asked sincerely.
"Huh? What is it?" he asked while looking at me through the mirror.
"Well… the thing is, I want to film the process of cutting your hair. I want to post it on Facebook. Is that okay with you?" I asked while holding up my camera.
"The hell, man? That's weird. Isn't that embarrassing?" he replied uncertainly.
"Not really. You might even become famous for being my model! I'll cut your hair for free too. This could help advertise my services online and bring in more customers."
"Ow… I don't know, man. I'm kinda embarrassed," he admitted apologetically.
"Well, let's just film it for now. You can decide later whether you want me to post it or not. Is that okay?" I suggested.
Asking politely was my last resort.
Technically, I could secretly film him without permission.
But I wanted to do things properly.
"Okay… let's do that," he replied reluctantly.
I immediately positioned the camera to the side so I wouldn't block the view while working.
First, I recorded a few close-up shots of his hair and face so I could create a before-and-after theme later.
At this time, the most popular hairstyles were inspired by Daniel Padilla and Justin Bieber long bangs with side-swept fronts.
However, that style wouldn't suit my current customer because he had a round face and a small forehead.
For him, a textured top with a mid fade would look much better.
Since his hair was long enough, I had plenty of options to work with.
I sprayed water over his hair before carefully combing it down.
"Your face is a bit round, and your forehead is small," I explained casually.
"Heavy bangs won't suit you. We need to add more texture instead."
He simply nodded while listening to me explain.
Soon, the buzzing sound of clippers filled the small barbershop.
I started from the sides first, carefully trimming around his ears before slowly blending the shorter hair upward.
Loose strands of hair kept falling onto the black cape covering his body.
After finishing the sides, I moved to the top using scissors instead of clippers.
Snip. Snip. Snip.
Instead of cutting everything evenly, I trimmed small uneven sections one by one.
"Your hair is thick," I explained. "If I leave too much weight on top, it'll puff up like a mushroom."
"That bad?"
"Very bad."
More strands fell onto his lap while I carefully thinned out the top.
Then I adjusted the front.
"Don't make the bangs too thick," I reminded myself while trimming carefully.
"Yeah. Thick bangs will only make your face look rounder."
I lightly shortened the fringe, leaving it messy instead of perfectly straight.
After that, I grabbed a hair dryer and pushed his hair upward using my fingers while applying a small amount of matte wax.
Almost instantly, his flat hair gained shape and volume.
"There," I said while turning the chair slightly toward the mirror.
He stared silently at his reflection for a moment.