The Unpublished..The Unfinished Jap Chae's Novel

            It was fine Saturday morning and the alarm clock rapidly buzzing its humming sound inside of Francis' room. It's weekend, he thought. With a smile, he turned off the vibrating gadget and stretched his arms upward while giving an unexpected yawn. He seemed still sleepy but he knew he has a lot of weekend chores to do. It's his day off. He was a bit tired yesterday at school wherein he is currently teaching. It's a private school. The whole Friday is scheduled for homeroom guidance and club activities. Yesterday was a day to screen new batch of school campus writers for the school paper. It was also the day where he practiced volleyball with the sixth graders. Tired was he but his job was gladly accomplished.

            He directly went to the common sink to wash his face and brush his teeth. The tedious and common routine inside his rented boarding house. No one was using the two faucets. They're in front of Denver's room, a junior criminology student who always asks him about his life being a teacher. Does he dream to shift an education course next school year?, Francis thought. He was heading to his room and he can hear his cell phone ringing. Suddenly, Francis grabbed it under the pillow on his bed. "Hello Rex!". A friendly public school teacher who hails in a nearby province and it's a three-hour drive by car. "What took you so long to answer me, dude?, Rex asked."I'm very sorry buddy, I was outside washing my face", Francis replied. In three hours I'll be at your mansion", Rex' voice echoed in Francis' ears as their conversation ended.
          
            Rex would always call his room a mansion despite it's in a contrary. That makes Francis laughs and forgets how small is his room. However, it is a room where he finds comfort. It's a cozy room suited to concentrate planning his lessons for the entire week. It's an accessible location which is  single block to walk going to the waiting shed to wait and ride a multi-cab straight ahead to school.      

            Francis had no idea why Rex decided to visit him in a middle of the seventh month. Rex usually drops by on the last week of a month. No matter what it is, Francis hurriedly took his untidy uniforms and did the laundry. He's pretty sure nobody was at the sink using the faucet. It can't be denied that no early morning classes for his house mates from different colleges in the city. Are they still snoring?, Francis grinned secretly. A secret to hide to anybody who might notice why he does it alone with no funny stuffs to laugh at. Is he going nuts? It might be their impromptu query. An unusual question for Francis to answer it.

            Who would not wonder a surprise visit from Rex? It is still bothering  on Francis' mind. He was on the  last rinse of his uniform. It's thirty minutes after 8 o'clock and Francis feels gnarling on his stomach. This calls a heavy breakfast at Manang's Eatery across his boarding house. the smell of a fried longganisa and a fried egg became his favorite meal since Rex had taught him to eat fried longganisa. Francis has no regret about it for a fact that its taste is undoubtedly delicious.

            A text message was received. A female college student gave a damn look after a Nokia tune was heard. Didn't she like it? A very trendy gadget could sometimes annoy other people. Francis nodded and tried to look at the screen of his mobile phone. The girl hurriedly picked her things up and went off. Francis followed his eyes and knew where the girl headed to. Francis was asking himself why did the girl behave that way. he didn't reply Rex' message. In less than an hour, Rex would be knocking at his room.