「Finally home at last」
Where could she begin? Right—she met Maria again. She got some new clothes that suited her new body and identity. And now, she was right in front of her house again.
Angel had basically taken a tricycle from Gen. Luna Street. Fortunately, that area had a tricycle station—by that, it basically meant there was a designated spot near a pathwalk (or pavement, as some might call it).
Now that she was home, she felt a bit better. Better because she no longer had to carry a bunch of carton bags or deal with people's stares.
At first, it was kinda intriguing—having people fawn over her, looking at her in amazement or, worse, lecherously. But now? It was getting annoying. Perhaps this was what some celebrities felt like. No wonder some of them were snobbish—years of this treatment could drive anyone insane.
「In any case, I should head inside」
Angel slowly put her left foot forward, and the rest of her body followed, moving toward the house.
As she opened the door, she spotted her father sitting on the couch, watching TV.
"Angel, where have you been?"
Her father glanced at her, lowering the TV's volume a little.
"Ah, I just went to the ukay-ukay. I figured I should buy more clothes po, especially considering how I only have a sundress..."
Angel looked away, her cheeks reddening a bit.
"So that's how it is. Carry on."
Her father turned the TV's volume back up and resumed watching his show.
「Gee, what was that for?」
Angel walked toward her room, pulling the clothes out of the carton bags and onto her bed.
"Right... now that I bought new clothes, I should probably wash these..."
She pinched her chin, looking up at the ceiling as she imagined the scenario.
It was now 3 PM. Doing the laundry at this hour would be kinda shitty—it wouldn't dry properly since the sun would start cooling down soon.
「If that's the case, I might as well do the laundry tomorrow...」
With that thought, Angel gathered up the new clothes and tossed them into her laundry basket, which was conveniently placed near her cabinet. Very convenient!
「But the problem is... I kinda don't wanna do the laundry」
She mostly let her mom handle it. Whenever she did it herself, the clothes ended up smelling stinky after just a few days...
But it was probably too late to dwell on that now—her head was beginning to hurt.
「For now, the important part is to add Maria as a friend on Facebook.」
Angel pulled out her phone, opened Facebook, and added Maria—just like that.
"Done!"
Angel smiled.
Ding.
「Oh, a DM already?」
She glanced at her phone—yup, a message from Maria.
『Omg Angelll I didn't know you were so famousss』
「Guh! Not her too! First Raymundo, now her?!」
Angel wanted to throw her phone across the room, but she can't… her mother might actually disown her.
『Erm, well that is… people just got nothing better to do…haha』
She replied while lying on her bed.
『Realllyy? Nothing better to do, huh? I guess even the content creators got nothing better to do~』
Angel clenched her teeth. The smugness in that text alone was reeking.
Then, another message.
『In any case, what are you doing tomorrow?』
???
Maria changed the topic herself.
That's… both weird and kind of relieving.
『Uhhh… I need to wash the new clothes I bought.』
『Is that so? Bummers, I was thinking of us going to Landers or something.』
Landers, huh? That new shop? Angel forgot where it was… she could probably Google it later if she wanted to.
『Maybe next time.』
She sent her reply.
『Is that some kind of promise?』
『It's not!! I just feel bad if I let my kuya's friend down twice.』
Maria left her on seen for a few minutes before replying.
『Friend, huh? That sounds nice...』
???
That's it… right?
『Still, Angel~ The fact that you're so famous online shocked me, you know! You were so under the radar!』
"Shit, here we go againnn."
Angel kicked the air.
『Ahahaha… I was pretty shocked too.』
Not a lie. She's still shocked to this day.
『Finally, I know a famous person in my lifeee』
『Nooo~ Nooo! I'm not famousss!』
『Why are you denying your fameee? You're clearly very pretty and cute, that's why~』
Angel's eyes widened. Her cheeks turned a shade of pink.
『Shut uppp~!』
『Okay okayy I'll stop teasing you』
Maria is getting a little too comfortable with her!! Is she treating her like her little sister or something?!
『Okay okayy I'll stop teasing you』
Maria is getting way too comfortable with her!! Is she treating her like her little sister or something?!
『Hmp! Who's teasing who?』
Angel replied snarkily.
『Anyways, I have to go.. it's like 4pm now.. I need to do some chores』
Angel continued her message.
『Oh! Okay sure sure~ chat me when you wanna go out okay??』
Angel would never. She would never leave her house..
『I will..』
After sending the final message, Angel closed her phone and went to the living room.
Her father was still watching TV... her mom wasn't home yet.
"Angel, 2 cups of rice."
Angel jolted. Though she was used to this—basically, her father, her papa~, wanted Angel to cook rice. Two cups.
Though annoyed, she had to follow his instructions.
"Okay po, Pa."
She went to the kitchen, grabbed the rice cooker, and measured out 2 cups of rice.
Now, this is the best part—rinsing the rice.
Angel turned on the sink faucet, letting water fill the pot. She stirred the rice, gently tilting the pot to pour out the cloudy starch water.
Then, she refilled the pot with running water. After a moment, she stopped the faucet and set the pot down on a stable surface—the sink.
Once the water settled, she placed her index and middle fingers in.
Normally, the water should reach exactly the tip-finger line, but Angel recently learned how to make rice more mofu mofu~ by letting the water rise just slightly above it.
After that, she wiped the underside of the pot to prevent any wet spots and placed it in the rice cooker then set it to cook.
Angel sat at the dining table while waiting for the rice. She had to stir it exactly twice—once at boiling point and once after.
The moment the lid started to shake and rise, Angel got up. With a plastic serving spoon, she gently stirred the rice—making sure it wouldn't crumple up and burn. This also helped make it extra mofu mofu~
Once the rice cooker switched to warm, she stirred the rice again, before all the remaining water evaporated and the grains set in place.
After about 20 minutes, the rice was done!
Angel scooped a small bite for a taste test. The moment the hot rice hit her tongue, her eyes widened.
「Mofu mofu~」
The rice wasn't too mushy, nor was it too brittle or hard. It was perfectly soft and fluffy!
Angel giggled a little. Soft, fluffy rice—complete.
Now, she just had to wait for her mother to return with dinner.