Niki propped her phone on the vase of the counter. She checked the angle of the camera. Inayos niya ang sarili. She put on a little bit of makeup, but it was not captured on camera. Medyo simple ang dating niya. Natural. It was exactly what she wanted to achieve.

The lighting in the kitchen, though... It was atrocious. The yellowish light didn't do her skin any favor. Mas maganda sana kung natural light ang gagamitin niya, pero malayo ang bintana sa kusina.

Niki picked up her phone and tried to place it someplace else. Sa mas mataas na lugar, sa lalagyanan ng mga plato, sa itaas ng ref... As she was fixing the phone's position on top of the fridge, she saw Andy on the frame. Kunot noo itong lumapit sa camera.

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to find a good angle."

"Para...?"

She let out a sigh and took the phone from the top of the fridge. Hinarap niya ang kaibigan. "I'm starting a vlog."

Mas lalong kumunot ang noo ni Andy. "What?"

"Naisip ko kasi... since kumikita yung mga content creator sa vlogs and videos nila, susubukan ko ring gawin yun habang wala pa akong work. If it doesn't work out, then okay. Try lang naman. Kung makahanap ako agad ng work, then it's okay if it doesn't work out. If it does work out, I'd have more time to do other things while I earn money through my videos. It's a win-win-win situation."

Andy crossed his arms against his chest and raised his eyebrow. "And you think you're charming enough in front of the camera?"

"I am," sagot niya.

Andy laughed in her face. "You sure about that?"

Ngumuso siya. Sa kanilang dalawa, mas may charm si Andy. He is the extroverted golden retriever while she is the introverted black cat. Halos lahat ng naging mutual friends nila, recruit ni Andy. Nagustuhan naman siya ng mga ito nang tumagal, but they would never have the chance to like her if not for him.

Maybe she would get more views if she got Andy in front of the camera? Niki quickly shook the idea out of her head. Content channel niya iyon. Dapat siya ang nakaharap sa camera. She didn't even have to get in front of the camera, she just had to make a content. Marami naman siyang nakita online na puro kamay at pans lang ang kita sa video.

Speaking of which... she went back to the kitchen counter and looked underneath the overhead cupboards. Kalahati lang ng counter ang covered noon kaya kapag doon niya inilagay ang phone niya, kalahati lang din ng pan ang kita. And if she put the phone in front of the stove, baka masira pa iyon. Wala pa siyang pambili ng bago.

Niki grunted. She put the phone against the tissue holder again. Mukhang doon na nga ang pinakamaayos na anggulo na hindi niya kailangang ayusin maya't maya. She opened the camera and checked the angle again. Nakiusyoso uli si Andy.

"What are you even going to make?" he asked.

"Dunno," she replied with a shrug. "Maybe I'll finally learn how to cook."

–

Nakasandal lamang si Andy sa doorway ng kwarto niya habang pinanunuod si Niki na kausapin ang sarili nito sa harap ng camera. Between the two of them, si Niki ang awkward at medyo anti-social. He basically ushered her in every friend group he has. Noong high school, palagi itong narrator at siya ang main character. To put it simply, Niki has no main character energy.

She had been grunting and sighing constantly. Malapit nang maubos ang pasensya at hangin nito sa katawan.

"Maybe you should just take videos of Pon," he suggested. "Tutal puro pictures na rin naman ni Ponkan ang nasa cellphone mo."

Niki turned around, her face marred with that frown. Kanina pa ito nakasimangot.

"Cat videos do well online, di ba?"

"Yeah but he's always asleep in your room," she said exasperatedly.

"Maybe you should make a plan for your content first? What do you want your image to be like? What kind of content do you want to put out into the world? Because once it's on the internet, you can never get rid of it."

"Since when did you start spewing random wisdom?"

He chuckled. "Trust me. This is something I'm naturally good at."

–

Nagpasa na si Niki ng resume. She spent the entire morning scouring different job posting sites for jobs that fit her needs and her preferences. Meanwhile, Andy was in his room all morning, working. He was so excited when she gave back the cables last night.

Habang naghihintay siya ng tawag mula sa mga kumpanyang pinag-applyan, naisipan ni Niki na mag-aral ng video editing. If she were to create contents, it would be better if she knew how to edit the contents she made. Maybe in the long run, pwede rin niyang pagkakitaan ang photo at video editing.

While watching tutorials on how to edit videos, Niki also searched for apps and sites where she can do free video editing. The most popular one that she found was a free app on phones. She also made a list of things she wanted to do and show the world. People have already made all kinds of content she was thinking of doing. Makeup was expensive. Cooking was expensive. Almost all hobbies were expensive. She thought of doing skits too, but realized she just didn't have the talent and confidence. Travel vlog sana kaso bawal namang lumabas ng bahay. Pwede siguro yung cat videos, like Andy suggested. People on the internet couldn't get enough of cats. Ang kaso ayaw ni Ponkan sa kanya. Gusto nito palaging nakadikit kay Andy.

Niki sighed. She finally decided to just take random videos everyday and she would ask Andy which one would bring her the most online engagement.

–

Niki decided to name her channel 'A Day in the Life of Niki', which was a mouthful, but it encompasses all the things that she wanted to do and would want to do in the future. Walang set na niche, anything goes...

She picked out a few outfits from her closet the following morning. Propped her phone on the drawer right next to the bedroom window so she could have the natural light for her video. Maganda ang register sa camera.

Niki put her mirror on the table, behind the phone. Dahil sa natural light, pati pores niya ay kitang-kita sa camera. She didn't even need the mirror.

Isa sa mga natutunan ni Niki sa panunuod ng videos ay ang paggamit ng voice over. She would use it for her intro, na dapat consistent din every video. So it had to be short, engaging, and generic enough that it could work on every video she would put online, regardless of the content.

Kinuha niyang muli ang phone mula sa lamesa at saka niya tinawagan si Andy.

"Hm?"

"Magvi-video ako. Wag kang maingay ha. Wag kang kakatok."

"Okay. Ano gusto mong breakfast?"

"Corned beef silog."

"Tatlong araw nang corned beef silog ang breakfast natin."

"Yeah. And?"

Andy sighed. "Fine. Labas ka na lang pag kakain ka na."

"Thanks!"

She ended the call and opened her recorder. Inilagay niya sa lamesa ang nakabukas niyang notebook. May script doon na babanggitin niya para sa intro.

Huminga siya nang malalim bago pindutin ang record button. "I'm a twenty-something woman living in Manila trying to survive this pandemic. Hi, I'm Niki. And welcome to a day in my life." Niki pressed stop and listened to the sound of her voice. The intro was only around 10 seconds, but Niki was not satisfied with how she said it.

Nakailang subok siya bago ma-satisfy sa sarili niyang boses.

After that, she recorded herself putting on makeup as if she was going to work. Habang naglalagay ng makeup sa mukha, kinausap ni Niki ang camera na para bang may kausap siyang totoong tao.

She had a more cheerful topic in mind before starting the video, but when she started recording, the first thing that came out of her mouth was 'I'm currently unemployed' and she naturally started talking about her struggles when the pandemic started.

"This is how I normally do my makeup kapag papasok ng trabaho. I want this to be my first video because I want to feel good about myself. And I often feel good about myself if I think I look good. I know this isn't much. It's not like the makeup of some of the women here–who are amazing, by the way–but I think it enhances my good features and when they get highlighted, sila yung una kong nakikita kapag tumingin ako sa salamin. I think I look good so now, I feel good. And maybe one of these days, I'd get myself ready to go to work again. Hopefully. Fingers crossed." She crossed her fingers and smiled at the camera. "The year is ending soon. I wish for all of us a good plot twist before the new year." She waved to the camera. "Bye, guys! See you in my next video!"

Niki ended the recording and watched the video right after. She would cut some parts out and add some music and the intro. The video was more than 20 minutes long. Hindi niya inakala na kaya niyang magsalita for 20 minutes nang walang kausap. It looked awkward but she couldn't do another take because it would mean that she would be taking her makeup off. She put the phone back on the stand and ran to her closet to pull out the clothes she prepared earlier. Lumapit siya sa phone para simulan uli ang recording. She dropped each set of clothes on the bed. Tahimik siyang nag-contemplate kung ano ang isusuot niyang damit.

She settled for a nude vest suit coord. Saka color block shoes na nude and black. She also paired it with her small black and gold chain bag. For accessories, Niki put on a pair of chunky gold hoop earrings and a dainty gold necklace. Bago niya ilagay o isuot ang item sa katawan, lumalapit siya sa camera para ipakita kung ano iyon. To save some time, she would just pause the video and put text to show the brand of the item. She went out of frame to put on her clothes because she was not comfortable at getting naked in front of the camera. Hindi niya alam kung paano iyon nagagawa ng ibang content creator.

After posing in front of the camera to show off her outfit, Niki strutted her way out of the frame towards the door. Saka siya bumalik para itigil ang pagvi-video.

Pinanuod niya iyong muli pagkatapos. She took notes on what to edit out and what to add in.

From: Andy

Tapos ka na?

To: Andy

Yep. Katatapos lang

From: Andy

Oks. Luto na food

To: Andy

Okie!

Papanuod ko sayo yung video mamaya pagka-edit ko.

Need your honest opinion.

From: Andy

Sige