There’s something so endearing about a potential romance peppered with endless bickering. And in the case of Tupe (Gerald Anderson) and Rita (Yam Concepcion), their blazing chemistry turns those love-hate moments into one hot love story. Relive their most ‘kilig’ encounters since Init Sa Magdamag’s premiere via this Kapamilya Toplist.
We would like to call Tupe and Rita’s romance pure kismet as it started while they were kids, albeit they were childhood rivals. Apart from being pitted against each other as the campus’s best student, they always end up entwined in a series of little misfortunes as well.
Adult Tupe and Rita had a hilarious reunion when he almost hit her while she and best friend Meggy (Kate Alejandrino) were at the sidewalk. She got more annoyed when the man took off his helmet and revealed his identity, hinting at a long unresolved conflict. She tossed a stone on his motorcycle and escaped. Tupe would never forget how the woman scraped his beloved motorcycle he fondly calls Brittany.
Fate liked how the first encounter ended, that it made a way to cross Tupe and Rita’s paths again. Trying to escape from the police officers searching for her because of selling pirated DVDs, Rita did not notice Tupe walking towards the gates of her dormitory. They bumped into each other in a truly ‘kilig’ way.
He eventually recognized her as the puny girl ‘Poknat’ from his childhood. Things got more exciting when Tupe ended up as Rita’s roommate. Although she was not happy about living with a guy, much more Tupe, she wasn’t able to protest.
They looked adorable in that scene wherein Tupe woke up Rita by brushing a feather down her nose line. It just got more ‘kilig’ from there as Tupe explained to their landlady how they became childhood friends who used to play naked in the river. Tupe’s confidence and Rita’s resistance, plus the landlady’s “I smell romance in the air” dialogue all added charm to that scene.
Tupe and Rita gave us the-more-you-hate-the-more-you-love vibes in the succeeding episodes. One night, he went topless in front of her. Seeing his effect on the woman, he kept on teasing and even took off his pants in front of her. Then, he added a little spice by speaking close to Rita’s nape and shoulder, as though kissing her. She was, of course, annoyed.
In another scene, he asked her to be his prom date. Rita ignored Tupe’s ’pa-cute’ moves, telling him she’s no longer the giddy high school girl he knew. How come we’re still all-smiles even while Rita was trying to reject Tupe?
Next came a little conflict to tease the budding romance. Tupe disposed of Rita’s DVD, clueless that her survival and future largely depend on those paraphernalia. It led to a heartbreaking quarrel which also opened up feelings of hurt from the past.
Moving forward to their eventual reconciliation, Tupe and Rita went all-out in making us ‘kilig,’ starting from that sexy kissing scene by the waters to that moment he surprised her with a bouquet of flowers before she took on her exam.
If only love is not that complicated, Tupe and Rita wouldn’t have to weather the sufferings of an undying yet unrequited romance. Don’t miss an episode of Init Sa Magdamag on Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live, and A2Z.