KC and Lino: Yes, ‘seeing each other’ • Marvin and Pauleen: ‘avoiding’ each other

"Yes, we are seeing each other!"

That’s the first direct admission from KC Concepcion about her relationship with TV director Lino Cayetano (brother of Sen. Pia Cayetano and Pateros-Taguig Rep. Allan Peter Cayetano, and former boyfriend of Bianca Gonzales).

You can find KC’s true confession in the latest issue of Star Studio (February 2007), a copy of which was furnished Funfare by SS editor-in-chief Cherry S. Pineda whose staff came upon Lino paying KC a surprise visit at the Wack-Wack (Mandaluyong City) residence of KC and family (parents Sharon Cuneta and Sen. Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan, and sisters Frankie and Miel) while KC was doing a shoot for the March issue of Metro Magazine (which will carry a lengthier story).

According to the Star Studio story, the Metro mag crew was wrapping up the shoot when KC announced that somebody was coming for a "surprise visit." Lo and behold, seconds later in walked Lino who joined KC near the pool where the shoot was going on. The shy and soft-spoken and very private Lino stayed only for a while.

The two are, that’s it, only "seeing each other" and not yet, as KC put it, "into any serious relationship."

The two reportedly met for the first time in Paris where KC is studying and where Lino hied off to, ehem, mend a broken heart after he broke up with Bianca when she apparently fell for Zanjoe Marudo during their stint in PBB (Pinoy Big Brother, the new edition of which will resume this month, still on ABS-CBN).

"...I met him, I like him, he’s a very good guy, very interesting, he intrigued me," KC was quoted in the Star Studio story.

Since then, KC and Lino have been "sighted" together in various places — in Boracay (before Christmas), Tagaytay (leaving a restaurant holding hands), Alabang Town Center (watching a movie) and... in Hong Kong recently?

"Yes," Sharon admitted on GMA’s 24 Oras last night, "KC was in Hong Kong with the whole family and Lino went there to surprise her but stayed only for one day. From Hong Kong, KC proceeded to Paris. In her travels abroad, KC is always with a group."

In an earlier TV interview, Sharon said she, too, wanted to know what the relationship of KC and Lino really is, adding that there were three qualities she hoped KC would find in her future boyfriend — 1). God-fearing, 2). somebody who would take good care of KC, and 3). somebody whom KC really loves and who can be close to her family.

Lino is said to have all three qualities.

But KC dropped a little damper.

"We’re getting to know each other," she told Star Studio, "pero ‘yan nga, aalis din ako (back to Paris), so relax lang muna."

Anyway, for more on KC and Lino, run to the nearest newsstand and get a copy of the Star Studio (and Metro Magazine when it comes out next month).

* * *

So what really happened to the barely one-year romance between Marvin Agustin and Pauleen Luna? Did the people around them (mostly those close to Pauleen) really — ouch, ouch! — tear them away from each other? Did the fact that Marvin, at 28, is 10 years older than Pauleen, and an unwed father of twins at that, have anything to do with it?

In an exclusive interview with Funfare yesterday afternoon at his newly-opened Sumo-Sam restaurant in Rockwell, Makati City, Marvin answered all those questions without blinking.

Yes, Marvin admitted, his voice cracking a bit, "external factors" got in the way of his cherished relationship with Pauleen and they both had to sacrifice their feelings for each other — kahit na talagang napakasakit, Kuya Eddie! — to please the people who didn’t approve of it.

"Mahabang-maiksi" was how Marvin described the relationship.

No, Marvin disagreed, "I don’t think the age gap, which is very slight, and my being (an unwed) father affected our relationship" because Pauleen, and the whole world for that matter, knew Marvin’s status all along.

Yes, said Marvin, he and the non-showbiz mother of his twin sons Sebastian and Santiago have parted ways but they have remained good friends, sharing the responsibility of bringing up their children.

"I really miss Pauleen," said Marvin. "But what can I do, what can we do? Maybe it’s not the right time for us. If we’re really meant for each other, then..."

It’s Pauleen’s jolly nature which Marvin misses most.

"You know, she’s fond of tickling me, mahilig ‘yan mangiliti because she knows that I’m vulnerable to tickling. She’s like a child and I enjoyed ‘baby-ing’ her."

In the next breath, Marvin vehemently denied the rumor that he was "maltreating" Pauleen and that one time Pauleen’s mom caught him "hurting" Pauleen.

"I don’t have any history of violence," protested Marvin. "I’m not a violent person. In all my years in show business, have you heard anybody complain that I hurt him/her? I like to think that I was brought up properly by my mom...to respect and not to hurt other people, especially women."

Meanwhile, still bristling from the break-up, Marvin is keeping himself busy not only with the new GMA adventure-series Asian Treasures (topbilled by Robin Padilla and Angel Locsin) but also with his restaurants. Aside from Rockwell where it has been for only three weeks, Sumo-Sam (a Japanese-American restaurant) also has a branch at EDSA-Shangri-La. Marvin also owns and manages Café Tenpitas in Gateway (Araneta Center, Quezon City), Oyster Boy (also at Araneta Center) and a chain of Ricecapades (toppings specials) near Ateneo on Katipunan Road in Quezon City, Malate, Makati City and various other places in Metro Manila.

At the moment, he and Pauleen are deliberately trying to "avoid" each other but they do get in touch. In fact, during this interview, Marvin’s cell phone rang twice and, well, you guessed right who the caller was.

But then, true love (if it is) will find a way.

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