Love Beyond Boundaries

Chapter 1

Staku's POV:

"Mommy!!!" I shouted.

"Why are you so noisy? It's 7:30 in the morning, our neighbor is still asleep," my mother said gently.

I smiled and kissed my mother in the morning to show my affection.

"Mommy, we will have a concert in Baguio called Biniverse," I excitedly shared with my mom.

As I told her the good news, she was smiling, not because of my news, but because she was chatting with someone on her phone.

"Mommy, you're not listening to me. Who is that? Your boyfriend?" I teased, but she just laughed and said,

"He's just my friend." I let it go.

Minutes later, Direk Lauren chatted on our group chat and said,

"Ladies, we have a meet-and-greet with your co-artists at ABS-CBN. Come to the BINI house at exactly 1 p.m., okay?"

I was so happy that I jumped and accidentally bumped my head on the bed.

"Finally, I'll get to be with Jhoanna again. I really missed them for the past few weeks.

"I informed my mother, and she drove me to the BINI house before going on a date with the person she was texting earlier.

I entered and hugged my OT7 co-members, especially Jhoanna.

I had liked Jhoanna since the first day but never told her because I was afraid it might ruin our friendship, which I treasured for a long time.

I always teased, bullied, and made fun of her to hide my true feelings.

"Stakuriii!!!" Sheena and Gwen shouted.

"Oh boy, I missed you two so much," I said as I hugged them.

They didn't let go, showing how much they missed me. But the one I was really waiting for was Jhoanna.

She approached me and kissed me on the cheeks.

I was shocked, and she whispered in my ear, "I really missed you, my love."

I blushed and responded by saying,

"Ew, I didn't miss you," although I lied, at least she wouldn't notice.

Throughout the meeting, I overthought, "Why did she call me love? Is she teasing me? Or maybe she feels the same way? No, she really hates you, Stacey, and just considers you a friend, I sadly admitted to myself.

"Stakss, come here!," Jho shouted.

Oh my God, why is this happening to me? Every time she calls me, my heart beats fast and my legs shake,

"what?" I said to her as I rolled my eyes.

"Just come sit next to me," Jho replied.

She was back to using her baby voice to be endearing, but it was cute when she did that, which made me fall for her even more.

"Fine," I agreed, pretending to be disgusted.

"Don't you miss me? Give me a kiss," she begged.

"No, I didn't miss you. Ew, I won't kiss you, gross," I whispered so she wouldn't feel embarrassed in front of the others.

I still lied and felt guilty, but she knew that was how I interacted with her.

She pushed me and said, "You're sulking. I'm mad at you," using her baby voice.

Then she called Ate Maloi over since Ate Maloi was clingy. "Ate Maloi!," she shouted.

"What, Jho?" confused Ate Maloi asked.

"Can I get a kiss?" Jho asked with her baby voice.

"Sure, bebe" Ate Maloi happily replied and kissed Jho on the cheeks.

After that, Jho rolled her eyes at me and didn't speak to me. She didn't even sit next to me inside the van, which she didn't usually do. I felt she was still upset. I ignored her the whole ride.

Hours later, we were at the ABS studio and met our co-artists.

I saw Don Pangilinan and Belle Mariano, so I took a picture with them, but Jho was still ignoring me.

I felt bad and approached her, grabbing her hand.

"Jho, please don't sulk. Ignoring me is a bit too much," I said concerningly.

"Huh? I'm not ignoring you, Staks. I'm just busy chit-chatting with our co-artists," she said.

I was shocked and stared at her. "Oh, okay," I left her without saying anything.

I went to the restroom and stared at myself in the mirror for a few minutes, asking myself,

"Why is this happening to me? Should I still tell her my feelings? Does she even care? I don't think so. Maybe I should hide these feelings, and maybe they will fade away eventually."

Suddenly, I heard a noise near the restroom. Maybe someone overheard.