1. Asher had never been his parents' first choice. Not for the course he took. Not for the life he wanted. And never for the person he actually was. But he learned to live with it-to stay in the middle, to be enough, to not ask for more than what was given. And then Lior entered his world. Serious, cold at first glance, almost unwelcoming. Someone Asher never thought he would grow close to. Someone he never expected to matter. But slowly-quietly-Lior did. He became the one Asher looked for, the one he trusted without meaning to, the one whose presence steadied him in ways he couldn't explain. Akala niya iyon na. Akala niya, safe na siya. Akala niya, kayang-kaya niya. Until the day his family saw Lior. And loved him. Loved his discipline. Loved his future in medicine. Loved the version of a son they always wanted... just not him. And just like that, something inside Asher cracked. He thought he could ignore it. He thought he could swallow the jealousy. He thought he could pretend it didn't hurt that his parents admired Lior more than they ever admired him. Pero habang tumatagal, mas lumalalim ang sakit. Mas lumalakas ang tanong. Mas bumibigat ang inggit na pilit niyang tinatago. Akala niya kaya pa. Akala niya maiintindihan niya. Pero hindi na pala. Hindi na niya kayang ngumiti habang unti-unti nang nawawala ang tiwala niya sa sarili niya. Hindi na niya kayang tingnan si Lior nang hindi aaalala ang ngiting binibigay ng pamilya niya sa lalaking mahal niya. Pilit siyang kumapit, pero dumating ang oras na kahit siya ay napagod na. Dumating ang sandaling hindi na niya alam paano magmahal nang hindi nasasaktan. Dumating ang puntong kahit mahal niya pa si Lior, siya na mismo ang humihila sa sarili palayo sa lalaking unang tumanggap sa kaniya. And for the first time, Asher chose himself... even if choosing himself meant risking the boy he loved.

breaking

They didn't break up. They didn't fight. No one cheated. No one walked away. They still came home to each other. Still ate dinner at the same table. Still said "good night" before sleeping. But little by little, the love faded. They stopped asking how each other felt. Stopped holding hands. Stopped making time. Until all that was left were quiet mornings and empty words. Jemima and Echo were the kind of couple everyone thought would last. But they didn't notice when the laughter disappeared. They didn't notice when the silence grew heavier. They didn't notice that they were holding on-just because they didn't know how to let go. Some love stories don't end with a goodbye. Some end with two people who stayed... but forgot how to love each other. Wala nang sigawan. Wala ring paliwanag. Tahimik lang kayong lumalayo. Walang nagtatanong, kasi pareho kayong takot sa sagot. Pinili n'yong manatili, pero hindi na kayo totoo sa isa't-isa. At sa araw-araw na sabay kayong umuuwi, doon mo lang mararamdaman ang pinakamasakit na tanong... Paano kung matagal na pala tayong wala, pero pilit pa rin tayong nagpapanggap na meron? - This is just a short story. I wrote it to refresh myself and to keep from falling into a serious writing hiatus. Updates will be regular and will go alongside PTRW.

Note: Don't read this story if you hate impulsive and flawed characters. I make imperfect ones so skip if it's not your cup of tea. Save yourself from stress. - Play Series #4 Real grew up with nothing but the cold streets and endless hunger. Every day was survival. Every smile was a mask. Every choice carried the weight of life or death. To the world, he seemed unbreakable. To himself, he was barely holding on. Then she appeared. She was different from anyone he had ever known. She saw past the walls he built, the careful performance he carried everywhere he went. With her, he felt alive, seen, and for the first time, free to be imperfect. But happiness has a way of slipping through fingers that have already held so little. Shadows lingered in the corners of their days, unspoken and unacknowledged, and the love that lifted him also carried the weight of a quiet fear he could never fully escape. He learned that to live is to risk everything, to give fully even when the outcome is uncertain. And in the end, he found that even broken hearts can beat with courage, even shattered dreams can shine in memory, and even a life filled with struggle can teach someone how to truly play perfectly.

Note: Don't read this story if you hate impulsive and flawed characters. I make imperfect ones so skip if it's not your cup of tea. Save yourself from stress. - Play Series #5 Matt had always controlled the game. Charm, wit, confidence-he could win hearts without effort. To the world, he seemed untouchable, flawless, a master of every play. But beneath the smile was a man who had never been truly seen, never been loved for who he really was. Then she came. She challenged everything he believed about himself, about love, and about the rules he had spent years perfecting. With her, walls he thought unbreakable began to crumble. With her, every mask he wore became heavy, every carefully calculated move meaningless. Love demanded more than he had ever given. It asked for honesty when he had only ever perfected charm. It asked for courage when he had only ever avoided vulnerability. It asked for surrender when he had only ever conquered. He realized that to love her, he had to risk everything. To give everything. To trust completely, even when it could break him. And in the end, he learned that winning is not about games, power, or control. Winning is about letting love in, even when it could break you. Matt learned that even the strongest hearts can falter, even the cleverest minds can be undone, and even the most guarded souls can be freed. That is how he learned to play to love her.

From the beginning, Rayle knew she never stood a chance. Leon was a star-brilliant, distant, unreachable. And she was just another face in the crowd, another fan with too many feelings and no place to put them. But when fate-or something darker-led her to that backstage moment, she didn't walk away. She clung to it. So when he offered something, anything, even if it was only physical, she said yes. Not out of confidence-but out of hunger. Out of that quiet, aching desperation to matter, even for a little while. She gave him everything. Her time. Her body. Her silence. What they had wasn't gentle. It was rushed, breathless, something that left her cold in the aftermath but burning the moment it happened. A rhythm of secret meetings and lingering bruises-traces of a connection that never meant love, only escape. Still, she told herself it was worth it. Because sometimes, when a heart has been starved too long, even pain can feel like affection. And even if it was never meant to last, never meant to heal her, she kept answering every time. Not because she believed in forever. But because some desires don't knock gently. They come crashing in-urgent, reckless, and uninvited. A hunger too loud to ignore. A seduction too swift to resist. A call too rushed... but still, she answered.

iglesias

jxajs

eddm#1

eddms#3