Around Manila Series 2 Missy and Anton Sometimes, letting go means less wounds than holding on. Missy, a Broadcasting student and iskolar ng bayan from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, is known for her social skills. She blends in anywhere, whether it's a hairstyle, an outfit, or new people. With her personality, she effortlessly connects with others. Missy believes that every connection is like a string, some loosely tied, others knotted tightly. She spent her life gripping them tightly, even when they burned and hurt her hands. Because to her, that's what love looked like. But how long can she keep tying knots with people who only want to untangle themselves? How much of herself must she give up just to stop them from turning their backs? Antonio Gabriel Simon, her ex-fling, a Political Science graduate and alumni from PUP, comes back into her life. Antonio has always believed that if someone doesn't like you, just let them go. Their strings cross paths again when they both receive a surprise message from Beebeads: they've been chosen from thousands of past buyers of couple bracelet for a chance to win ₱500,000, if they can prove they're the most heart-fluttering couple. Will they allow their strings to be tied once more? Can they tighten the knots again, despite the thousand reasons to loosen them?

NOTE: Chapters are short in terms of word count, that explains the chapters available. Faye, is an iskolar ng bayan from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, is on the verge of losing the one thing she fought for the first time--her life in Manila, away from a home where every move is dictated by her family. That is her chaos. Kreil, a communication student at the University of Santo Tomas, has everything--privilege and a secured future already carved into his palm. However, even having almost everything, he wants nothing. That is his chaos. Their worlds first collided when Kreil made a bold move and suddenly decided to pretend to be couple with Faye to claim a couple's bracelet they both wanted for its design, despite being complete strangers. What should have been a one-time interaction becomes the thread that pulls their life closer to each other, until Kreil makes her an offer in exchange for his protection from the family she's desperate to escape, she has to live with him and be his personal cook. Is this a summer-like run away or another chaos that would only lead them deeper into the storm? In a fast-paced city, will they be able to find calmness amid the chaos on every road in Manila?

Flare Fyche Henessy is her name. Living an adventurous life across the four continents of Elysian Empire. She's a daredevil, blunt, and feisty woman of the Fire Tribe. Untamed like a tigress, hot as a wildfire. The woman with so much finesse, and messing with her, means meeting her hellfire. However, no one truly knows who she is, nor her roots and origin, and when they do, the truth shall never set them free, but the truth shall chain and imprison them. The truth they wished they never should've seek for. The truth they force to deny, and the lie they make them believe. Cover made by @Saiidesigns Images used all throughout the story aren't mine, credits to the rightful owners.

Terrensia Academy. Isang paaralan para sa mga estudyanteng may angking kakayahan at kapangyarihan. Isang akademiya na siyang nakatirik sa mundo ng salamangka. Ang lugar kung saan mahika ay nagsisilbi nilang sandata laban sa mga kalabang nagnanais na puksain at sakupin sila. Subalit isang babae ang siyang magbabago sa takbo ng buhay nila. Babaeng hindi lang kagandahan ang hindi nila kayang pantayan kung hindi maging ang babaeng nagtataglay ng kapangyarihang labis-labis nilang hindi inaasahan. She is the Girl from Nowhere. The girl they thought that could do nothing, to the girl they think that is more than anything. Her name is enough to make them fall to their knees. Shamiere. . . The Mysterious Girl of Terrensia Academy. But as time goes by, they begin to unveil the mystery within her, up until the very day that they finally uncover her real identity. Or so they thought. . .

✔ | Sun Rays Series #2 Words are powerful, even the ones you never say out loud. Redler, an ABM student, has always been better at writing things down than actually saying them. She's not trying to be invisible; it just kind of... happened. Being quiet is safer and less complicated, and she doesn't even mind staying in the background. Then there's Davin from the HUMSS, her complete opposite. The charming guy everyone knows who's carrying air that draws people in. An artist who believes that art has always had a place in this world, and somehow, he speaks about literature like it belongs just as much. He doesn't try to change her. He just stays and sees her in ways no one else ever bothered to. And for some reason, that's more terrifying than being ignored. Now Redler's caught between the comfort of being unseen and the risk of being known by someone who actually pays attention. Because what happens when the girl who hides behind her words meets the boy who believes those words deserve a place in the world? And what if, for once, she wants to be seen... instead of just writing herself away? Disclaimer: story is written in taglish. Date Started: 03/13/24 Date Ended: 07/16/24

✔ | Sun Rays Series #3 A life you never chose, yet one you're forced to survive. Rhyolite of HUMSS, the class president, the eldest, the one who learned early how to carry a home that was never meant to rest on her shoulders. She raises her siblings without question, even when she herself is running on empty. Hindi niya hinahanap ang presensya ng ina na matagal nang kulang, mas abala siyang punan ang kakulangan ng perang kailangan para mabuhay. Then there's AJ, the HUMSS' class clown. The boy everyone gravitates toward. Athletic, loud, and irritating... at least, to Rhyolite. Or maybe that's just how she chooses to see him. In a world that keeps shifting beneath their feet, they learn to sway just to stay standing... parang buhangin na hindi mo mahawakan nang buo, pero kailangan mong kapitan para hindi ka tuluyang lumubog. But how long can you keep choosing to stay afloat, when the very hands that were supposed to catch you are the ones letting you fall? Because the hardest truth to face is even when you gave everything you had, it isn't still enough. And for two of them who's barely surviving in a life without privilege, the question remains... hanggang saan aabot ang "kaya pa"? Date started: 7/22/24 Date ended: 9/10/25 Disclaimer: story is written in taglish.

✔ | Sun Rays Series #1 Ritienzy, a social butterfly from HUMSS, wears her carefree smile like armor. Palakaibigan siya, oo, pero hanggang do'n lang. Ever since she witnessed her parents' love collapse, she learned to keep her heart at arm's length. Maybe bata pa siya at marami pang kailangang matutuhan, but the wounds beneath her laughter aren't as healed as she pretends. Then there's Jayscen from STEM, a smart, academically-driven guy who chases dreams bigger than the limits around him because of his expectations to himself. And behind his quiet composure hides a temper he once couldn't control. Fate crosses their paths twice, accidental yet strangely inevitable. . . at sa gitna pa talaga ng kalsada. Two teens. Two masks. Two hearts carrying battles the world doesn't see. Naging magkaibigan sila, pero hanggang kaibigan na lang ba talaga? And how will she, who's afraid to love, and him, who's afraid to fail, ever realize that their meeting is more than an accident, but the beginning of a path they must walk together--one that might just lead them past their limits, and into something infinite? Disclaimer: story is written in taglish. Date started: 9/18/23 Date ended: 1/29/24

Elara Soledad de Merced thrives in attention and affection-being the youngest and only daughter, never once did she experience being set aside and treated as someone deemed unworthy. All her life, she was treated with utmost care and love. The princess with a perfect life who had never gone through hardship. Boys dream of her. Girls look up to her. Some hate her. Whatever she does, everyone follows. Second to none, rejection was something she was never familiar with, until him-her first love and the only man who ever rejected her. But not even her first rejection could stop her, so she pulls out her highest heels and her sparkly little dress, because what Elara wants, Elara gets. Luis Silvino Prodigalidad is what she wants, and she will get him, even if it means painting his hurricane into pink skies.

Kio Soledad de Merced always kept his life quiet and private. He never wanted anything flashy and grand. Attention and spotlight were the two things he never wanted to have. Calm and easy, that's how he preferred his life. Shiloh Lumiere Bendia's life was far from what he wanted, she was born for the spotlight. Living under the scrutinizing eyes of the world, Lumiere's life consists of cameras and flashes following her whenever she moves. The world gravitates around her, and everyone who sees her is drawn to her light, including him. The moment he saw her on that stage with the spotlight shining on her, he knew he would spend his whole life admiring her from afar. But with the twist of fate and a little luck, his fate might have changed. A secret moment. A lingering stare. Quick stolen moments behind the camera that no one knows about. But to what extent can they sacrifice for a losing battle they knew they would never win? To love is to risk. To risk requires courage and courage is only found in places we're too scared to take. ---- Date Started: March 2025 Date Finished: June 15, 2025

Kairos Levi Soledad de Merced was chaos and wildness altogether. A lover of the world and all the pleasures it has to offer. Love and commitment? That never existed in his vocabulary. He was the type to give you the highs and all the best things in life, leaving you wanting more, only to be forgotten by him the next day. Chasing the wild tide of life and living without inhibitions was his way of life. He prefers all things physical and casual. He wants his life to be simple, easy, and hot- the same way he wants his woman to be. Ma. Anisa Sta Ines is smart, confident, strong-willed.... and smart again. Matalino, matapang, magaling. Pero hindi maganda. All her life, she has been nothing but an extra in everyone's story. The wingman, the third wheel, and the go-to person for everyone interested in her friends. She knew she was never meant to be chosen, never meant to be pursued. She was the calm of a Wednesday morning; The stability that people usually take for granted. But her stability and peace ceased to exist when Kairos rejected her love letter in front of the whole Eunthastica. Not because he rejected her in front of the whole school. But because the letter wasn't for him, it was supposed to be for Iñigo, his cousin. ---- Started: June 2025 Completed: September 2025