Adulting Stories

A mature man navigating loneliness, friendship, and the quiet absurdity of ordinary Sundays. Because adulthood turns out to be less dramatic than expected. Or does it?

Maraiah Jecelle spent most of her life searching for a place she could truly call home. After losing her parents, she learned to survive by holding tightly to the people she loved, especially Kael Dela Vega-the boy who had been beside her since childhood. Her best friend. Her safe place. The one person she believed would never leave. What she never knew was that Kael had been carrying a secret of his own. For years, he stayed by her side, loving her quietly while watching her give her heart to someone else. He never asked for more, never crossed the line, and never expected his feelings to be returned. Being there for her was enough. Until it wasn't. As betrayal, grief, and long-buried family secrets begin to resurface, Maraiah is forced to confront the truth about her past, her identity, and the people she thought she knew. Meanwhile, Kael struggles to protect the person he loves while fighting the growing distance between them. But some truths come with a price. Some wounds heal. Some scars fade. But some stains remain no matter how hard you try to wash them away. And sometimes, the deepest stains are left not by hatred or loss-but by the people who once felt like home.

Some people are easy to forget. But some linger... In habits you never changed, in songs you have stopped listening to, in promises you were never meant to break. Time moves on and lives change. People learn how to live without what they once thought they needed...Or at least try too. So when Kim Sunoo walks into a reunion he almost didn't attend, he thinks it will be just another evening. Only thing is...It isn't.

He blocked the same woman five times. The problem wasn't that she kept coming back. The problem was that she never did. A psychological short story about memory, heartbreak, identity, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive. out.

This is not a romance story, a horror story, or any genre people usually think of when they hear the word "story." This is my life story. And no, I'm not successful. These pages are filled with my daily thoughts, realizations, untold stories, regrets, and the endless scenarios created by my own overthinking mind. Some moments were my fault, some were lessons, and some are still things I'm trying to understand. You can think of this as a public diary - a collection of thoughts I was never sure I should share, yet somehow ended up writing anyway. I don't know where my thoughts will lead me. I simply let them run wild.

Aadhya did everything right-studied, tried, waited. But two years later, she's still stuck. Not because she has no choices... But because every choice feels too heavy to make. While everyone else moves forward, she's left questioning herself, her path, and her pace. This isn't a story about having it all figured out. It's about feeling lost, overthinking everything... and learning to move forward anyway. Sometimes, you're not behind. You're just still becoming.

[POETRY #2] A collection of poems about growing up before feeling ready. twenty-something explores the realities of adulthood, the exhaustion hidden behind independence, the loneliness of becoming, and the pressure to keep moving even when life feels uncertain. Through soft and reflective poetry, this collection captures the in-between phase of navigating dreams, responsibilities, changing relationships, and the version of yourself you are still learning to become. For anyone who has ever felt lost, left behind, or overwhelmed by the weight of growing up: this book is a reminder that you are not navigating life alone. twenty-something written by: syrynah © All Rights Reserved

Aastha's first job lands her in Ahmedabad - smack in the middle of adulting chaos. Dry chapatis for lunch, rushed mornings, and somehow still late to work despite waking up on time. All she wants? To survive the grind of office hours, burnt dinners, and crushing expectations. Karjun Shah runs Shah Enterprises like clockwork - sleeves rolled up, silver wristwatch gleaming, and not a hair out of place. Stern, composed, the perfect CEO... until he's home. There, he's just Kaju -the steady heart of a noisy, loving Gujarati household that refuses to let him be anything but human. Neither planned this. But Aastha keeps catching glimpses of his silhouette and falling a little harder each time. Karjun can't ignore the new drafter with too many things in her tote and an uncanny way of softening his world. Love doesn't always arrive with fireworks. Sometimes, it tiptoes in - slow, steady, and unstoppable. All images/pictures belong to their rightful owners. I do not own any. Thank you. Have fun reading! Started: 30/05/2025 Word count: 90,000

Anja Serafin is stuck at being 17. After almost four years of full-time confinement at home due to pandemic. Now that the lockdown is no longer enforced in their community she is having trouble reconnecting and continuing her life outside the four corners of her comfort zone. Her last role she remembers is being a twelfth grader applying for multiple university admissions. Without doubt, the world did not ever stop revolving, and her present-time return is supposedly the beginning of her fourth year in college. Anja know she cannot simply take up where she left off. When she feels like her life has an obvious time jump from pre-pandemic to post-pandemic. She is still adjusting to what is in front of her and preparing for whatever lies ahead. While also trying to understand what happened during the years her timeline seems to have skipped. She must take steps to live her life, and the only allowable direction is forward. The first step for Anja to make things happen is acceptance. Truly easier said than done, as it also gets her tangled up in being a mother to a five-year-old boy.

Nika thought life would be simple. She imagined she would graduate, get a job, fall in love, and live happily ever after. Pero hindi pala ganoon. Instead, she learned what heartbreak feels like, what burnout feels like, and what it means to start over. At twenty-six, she's still trying to figure things out. Maybe life isn't about knowing all the answers. Maybe it's about discovering what everything feels like.

Ava Kingston didn't move to Seoul to be anyone's prize-she came to build a life in her own silhouette. On day one, two very different boys notice: Seo Jihoon, a composed model‑actor with a smile that quiets rooms, and Park Minjae, an idol rapper whose baritone can set a stage on fire. What starts in school hallways refuses to fade; it grows up with them through late‑night rehearsals, movie sets, fashion runways, and the messy, beautiful ordinary moments that make a life. Hearts tangle. Ambition tests loyalty. And desire keeps asking for one more chance. A slow‑burn AMBW/KMBW Korean romance about timing, boundaries, found family, and choosing yourself while your heart is choosing too. ©️ _RelleLebby_// R. L.

Sarah Suarez was doing her best to survive adulthood, which was hard when life kept acting like a full-time hater. After discovering her fiancé's affair with her former friend, publicly humiliating half the people at a reunion party, and losing the carefully crafted version of herself in one disastrous night, Sarah is forced to start over from scratch. Again. With a sick mother to care for, bills piling up, and a future hanging by a thread, the last thing she needs is Henry Salva: a dangerously handsome CEO with too much money, too many secrets, and a habit of appearing whenever her life falls apart. Henry is calm, composed, and emotionally impossible to read. A man who terrifies boardrooms without raising his voice, and should have nothing in common with someone like Sarah, yet somehow, their paths keep crossing. From drunken disasters and emotional breakdowns to late-night conversations and dangerously blurred boundaries, Sarah finds herself drawn to the one man she knows she should avoid. But healing is never simple, especially when old wounds, buried truths, jealous exes, and the ghosts of Henry's past threaten to destroy whatever is growing between them. *trigger warning: has minor PTSD episodes. [word count: 95, 000 - 100,000 words] ||Edited to the best of my ability|| ||One year later, 'the best of my ability' has improved, so I will be editing again (more like a rewrite, actually).|| Edited chapters will have a ✔

Jimmy Sotos wanted one thing once he left Ohio State: to grind. To work hard at basketball and drill until he was sweating bullets to get better. Leaving the Buckeyes was bittersweet but all he knew it was time to go somewhere new: New Jersey. He's a tall man, with big dreams and a big heart, but what happens when he runs into a black woman with big goals and an even bigger heart? (this book is kind of a jimmy book and you'll see what i mean by kinda as you read. when it starts off, it's a jimmy book) keep an open mind please!!

This are several pieces of poetry I have written over the years, and it is just a diary, a digital record of my poetry. Do let me know in the comments if you find anything relatable as well!

In our life full of uncertainties, may mga Tao talaga Tayong makikilala na magiging kasangga at kasama Natin sa buhay. Maaaring mga magulang mo, kapatid mo, asawa mo, anak mo or for me it's my friends. Marami Tayong masasabi na mga kaibigan Natin, but not all will be with you till the end. Kaya kapag mahanap mo sya/sila, don't let the time fool you into thinking na mahaba pa ang oras. And I can talk to them whenever. As time waits for no one. Cherish each of your memories with them, and be with them sa kasiyahan at kalungkutan nang buhay. This Short Stories Collection: To Those Who Wait, is a collection of stories I've written inspired by real happenings and people around me. I hope may kapupulutan kayong aral, or maybe you can give me your own stories as I learn from your experiences. Cause I always believe, every story is worth writing for. To Those Who Wait: Love Again🌼 Jennifer had always put her family first in her priority list. But what to do, if the cause of her heartache is the very same reason of her family's happiness? She knew, knew it well enough that she already has someone waiting for her. Until when is he going to wait? Is she worth the wait? 'Cause Love is fickle, like how a fire is.

From the hallways of STI West Negros University to the challenges of adulting in Bacolod City, Lily and Thomas have always been side by side. What started as a one-sided crush on the school basketball star and a supportive best friend eventually evolves into something much deeper. Follow their journey through high school heartbreaks under mango trees, surviving the "real world," and learning that sometimes the person you were waiting for was there all along.

A gentle walk through memories, childhood moments and the quiet worries of growing up. 'Pieces I Held Together' is about remembering who we were, who we are becoming, and the little pieces of ourselves we carry along the way.

Ilham thought moving to Kuala Lumpur for his first corporate job would finally make him feel like a successful adult. Instead, he got placed under the COO Office despite having no idea what people there actually do, rented a service apartment that quietly destroys his salary every month, and now spends most of his time pretending to understand meetings while surviving Klang Valley traffic with a second-hand Proton Saga. Between awkward office politics, mysterious management discussions, expensive lunches, Outlook calendar invitations that feel like threats, and the terrifying realization that nobody in corporate life seems fully okay, Ilham slowly finds himself pulled deeper into a world far bigger and stranger than he expected. A Malaysian corporate slice-of-life about first jobs, impostor syndrome, accidental adulthood, and learning how to wing it professionally without getting fired.

Because adulting is hard... Hot mess, Reese MacDowell is in a rut. Her friends know it. Her family knows it. Even her nosy downstairs neighbor knows it. And when her high school reunion creeps up on her, Reese wants to run and hide, but her best friend holds her to a pact made during their senior year. Making good on her promise propels Reese on a quest, full of mortifying mishaps and shifty shenanigans, to be ready in time for the reunion. After all, how hard can it be to perform a feat of awesomeness, get a grownup job, and find Mr. Right all within thirty days? Piece of cake... Or maybe an eclair. ------- This story is unedited; please excuse the typos!

Asha, a writer who struggles to write her next story resorts to writing her journey with her greatest love, Theo.