"SO. How's your gamer boyfriend?"
That was the first thing out of Jen's mouth the moment they sat down for their usual Friday gossip session at their favorite milk tea shop.
Andi nearly choked on her straw.
"I—he's not—what the heck?!"
"Excuse me, Miss Demure Filipina," Alyssa jumped in, adjusting her headband like it granted her extra powers. "You've been glowing lately. Like your profs stopped scolding you. Like you've got SPF 100 in your aura. Spill."
Andi pressed her lips together. She really tried—tried to act chill. But one look from her two best friends and she caved faster than cheap pressed powder.
"…well."
That one word was enough. The floodgates burst.
Jen gasped. "YOU'RE TOGETHER?!"
"NO!" Andi practically slapped the table. "I mean—no. There's no label yet. But like… he taught Gesly how to punch last weekend, then we ate pares after, and then he touched my hand and—" She froze. "HIS HANDS ARE SO SOFT. WHY ARE HIS HANDS THAT SOFT?!"
Alyssa was already fanning herself with Andi's abaniko. "Girl. Don't. I'm single and somehow I'm the one catching feelings."
Jen leaned in, chin propped on her hand. "So… what's your label?"
Andi sank lower in her seat. "We have mutual understanding. Mutual excitement. Mutual pacing. Basically mutual everything—except my mental stability."
"Have you kissed?" Alyssa asked with the precision of a cross-examining lawyer.
Andi looked away dramatically. "Almost."
"YOU ALMOST DID?!" they both shrieked.
"Exactly! Almost! Then my brother showed up out of nowhere and went, 'WHO YOU?' like some immigration officer!"
There was silence—then uncontrollable laughter.
Jen was crying. "He really hit him with a 'Who you.'"
Andi groaned into her hands. "Sometimes I just wanna be a mushroom, guys. Quiet. Simple. No men in sight."
"Girl, don't," Alyssa said. "If that man taught your brother to fight, shows up with food, and touches your hand like it's made of glass? Claim him. With your beauty? Go for it."
Alyssa leaned closer. "Andi, I saw you on campus the other day—holding your abaniko while eating kwek-kwek like a teleserye leading lady. But your eyes? Totally floating."
"I was just… happy," Andi mumbled.
"Exactly," Jen said softly. "You're happy. And it shows."
That shut her up.
For the first time in a while, Andi was quiet—not because she had nothing to say, but because she knew it was true.
After the milk tea session, while walking home, she texted Alonzo:
Andi: hey. thanks for not letting my family get punched. or starve. or lose their minds.
Alonzo: anytime. thanks for letting me stay in yours. kahit minsan medyo chaotic 😂
Andi: chaos builds character. character builds relationships. is that a thing?
Alonzo: with you? definitely a thing.
She stared at her screen for three whole minutes. Then screamed into her pillow.
---
It was supposed to be a casual date.
"Just quick," Alonzo had said. "We'll check out that new coffee shop, maybe walk around, buy random stuff at Daiso, then head home."
Andi—wearing her usual mall OOTD: flowy skirt, cute top, sling bag, and three-inch sandals (because there must always be aura even at Daiso)—nodded. "Okay."
But apparently, "casual" came with full hand-holding the moment they entered the mall.
Not the light, fingers-barely-touching kind.
The full-on, interlocked, no-space-for-air kind of hold.
At first, Andi thought he was just being protective—it was crowded, after all. But even at the bookstore, where it wasn't crowded at all, Alonzo still didn't let go.
"Are you… comfortable?" she asked, half-teasing, half-panicking.
"Hm?" Alonzo said, flipping through planners. "Yeah. Why?"
WHY?! As if he wasn't casually making her feel like a fully acknowledged girlfriend, one couple ring away from being official.
On the escalator, he stood behind her, hands lightly resting on her waist. In the food court, while waiting for their milk tea, he leaned his head on her shoulder like it was his favorite pillow. At the arcade, he played basketball, looked her way every time he scored, and winked. WINKED.
And finally, on their way home, with zero shame, he draped his arm around her shoulders. Not just a casual akbay—but the full-on pulupot, the kind that said to the world: She's mine.
Andi tried her best to act cool. But her brain was screaming: How is this a casual date if this man is possessed by the spirit of possessiveness itself?! Lord, is this the one I've been praying for?!
People stared.
Some girls looked at Alonzo, probably admiring his tall, quiet, soft-boy-but-secretly-alpha aura. Others looked at Andi like, Why her?
And Andi just smiled softly. Because she knew exactly why.
After buying snacks for Bella and Gesly, they stepped outside to wait for a ride.
"Where are we riding?" Alonzo asked.
"Wherever you're coming with me," she said, smirking.
"Wait," he said, turning to her. "Before we go home…"
He reached out and tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear.
A slow, deliberate move. One that made her knees threaten to give out.
"Are you okay with this?" he asked, voice low.
"This?"
"Us," he clarified. "We don't have a label yet, but I want you to know—I'm not seeing anyone else. I'm not just holding your hand for fun."
Andi swallowed hard.
"Is it okay if we don't rush things—but it's clear where we stand?"
She nodded. "Very okay."
"Good." He smiled—soft, sincere, unforced. "Next time, it'll be official. When you're ready."
Then he gently pulled her close again as the wind blew.
Not a kiss. Not yet. But it was a promise.
And in that moment, Andi knew: she wasn't just being claimed. She was being chosen.
---
It was just a normal Wednesday.
Gesly was chilling at home, eating pancit canton while leaning in front of the electric fan, when his phone buzzed with a Messenger story notification.
From: Kuya Alonzo 🕶️🖤
Caption: "Soft days with you ☁️"
Gesly blinked. Soft days??
Curious, he tapped the story.
There, in all its Instagram-filtered glory, was a photo of his Ate Andi and Kuya Alonzo—arms around each other, clearly in a mall, clearly looking like a couple who "wasn't official yet."
What the actual—
"SOFT DAYS?! SOFT WHERE?!"
He swiped over to Instagram. Yep—posted there too. Same picture, different angle. Caption: "She's my peace."
His fork dropped.
That's my sister, bro. My sister. PEACE? You found peace with my sister?!
Gesly tried to breathe. Tried to rationalize. Maybe it was staged? Maybe Ate tripped and Alonzo caught her, and someone just took a picture?
Yeah, right. Like this was some teleserye moment.
The next day, he had no peace of mind. His instincts were screaming: Check on Ate.
So he did what any protective little brother-slash-gossip would do: He skipped his last class and stormed to his sister's university.
Secret mission mode: all black outfit, hoodie up, even carrying milk tea so it looked like he was just dropping something off.
He searched the Engineering hangout area. No sign. Library. None. Campus café. None.
Until—behind the library, at that grassy area with benches and walls—he saw—
"Hey—HEY WAIT A MINUTE—Hey…"
It was like a slow-motion scene.
Alonzo. Sitting. Ate Andi. Standing slightly bent toward him.
And Alonzo's face—HIS FACE—WAS ON HIS SISTER'S NECK.
Like gently pressed. Like there was giggling. Like "Oh-my-God-he's-maybe-biting-her-but-in-a-fun-way."
Gesly gasped so loud a bird flew away. He ducked behind a tree.
This was NOT the character development he asked for. This was not a Netflix romcom. This was a live Rated SPG show!
He slowly backed away like he had just witnessed a crime.
"Okay. Maybe that wasn't what it looked like. Maybe there was mud on Ate's neck. Maybe he was checking for a cut. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe."
But then he heard it—
"Stop moving, someone might see us," Andi's voice. Flustered. Giggly. Clearly not protesting. Clearly enabling vampire boyfriend behavior.
Gesly ran.
Full Olympic sprint away from the scene.
At home, he collapsed on the couch, staring blankly at the ceiling.
Bella walked by, sipping a Yakult. "Kuya, why do you look like you're about to cry?"
"I saw them…"
"Who?"
"ATE. ANDI. AND. THAT. MAN."
Bella blinked. "And?"
"They were… canoodling. Like a 'before' photo in a contraceptive ad!"
"Huh?" Bella sipped her Yakult again, totally unfazed.
"I just wanna go back to when all I knew about Ate was math and computers! Not this… this love affair under a tree!" he wailed.