Chapter 1 Introduction My name is Jacob and I come from Matnog, Sorsogon, in the Bicol region and I graduated from senior high school, enrolled in college to study Education. But life was difficult and I had to drop out because my older brother was studying at a private school and the tuition was expensive so I decided to pause my studies and find work to help the family. I didn’t want to be a burden. “Jacob, are you sure about this?” my mom asked one morning. “I… I don’t have a choice, Mom,” I said quietly. “I’ll work first and help the family.” My mom sighed. “Life isn’t easy, son. But I trust you. Just be careful, okay?” I started submitting my resume everywhere and most companies said the same thing: “We’ll call you if there’s an opening.” But the calls never came. Desperate, I decided to take any job I could find but I’m not strong and I also had a condition I was born with—a prolapse—but I still tried to push myself. One day, a neighbor approached me. “Jacob, I can get you a job. It’s hard work—carrying cement, sand, and gravel—but at least you’ll earn.” “I… I don’t know if I can do it,” I admitted. “It’s heavy, and I’m not sure my body can handle it.” “Just try, Jacob. You’ll manage,” he said with a reassuring smile. I nodded reluctantly but I had no choice. The first day at the construction site I stared at the heavy sacks of cement and gravel. “You ready, kid?” the foreman asked. “As ready as I can be,” I muttered and lifting a sack. My arms shook instantly. Three months passed. My body ached constantly. I loved working hard but my health wasn’t keeping up. Then one afternoon I collapsed briefly from exhaustion. “You okay there, Jacob?” a coworker asked. “Yeah… I just… can’t do this forever,” I admitted. “I need a different kind of work.” A few weeks later, I received a call for an interview at a bakery. “Hi! I’m Rosa, the head baker. Are you here for the helper position?” she asked. “Yes, ma’am,” I said nervously. “You’ll start with cleaning, assisting, and some mixing but the pay is minimum, but it’s honest work.” “Sounds good,” I said. But after a month or two the low pay made it impossible to stay. Next, I tried a networking business. “Jacob, with effort you can earn big here,” my team leader said enthusiastically. “Just learn the sales talk and keep trying.” “I’ll do my best,” I said, though I felt out of place. I’m introverted and shy and I'm not the type to sell easily. It was friendly, yes, but it wasn’t for me I didn’t last long there either. By then, my older brother had graduated so I decided to return home. On the way, I had an accident and woke up in the hospital and my mom sitting beside me. “Jacob! You’re awake!” she cried. “I… I’m okay… mostly,” I whispered. “You scared us so much! Just rest now,” she said, holding my hand. Weeks passed, and I slowly recovered. After recovery, I moved to Bataan to continue my studies and stayed at my sister’s house. “Jacob, can you help me with the wiring here?” she asked. “Uh… sure,” I said nervously. I installed the lights and outlets. “I guess I’m officially your electrician now,” I joked. She laughed. “Better than hiring someone else! Thank you.” Life was quiet during the pandemic, but then I met Dante. “Hey, Jacob! Come out for a walk,” Dante called one afternoon. “I… I don’t know anyone here,” I said shyly. “You’ll get to know me! Come on,” he urged. And just like that, we became close friends. One evening, Dante invited me to a birthday party. “I don’t want to go and I don’t even know anyone here,” I said. “Trust me, you’ll thank me later,” he said with a grin. At the party, he introduced me to a woman. “Jacob, this is Dina. She’s single and looking to meet new people.” “Hi… nice to meet you,” I said quietly. Dina smiled. “Nice to meet you too. Dante talks about you a lot.” We sat in a corner and started talking. Casual at first, but soon we were laughing, sharing stories. I felt a warmth and I hadn’t felt before. The next day, Dina added me on f*******:. We started chatting daily—good mornings, updates, jokes. I found myself waiting for her replies, feeling restless when she was busy. She became someone I wanted to talk to constantly, I realized then that I liked her and my feelings for Dante slowly faded. But one night, I accidentally downloaded a dating app. Out of curiosity, I signed up as “Brix.” A guy named Alex messaged me. “Hey, new here?” he asked. “Yeah… just visiting,” I replied. We talked for hours. Sweet, charming, funny. He suggested meeting up, but I was too nervous. I politely declined. That night, I realized something about myself—I liked Dina, but I also felt drawn to Alex. I was confused, unsure what my heart wanted. I lay in bed, rereading Dina’s messages and Alex’s chats. “Good night, Jacob,” Dina wrote. “Sleep well, Brix,” Alex said. I smiled softly. I didn’t have all the answers, but for the first time, I felt it was okay to feel complicated. Emotions weren’t wrong, even if they were confusing. To be continued...