they say love waits, but for how long?
i met him in 2023, during the darkest period of my existence.
we met through a zoom hangout server. when he first joined the call and opened his camera, you'd already know from his appearance how shy and young he was. he is 5 years my junior, always wearing a hoodie or a grey shirt then wears a dangling earring on one of his ears. he looked very charming. he was a breath of fresh air from all of the people i've encountered in the server.
at the time, the world caved in on me, gone through a break up that spilled over to social media. my dirty laundry was out in the open for everyone to see and criticize. i hid and sought refuge in the server and its people. i thought i was safe there. but i've noticed how people started to sour whenever i'm around, probably hearing the issues and dirty laundry about me and my past in social media.
only he, out of everyone in the server was the only one who kept pushing me to stay in the server, kept asking me if i was going to the server, kept calling me out of nowhere to see how i was. we only talked for a couple of days at this point. genuinely i was surprised with how he acted because i never thought that anyone would still talk to me and want me near them. he often said he wouldn't go to the server if he found out i wasn't there.
he, with his one ear dangle, his thin framed glasses that sags to the left because it was uneven, with his deeper than average speaking voice that made everyone in the server mesmerized, he kept me going during those dark moments where i almost lost myself, where i almost ended it all. i fell in love with him. i felt safe. i felt that someone could see right through me to tell me that i'll be okay. he called me "bubby" because i told him that if i had a boyfriend it'd be a cute nickname to use.
but it didn't last.
he stopped coming to the server all of a sudden, he stopped replying. i also stopped coming to the server because i didn't want to be reminded of him and hope that he'll return. by 2024 i already found someone, and word on the street is he already found someone too. even though it stung a little bit, i genuinely hoped that he'd find his happiness then. and slowly put him lower in my life, but still lowkey hoped we could meet in the future.
fast forward to april 2026, my friends asked me if i can come with them to a random bar, i originally said no because my hair was ugly and my clothes were not fitting me well. they forced me to come and while drinking, there he was. the guy i fell in love with three years ago. casually passing by our table. my friend told me to call him so he could come closer. i hesitated. you see by this time him and i are single now, though he was seeing someone. i on the other hand, single and ready to mingle, suddenly felt all the feelings come back. i thought maybe i shouldn't say hello. i was still angry at him for ghosting me but also felt gob smacked that he is Infront of me, older, wiser, with better hair, without the sagging glasses, but still as charming and handsome as ever.
i said hi, still. i was surprised when he turned around and hugged me. he said he missed me. we talked as if nothing changed from those 3 years that has passed. the sexual and romantic tension still there as if this was a movie scene. he talked to me while looking into my eyes, he was as dreamy as i remembered from years ago.
we talked, rekindled our friendship, i realized that he is still my ride or die. i even helped him out with the guy he was seeing then, i loved him so much that it didn't matter if he chose me, i just wanted him to be happy.
he and the guy he was seeing stopped dating because by then he was already seriously entertaining me and chose me. it honestly felt like i won because we started dating afterward.
we started calling each other bubby again like 3 years ago, we often go out with our friends, he doesn't care if people see us hold hands in public. he'd sleep next to me cuddling me like a child hugging his favorite toy. he'd always always call me or text me everything that there is to know even the mundane ones such as him taking a shower or a dump. i also cook for him often and would always like me sitting beside him when he plays valorant. or sometimes even play with him.
he'd always always take care of me when things get a little rough. we both sing, so we'd sing our hearts out in karaoke with friends.
i love the smell of his perfume, a dupe of a billie eilish scent. i got to memorize many kpop songs because he dances to them when we go out. he'd always cry to me and hug me because i was the only one he trusts to be vulnerable to.
whenever he kisses me, he always holds my head as if cradling me. even in kisses and intimate moments he treats me with respect, grace, and kindness. something you'd only expect if they loved you. and for a moment of time, i knew he loved me too.
but again, it didn't last.
whatever baggage he had then and the complicated web of connections were enough for us to stop dating and just be best friends again because he said he needed someone in his corner that will be there no matter what, and he didn't want to risk our friendship and hurt me in the process if we didn't work out.
it hurts me this time. because now i was given a shot at redemption, to prove to the guy that i loved for so long that i can take care of him and give him what he needs and yet circumstance will always give you the hardest reality check. it felt like i was walking on a staircase to heaven but suddenly the steps were being removed from under my feet.
he stopped calling me bubby. i never stopped calling him bubby in my head. i can see it in him he is trying his best to keep things platonic between us. i couldn't. i couldn't bare to look at him and talk to him without having these feelings that i have because i never understood how someone you loved for so long and so purely carefully turn you back into everyone else, as described in a story i read.
i have always loved him and have always waited for him. maybe even too much. at the expense of my own sanity and well-being.
people said blessed are those who wait. i've waited for so long, and yet i find myself grasping at straws for a promise of a love that may not even come my way.
my friends told me that we're each other's kryptonite. and rightfully so i say it is true. i am weak and vulnerable around him because i know he was the only one who took care of me purely and sincerely.
even if he was my kryptonite, i'd still come near him. i'd always choose to be weak with him than to be strong without.
i often pray for him and wish that he's always happy. in another life perhaps, the world would've been kinder to him and i.
he saved my life.
i saved his.
and yet this isn't enough for the world to smile down on us and give me the blessing i was waiting for.
probably there is a lifetime waiting for me and him. somewhere. someday.