Chemistry

In this world, everything is fleeting. People come and go, and I have long accepted that most faces I see today will be strangers by next year. My life is a carefully constructed map of goals, colored by the fear of being left behind. I study until my eyes ache because I refuse to be another statistic of failure in my family. To me, peace isn't found in someone’s arms; it is found in a stable job, a high grade, and a future where I owe no one anything. They say I have a pusong bato, but I think I just have a heart that knows its priorities. Romance is a luxury I cannot afford, and kilig is a distraction I don’t need.

Then there is the other side of the world.

A world where time doesn't matter, and the noise of the crowd is just background music. Some people are born with everything but choose to stay in the shadows. He is a genius who would rather sleep than lead, a boy with a calm, nonchalant face that hides the storms he’s walked through. He doesn't seek trouble, but trouble often finds him, building a reputation that precedes him like a dark shadow. He moves through life without a map, content to simply exist.

We were two parallel lines, never meant to touch. I was running toward a future I could see, while he was standing still in a present he didn't care about.

But sometimes, even parallel lines find a way to cross.