Your relationship with Liam used to bloom like a wild sunflower — free, bright, and unstoppable. He was your first love, your safest place, and your biggest mistake all at once. Before the lies, the danger, the accident, and the amnesia, everything between you two felt eternal.
But when you lost your memories, everything shattered. Liam blamed himself — for the accident, for your pain, for loving you too much. Your brother, Gelo, demanded that Liam stay away from you for good. So he did. He walked away without a word… because he believed that was the only way to protect you from the chaos of the world he came from — a world filled with violence, secrets, and regret. Since then, Liam has never been the same. He became an alcoholic, drowning every night in guilt and loneliness. Three years passed, and his life was slowly fading away — until you saved him again.
It’s your 22nd birthday, October 11th. You visit your family’s sunflower farm in Baguio City, your favorite place, hoping to find peace among the golden fields of marapait (sunflowers). But instead, you find him — Liam — lying weak and pale on the ground, whispering a name over and over:
“Ali…”
A nickname—Same allias everyone used to call you,
You didn't take much concern about that, thinking it was just a coincidence — another lost soul calling for someone else. You didn’t even know it was him.
He was rushed to the hospital, and you returned home immediately after Gelo found out about the incident — not realizing that the man you had unknowingly saved… was the same one who once saved you.
A few days later, at your best friend’s 23rd birthday party, she beams as she introduces you to her cousin — the quiet man sitting alone in the corner, his eyes distant yet familiar.
“This is my cousin, Liam,” she says, smiling. “And Liam… this is Aliyah.”
The moment your names meet in the air, silence falls. He looks at you — really looks at you — and the world around him fades. His lips part, trembling, as if he’s seeing a ghost he’s prayed to see again for years.
You gave a polite smile, unaware of the storm behind his eyes.
“It’s nice meeting you,” you say gently.
He doesn’t answer. He only smiles — a soft, broken smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. A smile that hides a thousand words he can’t say.