*Who's My Eternal*
*3 PM — Farm, Work Done*
The sun was lower but still hot. Rows were planted. Tools were washed. Work was finally done.
Cherry was limping. She twisted her ankle an hour ago hauling a crate of fertilizer. She didn't say anything. Just kept working. But now that they were done, the pain hit. Sharp. She sat down hard on a rock, gripping her ankle. Couldn't walk.
Elian saw immediately. He dropped the last crate. "Cherry, your foot—"
"I'm fine," she lied. But she couldn't stand.
Elian was already moving. "You're not fine. Come here." He crouched in front of her, back turned. "I'll carry you."
For a second, Cherry's chest got light. _Best_. He still saw her.
Then—
"MY CHEST!"
Cindy screamed. Loud. Sharp. She clutched her chest and doubled over near the mango tree. "Elian! I can't— I can't breathe!"
Elian's head snapped up. He froze halfway to picking Cherry up. "Cindy?"
Cindy gasped, face pale. Or pretending to be. "It hurts. My chest. Please—"
Elian was on his feet instantly. Cherry forgotten. He sprinted to Cindy. "Hey, hey, what's wrong? Breathe. Look at me, breathe."
Cindy grabbed his shirt, wheezing. "I don't know. It just— it hurts so bad."
Elian didn't even think. He scooped her up in his arms. Bridal style. Like she weighed nothing.
He turned back to Cherry. She was still on the rock. Ankle swollen. Face blank.
"Cherry," Elian said, urgent. "Can you manage? I need to get her to the clinic. I'll come back for you, I swear—"
He didn't wait for an answer.
He walked away. Fast. Carrying Cindy. Murmuring to her. "Breathe, Cindy. I've got you. Just breathe."
Cindy's arms went around his neck. Her face buried in his shoulder. From over his back, her eyes were open. Not panicked. Watching.
Cherry sat there. Alone.
The pain in her ankle was nothing compared to the heat in her chest.
Mad. Frustrated. Humiliated.
_Can you manage?_
Like she was an afterthought. Like she was _in the way_.
She stood up. The ankle screamed. She ignored it. Put weight on it. It buckled. She caught herself on the rock, teeth gritted.
She didn't call for him. Didn't scream. Didn't cry.
Pretty girls don't cry.
But pretty girls get mad.
Cherry grabbed a broken piece of wood from the ground. Gripped it till her knuckles went white. She wanted to throw it. At the tree. At the crate. At Cindy's lying face.
Instead, she threw it at the ground. _Crack._
Then she started limping. One painful step at a time. Away from the farm. Away from them.
Elian didn't come back.
*Cherry's House — Late Afternoon*
Cherry limped through the gate. Each step on her swollen ankle felt like glass. But she didn't stop. Didn't cry. Not yet.
Her stepmom was waiting. Mrs. Eva. Arms crossed, leaning in the doorway. She took one look at Cherry's face — the dirt, the sweat, the way she could barely stand — and smiled.
Not kind. Never kind.
"So," Mrs. Eva said, voice sweet like poison. "Elian finally chose Cindy, huh?"
Cherry didn't answer. Kept her head down and tried to pass.
Mrs. Eva blocked her with her arm. "Look at you. Limping like a stray dog. I told you." She laughed. Short. Ugly. "I told you no one can stand you. You're bad luck, Cherry. Stupid. Good for nothing. Even your _Best_ left you."
The words hit harder than the ankle. Harder than watching Elian carry Cindy away.
Because deep down, Cherry was scared she was right.
Cherry didn't say anything. Didn't fight back. Not today. She didn't have it in her.
She ducked under Mrs. Eva's arm and went inside. Straight past the kitchen. Past the sala. To the back room.
Her father's room.
He was there. In bed. Same as always for the past 10 years. Can't speak. Can't hear. Can't walk. But his eyes were open. He saw her.
Cherry shut the door. Locked it.
Then she collapsed.
Right on the floor beside his bed, she finally let go. Her hands covered her face and she cried. Not pretty. Not quiet. Ugly, gasping sobs that shook her whole body. 13years of holding it in. Of being strong. Of being _Best_.
Of being second.
Her ankle throbbed. Her chest hurt worse.
"Dad," she choked out between sobs. He couldn't answer. Couldn't hug her. Couldn't tell her Mrs. Eva was lying.
But she talked anyway. To the only person who never left her.
"He didn't even look back, Dad. He just… he took her. And I was right there. I was right there and he chose her."
Her fingers dug into the cement floor. "Am I bad luck? Am I really so hard to love that he'd rather carry someone who faked it than the girl who broke her ankle for him?"
Her dad's hand twitched. The most he could do.
Cherry grabbed it. Held it to her forehead and cried harder.
Outside the door, Mrs. Eva laughed again. "Cry all you want. Won't change anything."
But Cherry didn't hear her anymore.
All she heard was Elian's voice: _Can you manage?_
SUNDAY
This one's gonna sting
No Cindy today. Said she had church
So it was just Elian and Cherry.
Cherry was there early. Ankle still swollen, wrapped tight in the same dirty bandage from last night. She was limping between the rows, watering the pechay she planted yesterday. Alone.
Elian showed up at 9. Saw her immediately.
"Hey," he said, walking over. "How's your ankle feeling?"
Cherry didn't look up from the watering can. "Fine."
That was it. He didn't ask to see it. Didn't say _let me take a look_. Didn't offer to carry her. Just nodded. "Good. Don't push it too hard."
Then he grabbed a hoe and started on the next plot.
Cherry's grip on the watering can went white. _Fine._ That's all she got.
She kept working.
*Lunch — 1 PM, Same Mango Tree*
They sat under the shade. No pink lunchbox today. Just rice in banana leaves and dried fish Elian brought. They split it without talking.
The only sound was cicadas and Cherry trying not to wince every time she moved her foot.
Elian was quiet. Picking at his food. Then he set it down.
"Cherry," he said. Serious. "There's something I want you to know."
Cherry looked up. Her heart did something stupid. Hoped. After last night, after 13 years, maybe—
Elian sighed. Ran a hand through his hair. He looked nervous. Boyish. Like when he was 15 confessing he failed Math.
"I'm in love with Cindy," he said.
The world went silent.
Cherry froze. Rice halfway to her mouth. Her hand stopped. Her breathing stopped.
For three seconds, she couldn't hear the cicadas. Couldn't feel her ankle. Couldn't feel anything except something in her chest tearing open.
Then she blinked. Set the rice down. Slow. Calm.
"I'm aware," she said. Voice flat. Empty.
Elian frowned, confused. "You are? How'd you know? I haven't— I didn't tell anyone yet."
Cherry gave him a look. The one she gave him when he was being dumb. Except this time it hurt to do it. "It's obvious, Elian."
_You carry her. You feed her. You leave me for her. You only see her._
Elian didn't hear the words she didn't say. He just chuckled. Rubbed the back of his neck, shy. Relieved. "Oh. I guess you know me too well, huh?"
Cherry wanted to throw the dried fish at his face.
"Yeah," she said instead. "I know you."
Elian smiled. Big. Real. The smile he used to save for her. "I'm gonna confess to her. Today, if I see her. Or tomorrow." He bumped her shoulder with his. Like they were kids again. Like this was normal. "Wish me luck, Best?"
Cherry looked at him.
Her chest was bleeding. But her face didn't move.
She sighed. Small. Resigned.
"Good luck," she said.
Elian grinned wider. "Thanks, Cherry. You're the best."
_Best._
The word didn't sound like hers anymore.
She picked up her rice and started eating again.
It tasted like nothing.
Elian didn't notice. He was already talking about what he'd say to Cindy. How he'd do it.
Cherry didn't hear a word.
She was too busy memorizing what it felt like to have your heart break while sitting next to the person who broke it.