The days grew heavier. Each morning, Ethan woke with an ache that ran deeper than the day before. His body had begun betraying him in ways he could no longer ignore, but he refused to let Luna see. She didn't deserve his suffering. She didn't need to be burdened with the knowledge that the man who cooked for her, waited for her, and loved her more than life itself was slowly dying.
He moved carefully through the apartment, holding his side when he stood, leaning against the counter when he chopped vegetables. Every task that once felt ordinary now demanded effort, focus, and patience. Yet, he smiled when Luna returned from her nights out.
He smiled when she laughed, unaware of the war waging quietly inside him.
The camera became his refuge, his secret diary. He filmed her more intentionally now—not just her sleep, not just her careless movements, but the subtle things: the way she hummed while brushing her hair, the faint crease of her brow when she read a message, the small stretch before curling back into the bed. He wanted to preserve every moment, every fragment of her life that passed without his being noticed.
Some nights, he recorded himself too. Short clips, whispered messages he would never show. "I love you," he murmured to the lens, voice shaking. "I stay because I love you… even when you don't love me back." He paused, his hand trembling as he pressed it against the camera. "I'll keep you with me… always."
Luna remained oblivious. She continued her late-night parties, her careless laughter, her indifference toward the man who had been waiting for her all this time. She barely glanced at the untouched meals, the folded laundry, the exhaustion etched into his features.
Ethan's secret was a heavy one, but it was a love he refused to abandon. Each pain-filled day, each tremor in his hands, each shallow breath was a silent promise: he would stay. He would endure. He would love her—quietly, invisibly, until the very end.
And sometimes, late at night, when Manila's lights glimmered through the windows and Luna finally slept, he would whisper into the darkness:
I'm here. I'll always be here. Even when you don't see me. Even when you don't care. Even when I'm gone… I will still stay.
It was a love that demanded nothing in return, a devotion hidden in shadows, and a secret that would one day break them both.