In a small rented room that smelled faintly of vanilla and tired dreams, Peachy Chen peeled off a yellow sticky note from her growing collection. She smiled to herself as she wrote in her neat, round handwriting:
"You matter, even if no one tells you today. ❤️ – P.C."
She pressed the note against a small brown paper bag containing two pieces of warm banana bread—her sister Patty's favorite. The kind you make when payday hasn't come, but your heart insists on giving anyway.
"Kuya Rider, paki-abot na lang po kay Ate Patty sa front desk ng Mo Hotel, ha?" she said, handing over the package to the delivery man with a bright smile.
"Sure po, Ma'am Peachy," the rider replied. "Lagi kayong may pa-note, no?"
She laughed. "Oo naman. Minsan kasi, 'di sapat ang thank you lang. Kailangan iparamdam."
Peachy wasn't always the "sticky note girl."38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRaguxHDzo1
But when life keeps breaking you gently and slowly, you find ways to patch yourself up. Hers came in tiny squares of neon paper, scribbled with reminders to breathe, to hope, to believe that the world wasn't all cruel.
Her room looked like a shrine to optimism: pastel sticky notes lined the edge of her mirror, the walls, her secondhand laptop.
"Smile kahit pagod ka."38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Fg7lBRDsx
"Magpahinga ka rin, Peachy. Di ka robot."38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg4w4mWKZ1H
"Someday, someone will say thank you and mean it."
Most days, no one did.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy4ZJJhnJga
But she wrote anyway.
She juggled three part-time jobs: café barista, baby-sitter tuwing weekends, and sometimes hotel errands for her sister. Enough to help with rent, utilities, and maybe, someday, a dream.
"Anong pangarap mo?" someone once asked.
"Simple lang," she had answered. "Yung hindi ako laging plan B. Yung pipiliin ako, hindi dahil kailangan kundi dahil gusto talaga."
People called her gullible. Weak. Martyr.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNDRtUatNjM
But Peachy wasn't stupid. She was just... hopeful.
Meanwhile, at Mo Hotel's Executive Lounge, Charlie Mo stared blankly at his tablet, trying to tune out the hushed whispers of gossip from the staff.
"Sabi nila, nakita si Sir Charlie na lasing na naman kagabi."38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqG2tKagaem
"Kawawa rin 'yan. Iniwan ng fiancée, tapos napahiya pa sa board."
He hated pity. He hated noise. But mostly, he hated how right they were.
Charlie had once been warm, a man who wrote poetry on napkins and gave flowers for no reason. Until Maia twisted that softness into a weakness.
Now, his world was grayscale: white walls, black suits, and a constant ache behind his eyes.
He walked toward the reception to pick up a package, barely noticing the staff scurrying away like mice in a palace.
"Sir," said the front desk agent, handing him a small paper bag. "I think this is for your sister."
He opened it absently.
Inside: banana bread. And... a sticky note?
"You matter, even if no one tells you today. ❤️ – P.C."
He blinked. Who the hell was P.C.?
His first instinct was to crumple the note. But his hand paused.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS4CWImkGtx
Something about the handwriting—round, sincere, and stupidly brave—made him stop.
Back in her tiny kitchen, Peachy stirred instant pancit canton, her dinner of champions. Her phone buzzed with a message from Patty.
Patty Chen: Next time, wag mo nga padala sa office ko. Boss ko ang nakakuha. Nakakahiya ka, Peachy.
She stared at the message. Her cheeks burned.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAaRSPtHjt8
"Sorry po," she typed. "Akala ko ikaw ang makakatanggap."
Hay naku. Sa sobrang kabobohan mo, baka akalain pa niya nagpaparinig ka.
She bit her lip and typed again.
Hindi ako nagpaparinig. Gusto ko lang ipaalala na may nagmamalasakit pa rin.
Patty didn't reply after that.
Charlie found himself staring at the note again.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7zqMIuZqke
He couldn't explain it—but the words clung to him, louder than his own thoughts. And for the first time in months, something warm nudged the edge of his chest.
He put the note in the drawer. Folded. Quiet. Kept.
The next day, Peachy left another note.
"You're not alone. Even the sun rises again."
She wrote it for Patty, but again, the package was intercepted.
Charlie raised an eyebrow when he saw the handwriting again.
Seriously? Another one?38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVgTq0hWZMy
But this time, he didn't just keep the note.
He reread it.
This became their strange, unspoken routine.
Every few days, another note. Meant for someone else, but always ending up with Charlie. He never replied, but he never threw them away.
Eventually, he began to expect them.
He even cleared out a drawer—once filled with useless pens—for the little notes that somehow made the air feel less heavy.
He didn't know who P.C. was.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUYeBVKbNZ4
But she wrote in pink ink.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP5QrOr6VO4
And somehow, she saw the parts of him he didn't show anyone.
Peachy, on the other hand, was unaware of the little miracle unfolding. She thought she was just leaving crumbs of comfort in a world too hard on soft people.
She didn't know that her words had found a boy who stopped believing.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO5njgzGZTG
Didn't know her hope was becoming someone else's reason to try again.
Not yet.
One day, she slipped this note into the delivery bag:
"To the one reading this—38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡql0JM6a0yf
I hope the world is a little kinder today.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXMsS5K0bfm
If not, let me remind you: you're stronger than you think."
Charlie, sitting alone in his high-rise office, read it.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfEcsJpNQJv
Then, for the first time in a long time...38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhKPxYdIoTV
He smiled.
Just a little.
End of Chapter 1.
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfIIvNzoxQa
and then Add to home screen.