Rumput Manila

It happened one night, unexpectedly. But it cannot be revealed for he belongs to the showbiz industry. The truth cannot be told yet. Jameson Kye Velasco is a famous actor in his generation who met Callie Ivianna Perez, a graduate of Bachelor of Science in Accountancy in Ateneo de Manila University. They met at a luxurious and high-end bar in Bonifacio Global City in the most unexpected time. Both of them became wasted as the night got deeper. Callie decided to go to the rest room as she started to feel dizzy. While on her way, she suddenly bumped into Jameson Kye na halata na din sa mukha ang kalasingan. Sa paglalim ng gabi, isang hindi inaasahang pangyayari ang naganap. Jameson and Calllie had a one night stand, na itinuring na ding isang pagkakamali na ginawa ni Callie. Weeks had passed, at kakaiba na ang nararamdaman ni Callie sa kanyang sistema. Little did she know, she was pregnant. At alam na alam niya kung sino ang ama ng pinagbubuntis niya. She reached out to Jameson, but the boy thought it was all her lies just to ruin his reputation. Jameson’s manager and his friends knew about it, and so his manager decided na magsama muna sila ni Callie sa iisang buong hangga’t naghihintay ng tamang panahon para sa DNA test. But until the DNA result came, hindi pa rin naniniwala si Jameson. He even decided na itago ang katotohonan sa madla para lang maisalba ang kanyang karera. Hanggang sa napagdesisyunan na lamang ni Callie na umuwi sa kanilang mansion at mag-isa niyang palalakihin ang anak.

What if you’re a fallen angel of death and God calls you for reconciliation? Isaac Jacob is a heartbroken and broke businessman. When his wife Maria; the woman that he trusted and love most cheated on him and stole his money as well as ruined his life that makes him miserable and hopeless. Which makes him want to shoot her and her lover but unexpected things happened that worsen his situation. He moved to a slum area somewhere in Manila when he sold everything that he possessed because of bankruptcy. He doesn’t have a choice but to start from scratch with his blind father. Until he met Michael; the archangel who disguised as a teenage girl to gather all the fallen angels on earth and he is one of the fallen angels who need a reconciliation. Michael promised him wealth after he passed the challenge that he need to face. He needs to enter a game that will put him between life and death before he achieves the wealth that he is dreaming of. The game that he needs to find the murderers and help the victims take their stolen lives back. Once he won, the victims will come back to life and live like nothing’s happened but he will be forgotten, but once he loses. The murderers will live and the victims will vanish forever like they never existed. While he is on a game. He starts discovering some things that will connect to his past life. That makes him interested in why her wife cheated on her? Who is her lover? Is it just a simple reconciliation or it is the past that he can’t forget that gives him trauma and breakdown?

Tunnels deconstructs the individual’s Romantic fascination with ‘love’ or the grammaticality of beauty. Ideally, the ‘tunnels’ in the collection are subterranean love poems from the suburban imaginary. These seemingly syntactic tunnels travel through one’s literary imagination or heterotopic dreamscapes, and while αγάπη (Greek for ‘love’) inspires these rhizomic tunnels to navigate the abysmal ‘meta-spectacle’ of gesture, language or moment of poemness, the mind like the many-colored jeepneys of Manila, where driving past roast goose restaurants in Shek Kip Mei or spotting stilt houses in Kampong Kleang, attempt to explore the transgeneric textualities of the everyday, alongside the unstructurality of time and space, the littoral and the liminal.

In the heart of Manila, a city full of mystery, Hestia seeks answers. Driven by the painful memory of her parents' untimely death, she is determined to uncover the truth. Every day is a battle as she navigates through the city's chaos not knowing what she might find. Along the way, she crosses paths with Finn, a local detective, the son of her parents secretary. As they dig deeper into the case, danger lurks in every corner, but so does an unexpected romance. Hestia finds herself torn between her quest for the truth and her growing feelings for the only son of her parents killer. As Hestia embarks on her mission to uncover the truth about her parents' sudden death, she had an unexpected one night stand of a hot manly stranger. Little did she know, that he was the man who will breaks her heart into a tiny pieces. As she gets closer to the truth, Hestia faces potential threats from those who want to keep the truth buried. While focused on her mission, Hestia also struggles to balance her growing feelings for Xavier Caldwell, the only son of her parents killer, which adds another layer of complexity to her situation. After a passionate one-night stand with the enigmatic Hestia, he found himself captivated by her. But when he woke up, Hestia was gone, leaving nothing but a note and a memory. Driven by a desire he couldn't quite understand, Xavier embarked on a mission to find Hestia. Meanwhile, Hestia was on her own mission, oblivious to Xavier's relentless search. But as days turned into weeks, Hestia couldn't help but think of Xavier. She remembered his touch, his voice, and the way he looked at her. It was a distraction she couldn't afford, but also one she couldn't ignore.

Twenty-year-old Francheska Dela Cruz, an aspiring writer was hired in one of the biggest publishing companies in Metro Manila and her first assignment was to interview a philanderer who had a scandalous reputation in his time. Driven by the determination to keep her job and to be noticed by her boss, Dale Trinidad made her decide to push through with the assignment. She found herself in the old capital city of Pasig City, near the Municipal Hall at the heart of Sandoval Avenue in Acacia Alley. A crowded and ragged place with people from all walks of life, Conversations with Micheal Benedicto brought her to the world of passion and lust. His overwhelming vast adventure with all kinds of love and each of his women portrayed a big role in his life. From his first encounter of a carnal affair with his supervisor in his first job to numerous women that came his way. His insatiable desire towards lonely single mothers and older women tainted his reputation and the radical conclusion of his story. All thirty-six women portrayed a big role in his life and shaped him for who he is. Francheska was not just an attendee to Michael's story. She was also about to find out her true identity and the confrontation of reality. It spanned two generations separated by fate, each had its struggle, its pain, lies, betrayal, and joy. Through this encounter, they will finally realize their connection and the real meaning of love, self-sacrifice, acceptance, and forgiveness. That in the end, love is all that matters.

Jeyah Abby Arguello lost her first love in the province, the reason why she moved to Manila to forget the painful past. She became aloof to everybody else until she met the heartthrob of UP Diliman, Darren Laurel, who has physical similarities with her past love. Jealousy and misunderstanding occurred between them, causing them to deny their feelings. When Darren found out she was the mysterious singer he used to admire on a live-streaming platform, he became more determined to win her heart. As soon as Jeyah is ready to commit herself to him, her great rival who was known to be a world-class bitch, Bridgette Castillon gets in her way and is more than willing to crush her down. Would she be able to fight for her love when Darren had already given up on her? Would there be a chance to rekindle everything after she was lost and broken?

All of us know that half of the truth is often a whole lie. That's what Saff life does.. Oreus promise that after he finishes his personal business to Manila, he will come back and Saff kept that promised to herself. Until then, the time flies fast and finally met each other. But after that, it seems their lives turns up and down, the promises that she kept on holding on was gone.. There is no way to escape. Will she keep relying unto that promise and continue loving him despite his disparment that made her life falls into pieces? Or just forget about it and living a life without him?

Axecel dela Rosa is a transferee student at Manila University. He comes from a small town in the quiet countryside in Mindanao. He struggles to form meaningful of relationship and feelings in the capital City of Manila. It's not easy, but he try his best to make a new friends in his University. Meanwhile, Christopher Vicente a señior Fine Arts student, is now returning to Manila-and the same University after his long vacation. The coriousity of the two started when they spent a night together after a fun and tiring long week. Their bond continued when Axecel join the swimming club that Top attends. When the swimming club embarks on a journey, the two finds themselves together alone and share a kiss for the second times. And Axecel begin to act again as if nothing happened between them, but Christopher tries his to be a good friend even though he knows he has a strange feeling to Axecel.

San Hernadez, is a town located in a far away mountain where in Underground Monsters are living for almost 500 years. A college students Gleea, Kim, Daphne, Glyrazze, and Fretzie who is studying in Manila happened to visit and take a break for a while in this town where one of their bestfriend is living. But what if the so called vacation they thought will give them a millions of good memories will lead them to a bloodbath chase and war against underground monsters? Will they survive in this battle or they will face their painful death?

A 23 year old writer—journalist, Hans Angelo Gejero is one of the rarest gem living for his attractive innocence. His life changes when he went back to Manila from Canada along with his father. After finally almost an eternity, he has finally got to meet the one and only Miggy Rior. The moment they met, a fire sparked between them. Every time they would see each other, their hearts started rampaging inside their chest. It was unusual than before. Until Miggy can’t resist himself anymore so he grabbed the chance to kiss the lad and do something with him more than just a kiss. Those things they were doing is new to both of them and they didn’t know why they always feel something like that and why they always do that together. Until Hans fell in love with Miggy for his flowery words. He’s now afraid to do things with him for his feelings were attached to the guy who kissed him firstly. He knows that it is dangerous to fall in love with a friend with just the benefits yet he cannot stop himself from loving the gentle guy. His hot lips and presence are what made him more attractive fort he latter. Even if he tried to get rid of him, his heart always looked for only one thing. The one real thing he always asked for, love. One question remained in his mind. “Will this remain just the benefits?”