Why Are Bubblegum Not Swallowed?

Overview

Rain and Asher meet as college freshmen—awkward, curious, and quietly drawn to each other in ways neither of them is ready to admit. Their connection grows through late-night study sessions, shared cigarettes behind campus buildings, and the silent electricity of almost-confessions. In a society unkind to tenderness between two men, their relationship exists in fragments: glances across lecture halls, hands almost touching, laughter louder than their fear. The “bubblegum” becomes the emotional core of their shared history—something once sweet and intoxicating, held in the mouth long after the flavor faded. It represents forbidden love: chewed slowly, hidden under the tongue, never swallowed, and eventually spit out not because it stopped mattering, but because the world demanded it. Their reunion forces the question they spent years avoiding: Was it love, or just a moment? And if it was love… why weren’t they allowed to keep it?

Rafael Saliganan