“Two gaming friends reunited in Bulacan after 5 years, but he didn’t expect his friend’s life to have

The Elian of his childhood had been loud, energetic, always smiling.

But the boy standing in front of him now carried something heavy in his eyes—something that didn’t belong to a thirteen-year-old.

Matteo stepped closer.

Elian instinctively stepped back.

“Hey, bro… it’s me,” Matteo said gently.

Then he noticed something that made him stop mid-sentence.

Elian’s belt had snapped… and was tied together with a strip of plastic.

Elian lowered his head.

“Sorry,” he murmured quietly.

“This is our life now.”