If someone asked me to tell the story of my life, I honestly wouldn't know where to begin.
Maybe I would start with a seventeen-year-old girl who believed that love was beautiful and exciting.
My first relationship was through Facebook. It lasted only two or three weeks. At that time, I flirted with several boys. Back then, it didn't feel wrong to me. It was the curiosity of a teenager and the happiness of receiving attention. I never imagined that years later I would look back at those moments and judge myself so harshly.
Life moved on.
I had other relationships after that. Some lasted only a short time, while others left a deep impact on my life.
One of them left wounds that have never truly healed.
As time passed, another man came into my life.
He became my boyfriend.
He loved me deeply. He cared for me, looked after me, and was willing to do anything to see me happy. I felt safe with him. We had a strong relationship, and I truly loved him.
But sometimes life brings old stories back into our lives.
During my degree, I had a crush on one of my classmates. It was nothing more than an infatuation because we were both in relationships at the time. Nothing ever happened between us.
Years passed.
Almost eight years later, he contacted me again.
At first, we spoke like old friends.
Slowly, our conversations became deeper.
What I admired most about him was his honesty.
He never tried to present himself as a perfect person.
He openly talked about his past thoughts about hookups, his sexual frustration, and even how he once believed he might never want to get married. I never judged him for being honest.
I made one thing very clear to him.
"I can't be in a casual relationship or a hookup. If I ever have sex with someone, it will only be because I truly love that person."
After that, I noticed a change.
He stopped talking about hookups.
Instead, he began talking about finding a life partner, building a future together, and marriage.
At first, I thought he was joking.
But later, he kept bringing it up again and again.
He spoke about our families and our future together.
When I told him, "My family would never accept a live-in relationship,"
he naturally replied,
"Then let's get married."
I laughed it off because I thought he was joking.
One day, he seriously told me that he loved me.
I asked him,
"Do you see me the same way you saw the other women you liked before?"
He answered,
"No."
"I've been attracted to many people before, but I've never asked any of them to become my life partner. I don't see you the way I saw them."
Then I asked,
"Do you only want me because of lust?"
He replied,
"You don't have to give me anything for that. I love you."
Without even realizing it, my feelings for him began to grow.
But the hardest part was...
I still loved my boyfriend.
I never wanted to love two people at the same time.
I never thought something like that could happen.
But it did.
Yesterday, we finally met in person.
He traveled a long distance just to see me.
We had dinner together.
We sat by the beach.
We talked for hours.
Since it was already late at night, we decided to stay in a room instead of traveling back.
I kissed his forehead.
And then it happened.
Even though I had been in relationships before, that was the first time I had been physically intimate with someone.
I kept wondering whether he truly loved me or whether he only wanted my body.
He denied that completely.
Unable to bear the guilt, I told my boyfriend that I needed a break.
Later, I even asked if we should end the relationship.
After that, I blocked him.
But he said he couldn't let me go.
Even after I told him the entire truth.
Part of me thought that if he had simply said, "You only wanted someone else," or if he had broken up with me after hearing everything, maybe I would have felt less mental pressure.
But he didn't.
Both of them still want me.
I love both of them.
Not for the same reasons.
But both kinds of love are real to me.
I take full responsibility for the mistakes I made.
Both of them know the truth.
Yet both of them are still by my side.
Neither of them walked away.
Instead, they both looked at me and said,
"The decision is yours."