StuckAndConfused: Dear Chingu,
I only read about your advice column last night, and to be honest, it felt good reading them. So after much contemplating, I decided to seek for advice. Thank you so much in advance! :)
You see, I'm having some sort of problem right now. There's this classmate of mine who's extremely popular in school because of his intellectual prowess and his looks. Well, you really couldn't compare him with the kingkas we read in fanfics; it just doesn't work here in our country. But he's nice and is a gentleman; he's friends with practically everyone. I know it might sound lame, but I think I'm the only girl in our class (and school) who doesn't drool over him everytime I see him. Two weeks ago, though, he confessed to me at our batch party and told me that he wants to court me. Well, I was surprised, and I told him that I'd think about it. Over the next few days he has started to 'court' me, or so he says. He'd always insist on carrying my bag during dismissals, offer to walk around the campus with me, eat with me for lunch, the works. And I don't know whether I like him already or not.
Then here comes my childhood best friend-slash-partner in crime. We've known each other since we were practically wearing Winnie The Pooh pajamas, so basically we know each other well. Truth be told, I've liked him since 5th grade, and we're already juniors in high school now. You see, he actually LIKES Guy # 1, and they've hit it off ever since that day the latter confessed to me. I felt hurt at first, realizing that he actually WANTS Guy # 1 for me. When I said earlier that I liked him, I meant SUPER-LIKE. Well, borderline love, I guess. But some will get my drift. Now, I think my feelings have faltered a bit, somewhat in par with my dilemma with Guy # 1.
What do I do now? I know it sounds like fanfiction or something, but it happened to me. And I don't know how to deal with it; fanfics, I could take, but this is the real deal. ><''

Friend: Dear StuckAndConfused,

I wish I could tell you the perfect thing on what to do but I can’t, because this is all a matter on your own feelings. You may have heard this corny line almost everywhere but it’s true; follow your heart and listen to what it tells you to do. I can’t tell you which guy you have to go after because this is your life that you’ll need to choose on your own. I can’t tell you what the outcome will be of your decision, I can only hope that it turns out to be good. I can, however, give you my opinion and outlook on it(:

From what you’re telling me, if you’re still hesitating whether you like Guy #1, then chances are you don’t. You may be humbly touched by his kind actions and let me tell you, he sounds like a wonderful guy(: It’s great when a guy would do such nice things for you like carry your bag and keep you company, but don’t let those kind of feelings fool you into thinking you like someone. It does show that he’s a caring and well-mannered guy that is actually trying to win you over though(: Although those great actions would be fit for a prince, try to get to know him a little bit more. Try to find out more about him, instead of what you hear about him from other people. He may seem like a prince charming through all the other girl’s eyes, but you’re not like those other girls(: Get to know him, maybe your feelings will grow or maybe you might find out he might not be the right guy after all. In my opinion, Guy # 1 seems like a guy I’d give a chance from what you’re telling me.

If you do decide to choose Guy # 1, make sure your feelings are true. If you only go into a relationship with half a heart, that’s all it’ll ever be and never the whole piece. There’s also the problem with you liking another guy, Guy #2. If you go into a relationship while you have feelings for another person, that will only end in disaster. Imagine Guy #1’s feelings if you both were to begin a relationship and he finds out that part of you has feelings for someone else. Ouch. Try to really think it over; can you imagine yourself being happy together with him or do you just see him as a good friend later in life?

As for Guy # 2, I think that if you really want to confirm his feelings for you and whether he has any, I’d confess to him. However, I’d only recommend this option if you think you’re up for it. Anytime you confess that you may like your friend as more than a friend, there’s always the risk of losing the previous friendship you guys had. If you confess to Guy # 2, there could be 3 possible outcomes. I guess I’ll hit you with the bad outcome first. If you confess, there’s the possibility that your confession could result in awkwardness. If Guy # 2 doesn’t have the same feelings back for you, he may now be more aware and self-conscience of the things you two may do together. He’ll view you differently and the entire friendship might end up being like the two of you walking on egg shells – awkward and tense. However that option I highly doubt will happen. The second outcome could be that nothing will happen. You heard me, nothing. By that I mean that nothing good or nothing bad will become of your possible confession, he might simply brush off the matter. Seeing as you two are such close friends, he might kindly say that your friendship is more important to him and things will go back to being how they were before – nothing more or less. And lastly, the final option could be that he’ll accept your feelings and like you back. He might be supporting Guy # 1, but he could just be using it as a way to hide his actual feelings for you. After all, he might not even know you have had feelings for him this whole time. He may just want the best and trusts Guy # 1 to be a good companion for you. However, I don’t want you to hold onto this option for dear life, because I can’t guarantee such a result and I’d hate to see your hopes shatter.

I think that you should think your feelings through. If Guy # 1 truly likes you, he’ll be willing to wait for you until you get your feelings sorted out(: You shouldn’t rush into anything if you are unsure about it, take the time to breathe and ask yourself if this is really what you want. Once you’re sure about your decision, it’ll make things a whole lot easier(:

Don’t let this one incident shape the rest of your life! Even if things don’t go as well planned as you wanted them to be with either Guy # 1 or 2, you still have your entire life ahead of you. You’ll come across many more opportunities and crushes if anything.

I hope you get your happily ever after with the right guy, StuckAndConfused(:

~(Chingu) 친구