Finding Love: Tales from a Gay Millennial

Chapter 6: Jude

There are different expressions of love. Perhaps one of the most widely-accepted categorization of the expression of love is the five love languages: words of affirmation, acts of service, receiving gifts, quality time, and physical touch.

I have always known that my personal love language is acts of service. I believe that you get the love you deserve and so I work hard for it.

I also practice chivalry in as much as I can. I like holding the door open, carrying bags, holding an umbrella, opening the car door, and not only for my romantic partners, but also for my friends. My heart just feels better when I do these things.

While it sounds noble, a bad side to it is that I tend to turn into a martyr. I don't like to admit it but when I was living with Austin, I did most of the house chores.

 He goes home with food ready. 

He wakes up for work with his clothes ironed out already. 

And those clothes? I also washed them myself. 

It was very tiresome but I find joy in being of service to Austin.

Acts of service is undeniably my love language.

While most people think that the essence of the love languages is understanding how you express your love. But it cannot be farther from the truth.

I learned this when I met Jude.

Jude is not exactly a new person for me. He was my younger sister's classmate in grade school, and so I sort of knew him. But we were never acquainted so he's one of those people I know but never really talked to.

I only ever had a conversation with him online back in college when he randomly messaged and I actually thought he was a bit annoying so the conversation died a natural death. 

I came to notice him again when everyone was congratulating him for topping the licensure exam for teachers which is undeniably a cool thing.

It was my 25th birthday when he messaged again.

"Happy birthday, Big Brother!" Jude greeted me.

"Thanks, Jude!" I replied.

"Aren't you going to treat me for your birthday?" he asked with a smiling emoji.

For a good minute, I thought hard how to answer that since we're not really close, and it's just so random for us to meet. But I had nothing to do so I replied, "Sure, wanna meet this weekend?"

"Sure. It's your treat okay? See yah!" he said.

And so Jude and I met for the first time officially.

It was kind of weird going out with someone you're not really close with so we had some awkward moments like deciding where to eat, or what food to order, whether we should have dessert, and so on.

But Jude can carry a conversation. He keeps on talking, and I appreciated how he was able to keep our discussion alive.

After sharing a slice of cake, we went to a nearby park. 

We talked some more, trying to know each other. I told him I was gay, and he admitted that he was too. 

We also shared some of our stories to one another, and surprisingly, we both came from failed relationships.

To brighten up the mood after all that, we decided to try one of the local arcades that has karaoke booths, and boy was I surprised at how good he sings. 

I love singing, but I'm not really good at it. But Jude's voice is jaw-droppingly amazing. It shouldn't be a surprise because he is a music, arts, and sports teacher, but  hearing it in person is just heavenly.