Last month, ABS-CBN Entertainment has officially launched its new “Made For YouTube” offering titled Love Bites, a digital anthology that presents real love stories in bite-sized format. New episodes are streamed every Friday, and it’s now on its third episode since the series began last September 16.

For its third installment titled “First and Last” that premiered on September 30, it tells the story of Mel (Kyzha Villalino), a hopeless romantic girl who wishes to have a first love that can also be her last, just like what happened to her beloved Nayskie Mila (Hasna Cabral) and Tayskie Felipe (Joel Molina).

The episode commenced with Mel’s family preparing for the arrival of a special guest that day. Being able to tick off the items in her “Mr. Perfect Checklist,” which includes kind, caring, protective, supportive, criminology student, and a Joshua Garcia look-alike, Mel thought that her suitor Job (Concon Felix) is already the one.

Their conversation over dinner apparently went well. However, Felipe couldn’t help but ask Mel if she’s also a tomboy, since she allowed herself to be pursued by Job, a lesbian. Mel schooled his father about her gender orientation, which he initially perceived as kalokohan, while his wife Mila was able to understand and explained the situation to him.

To further give light to what she’s feeling, Mel recounted how her and Job’s love story started. They first met when Mel assaulted Job at their all-girls boarding house after she mistook Job as a man. The two of them became close since then, which eventually bloomed into a romantic connection. Mel may have initially rejected Job when she professed her love for her, but Mel found herself already in love with her, too, which made her question her own sexuality.

Since Job showed that her intentions were good and was able to impress the parents with her politeness and romantic gestures, Mel was able to obtain her Tayskie and Nayskie’s blessings.

Upon learning about Job’s former girlfriend from one of their boardmates, Mel couldn’t help but asked Job regarding it, to which the latter assured she has already moved on from. As she felt her sincerity, Mel finally gave her sweet “yes” to Job, much to her delight, of course.

There may be naysayers that do not believe in whatever they have, but they’re able to prove that “first love, last love” still exists. Unfortunately, their relationship indeed didn’t last as Job got back to her ex, which broke Mel’s heart. Thus, her parents were there to the rescue and consoled her, with Mila telling her that she may not have ended up with Job, but this experience has opened a lot of possibilities for her and proved that she’s capable of loving anyone, regardless of gender.

Despite what happened, they were able to rekindle their friendship as they had the chance to talk before Job goes to Cebu. She has obviously forgiven her for what she had done and it made her realize that it’s her father who is really her first love and the one who’s able to tick off all the items in her checklist.

For sure, a lot of viewers were able to relate with the story of Love Bites: “First and Last” since we’re all yearning to end up with our first love, right? While there are people who are blessed to have it, that is not the case for many of us, unfortunately, just like what happened to Mel. This reminds us that there’s no such thing as absolute happiness when it comes to love because pain and heartbreaks are inevitably part of the journey, but we can learn from those.

At the same time, it also reminds us that even though we have set criteria or checklist regarding the person we would like to end up with, we really cannot teach the heart to whom it would beat or fall. Besides, true love isn’t only romantic, but it can also be found in our family, friends, or even ourselves.

As newbies, ex-Pinoy Big Brother Otso housemate Kyzha Villalino and social media personality Concon Felix indeed did impressive jobs in playing their respective characters as they’re able to make us feel the emotions of their characters. We also admired Hasna Cabral and Joel Molina’s performances as husband and wife as we really saw their undeniable chemistry. Brilliant director Dado C. Lumibao had a great job in executing this narrative written by Alpha Fortun.

Stay tuned on ABS-CBN Entertainment’s YouTube channel to not miss the next episodes of Love Bites every Friday at 8PM!