Can a man and a woman be “just friends”? For Christian Bables, the answer is ‘yes’ and it’s all about setting a clear intention, as he has managed to keep his relationship with Jennica Garcia purely platonic despite the possibility of a romantic love being too hard to resist.

In this episode, kilig confessions as the BFFs rehash their story’s prologue set in 2016 (when he ‘ghosted’ her) and how much they've grown from there and learned to keep their friendship as their safe place.

Kilig echoed around the Magandang Buhay studio when the tandem revealed that they first met in 2016 for a project. They were close, as Jennica recalled, but Christian disconnected from her all of a sudden akin to ‘ghosting’ in relationships.

He had a beefy explanation, “Hindi naman ‘yun paglayo kundi pagrespeto. Gusto kong ilugar ang sarili ko that time kasi ayaw kong makasira ng relationship.” Straight from Christian himself is the confession that he cherished the pure friendship they had at the time, but keeping things the way they were could’ve made him fall for Jennica, hence avoiding her out of respect.

Then, Dirty Linen happened. When Jennica found out that she’d be playing a prostitute character, the first thing she did was reconnect with Christian just because she wanted to hear his advice, as she was thinking of dropping out of the project, scared that she might not be able to deliver.

Fast forward to today, they realize that they are like family to each other, and that friendship is their only guarantee that nothing will change. It’s their only guarantee that they can keep each other for life.

In the “Tol Box” game, the best friends treat us to more revelations. Find out why Christian loves to smell Jennica’s hair, the last text he sent her (which is extremely aww-inducing), one thing he envies about her, and what she dislikes about him.

In the last portion of the episode, the two were asked to think of the kind of award or title they’d like to give each other. They were reduced to happy tears, moved by the care, affection, and appreciation that they receive from one another.

For Jennica and Christian, their friendship is something stronger and more special than a romantic kind of love. They might not become lovers, but they will forever be best friends.

Listen to this episode of Magandang Buhay The Podcast hosted by Regine Velasquez, Jolina Magdangal, and Melai Cantiveros.