It was during university when Alex Ramos, a sporty and kind-hearted student, noticed her for the first time. He had just finished a soccer match and saw a chubby girl watching from a distance. Something about her presence was cute, innocent. He waved at her on impulse. She waved back, shy but smiling, and then walked away.

  Later that day, in the boys’ dormitory, a guy came looking for Alex, saying, “There’s a fatty waiting for you downstairs.”

  Alex frowned. “Bro, stop that,” he snapped, and went down immediately—it was a big dorm, and he had to search a bit.

  He didn’t even know it was her until he saw her holding a lunchbox. “Wow, you’re that girl who was watching us play soccer,” he said. “What can I help you with?”

  She offered the lunchbox shyly. He smiled and asked, “Can I open it? Not every day you get a home-cooked lunch from a beautiful girl.” She nodded. Inside was beautiful chicken and rice—it looked delicious. In that moment, Alex thought, She would make a great wife.

  He told her to wait there for a moment, went up to his room, transferred the food to a clean plate, washed her lunchbox, and filled it with candies from his homeland. Returning, he handed it back and asked her name. After she told him, he smiled and said, “I tried your food. I’ll eat the rest after I walk you home.”

  She insisted it was fine and began walking away. Alex called out her name and said, “There are candies in there—I hope you like them!”

  When he returned to his room, his roommate Mark sniffed around like a raccoon. “Did you cook? Nah, you can’t cook. Where’s this amazing smell coming from?”

  Alex smiled and said, “A girl gave it to me.”

  Mark asked, “Which girl?”

  Alex replied firmly, “Her name’s Lily. And don’t try anything with her. She’s not like the girls you usually hang out with.”

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  Mark raised his hands, laughing. “Okay, okay! I was just joking. You’d beat me up if I tried, anyway.”

  The next day, Lily came again—this time with pudding. They went to a café together, and Alex ordered them drinks. As he ate the pudding she made, he felt more connected to her. She was chubby, but he didn’t care. What mattered was her heart.

  They grew closer day by day.

  But Alex had made a decision before ever meeting Lily. With no family left and nobody he thought would miss him, he had applied to enlist in the army. Now, things were different. When he told Lily, she cried. He hugged her and promised, “I’ll be fine. We’ll see each other again.” In that moment, he regretted his choice.

  The battlefield was unforgiving. Being on the frontlines, Alex couldn’t contact Lily often. But her memory became his strength. Even under heavy fire or during brutal melee combat—where he earned scars on his lip and arm—he pushed through, determined to return to her.

  When his service ended, it felt like freedom: no more waking early, no gunfire. Just peace. He returned to his university to see his old friends in the dorms. When they saw him, they said he looked intimidating now. They all drank together—Alex brought booze from the army—and talked about old times.

  Someone asked about Lily.

  Alex said, “I was under constant fire. I didn’t have a chance after the first month out there.” But he had told her he wouldn't be able to contact her frequently. She had only said, “Be careful.”

  His friends were stunned, guilt washing over their faces. “We just goofed off… while you were fighting for your life,” one said.

  Alex shook his head. “Everyone’s life is different. Nobody has to feel responsible for what I chose.”

  Still, he could feel the weight in the room. He told himself it was foolish for them to feel regret—life had led them down different roads.

  He visited the café he used to go to with Lily. The owner recognized him and came over. “Your girl came regularly to drink coffee,” she said warmly.

  “Will she come today?” he asked.

  “You just missed her,” the owner replied. “She’ll be here tomorrow evening.”

  Before leaving, Alex visited the university head to ask if he could stay a while. Thankfully, the head hadn’t changed and was happy to see him alive. He gave Alex an empty room in the dorm. That night, Alex slept like a log.

  He woke refreshed and went to the café before evening. As the sun began to set, he saw a slim, beautiful girl sitting at the table they used to sit at. He called her name. She looked around, then at him, and smiled with tears in her eyes.

  He walked closer. “You recognize me, even after my change?” she asked through tears.

  Alex chuckled. “I look like a bear now, and you still recognized me.”

  They both laughed.

  They talked for hours. When it was time to go, he drove her home in his jeep. There, he met her parents. Her father greeted him with a knowing smile. “She was waiting for you, lad,” he said.

  Alex looked at Lily, then back at her father. “I don’t have parents—they passed away early. Still, I ask you… may I marry your daughter?”

  Her father smiled. “How can I stop you two lovebirds? Yes.”

  Lily and her mother cried.

  In that moment, Alex felt truly alive—survival finally meant something.

  He and Lily married, had two children, and lived a quiet, happy life together. His long road through pain and battle had led him not to glory, but to love—and that, he realized, was the real reward.