Things I Secretly Love (and Don’t Publicly Admit)

Last night, I sacrificed my good sleeping schedule because I was feeling… rebellious. I watched cringey movies on TikTok and I couldn’t stop!

You know the kinds, right? They usually have the same formula: a CEO-in-disguise marrying a struggling businessman just to be dumped when the man is about to sign a million-dollar contract (secretly orchestrated by the CEO)—or an heiress dumping her boyfriend harshly because he shouldn’t know the painful truth, leaving the now-rich boyfriend with a cold heart and a desire for revenge (but the old love is definitely not dead).

Yep, that’s what I’m talking about. Those Wattpad come-to-life clips.

I might not be ashamed to reveal my secret here, but it’s not something I would parade publicly. The pleasure—totally legal, but still—feels sort of… shameful to admit out loud. It’s an “if you know, you know” situation. That’s probably why it’s called a guilty pleasure. Now I get it.

So, to celebrate my new understanding, why don’t we go ahead and share our guilty pleasure lists? Here’s mine:

Watching cringey movies on TikTok. Yep, just like I did last night. You should also know that when I’m invested, I can be very persistent—I’ll try all the relevant keywords until I get the next clips! If I’m desperate enough, I even keep refreshing the same page, hoping the algorithm would finally be nice to me. And when I can’t find what I’m looking for, I’ll be like, “Damn you, Yvette and Archie Wells and Benji.”

(Yes, I just name-dropped a drama I was so into last night.)

Obsessively scrolling through celebrity gossip pages. Honestly, I have no defense. I’m a tea lover—and I mean it figuratively, because why else would I be on Twitter 24/7 if not for the gossip and drama? I just love to know who’s dating who, and what’s on Taylor Swift’s sleeve this time.

Eating instant noodles for breakfast on the weekends. Don’t tell my mom. I won’t hear the end of it.

Playing the same two games on repeat. This, obviously, I won’t admit out loud to just anyone in the real world. I have a reputation to keep.

Singing in my bed as if I have the vocal range of Ariana Grande. I also act as if I’m performing at the Grammys or VMAs, complete with a bed-like stage setup. I’m pretty sure my family could hear me from outside and just think, “Oh well, sound pollution.”

Talking in a baby voice to my boyfriend—if that counts. I won’t ever admit this to a non-reader of my blog, but my boyfriend and I are that couple who like to talk in baby voices to one another. It just seems naturally cute to us.

What’s not so cute, however, is the fact I get too comfortable and sometimes forget who I’m talking to. Imagine me saying “thank you” cutely to a ride-share driver because I too often talk like that with my boyfriend.

(Yes, that actually happened to me more than once, thank you very much.)

So, what about you? Are there any guilty pleasure moments you would like to share? I’m sure I still have plenty, but at this moment, I can think of none other than the list above.

If you like this post, you might also enjoy Brainteasers Gone Wild: My Offbeat Answers to ChatGPT’s Questions and Propaganda I Fall for: Cute Hauls and Vitamin D.