I was going steady.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3md17oRqJg
Nothing too grand, nothing too heavy.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVItRSTYR9H
Just... life. With a little joy stitched into the seams.
Academics, Thub, labs, scattered exams —109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡacxMWfnfcR
it was all a beautiful mess.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8DudIjEE8x
Filled with tension, doubts, and the classic "why should I care" moments.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡahgD7fCFDT
A delicate dance between chaos and comfort.
And somewhere in between,109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUL102H7oKI
there was her.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR3fNyw8C4g
Forevermore.
There were small fights —109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN6ihrgHJlu
misunderstandings, moments of silence that felt longer than they should.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPjAvALzfmi
But I had my way of patching things up.
I would just go near her.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVfY9H7e5My
Stand beside her.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡivIjGN59YO
Not a single word. No explanations. No apologies.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6L6UyJN65I
Just presence.
It was my little way of saying,109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpdUIIaDeOE
"I’m here. Still here. Through everything. Even if you forget, I won’t."
Maybe she never noticed it.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd6nfGTL3fn
Maybe she did.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2BLhRKxQV3
But I never waited to know.
I did things for her —109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG9AOePGxBs
small, silly things that would go unnoticed.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfwHRdrA0ur
Sometimes even the big things,109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUN4jOHsEh1
the kind that pull pieces out of your soul when no one’s watching.
And all the while, I wondered:109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwlm8SV0C4g
What even is the line between selfishness and selflessness?
Isn’t wanting to be selfless...109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvbZFjaIIHN
a kind of selfishness too?
Was I helping her because I cared?109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF9Sha5Cxuk
Or because I wanted her to see that I cared?
Was I doing it all for her happiness?109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ5rNSUd9Zq
Or for that brief warmth I felt when she smiled because of me?
I guess I’ll never really know.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgm5qClWQvL
Maybe the heart doesn’t divide its reasons.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwt1ffeih1a
Maybe it just does what it does.
Meanwhile, preparations for Code Engine had begun.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6mGhbk8LYG
And to me, skipping academics was the biggest motivator of all.
Making stalls, designing banners, running around with duct tape and dreams —109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWLbkOWibe7
it wasn’t my thing.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjHdXiZSAd0
But it was fun.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2x7E2ZHjfS
Mostly because it pulled me away from the routine.
We went class to class,109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsSm31fze0w
all three campuses, handing out invitations like salesmen of curiosity.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL50G0UNH84
I stood awkwardly outside classrooms while seniors did the talking.
I didn’t mind.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGmV47DsRsP
The wind was cooler outside.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpK7vNMzsE1
And I was invisible — the way I liked it.
But then... something changed.
People started recognizing me.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhBAmpBp1de
They’d point, whisper, wave.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0JavDCTzN5
"Hey, you're Nova, right?"
It was surreal.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7K8Yv9pQx4
But I didn’t let it get to my head.
Funny thing is, I only ever found out about most of it109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1GbEcBpuVz
from her.
From Forevermore.
Somehow, slowly,109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6lZwcisb6U
Rudeus became someone.
Someone important.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3NbXbm4fxp
Someone known.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡboRoxwq65q
Someone respected in Thub for his coding skills, for his brain, for the myth others saw in him.
But not many knew about the boy behind Rudeus —109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbKfqhuDHtt
the one who stood in silence beside the person he cherished,109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡETBcVqsVbA
because that was the only language he knew.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHUkguznJyf
The boy who questioned every emotion he ever felt.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSN3AyufLUd
The boy who just wanted to be a friend who stays.
