I was going steady.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfHxmXnyqGX
Nothing too grand, nothing too heavy.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKlDV4LPTnD
Just... life. With a little joy stitched into the seams.
Academics, Thub, labs, scattered exams —51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzYEVbYu4MD
it was all a beautiful mess.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfpkyTcfTst
Filled with tension, doubts, and the classic "why should I care" moments.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuwsFyfBDmf
A delicate dance between chaos and comfort.
And somewhere in between,51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgUqJSU8CWI
there was her.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡggrN5qTaAh
Forevermore.
There were small fights —51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNXVlfiyjJv
misunderstandings, moments of silence that felt longer than they should.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5gkWvl3pNp
But I had my way of patching things up.
I would just go near her.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwLmYKcwCkG
Stand beside her.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlmekYoooZh
Not a single word. No explanations. No apologies.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS2DHx2r6F0
Just presence.
It was my little way of saying,51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL9SIJ1lddn
"I’m here. Still here. Through everything. Even if you forget, I won’t."
Maybe she never noticed it.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡts83NSZuCU
Maybe she did.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBctIcBWXDO
But I never waited to know.
I did things for her —51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡahQZPAuFIu
small, silly things that would go unnoticed.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB5w6k9gasA
Sometimes even the big things,51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLd9lce3w6f
the kind that pull pieces out of your soul when no one’s watching.
And all the while, I wondered:51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡevkbjWll4H
What even is the line between selfishness and selflessness?
Isn’t wanting to be selfless...51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY8FD0LGcWd
a kind of selfishness too?
Was I helping her because I cared?51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWz2SnayvP7
Or because I wanted her to see that I cared?
Was I doing it all for her happiness?51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5g6xRYVSRi
Or for that brief warmth I felt when she smiled because of me?
I guess I’ll never really know.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRoN5jWltuS
Maybe the heart doesn’t divide its reasons.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTYcPx9jDrP
Maybe it just does what it does.
Meanwhile, preparations for Code Engine had begun.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4NFbDd9uoJ
And to me, skipping academics was the biggest motivator of all.
Making stalls, designing banners, running around with duct tape and dreams —51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSnfNCzHW0c
it wasn’t my thing.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbbxjxdBKaR
But it was fun.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEnGdqWr88P
Mostly because it pulled me away from the routine.
We went class to class,51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnmdSRdA3MG
all three campuses, handing out invitations like salesmen of curiosity.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ30dQNjizQB
I stood awkwardly outside classrooms while seniors did the talking.
I didn’t mind.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa78RCu4Zf1
The wind was cooler outside.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcaxqHhEl3u
And I was invisible — the way I liked it.
But then... something changed.
People started recognizing me.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcOa9oc2oO8
They’d point, whisper, wave.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpbHjlXLfDn
"Hey, you're Nova, right?"
It was surreal.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxSfCgZfdte
But I didn’t let it get to my head.
Funny thing is, I only ever found out about most of it51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4OTZie2uh1
from her.
From Forevermore.
Somehow, slowly,51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBq0oArmGV4
Rudeus became someone.
Someone important.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAHGU0vsspy
Someone known.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEoEh8spCMq
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 —51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2wznpuDJlh
the one who stood in silence beside the person he cherished,51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSeDNfBjGaX
because that was the only language he knew.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2KQ9Ju7YgN
The boy who questioned every emotion he ever felt.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOwk8kXe5xw
The boy who just wanted to be a friend who stays.
