She never meant to beat his high score.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiWNscyIU1h
She was just messing around with zero expectations. She didn’t even realise what she’d done until the confetti exploded & a fanfare blared. "New record! You’re cleared for takeoff!" Martin showed up, half-amused, half-flustered, with his signature goggles crooked on his head. "You’re better at this than I am," he said, watching the scoreboard. He forgot her name, but he recognised her at this point. Glykós Langrine, black-haired girl with dark, slanted eyes. She’s so competitive at every festival.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnsFlp5DFs8
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Later that night, she found him sitting outside the festival grounds, cross-legged near the exit, a tangled mess of earbuds & phone wires in his lap. The screen lit up his face with soft waveform patterns—digital brushstrokes of sound he was still shaping.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlUGCXQvsnA
25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnPGh8wVoWy
She recognised the beat.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBzWffGNtjX
The sample, it was in that remix.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4vN9UzoeKO
The one that had gone viral years ago.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMyeRWIewCs
Plane engines, chopped & pitched. That iconic "BRRRRT" drop. His voice layered over it all: "Welcome aboard."25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpsM2C43cPV
25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2FsJiasSgV
She didn’t know he made it until this moment. "You’re the plane remix guy!" she said, laughing as she sat down beside him. His entire face stiffened. "•••Wait. You saw that?"25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQrKowpeBh0
"Everyone saw that," she grinned. "It was stuck in my head for weeks. 'Cabin pressure rising!' or whatever you said—gold."25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCqPaNNbLbd
25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaZ8MROf49u
She meant it.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSnG2bN2HEl
She really meant it.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJYMRWw1sni
Not as a joke. Not as irony.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡocQKmQFWLZ
Because it was clever, it was strange, it was musical, it was him. But he laughed too. A weak one. Hollow. & suddenly she realized—he didn’t take it as a compliment.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY1ipS44uMi
25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiTqqCGbmct
Martin shrugged, gaze flicking to the editor. "I hate that video."25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwQYxeg11b5
She blinked. "What? Why?"25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ751onVdW7y
"Because it’s the only thing people liked. I uploaded it as a joke, & now it’s what I’m stuck with. The moment I try to make anything else, people lose interest. ‘Come on, Martin, make Plane Remix 2.’ No one cares that I actually love aviation. Or that I take it seriously. Or that flying means more to me than just a meme."25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9vbxh3jBG9
25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4XNaz9cpc9
He wasn’t angry at her. But he wasn’t okay either. His voice sped up—agitated, self-contained, like he was spiralling & trying to stay upright mid-air. "& when I hate what I make, I hate myself. & when I hate myself, I stop flying. & when I stop flying, I start thinking. & when I start thinking—" He stopped. Covered his face with both hands. Glykós sat beside him in silence. She wanted to tell him that she cared. That he wasn’t just a remix guy, or a minigame host, or a guy with good one-liners & sarcasm for sale. That she saw his rhythm, the way his thoughts came in unpredictable gusts, how every time he tried to show something of himself to the world, he buried it under a layer of irony just to keep it from getting hurt.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqOxJ5iPNlS
25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ggstA59SH
That she saw it. & loved it.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBDXyA7hr7e
25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF6zSIu2liv
But he looked at her again—& smiled.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTr5XkIKbGz
It was small. Defensive. The kind of smile people give when they want to leave a moment before it means too much.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjjlmYUUiLp
"Thanks for playing the game today. You crushed it," he said.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzIXOTYRbf8
She smiled back, careful. "Yeah••• you’re welcome."25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4rLnV06HuV
& just like that, he looked away.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡISZmRAduFq
25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡorfMtumRu1
That was the night she realised she loved him.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJlEXHL1x4O
25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaRkC2AYfHl
He didn’t think she cared.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡur5UNbzr6M
He thought she laughed.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnaFEPtHYdp
He thought he was still the remix guy.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYvKEVZdbJU
25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1FliUKg8aD
But Glykós knew the truth. She was in awe of his mind, his talent, his zeal•••25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡssdvf6Nmep
25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcbjuPubBmw
She hadn’t laughed at him.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1IyZjs67mn
She lit up.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0DcLUi72J8
& he missed it.
Penana
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