I was going steady.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVDS9eMqbFe
Nothing too grand, nothing too heavy.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE8qqD3CJb1
Just... life. With a little joy stitched into the seams.
Academics, Thub, labs, scattered exams —107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc65sB1Inxr
it was all a beautiful mess.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoZpRkR1pc3
Filled with tension, doubts, and the classic "why should I care" moments.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNxQLJMyRtW
A delicate dance between chaos and comfort.
And somewhere in between,107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm5Ad0qnwcT
there was her.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA6OMJS9Up4
Forevermore.
There were small fights —107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFd4S0irgqQ
misunderstandings, moments of silence that felt longer than they should.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGIoZb4z6bg
But I had my way of patching things up.
I would just go near her.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6lm95zOvVb
Stand beside her.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVfaKGvAY9R
Not a single word. No explanations. No apologies.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7GOhzrJcv0
Just presence.
It was my little way of saying,107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKT7USc4x1k
"I’m here. Still here. Through everything. Even if you forget, I won’t."
Maybe she never noticed it.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW7dwagV8hP
Maybe she did.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbY6pADwJwS
But I never waited to know.
I did things for her —107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiwnbpdr42f
small, silly things that would go unnoticed.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ85dtKXiKhU
Sometimes even the big things,107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfsHmda3YOe
the kind that pull pieces out of your soul when no one’s watching.
And all the while, I wondered:107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtrFk2YS5Uv
What even is the line between selfishness and selflessness?
Isn’t wanting to be selfless...107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFlF0JoBL28
a kind of selfishness too?
Was I helping her because I cared?107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvcE7oqIaoY
Or because I wanted her to see that I cared?
Was I doing it all for her happiness?107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR7YvWHLuGt
Or for that brief warmth I felt when she smiled because of me?
I guess I’ll never really know.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7djBt4xMBe
Maybe the heart doesn’t divide its reasons.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv6xIU3uUqD
Maybe it just does what it does.
Meanwhile, preparations for Code Engine had begun.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ76PaceKxoF
And to me, skipping academics was the biggest motivator of all.
Making stalls, designing banners, running around with duct tape and dreams —107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDkcLqQwoHr
it wasn’t my thing.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTbnrZ2VrrH
But it was fun.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRjcdHksN5s
Mostly because it pulled me away from the routine.
We went class to class,107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeo8THg8hOo
all three campuses, handing out invitations like salesmen of curiosity.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRuVjyEoJgW
I stood awkwardly outside classrooms while seniors did the talking.
I didn’t mind.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSLaFEt1T1k
The wind was cooler outside.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT0bQYUYhwv
And I was invisible — the way I liked it.
But then... something changed.
People started recognizing me.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf0JgVgQDwP
They’d point, whisper, wave.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqqAbSlLUVu
"Hey, you're Nova, right?"
It was surreal.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6OImY7xMx5
But I didn’t let it get to my head.
Funny thing is, I only ever found out about most of it107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaRiyz8jmwn
from her.
From Forevermore.
Somehow, slowly,107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVUf990kWE0
Rudeus became someone.
Someone important.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGU917VlG6P
Someone known.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkBlgsiaW0v
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 —107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA3eTOP0PAU
the one who stood in silence beside the person he cherished,107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYj4YfnHwOJ
because that was the only language he knew.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxp9Z8eJMVR
The boy who questioned every emotion he ever felt.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhnwSOmDuI7
The boy who just wanted to be a friend who stays.
