I was going steady.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbOOf7cjE8K
Nothing too grand, nothing too heavy.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLAAuEK738f
Just... life. With a little joy stitched into the seams.
Academics, Thub, labs, scattered exams —146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7oCXOdnkqC
it was all a beautiful mess.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvmtgLh99Z6
Filled with tension, doubts, and the classic "why should I care" moments.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL8GJa76ZaL
A delicate dance between chaos and comfort.
And somewhere in between,146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbkgOS1PtDT
there was her.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgp7BZjN6zD
Forevermore.
There were small fights —146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4t3yRWUrAU
misunderstandings, moments of silence that felt longer than they should.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhAw856tCji
But I had my way of patching things up.
I would just go near her.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlhg1WFi93N
Stand beside her.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0mCbGZhfBt
Not a single word. No explanations. No apologies.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTFVEu91A5K
Just presence.
It was my little way of saying,146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡshWL5sB0An
"I’m here. Still here. Through everything. Even if you forget, I won’t."
Maybe she never noticed it.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0SOuKCUTKP
Maybe she did.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwFG6DznR0W
But I never waited to know.
I did things for her —146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqF83igE0BR
small, silly things that would go unnoticed.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtbWsO8BxTG
Sometimes even the big things,146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfyPcnpV1SL
the kind that pull pieces out of your soul when no one’s watching.
And all the while, I wondered:146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ38OOUvgra8
What even is the line between selfishness and selflessness?
Isn’t wanting to be selfless...146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMUabZsmt24
a kind of selfishness too?
Was I helping her because I cared?146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI3DihqJ7Fi
Or because I wanted her to see that I cared?
Was I doing it all for her happiness?146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡozEDmiazik
Or for that brief warmth I felt when she smiled because of me?
I guess I’ll never really know.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ifB2ckUbH
Maybe the heart doesn’t divide its reasons.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYmnQUZsyZw
Maybe it just does what it does.
Meanwhile, preparations for Code Engine had begun.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTc0X0JIX3u
And to me, skipping academics was the biggest motivator of all.
Making stalls, designing banners, running around with duct tape and dreams —146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd2lcStII12
it wasn’t my thing.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZXy3k5vitM
But it was fun.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSdwVhHQujc
Mostly because it pulled me away from the routine.
We went class to class,146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXoUJsUdyN5
all three campuses, handing out invitations like salesmen of curiosity.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgGVSu806bY
I stood awkwardly outside classrooms while seniors did the talking.
I didn’t mind.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHT8xQlinOU
The wind was cooler outside.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡErSCoaXB7m
And I was invisible — the way I liked it.
But then... something changed.
People started recognizing me.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR2UnxDIrte
They’d point, whisper, wave.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhm7aExhFWi
"Hey, you're Nova, right?"
It was surreal.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzHIIDwCZK8
But I didn’t let it get to my head.
Funny thing is, I only ever found out about most of it146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaEvqw0PTIF
from her.
From Forevermore.
Somehow, slowly,146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9HZBQWY47R
Rudeus became someone.
Someone important.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA2KjkHLDhJ
Someone known.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFl1ynDv4kj
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 —146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQh9hMEnxgN
the one who stood in silence beside the person he cherished,146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlNxOV8QGsR
because that was the only language he knew.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNEQNQbVb4D
The boy who questioned every emotion he ever felt.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsrMtkWQ1AQ
The boy who just wanted to be a friend who stays.
