x
So, I made a humble little plan.
“No backlogs. No regrets. And maybe… just maybe… one conversation with Seren.”52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ABbJooZoa
Lofty goals, right? Hahaha.
Step 1: Actually listen in class.
(Spoiler: Failed within the first 20 minutes. Blame the fan sound and my daily existential crisis.)
Step 2: Join TechnicalHub sessions regularly.
Outcome: Mixed results. Most days I showed up, not for marks or future tech jobs, but because hope is a powerful drug.
Step 3: Learn on my own.
Because I know one thing — if I really want to… then I can too.
Step 4: Use anything thrown my way just to talk to her.
Selfish? Maybe. But when did feelings ever care about logic?
Amid all this planning, labs began.
Labs are weird. It's like cooking. Too much waiting, everyone pretending they know what they’re doing, and one wrong move… poof — chaos.
And so, I set another goal:52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPXBfiGsz68
Learn C. Not because I had to…52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡznxk0dgTle
But because I wanted to.
To be better.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyDMmFCvVbA
To maybe help her with something someday.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkJarYdi7UY
To maybe find a reason to talk.
Then came the WhatsApp group.
A few of us made it to ask doubts, share PDFs, or post occasional memes.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpsiAnRZ2IN
And I? I became The Shadow.
I started replying to doubts. Not because I wanted attention. Not to be the smartest kid in the room. But because…52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwDN7KDcm6m
If I just stayed quiet, binge-watched anime, and slept all day…52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrstftnMBXK
She wasn’t going to magically walk over and talk to me.
I wasn’t good at face-to-face.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡduhN03pp4y
But texts? Texts felt safer.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUIuVa2nmX6
So, like my favorite character from Eminence in Shadow, I stayed hidden.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkllLeZrHfX
My phone which is empty for the first time it's becoming lively.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYYvlHXW7yG
Replying to doubts in a flash. Quick. Clean. No name. Just help.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHJJeonUhPG
Soon enough, people began asking me privately,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNvTqI6DwHZ
“Who are you?”52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhMM3wAG2Eq
But not her.
She never messaged.
Still, I stayed active in the group.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoulyWq1dHA
Hopeful? Maybe.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKQM0m6jCtx
Desperate? Nah.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbNGSZyigV0
Romantic? Probably.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpxmfZ5MN16
Delusional? 100%.
Time passed.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNMDoADBHZk
Some started competing with me. Posting answers faster. Explaining better.
Part of me was relieved.
Maybe now I can chill… just wait until she messages...
And then, one random night — it happened.
She texted. In the group.
(Don’t ask how I know that it was her. Talent. Pure talent.)
I didn’t even think. Just replied instantly.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOILhDeMHSg
But in my rush, I made mistakes in the solution…
And that led to her texting me. Privately.
I didn’t expect it. Couldn’t have planned it.
And so, I calmly — very calmly — clarified her doubt.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNlGSHBponl
She thanked me. I thought, that’s it. It’s over. Back to shadows.
But she texted again:52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKLY4w5t55H
“Do you know me?”
I grinned. “Maybe,” I replied,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi40s31G5HQ
…knowing exactly who she was.
Of course I did.
Her name was Alice.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡefmNSiMUiH
But for me, she’ll always be Seren.
We talked. She reminded me of our earlier conversation — back when she was in IT.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGDEcPPvXRW
And I replied:52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn50HIcYVDt
“Ohh! Alice? Is this you?”
That opened the door.
We went from talking about college…52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ67JZzVAvaQ
to anime…52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB54Q1b2SDP
to life.
When I get excited, I forget everything else.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwdRcctvFON
The world disappears. The fan stops spinning.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGhrFLW5gzS
It’s just words. Her texts. My heartbeat.
At one point, we talked about how people call anime “just cartoons.”52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdjrVmcAyLU
And she said:
“I feel you, bro.”
I don’t know what it meant exactly…52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhraCK9V46X
But at that moment, I didn’t feel invisible.
Now the real question is:
Did I tell her how I feel?52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuB09h56Xao
Did I explain my intentions?52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIlVga2S6gz
Or did I continue the act… play along…
Let’s just say:52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAU4HezfKcy
We’ll find out if this Fool’s decision… was truly foolish.
