x
So, I made a humble little plan.
“No backlogs. No regrets. And maybe… just maybe… one conversation with Seren.”146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLWKbFfmRTu
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:146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡubjwu9fwMm
Learn C. Not because I had to…146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡir9SdPFjpJ
But because I wanted to.
To be better.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwK7sdvs71a
To maybe help her with something someday.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5enYogsWBu
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.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3XWWZW1VRb
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…146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMliza5rttd
If I just stayed quiet, binge-watched anime, and slept all day…146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsuaUwCKg2a
She wasn’t going to magically walk over and talk to me.
I wasn’t good at face-to-face.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgQrUsElTpb
But texts? Texts felt safer.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN0bpXltc4y
So, like my favorite character from Eminence in Shadow, I stayed hidden.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1yqrvAjw9Y
My phone which is empty for the first time it's becoming lively.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUREwfxuib7
Replying to doubts in a flash. Quick. Clean. No name. Just help.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3amuOuLKvC
Soon enough, people began asking me privately,146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa7v60Vi0lO
“Who are you?”146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8FegI52y6y
But not her.
She never messaged.
Still, I stayed active in the group.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKVtdH8oH6R
Hopeful? Maybe.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAKWRFDYguj
Desperate? Nah.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRsqiNp07Ch
Romantic? Probably.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX7FvzROnNa
Delusional? 100%.
Time passed.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxYfFNtdmQG
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.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuKbntEy9Ek
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.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGPNEqmGD3J
She thanked me. I thought, that’s it. It’s over. Back to shadows.
But she texted again:146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC3MXsXi6e4
“Do you know me?”
I grinned. “Maybe,” I replied,146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnxteil4V1W
…knowing exactly who she was.
Of course I did.
Her name was Alice.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnNzosEZNVt
But for me, she’ll always be Seren.
We talked. She reminded me of our earlier conversation — back when she was in IT.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpTP2PcLRhV
And I replied:146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPn0fp87KCK
“Ohh! Alice? Is this you?”
That opened the door.
We went from talking about college…146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXmoaZF5gLJ
to anime…146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI0WJikseHy
to life.
When I get excited, I forget everything else.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKbAEmHrhmb
The world disappears. The fan stops spinning.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOK4PnWGHsk
It’s just words. Her texts. My heartbeat.
At one point, we talked about how people call anime “just cartoons.”146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ7Wp018E11
And she said:
“I feel you, bro.”
I don’t know what it meant exactly…146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjYe5PxTLBo
But at that moment, I didn’t feel invisible.
Now the real question is:
Did I tell her how I feel?146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2HxN6ldQIC
Did I explain my intentions?146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFKs3mHCDXf
Or did I continue the act… play along…
Let’s just say:146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJadeVFsqNm
We’ll find out if this Fool’s decision… was truly foolish.
