I was going steady.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhBQADyF0O5
Nothing too grand, nothing too heavy.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzAPre6ReJT
Just... life. With a little joy stitched into the seams.
Academics, Thub, labs, scattered exams —106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTxXZh6oNuW
it was all a beautiful mess.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwriq0S63vF
Filled with tension, doubts, and the classic "why should I care" moments.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc5RxPClsoX
A delicate dance between chaos and comfort.
And somewhere in between,106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVCozhX8M2P
there was her.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNTrVAv3Jic
Forevermore.
There were small fights —106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCFMGmT5D3D
misunderstandings, moments of silence that felt longer than they should.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwlMaZVG5K0
But I had my way of patching things up.
I would just go near her.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKvVzXRKT1V
Stand beside her.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7KzdVBpMg7
Not a single word. No explanations. No apologies.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr3i2KvUciY
Just presence.
It was my little way of saying,106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUZoNWtyjuL
"I’m here. Still here. Through everything. Even if you forget, I won’t."
Maybe she never noticed it.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOSOxSgDH4M
Maybe she did.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6eJGzE23Kt
But I never waited to know.
I did things for her —106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ui5ilorWD
small, silly things that would go unnoticed.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUu6YL4rcoa
Sometimes even the big things,106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFwFJrqvefC
the kind that pull pieces out of your soul when no one’s watching.
And all the while, I wondered:106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6vdfLkKcAl
What even is the line between selfishness and selflessness?
Isn’t wanting to be selfless...106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfn2DkVJFaG
a kind of selfishness too?
Was I helping her because I cared?106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4gX6NDZULE
Or because I wanted her to see that I cared?
Was I doing it all for her happiness?106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6h2OL5oCzR
Or for that brief warmth I felt when she smiled because of me?
I guess I’ll never really know.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1FoKkOVBNH
Maybe the heart doesn’t divide its reasons.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlPMM4GIs3v
Maybe it just does what it does.
Meanwhile, preparations for Code Engine had begun.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN2MVIKzSHM
And to me, skipping academics was the biggest motivator of all.
Making stalls, designing banners, running around with duct tape and dreams —106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ51qc3KnEiC
it wasn’t my thing.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzOywKC6L7p
But it was fun.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEMMTprLL03
Mostly because it pulled me away from the routine.
We went class to class,106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVkLpWmJfwj
all three campuses, handing out invitations like salesmen of curiosity.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiGfVP7qqad
I stood awkwardly outside classrooms while seniors did the talking.
I didn’t mind.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFhZQRu4HAm
The wind was cooler outside.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjycXl2rStX
And I was invisible — the way I liked it.
But then... something changed.
People started recognizing me.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlvRIAirMrw
They’d point, whisper, wave.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCqHETQLbuq
"Hey, you're Nova, right?"
It was surreal.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw8CQBPXfcy
But I didn’t let it get to my head.
Funny thing is, I only ever found out about most of it106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV2D5Mwk5eo
from her.
From Forevermore.
Somehow, slowly,106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVr71lBDoHI
Rudeus became someone.
Someone important.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIs8UdrX7z9
Someone known.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg8cFfeEI16
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 —106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNySUmIhlck
the one who stood in silence beside the person he cherished,106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl3Uuv5ZlJe
because that was the only language he knew.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg4N8ylPizc
The boy who questioned every emotion he ever felt.106Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvTqYExAsa2
The boy who just wanted to be a friend who stays.
