She never meant to beat his high score.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡie7y9Hu4B8
She was just messing around with zero expectations. She didn’t even realise what she’d done until the confetti exploded & a fanfare blared. "New record! You’re cleared for takeoff!" Martin showed up, half-amused, half-flustered, with his signature goggles crooked on his head. "You’re better at this than I am," he said, watching the scoreboard. He forgot her name, but he recognised her at this point. Glykós Langrine, black-haired girl with dark, slanted eyes. She’s so competitive at every festival.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHuHDXbHXfK
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Later that night, she found him sitting outside the festival grounds, cross-legged near the exit, a tangled mess of earbuds & phone wires in his lap. The screen lit up his face with soft waveform patterns—digital brushstrokes of sound he was still shaping.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvBpaTYhtRW
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7BlijwamNb
She recognised the beat.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡREQFTN8QBR
The sample, it was in that remix.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGhTCWXS2yw
The one that had gone viral years ago.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSBd0KeUtrb
Plane engines, chopped & pitched. That iconic "BRRRRT" drop. His voice layered over it all: "Welcome aboard."20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFJPTob3rIH
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ97LtXs2kpG
She didn’t know he made it until this moment. "You’re the plane remix guy!" she said, laughing as she sat down beside him. His entire face stiffened. "•••Wait. You saw that?"20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV8ZWS7db4I
"Everyone saw that," she grinned. "It was stuck in my head for weeks. 'Cabin pressure rising!' or whatever you said—gold."20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBuppG3A3Sv
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYp0zQ4cuBl
She meant it.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvZxMDgTu2d
She really meant it.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡajx7uUa7nw
Not as a joke. Not as irony.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ0Yr5zJSOu
Because it was clever, it was strange, it was musical, it was him. But he laughed too. A weak one. Hollow. & suddenly she realized—he didn’t take it as a compliment.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9LZK8tk46k
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbWSJxYbSQ9
Martin shrugged, gaze flicking to the editor. "I hate that video."20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNinoMvSC0l
She blinked. "What? Why?"20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaxg0f2S3Re
"Because it’s the only thing people liked. I uploaded it as a joke, & now it’s what I’m stuck with. The moment I try to make anything else, people lose interest. ‘Come on, Martin, make Plane Remix 2.’ No one cares that I actually love aviation. Or that I take it seriously. Or that flying means more to me than just a meme."20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIeheGycKts
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXPIdutWbYR
He wasn’t angry at her. But he wasn’t okay either. His voice sped up—agitated, self-contained, like he was spiralling & trying to stay upright mid-air. "& when I hate what I make, I hate myself. & when I hate myself, I stop flying. & when I stop flying, I start thinking. & when I start thinking—" He stopped. Covered his face with both hands. Glykós sat beside him in silence. She wanted to tell him that she cared. That he wasn’t just a remix guy, or a minigame host, or a guy with good one-liners & sarcasm for sale. That she saw his rhythm, the way his thoughts came in unpredictable gusts, how every time he tried to show something of himself to the world, he buried it under a layer of irony just to keep it from getting hurt.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHmeUs28gdc
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqgt7libzx6
That she saw it. & loved it.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeqZ1nJfjkF
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But he looked at her again—& smiled.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmw9aoqSkA3
It was small. Defensive. The kind of smile people give when they want to leave a moment before it means too much.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSD7LHoaRdo
"Thanks for playing the game today. You crushed it," he said.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbyKcj5Ijum
She smiled back, careful. "Yeah••• you’re welcome."20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgAJqsPS92N
& just like that, he looked away.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1DoFBPQrH3
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That was the night she realised she loved him.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡacbodJxQkh
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7GmmF5i2yU
He didn’t think she cared.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTY6nrSIDBc
He thought she laughed.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW26f10KAQI
He thought he was still the remix guy.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkrrbLIl7g4
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPale0ELptk
But Glykós knew the truth. She was in awe of his mind, his talent, his zeal•••20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNhkYqYy84T
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3JYPKztoYo
She hadn’t laughed at him.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHGLeVfNaDt
She lit up.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBMmMYjloaa
& he missed it.
Penana
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