I was going steady.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw7JLr1g5uj
Nothing too grand, nothing too heavy.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡceKxODO3VN
Just... life. With a little joy stitched into the seams.
Academics, Thub, labs, scattered exams —95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrlmC2ocxlz
it was all a beautiful mess.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOiQsOnfYWs
Filled with tension, doubts, and the classic "why should I care" moments.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxQr9OhVwfB
A delicate dance between chaos and comfort.
And somewhere in between,95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOm4ynmd7AM
there was her.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVo1y7mbKOl
Forevermore.
There were small fights —95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxnB2VqhNs8
misunderstandings, moments of silence that felt longer than they should.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLDB1QhNuqE
But I had my way of patching things up.
I would just go near her.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1DgRefeP3a
Stand beside her.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxt85G6HfOQ
Not a single word. No explanations. No apologies.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQbPPdBvwad
Just presence.
It was my little way of saying,95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPAtzLoN3V4
"I’m here. Still here. Through everything. Even if you forget, I won’t."
Maybe she never noticed it.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgex7pPfQxc
Maybe she did.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ03WnG44Ua0
But I never waited to know.
I did things for her —95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7wE9vqKdaH
small, silly things that would go unnoticed.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Nieg2cjki
Sometimes even the big things,95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvAEdvSTNkZ
the kind that pull pieces out of your soul when no one’s watching.
And all the while, I wondered:95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRyUuqRgUwg
What even is the line between selfishness and selflessness?
Isn’t wanting to be selfless...95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0eoCFpxhCE
a kind of selfishness too?
Was I helping her because I cared?95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6VtZmtDVol
Or because I wanted her to see that I cared?
Was I doing it all for her happiness?95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIgkzm9WOFR
Or for that brief warmth I felt when she smiled because of me?
I guess I’ll never really know.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7N5bbuNF8g
Maybe the heart doesn’t divide its reasons.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcNsFR3MGwl
Maybe it just does what it does.
Meanwhile, preparations for Code Engine had begun.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtYhdN1qtAw
And to me, skipping academics was the biggest motivator of all.
Making stalls, designing banners, running around with duct tape and dreams —95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8t1b8YYj97
it wasn’t my thing.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCkx3e5AeGt
But it was fun.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxdnRcDjlT9
Mostly because it pulled me away from the routine.
We went class to class,95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ5eT1DOOdX
all three campuses, handing out invitations like salesmen of curiosity.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFXUGwp43bh
I stood awkwardly outside classrooms while seniors did the talking.
I didn’t mind.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWwWgiU2kuX
The wind was cooler outside.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ46hOF1yRAZ
And I was invisible — the way I liked it.
But then... something changed.
People started recognizing me.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAaNaDcolIM
They’d point, whisper, wave.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFTBwUxMrVl
"Hey, you're Nova, right?"
It was surreal.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcTdddNvqXt
But I didn’t let it get to my head.
Funny thing is, I only ever found out about most of it95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgCfKeu47Eq
from her.
From Forevermore.
Somehow, slowly,95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ0x6cOPAbi
Rudeus became someone.
Someone important.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfyT9LKYqXh
Someone known.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLXkHivhBTC
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 —95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvrfWAfrK63
the one who stood in silence beside the person he cherished,95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzAp8nQnskG
because that was the only language he knew.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhgz7zW9HoO
The boy who questioned every emotion he ever felt.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡczAaZxpml0
The boy who just wanted to be a friend who stays.
