Second year had barely begun when the word “freshers” echoed through the corridors.
A celebration for the new batch — new faces, new stories, a new chapter.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKbJm1g4doG
For us, it was an excuse to pretend like we had it all figured out,102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9u6m0SFG9d
to welcome them while barely holding our own chaos together.
I didn’t plan to involve myself.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWbkX3xDV6B
Not in organizing.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTmVhDCI2kl
Not in performing.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBGeGtgbJ2V
Just… present.
They needed money.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡko70HbtYtB
I gave it.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbFDsCXYVFs
They needed support.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeLyK4AezrH
I stood in the back, clapping quietly.
The first event was for our IT department, held in our own campus.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaGeqjx1kU1
Forevermore decided to come — with her friends.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ48xJxBbaXB
I hadn’t expected that.
The event went on… music, dance, laughter that felt like echoes from someone else’s joy.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡywb2fXbwcQ
I stayed in the shadows, a spectator in my own celebration.
Then she handed me her phone.
“Can you shoot my friends’ dance on stage?”
Simple.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBzp96aSzXJ
I did it.
But after that… I found myself looking for her again.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxhWSsqDQqD
Like a habit. Like a whisper.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp3DzeoXbtK
I wandered around, the traditional attire weighing heavier with each step —102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWqg1SpmUmj
until I called.
“Where are you?”
“Heading to the buses.”
“Wait for me. Let’s go together.”
And we did.
We walked back together,102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8D1CyXbJ52
the usual banter about songs, anime, dramas dancing in the air between us.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiznOdtP3Z3
Nothing grand.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjkWF5TPbZe
But it was enough.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡww0UDdtNyN
Sometimes enough is everything.
Then came her department's freshers’ event.
But before that — something happened.
She had a falling out with one of her friends, the same one I first met at the college fest.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrkExNOZytd
A sudden storm of words.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9hV7FR7ouo
She was furious, broken —102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAAJg073acW
and just like that, she didn’t want to be part of their CSP project anymore.
I saw it.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPgHaMz4Bsu
The quiet ache behind her decision.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCJXj3ul5jp
And without thinking much, I asked:
“Would you like to do it with us instead?”
By us, I meant Simon, Ramu, and a few from her own department.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKpWWrgGMaF
She hesitated.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiHXl6FQXSQ
Asked around.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtlB4cUj6ND
Took her time.
And finally, she said yes.
October 8th, 2024.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLpKGiunHiP
That was the day we began.
I picked up Forevermore that morning —102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ32Kd0kiiZr
just like I used to pick up my favorite songs for a journey.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡacDt0uZqgl
We met Bettie and the others.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlGrANPCRCG
Our project was about farming and floriculture. 102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD0jETRsVzr
Ironically fitting — for someone who called people flowers.
The day flowed like a page from a lighthearted slice-of-life anime.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyPx5A1vA4z
Laughter over muddy fields,102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡECh5bN2ygX
my untamed hair rebelling in the wind as I drove without a helmet,102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ73Gy4PoeOz
moments I knew I’d want to rewind again someday.
By noon, Simon and I wandered around the area for an auto to help the others.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ27z6x2Apvw
Hungry and half-sunburned, we ducked into a local restaurant —102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7kNLMThEYH
the same one from our first visit.
But this time…102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡplmxbqAnMQ
she was here.
And somehow that changed the flavor of everything.
We moved to the nurseries,102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHj3TyRylL3
ran through rows of green and yellow,102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYvuZrJlXcr
clicked pictures and let the day melt into memory.
By evening, it was time to part.
But before it all ended,102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKQA0NfulCV
we all are heading back to the restaurant again — one last round of shared laughter.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZjQOwwK3Gy
One last glimpse of what it meant to be in the same story.
Everyone left one by one.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBdrdg2OgbF
Simon and Ramu were the last to go.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9deqii5JrO
And then… it was just me and her.
I dropped her home.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0pLqSZuIWa
No grand goodbye.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYPP3tieU1q
Just that quiet warmth of knowing102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcCN0VwGJwn
—I was the one to get her home safely.
And as I rode back, hair wild, heart fuller than before…102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJZ3vylhqNT
I swear the clouds opened a road for me in the sky.
Because sometimes,102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7WSx45ygYQ
even a single shared day102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLiHDVjWKO0
can feel like flying.
