She never meant to beat his high score.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL6PT3S8i43
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.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw6sH5tTu54
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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.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFForTtWpa1
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoAM4DRdW2x
She recognised the beat.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB7Ai0P6vL3
The sample, it was in that remix.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGMlaRIM9fF
The one that had gone viral years ago.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2wkTw6uNPJ
Plane engines, chopped & pitched. That iconic "BRRRRT" drop. His voice layered over it all: "Welcome aboard."16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvrXoBrQsGZ
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvOMuQEvmAG
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?"16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwwTeA63D7J
"Everyone saw that," she grinned. "It was stuck in my head for weeks. 'Cabin pressure rising!' or whatever you said—gold."16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBBxJP0H0I5
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8qoQwfNytZ
She meant it.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyH4nLymtvl
She really meant it.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOq1RH5WZjF
Not as a joke. Not as irony.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUV2o2OTGzX
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.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlD3y8y2mgl
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi8kJBw6ysX
Martin shrugged, gaze flicking to the editor. "I hate that video."16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTiqwZQw2WA
She blinked. "What? Why?"16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0LjcDWTVVF
"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."16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxk5EGUIHlh
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHkdckjz1gu
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.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDkxsytYGgh
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡua7MJHxmXV
That she saw it. & loved it.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOYVU43XWaV
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYwexDtKqGd
But he looked at her again—& smiled.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqoEJPcDscv
It was small. Defensive. The kind of smile people give when they want to leave a moment before it means too much.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcG0Nck5rdv
"Thanks for playing the game today. You crushed it," he said.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrS8ny2uMoV
She smiled back, careful. "Yeah••• you’re welcome."16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWCb08Hxbmt
& just like that, he looked away.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡceZMqGY7S3
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That was the night she realised she loved him.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe1Jd4YXBLe
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEgKDXZIBAg
He didn’t think she cared.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtNkI5L3fSZ
He thought she laughed.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXDbD145nsA
He thought he was still the remix guy.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6UON3nxTL6
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9S7WRqNcXT
But Glykós knew the truth. She was in awe of his mind, his talent, his zeal•••16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqQMrTvcrJn
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRGnJte9WZm
She hadn’t laughed at him.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9gVccjgIzp
She lit up.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9k1n7FBTp1
& he missed it.
Penana
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