I was going steady.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡucda4i8Qni
Nothing too grand, nothing too heavy.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb2v8sbUa2V
Just... life. With a little joy stitched into the seams.
Academics, Thub, labs, scattered exams —93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh1hROlvvIh
it was all a beautiful mess.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcxN55BjhbB
Filled with tension, doubts, and the classic "why should I care" moments.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡainp3jGVDe
A delicate dance between chaos and comfort.
And somewhere in between,93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRfNTwBnvoi
there was her.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaxwQPuFdtz
Forevermore.
There were small fights —93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnj80GOINYq
misunderstandings, moments of silence that felt longer than they should.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTo9l387K6c
But I had my way of patching things up.
I would just go near her.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡARJRhmmt9B
Stand beside her.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡihJ5oUNy7I
Not a single word. No explanations. No apologies.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsR6HtChG1O
Just presence.
It was my little way of saying,93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF20ipWSvcn
"I’m here. Still here. Through everything. Even if you forget, I won’t."
Maybe she never noticed it.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡghhrzWCX1a
Maybe she did.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl0UaSkCAMH
But I never waited to know.
I did things for her —93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk1y5RVIbvA
small, silly things that would go unnoticed.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXFLjiqXmmK
Sometimes even the big things,93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡry7tOXzxZc
the kind that pull pieces out of your soul when no one’s watching.
And all the while, I wondered:93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHyxWuPC7IV
What even is the line between selfishness and selflessness?
Isn’t wanting to be selfless...93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoPtteuYtg3
a kind of selfishness too?
Was I helping her because I cared?93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxDLl66LkJL
Or because I wanted her to see that I cared?
Was I doing it all for her happiness?93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFQXAowKRPj
Or for that brief warmth I felt when she smiled because of me?
I guess I’ll never really know.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9vK8VwcQyX
Maybe the heart doesn’t divide its reasons.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi7EIE3T11Y
Maybe it just does what it does.
Meanwhile, preparations for Code Engine had begun.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjnV2wOp02e
And to me, skipping academics was the biggest motivator of all.
Making stalls, designing banners, running around with duct tape and dreams —93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡORPwAn2Qte
it wasn’t my thing.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ37dQT3pTLB
But it was fun.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBfvLEXl52w
Mostly because it pulled me away from the routine.
We went class to class,93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyNlNuPCh5U
all three campuses, handing out invitations like salesmen of curiosity.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtMujS8prZI
I stood awkwardly outside classrooms while seniors did the talking.
I didn’t mind.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNyuz2j2IuZ
The wind was cooler outside.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYLxZ914AF5
And I was invisible — the way I liked it.
But then... something changed.
People started recognizing me.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGbySUgXPIf
They’d point, whisper, wave.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF0vGyNGvsV
"Hey, you're Nova, right?"
It was surreal.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYPQFI7EVhb
But I didn’t let it get to my head.
Funny thing is, I only ever found out about most of it93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgfs0sDGaFj
from her.
From Forevermore.
Somehow, slowly,93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrF3vC9XIsl
Rudeus became someone.
Someone important.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuGwHteTRwr
Someone known.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn9Ky57akMt
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 —93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGn77DKK63y
the one who stood in silence beside the person he cherished,93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ96lr7PgoZZ
because that was the only language he knew.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWxtq9uGn35
The boy who questioned every emotion he ever felt.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSAvixNXqNq
The boy who just wanted to be a friend who stays.
