x
So, I made a humble little plan.
“No backlogs. No regrets. And maybe… just maybe… one conversation with Seren.”154Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSd3cxoqNwL
Lofty goals, right? Hahaha.
Step 1: Actually listen in class.
(Spoiler: Failed within the first 20 minutes. Blame the fan sound and my daily existential crisis.)
Step 2: Join TechnicalHub sessions regularly.
Outcome: Mixed results. Most days I showed up, not for marks or future tech jobs, but because hope is a powerful drug.
Step 3: Learn on my own.
Because I know one thing — if I really want to… then I can too.
Step 4: Use anything thrown my way just to talk to her.
Selfish? Maybe. But when did feelings ever care about logic?
Amid all this planning, labs began.
Labs are weird. It's like cooking. Too much waiting, everyone pretending they know what they’re doing, and one wrong move… poof — chaos.
And so, I set another goal:154Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwpPxkokqcY
Learn C. Not because I had to…154Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCPWKrHSSvD
But because I wanted to.
To be better.154Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8IUSDEHvTH
To maybe help her with something someday.154Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQim3r0hayQ
To maybe find a reason to talk.
Then came the WhatsApp group.
A few of us made it to ask doubts, share PDFs, or post occasional memes.154Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQLK31ixekR
And I? I became The Shadow.
I started replying to doubts. Not because I wanted attention. Not to be the smartest kid in the room. But because…154Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbPkXWdCKh1
If I just stayed quiet, binge-watched anime, and slept all day…154Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMUDuf7ZmfU
She wasn’t going to magically walk over and talk to me.
I wasn’t good at face-to-face.154Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6KnvROlkl4
But texts? Texts felt safer.154Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMKSQZJX5Qp
So, like my favorite character from Eminence in Shadow, I stayed hidden.154Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxQxf8urzim
My phone which is empty for the first time it's becoming lively.154Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWlqMrr8drI
Replying to doubts in a flash. Quick. Clean. No name. Just help.154Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKu0d8jkD8S
Soon enough, people began asking me privately,154Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2zHkFaK8Qc
“Who are you?”154Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXooPIRtgey
But not her.
She never messaged.
Still, I stayed active in the group.154Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiDNycwHVHb
Hopeful? Maybe.154Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL5gKWcop83
Desperate? Nah.154Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa7gXaCyZdd
Romantic? Probably.154Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuwSweH8q4v
Delusional? 100%.
Time passed.154Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVLk3ILlVdp
Some started competing with me. Posting answers faster. Explaining better.
Part of me was relieved.
Maybe now I can chill… just wait until she messages...
And then, one random night — it happened.
She texted. In the group.
(Don’t ask how I know that it was her. Talent. Pure talent.)
I didn’t even think. Just replied instantly.154Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUEhosrrVrH
But in my rush, I made mistakes in the solution…
And that led to her texting me. Privately.
I didn’t expect it. Couldn’t have planned it.
And so, I calmly — very calmly — clarified her doubt.154Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvE9g8oTt4T
She thanked me. I thought, that’s it. It’s over. Back to shadows.
But she texted again:154Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAV35TH6itT
“Do you know me?”
I grinned. “Maybe,” I replied,154Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ6FzcPu6LN
…knowing exactly who she was.
Of course I did.
Her name was Alice.154Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjFSS0sx8EM
But for me, she’ll always be Seren.
We talked. She reminded me of our earlier conversation — back when she was in IT.154Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhrRqKSEClv
And I replied:154Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzkE56JxvTj
“Ohh! Alice? Is this you?”
That opened the door.
We went from talking about college…154Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHQ9xpSZYAU
to anime…154Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnqYYl0oDOm
to life.
When I get excited, I forget everything else.154Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWQxSowjyVf
The world disappears. The fan stops spinning.154Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ4Zp1wiRqS
It’s just words. Her texts. My heartbeat.
At one point, we talked about how people call anime “just cartoons.”154Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRcXNm7Ls3g
And she said:
“I feel you, bro.”
I don’t know what it meant exactly…154Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ45wqg4rKLn
But at that moment, I didn’t feel invisible.
Now the real question is:
Did I tell her how I feel?154Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkg7kunkP5Y
Did I explain my intentions?154Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy6asjO8Gte
Or did I continue the act… play along…
Let’s just say:154Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjOKCi4bHcT
We’ll find out if this Fool’s decision… was truly foolish.
