She never meant to beat his high score.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLBCNzwA7VG
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.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxzUtDDruXR
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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.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7dn4SVOQeS
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She recognised the beat.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsATzToM0YR
The sample, it was in that remix.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1YkcVHcnlW
The one that had gone viral years ago.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ07tD6xDU1L
Plane engines, chopped & pitched. That iconic "BRRRRT" drop. His voice layered over it all: "Welcome aboard."35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡACnDTeJWZl
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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?"35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHtSLAmdSnu
"Everyone saw that," she grinned. "It was stuck in my head for weeks. 'Cabin pressure rising!' or whatever you said—gold."35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlnyodOJzhR
35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFVtZ0nVRqM
She meant it.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJbjjYgQCSy
She really meant it.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9rjBktvL9j
Not as a joke. Not as irony.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp2Y553rgD6
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.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWJHh5hf3u2
35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiKP7TaQdSn
Martin shrugged, gaze flicking to the editor. "I hate that video."35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpQgSPUHUD1
She blinked. "What? Why?"35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnEBCJeVqgW
"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."35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiSgVtnqa2R
35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf15WulrhIB
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.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsHAShxzouD
35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBCNEpk6mpm
That she saw it. & loved it.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtuOwePWsM6
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But he looked at her again—& smiled.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiTxqbE7WmY
It was small. Defensive. The kind of smile people give when they want to leave a moment before it means too much.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPf6zfDLHcr
"Thanks for playing the game today. You crushed it," he said.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnNfKtuQVqv
She smiled back, careful. "Yeah••• you’re welcome."35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaQZUKA5fOB
& just like that, he looked away.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOBdSlv6q8W
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That was the night she realised she loved him.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX63t3oNxXW
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He didn’t think she cared.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSNMQjYp16X
He thought she laughed.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy1CNaW20xC
He thought he was still the remix guy.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSsLWyFyDsp
35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXgLQC9xcWw
But Glykós knew the truth. She was in awe of his mind, his talent, his zeal•••35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnxBjNeTRPG
35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡizuGFglgFg
She hadn’t laughed at him.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyl4Urjg7XC
She lit up.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZczMxn9tPR
& he missed it.
Penana
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