I was going steady.108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWqiCnauwCJ
Nothing too grand, nothing too heavy.108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGyg8u8kgyZ
Just... life. With a little joy stitched into the seams.
Academics, Thub, labs, scattered exams —108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4WU2zYmKkB
it was all a beautiful mess.108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡstbBEhNlGl
Filled with tension, doubts, and the classic "why should I care" moments.108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy6TeTfoMNh
A delicate dance between chaos and comfort.
And somewhere in between,108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0VyqQEjKAa
there was her.108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBegeaKBhdS
Forevermore.
There were small fights —108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNlccsgHjQW
misunderstandings, moments of silence that felt longer than they should.108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvMAc8kSfqo
But I had my way of patching things up.
I would just go near her.108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrfjzXtijeW
Stand beside her.108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHxqzSwgX2s
Not a single word. No explanations. No apologies.108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwh1gJJqJh0
Just presence.
It was my little way of saying,108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdNw97qgAFR
"I’m here. Still here. Through everything. Even if you forget, I won’t."
Maybe she never noticed it.108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKSJWb7LrSu
Maybe she did.108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2XayHB85SS
But I never waited to know.
I did things for her —108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvWcsOQWNnH
small, silly things that would go unnoticed.108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkV5GC5Mxvf
Sometimes even the big things,108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1W7O0wyJ1O
the kind that pull pieces out of your soul when no one’s watching.
And all the while, I wondered:108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB7yQnhXWhj
What even is the line between selfishness and selflessness?
Isn’t wanting to be selfless...108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV3aYUs8EWy
a kind of selfishness too?
Was I helping her because I cared?108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW2PN0WmiYT
Or because I wanted her to see that I cared?
Was I doing it all for her happiness?108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhM1D9Ig1HF
Or for that brief warmth I felt when she smiled because of me?
I guess I’ll never really know.108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNPPhL2s0xY
Maybe the heart doesn’t divide its reasons.108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCxI606aute
Maybe it just does what it does.
Meanwhile, preparations for Code Engine had begun.108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbQ9hebuPmg
And to me, skipping academics was the biggest motivator of all.
Making stalls, designing banners, running around with duct tape and dreams —108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1UUsmMp0uw
it wasn’t my thing.108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqAWitKRFqe
But it was fun.108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLC2MNImLza
Mostly because it pulled me away from the routine.
We went class to class,108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0jBYBKhWka
all three campuses, handing out invitations like salesmen of curiosity.108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwRI3MqNhSG
I stood awkwardly outside classrooms while seniors did the talking.
I didn’t mind.108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTsdLcSnWrL
The wind was cooler outside.108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqmSzNnWbXL
And I was invisible — the way I liked it.
But then... something changed.
People started recognizing me.108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw7YAM29ijm
They’d point, whisper, wave.108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyFmxWULbk1
"Hey, you're Nova, right?"
It was surreal.108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc4aZRVH29H
But I didn’t let it get to my head.
Funny thing is, I only ever found out about most of it108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIpOGvxQ9c9
from her.
From Forevermore.
Somehow, slowly,108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmwvMSdmyj7
Rudeus became someone.
Someone important.108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn8hE6Nd198
Someone known.108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWAjYV2CFZC
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 —108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLmJpHuhLi3
the one who stood in silence beside the person he cherished,108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq5Hvgmhr5A
because that was the only language he knew.108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYZVXDZTyD5
The boy who questioned every emotion he ever felt.108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ50VcBTo1iS
The boy who just wanted to be a friend who stays.
