She never meant to beat his high score.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBxVwW7N0j4
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.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4FHPfJbMvj
29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXzxbBP9TkI
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.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ64kBO3gTC2
29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNQAdQyeks0
She recognised the beat.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsoM1TqAI5L
The sample, it was in that remix.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡATBpfIPUlT
The one that had gone viral years ago.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJYFeyUoUd0
Plane engines, chopped & pitched. That iconic "BRRRRT" drop. His voice layered over it all: "Welcome aboard."29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ6mFTruOjg
29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5b5LmPI99q
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?"29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBZMrcyK0XM
"Everyone saw that," she grinned. "It was stuck in my head for weeks. 'Cabin pressure rising!' or whatever you said—gold."29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI0Xby7EOMH
29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ94sd27Nz10
She meant it.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbNEFeHFzLC
She really meant it.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSGpHQnD8h5
Not as a joke. Not as irony.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9CAoQ2DUlb
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.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCB3j00FaPU
29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB0KaPJ7Yg9
Martin shrugged, gaze flicking to the editor. "I hate that video."29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8XOJmeekPS
She blinked. "What? Why?"29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHQLSDnrQi4
"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."29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRZyRV2omgJ
29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2B48nV3bjX
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.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1flrDav83D
29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKqUpkfDWcY
That she saw it. & loved it.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwkx6bsaNU9
29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXs1kOZfjTW
But he looked at her again—& smiled.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPWlKbYv6VI
It was small. Defensive. The kind of smile people give when they want to leave a moment before it means too much.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2GodzmokZL
"Thanks for playing the game today. You crushed it," he said.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4dm8riPHfU
She smiled back, careful. "Yeah••• you’re welcome."29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3TEPPK1bSl
& just like that, he looked away.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡutlogBExsL
29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC5s8powADx
That was the night she realised she loved him.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcGXdFyVWYU
29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzKBKrdPXcX
He didn’t think she cared.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzRA3CNOhn6
He thought she laughed.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfXeVA17V7O
He thought he was still the remix guy.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj4v99cVMTA
29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1oYcQx739o
But Glykós knew the truth. She was in awe of his mind, his talent, his zeal•••29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZyEbUTh0wm
29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdW6S4o7q3c
She hadn’t laughed at him.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtzB1LXNGg7
She lit up.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡza8liE1GHj
& he missed it.
Penana
search
登入arrow_drop_down
註冊arrow_drop_down
