I was going steady.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2dnnGEveEx
Nothing too grand, nothing too heavy.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡawSS7Ka5Uz
Just... life. With a little joy stitched into the seams.
Academics, Thub, labs, scattered exams —134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfgm3I2YSIA
it was all a beautiful mess.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2K0fCCAkLp
Filled with tension, doubts, and the classic "why should I care" moments.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqlqykjhEZo
A delicate dance between chaos and comfort.
And somewhere in between,134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXGRXjwrwFn
there was her.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ2ATgLBTGD
Forevermore.
There were small fights —134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ4j70kzSIl
misunderstandings, moments of silence that felt longer than they should.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6JLKkPIe0F
But I had my way of patching things up.
I would just go near her.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡffxPjVMEr2
Stand beside her.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL9waFY1MiW
Not a single word. No explanations. No apologies.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFen0om9DiQ
Just presence.
It was my little way of saying,134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvTRBAGlPUy
"I’m here. Still here. Through everything. Even if you forget, I won’t."
Maybe she never noticed it.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSlFV5iKPFw
Maybe she did.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYIYTzTctdP
But I never waited to know.
I did things for her —134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡohEJ3OIDvy
small, silly things that would go unnoticed.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNhelq4xbb7
Sometimes even the big things,134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡID9BmKrIzz
the kind that pull pieces out of your soul when no one’s watching.
And all the while, I wondered:134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxHRhYviAys
What even is the line between selfishness and selflessness?
Isn’t wanting to be selfless...134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9nM9IaGcRg
a kind of selfishness too?
Was I helping her because I cared?134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6zUwvYkQCT
Or because I wanted her to see that I cared?
Was I doing it all for her happiness?134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgFrGcVaEu1
Or for that brief warmth I felt when she smiled because of me?
I guess I’ll never really know.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7mZTUKLTQr
Maybe the heart doesn’t divide its reasons.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwtWhFufZUy
Maybe it just does what it does.
Meanwhile, preparations for Code Engine had begun.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrF48Fg3e8z
And to me, skipping academics was the biggest motivator of all.
Making stalls, designing banners, running around with duct tape and dreams —134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnraRHWM6yI
it wasn’t my thing.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcgt39uNDIL
But it was fun.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi8npM2VkNz
Mostly because it pulled me away from the routine.
We went class to class,134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBT4cJP9OxY
all three campuses, handing out invitations like salesmen of curiosity.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmQ7StyiRPJ
I stood awkwardly outside classrooms while seniors did the talking.
I didn’t mind.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsmLX0XG8Sg
The wind was cooler outside.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0LCj3oaFsq
And I was invisible — the way I liked it.
But then... something changed.
People started recognizing me.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwBrfEsHiqU
They’d point, whisper, wave.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzVbN2V3Aud
"Hey, you're Nova, right?"
It was surreal.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnwRs5Zg1kx
But I didn’t let it get to my head.
Funny thing is, I only ever found out about most of it134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAVK5hDIYxx
from her.
From Forevermore.
Somehow, slowly,134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv7nO18yYz4
Rudeus became someone.
Someone important.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwkpaINW5Zm
Someone known.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGZH3kL2drO
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 —134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDJlkxcHMxU
the one who stood in silence beside the person he cherished,134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHCuFPxkEex
because that was the only language he knew.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAz9RPRcTuz
The boy who questioned every emotion he ever felt.134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxhBElkfvu8
The boy who just wanted to be a friend who stays.
