I was going steady.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhFZJR4pxXc
Nothing too grand, nothing too heavy.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLwxRCdo2ua
Just... life. With a little joy stitched into the seams.
Academics, Thub, labs, scattered exams —133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzzvOD2ms2a
it was all a beautiful mess.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf8LlvFZbM4
Filled with tension, doubts, and the classic "why should I care" moments.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv6pW4cUfCs
A delicate dance between chaos and comfort.
And somewhere in between,133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrzXQXoBxFL
there was her.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjw794MSUAC
Forevermore.
There were small fights —133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxWA34pprAR
misunderstandings, moments of silence that felt longer than they should.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc8GXLjsaRF
But I had my way of patching things up.
I would just go near her.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYU3qwpNoBX
Stand beside her.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7GY9UPDXVc
Not a single word. No explanations. No apologies.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsDLkdsZjK0
Just presence.
It was my little way of saying,133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRQx8FZ5glM
"I’m here. Still here. Through everything. Even if you forget, I won’t."
Maybe she never noticed it.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhwIufThWBG
Maybe she did.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDm6ZQ1lQZN
But I never waited to know.
I did things for her —133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUBQbFBEq04
small, silly things that would go unnoticed.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCQiPvGSmKb
Sometimes even the big things,133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTR3Z1Wpi5M
the kind that pull pieces out of your soul when no one’s watching.
And all the while, I wondered:133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡErPcsHGYdc
What even is the line between selfishness and selflessness?
Isn’t wanting to be selfless...133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkHiM19sVUf
a kind of selfishness too?
Was I helping her because I cared?133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcHn7RpvwdK
Or because I wanted her to see that I cared?
Was I doing it all for her happiness?133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1i8iskOCMM
Or for that brief warmth I felt when she smiled because of me?
I guess I’ll never really know.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdgwN6KNs04
Maybe the heart doesn’t divide its reasons.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ85cJcSlxl
Maybe it just does what it does.
Meanwhile, preparations for Code Engine had begun.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg2D00UoOf8
And to me, skipping academics was the biggest motivator of all.
Making stalls, designing banners, running around with duct tape and dreams —133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtTNBw4ziIA
it wasn’t my thing.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo9UrfhF7pq
But it was fun.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKe1ok0CDNU
Mostly because it pulled me away from the routine.
We went class to class,133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc9Mct9XMpj
all three campuses, handing out invitations like salesmen of curiosity.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡizFkv2u30g
I stood awkwardly outside classrooms while seniors did the talking.
I didn’t mind.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh9m0Ri4nQX
The wind was cooler outside.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXPF18SgPRX
And I was invisible — the way I liked it.
But then... something changed.
People started recognizing me.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxP9oGcQ5QY
They’d point, whisper, wave.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ef0qsQ86X
"Hey, you're Nova, right?"
It was surreal.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWyITBx9Qvb
But I didn’t let it get to my head.
Funny thing is, I only ever found out about most of it133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAAhO8xqSmq
from her.
From Forevermore.
Somehow, slowly,133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaaPG6ZWhT4
Rudeus became someone.
Someone important.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNbmK1BR77X
Someone known.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡip50u7igtg
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 —133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ5huS0LbKe
the one who stood in silence beside the person he cherished,133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcNHaVu3B7p
because that was the only language he knew.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkG986MIJUd
The boy who questioned every emotion he ever felt.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡppa7wwc8cV
The boy who just wanted to be a friend who stays.
