I was going steady.136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ43jKaxGCm
Nothing too grand, nothing too heavy.136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVCqLnBoO2I
Just... life. With a little joy stitched into the seams.
Academics, Thub, labs, scattered exams —136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkzEaoZrZSS
it was all a beautiful mess.136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4BHbIWrSaj
Filled with tension, doubts, and the classic "why should I care" moments.136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1oD1tKiJjS
A delicate dance between chaos and comfort.
And somewhere in between,136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡktkJSKFwDm
there was her.136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfCiXCpkyoV
Forevermore.
There were small fights —136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Opy4DUXWf
misunderstandings, moments of silence that felt longer than they should.136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0WOfwbadNg
But I had my way of patching things up.
I would just go near her.136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUIEKsto6p0
Stand beside her.136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi62uR6HCnC
Not a single word. No explanations. No apologies.136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYmccB4ML3y
Just presence.
It was my little way of saying,136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpjOomBaDMi
"I’m here. Still here. Through everything. Even if you forget, I won’t."
Maybe she never noticed it.136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5NOzNLvO0j
Maybe she did.136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDrn4n38fnQ
But I never waited to know.
I did things for her —136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL6OuL9pquf
small, silly things that would go unnoticed.136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqvMLyPfckg
Sometimes even the big things,136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSpLG3T5hpS
the kind that pull pieces out of your soul when no one’s watching.
And all the while, I wondered:136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsfjnVWCJiI
What even is the line between selfishness and selflessness?
Isn’t wanting to be selfless...136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYqhnIfsRYw
a kind of selfishness too?
Was I helping her because I cared?136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbVdi7HbbUH
Or because I wanted her to see that I cared?
Was I doing it all for her happiness?136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaal21fDIoL
Or for that brief warmth I felt when she smiled because of me?
I guess I’ll never really know.136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzV4DN0BnE9
Maybe the heart doesn’t divide its reasons.136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBRJrUVA2bR
Maybe it just does what it does.
Meanwhile, preparations for Code Engine had begun.136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0H5ISc36cg
And to me, skipping academics was the biggest motivator of all.
Making stalls, designing banners, running around with duct tape and dreams —136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjgciUIY8jm
it wasn’t my thing.136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM0KyCpM97m
But it was fun.136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxecOTUhucc
Mostly because it pulled me away from the routine.
We went class to class,136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdPWao8VK46
all three campuses, handing out invitations like salesmen of curiosity.136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi7mYBR4uXj
I stood awkwardly outside classrooms while seniors did the talking.
I didn’t mind.136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJGR9w3CUQ3
The wind was cooler outside.136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbFzD8TAGnP
And I was invisible — the way I liked it.
But then... something changed.
People started recognizing me.136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyyxGfJwZ7g
They’d point, whisper, wave.136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQcise5gHO6
"Hey, you're Nova, right?"
It was surreal.136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgGryAvpo98
But I didn’t let it get to my head.
Funny thing is, I only ever found out about most of it136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPuNDQbduDK
from her.
From Forevermore.
Somehow, slowly,136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFg4HhupZ00
Rudeus became someone.
Someone important.136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJdZOtS8kiX
Someone known.136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1FigaONgHP
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 —136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡczSRcu5AOu
the one who stood in silence beside the person he cherished,136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDKMvjHgh8H
because that was the only language he knew.136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSmd4PrWYAl
The boy who questioned every emotion he ever felt.136Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVfxY36H4bd
The boy who just wanted to be a friend who stays.
