So, I made a humble little plan.
“No backlogs. No regrets. And maybe… just maybe… one conversation with Seren.”193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2HyKdeshFw
Lofty goals, right? Hahaha.
Step 1: Actually listen in class.
(Spoiler: Failed within the first 20 minutes. Blame the fan sound and my daily existential crisis.)
Step 2: Join TechnicalHub sessions regularly.
Outcome: Mixed results. Most days I showed up, not for marks or future tech jobs, but because hope is a powerful drug.
Step 3: Learn on my own.
Because I know one thing — if I really want to… then I can too.
Step 4: Use anything thrown my way just to talk to her.
Selfish? Maybe. But when did feelings ever care about logic?
Amid all this planning, labs began.
Labs are weird. It's like cooking. Too much waiting, everyone pretending they know what they’re doing, and one wrong move… poof — chaos.
And so, I set another goal:193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRgbTKR9z32
Learn C. Not because I had to…193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkkpnFjCpx8
But because I wanted to.
To be better.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCBYkCVaPJ7
To maybe help her with something someday.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI0vHuUjRkd
To maybe find a reason to talk.
Then came the WhatsApp group.
A few of us made it to ask doubts, share PDFs, or post occasional memes.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBu4YWEprlN
And I? I became The Shadow.
I started replying to doubts. Not because I wanted attention. Not to be the smartest kid in the room. But because…193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3S9mXy6U2d
If I just stayed quiet, binge-watched anime, and slept all day…193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJL0fEoZIUC
She wasn’t going to magically walk over and talk to me.
I wasn’t good at face-to-face.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLIRDxVf3fN
But texts? Texts felt safer.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxt89r4gxBu
So, like my favorite character from Eminence in Shadow, I stayed hidden.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiob7sbU9qG
My phone which is empty for the first time it's becoming lively.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRnP3STvFZt
Replying to doubts in a flash. Quick. Clean. No name. Just help.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYrZ2DUUf72
Soon enough, people began asking me privately,193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZpzkCXS5W9
“Who are you?”193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSaFLgS8BS7
But not her.
She never messaged.
Still, I stayed active in the group.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMR9TMvgji8
Hopeful? Maybe.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgROYjXcBqH
Desperate? Nah.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTsRK7bf2a8
Romantic? Probably.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsZtN08OapO
Delusional? 100%.
Time passed.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCWOEowJ2vi
Some started competing with me. Posting answers faster. Explaining better.
Part of me was relieved.
Maybe now I can chill… just wait until she messages...
And then, one random night — it happened.
She texted. In the group.
(Don’t ask how I know that it was her. Talent. Pure talent.)
I didn’t even think. Just replied instantly.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO7BwD3yBNA
But in my rush, I made mistakes in the solution…
And that led to her texting me. Privately.
I didn’t expect it. Couldn’t have planned it.
And so, I calmly — very calmly — clarified her doubt.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpFiETmVJex
She thanked me. I thought, that’s it. It’s over. Back to shadows.
But she texted again:193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0mxDN2ZJpR
“Do you know me?”
I grinned. “Maybe,” I replied,193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLhmrkEMy7C
…knowing exactly who she was.
Of course I did.
Her name was Alice.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ632qIFPrga
But for me, she’ll always be Seren.
We talked. She reminded me of our earlier conversation — back when she was in IT.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMLNI3RGFhD
And I replied:193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡru92gFePlJ
“Ohh! Alice? Is this you?”
That opened the door.
We went from talking about college…193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1TcYYmWxJE
to anime…193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdX0d5ePEgp
to life.
When I get excited, I forget everything else.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuJ1hnIXPpJ
The world disappears. The fan stops spinning.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDmeOwjmjlz
It’s just words. Her texts. My heartbeat.
At one point, we talked about how people call anime “just cartoons.”193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxHYVA4GEwd
And she said:
“I feel you, bro.”
I don’t know what it meant exactly…193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqu5xMr3jeS
But at that moment, I didn’t feel invisible.
Now the real question is:
Did I tell her how I feel?193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd06raTNVIB
Did I explain my intentions?193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5lvc5FQ0Ca
Or did I continue the act… play along…
Let’s just say:193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU1nJ6b1f8u
We’ll find out if this Fool’s decision… was truly foolish.
