x
So, I made a humble little plan.
“No backlogs. No regrets. And maybe… just maybe… one conversation with Seren.”42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP9Olilp1oB
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:42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiltpKjjgnp
Learn C. Not because I had to…42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVYfGBHR6Q8
But because I wanted to.
To be better.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV2yF4NVVdh
To maybe help her with something someday.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡODhNANSc9z
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl6khMiPhAi
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…42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡunwn0BGV48
If I just stayed quiet, binge-watched anime, and slept all day…42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe6U9ckIrbE
She wasn’t going to magically walk over and talk to me.
I wasn’t good at face-to-face.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8SZOPc4qKS
But texts? Texts felt safer.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmtb6nph1QF
So, like my favorite character from Eminence in Shadow, I stayed hidden.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYxAtNqvGK2
My phone which is empty for the first time it's becoming lively.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSAbCHoxf10
Replying to doubts in a flash. Quick. Clean. No name. Just help.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3lZ9zn4SGQ
Soon enough, people began asking me privately,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl6fapUa2fj
“Who are you?”42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ85P6ZUlXVc
But not her.
She never messaged.
Still, I stayed active in the group.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdyKCYtJL6A
Hopeful? Maybe.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRP5uHarXDF
Desperate? Nah.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPokcfmWYCn
Romantic? Probably.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy7oHuuJGUl
Delusional? 100%.
Time passed.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8kPM3DA9qS
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzKi2WocOmw
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6CaZuA7E6c
She thanked me. I thought, that’s it. It’s over. Back to shadows.
But she texted again:42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLiV9sDgwaz
“Do you know me?”
I grinned. “Maybe,” I replied,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwmJsI5gMQg
…knowing exactly who she was.
Of course I did.
Her name was Alice.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsXzkXA3vSK
But for me, she’ll always be Seren.
We talked. She reminded me of our earlier conversation — back when she was in IT.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkoT3m8EpoP
And I replied:42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwx8qYttV9Y
“Ohh! Alice? Is this you?”
That opened the door.
We went from talking about college…42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGdAkj1E6PA
to anime…42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvhIK8soOPy
to life.
When I get excited, I forget everything else.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ824SnY4eYu
The world disappears. The fan stops spinning.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1OEAbgwWS2
It’s just words. Her texts. My heartbeat.
At one point, we talked about how people call anime “just cartoons.”42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVgQ0REhnnM
And she said:
“I feel you, bro.”
I don’t know what it meant exactly…42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmtvmuuuUPB
But at that moment, I didn’t feel invisible.
Now the real question is:
Did I tell her how I feel?42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6LB9faNE9s
Did I explain my intentions?42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoYh04G2bIL
Or did I continue the act… play along…
Let’s just say:42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡypDQK83xqO
We’ll find out if this Fool’s decision… was truly foolish.
