I was going steady.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjnbkUusOcb
Nothing too grand, nothing too heavy.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSOPveIvDPZ
Just... life. With a little joy stitched into the seams.
Academics, Thub, labs, scattered exams —20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrpxXc5ZOmg
it was all a beautiful mess.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMtgCHkD47T
Filled with tension, doubts, and the classic "why should I care" moments.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOU2QLTaHXK
A delicate dance between chaos and comfort.
And somewhere in between,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZoYMUMCTps
there was her.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJYC6GDQkem
Forevermore.
There were small fights —20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf1X41Yp5Ne
misunderstandings, moments of silence that felt longer than they should.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmOXqYmlZka
But I had my way of patching things up.
I would just go near her.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyRmCebtI99
Stand beside her.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzMTfmZl8Z0
Not a single word. No explanations. No apologies.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7l1PWMEKMC
Just presence.
It was my little way of saying,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyFT8EtP03s
"I’m here. Still here. Through everything. Even if you forget, I won’t."
Maybe she never noticed it.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsdOZ7BH23I
Maybe she did.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPLfp8bGORG
But I never waited to know.
I did things for her —20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8EZbFBpKeL
small, silly things that would go unnoticed.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkLSJQBbMhg
Sometimes even the big things,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpYIfD5ybSZ
the kind that pull pieces out of your soul when no one’s watching.
And all the while, I wondered:20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhdX1sP74bX
What even is the line between selfishness and selflessness?
Isn’t wanting to be selfless...20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBLmnZQypxZ
a kind of selfishness too?
Was I helping her because I cared?20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFkWx20woB1
Or because I wanted her to see that I cared?
Was I doing it all for her happiness?20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8QPouWoViy
Or for that brief warmth I felt when she smiled because of me?
I guess I’ll never really know.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkEA5mXMqWh
Maybe the heart doesn’t divide its reasons.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWEPameZtz4
Maybe it just does what it does.
Meanwhile, preparations for Code Engine had begun.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwZY0WcWxxv
And to me, skipping academics was the biggest motivator of all.
Making stalls, designing banners, running around with duct tape and dreams —20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcUwhZr0DyP
it wasn’t my thing.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjHcmKf42ZW
But it was fun.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0r5rijT7nj
Mostly because it pulled me away from the routine.
We went class to class,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5fjlFEB1Ps
all three campuses, handing out invitations like salesmen of curiosity.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTqWZZAikPX
I stood awkwardly outside classrooms while seniors did the talking.
I didn’t mind.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfhuH0hERNj
The wind was cooler outside.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP3sHKwfZew
And I was invisible — the way I liked it.
But then... something changed.
People started recognizing me.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmQgHaYLDJC
They’d point, whisper, wave.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRQPXhb8jnX
"Hey, you're Nova, right?"
It was surreal.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRDoBEntCLT
But I didn’t let it get to my head.
Funny thing is, I only ever found out about most of it20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQEut7l1yrH
from her.
From Forevermore.
Somehow, slowly,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHyKf6gh3Z3
Rudeus became someone.
Someone important.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqZmvDoF3HT
Someone known.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjNX1yarsQ8
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 —20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8vp9ReUIMJ
the one who stood in silence beside the person he cherished,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCqrazBRNSr
because that was the only language he knew.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwSBepVcoVY
The boy who questioned every emotion he ever felt.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡglx2GMr3Yq
The boy who just wanted to be a friend who stays.
