I was going steady.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjd2znZOj0G
Nothing too grand, nothing too heavy.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsvMjqrlWpE
Just... life. With a little joy stitched into the seams.
Academics, Thub, labs, scattered exams —128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEHis6PBPJy
it was all a beautiful mess.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4J4brJUiEs
Filled with tension, doubts, and the classic "why should I care" moments.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1s3pcLlq5K
A delicate dance between chaos and comfort.
And somewhere in between,128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE5SAd8FH00
there was her.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf7bxM3Tski
Forevermore.
There were small fights —128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgm0HcUqoTN
misunderstandings, moments of silence that felt longer than they should.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ40FYmWjR6M
But I had my way of patching things up.
I would just go near her.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEGi8E9JCkE
Stand beside her.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtPbAdgVrnK
Not a single word. No explanations. No apologies.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIlbd9cCEc9
Just presence.
It was my little way of saying,128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfyiJFOzfSW
"I’m here. Still here. Through everything. Even if you forget, I won’t."
Maybe she never noticed it.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkUWz8RJTxb
Maybe she did.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeRkQ37nZQP
But I never waited to know.
I did things for her —128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUzoawxqAEY
small, silly things that would go unnoticed.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYtUnyIn4Wo
Sometimes even the big things,128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuIOmcAfgDt
the kind that pull pieces out of your soul when no one’s watching.
And all the while, I wondered:128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTJbcHISqlp
What even is the line between selfishness and selflessness?
Isn’t wanting to be selfless...128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4A16S5tDfj
a kind of selfishness too?
Was I helping her because I cared?128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGRXRAWsxs1
Or because I wanted her to see that I cared?
Was I doing it all for her happiness?128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpRaXApo3WW
Or for that brief warmth I felt when she smiled because of me?
I guess I’ll never really know.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkyHAaPzvhD
Maybe the heart doesn’t divide its reasons.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQWf1CAFoyO
Maybe it just does what it does.
Meanwhile, preparations for Code Engine had begun.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVvD8Pok9eW
And to me, skipping academics was the biggest motivator of all.
Making stalls, designing banners, running around with duct tape and dreams —128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj9aHcQJP0p
it wasn’t my thing.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdU1qNKvbpl
But it was fun.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLbIn2S7bjp
Mostly because it pulled me away from the routine.
We went class to class,128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJge5JYeOIP
all three campuses, handing out invitations like salesmen of curiosity.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG8TKm0K49e
I stood awkwardly outside classrooms while seniors did the talking.
I didn’t mind.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeLpaUI7FA0
The wind was cooler outside.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDIh9mnlPjX
And I was invisible — the way I liked it.
But then... something changed.
People started recognizing me.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGXuXfi4yxG
They’d point, whisper, wave.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8sJiIBBgFy
"Hey, you're Nova, right?"
It was surreal.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLJeoDDR5H5
But I didn’t let it get to my head.
Funny thing is, I only ever found out about most of it128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPZGReAoOZe
from her.
From Forevermore.
Somehow, slowly,128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNrt7EsaqSe
Rudeus became someone.
Someone important.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7bC8TLgmMb
Someone known.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlvFkypeorV
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 —128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn6TZVnLMEy
the one who stood in silence beside the person he cherished,128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbON0veqMJn
because that was the only language he knew.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFWJyh4ZmMi
The boy who questioned every emotion he ever felt.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZH2R71Zymn
The boy who just wanted to be a friend who stays.
