I was going steady.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2uFUQ5VqKU
Nothing too grand, nothing too heavy.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2xCbxsiN2o
Just... life. With a little joy stitched into the seams.
Academics, Thub, labs, scattered exams —39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2kagTdgDQB
it was all a beautiful mess.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡocdMcMjjK0
Filled with tension, doubts, and the classic "why should I care" moments.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe565SqCp5u
A delicate dance between chaos and comfort.
And somewhere in between,39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTUoBuAmQ9F
there was her.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9lySdJFmbT
Forevermore.
There were small fights —39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyPr6QOi1yv
misunderstandings, moments of silence that felt longer than they should.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQjyjCA82Ky
But I had my way of patching things up.
I would just go near her.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNCeW2Vs7SA
Stand beside her.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS42ivwDENU
Not a single word. No explanations. No apologies.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAOB3qTuZBR
Just presence.
It was my little way of saying,39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiMQqoKmvPc
"I’m here. Still here. Through everything. Even if you forget, I won’t."
Maybe she never noticed it.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxq2RCWpdAp
Maybe she did.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm88NIxwmIK
But I never waited to know.
I did things for her —39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfOIpuYT1sT
small, silly things that would go unnoticed.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWP3N76Z3xI
Sometimes even the big things,39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoVL2100O2k
the kind that pull pieces out of your soul when no one’s watching.
And all the while, I wondered:39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdYQTjRVOZg
What even is the line between selfishness and selflessness?
Isn’t wanting to be selfless...39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHoCaNxTZmg
a kind of selfishness too?
Was I helping her because I cared?39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn7Q65KQHhI
Or because I wanted her to see that I cared?
Was I doing it all for her happiness?39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlRLCv9v5jZ
Or for that brief warmth I felt when she smiled because of me?
I guess I’ll never really know.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Nz1QtwJug
Maybe the heart doesn’t divide its reasons.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOzk1CEAbnj
Maybe it just does what it does.
Meanwhile, preparations for Code Engine had begun.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6S41UmOE40
And to me, skipping academics was the biggest motivator of all.
Making stalls, designing banners, running around with duct tape and dreams —39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZDeXuf1Uzm
it wasn’t my thing.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp34AydJHXe
But it was fun.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFQuVqa3PBz
Mostly because it pulled me away from the routine.
We went class to class,39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡegAroeKWhd
all three campuses, handing out invitations like salesmen of curiosity.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGDSlUcOkKZ
I stood awkwardly outside classrooms while seniors did the talking.
I didn’t mind.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAejJOn3w3q
The wind was cooler outside.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBOOjvD1gnq
And I was invisible — the way I liked it.
But then... something changed.
People started recognizing me.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJiZn9YHi5m
They’d point, whisper, wave.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrLyP8kNxyZ
"Hey, you're Nova, right?"
It was surreal.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDDwaPrdXrF
But I didn’t let it get to my head.
Funny thing is, I only ever found out about most of it39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPR4W5tMj1W
from her.
From Forevermore.
Somehow, slowly,39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVh4arRJsah
Rudeus became someone.
Someone important.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSRbh15GOXf
Someone known.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmIpLrDkfsS
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 —39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡphIBbMxcGH
the one who stood in silence beside the person he cherished,39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡksDuUje4MF
because that was the only language he knew.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmYAgWQvIIf
The boy who questioned every emotion he ever felt.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡInwvNLgNbX
The boy who just wanted to be a friend who stays.
