I was going steady.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkPwL4JcTSl
Nothing too grand, nothing too heavy.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgKrWT7emKo
Just... life. With a little joy stitched into the seams.
Academics, Thub, labs, scattered exams —135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtqSUYfcELq
it was all a beautiful mess.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbkkpVxtPpL
Filled with tension, doubts, and the classic "why should I care" moments.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ71kmOtCA1x
A delicate dance between chaos and comfort.
And somewhere in between,135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWrbB0bWBcX
there was her.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZoyskWuYUW
Forevermore.
There were small fights —135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjDVuVqxORv
misunderstandings, moments of silence that felt longer than they should.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXW2PG9mmVV
But I had my way of patching things up.
I would just go near her.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO5SWLqtoRY
Stand beside her.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKuwpDHeA80
Not a single word. No explanations. No apologies.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ33cfIan3rk
Just presence.
It was my little way of saying,135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTJANa9VurB
"I’m here. Still here. Through everything. Even if you forget, I won’t."
Maybe she never noticed it.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhaqKlSUyw2
Maybe she did.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ44EoZSYpeH
But I never waited to know.
I did things for her —135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2YSn7p4Y0t
small, silly things that would go unnoticed.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDFKlR10kYX
Sometimes even the big things,135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ77lqAUETlL
the kind that pull pieces out of your soul when no one’s watching.
And all the while, I wondered:135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnsr5vByGvz
What even is the line between selfishness and selflessness?
Isn’t wanting to be selfless...135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF3LNnIYhB4
a kind of selfishness too?
Was I helping her because I cared?135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdAvyR2RhIU
Or because I wanted her to see that I cared?
Was I doing it all for her happiness?135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkCK3NlioB8
Or for that brief warmth I felt when she smiled because of me?
I guess I’ll never really know.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ27DD7zcS9m
Maybe the heart doesn’t divide its reasons.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9bZOWQ9JGU
Maybe it just does what it does.
Meanwhile, preparations for Code Engine had begun.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡORESrFtodU
And to me, skipping academics was the biggest motivator of all.
Making stalls, designing banners, running around with duct tape and dreams —135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW3WTDYuTBM
it wasn’t my thing.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlDFTuVqIJd
But it was fun.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6RY5wAQyeF
Mostly because it pulled me away from the routine.
We went class to class,135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC5gKSua9p4
all three campuses, handing out invitations like salesmen of curiosity.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsVkwh1RBd7
I stood awkwardly outside classrooms while seniors did the talking.
I didn’t mind.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡySxqBgBhMl
The wind was cooler outside.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk7AsMptbnF
And I was invisible — the way I liked it.
But then... something changed.
People started recognizing me.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoSrS6oNNls
They’d point, whisper, wave.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZtfXi146my
"Hey, you're Nova, right?"
It was surreal.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPeNtMTqQQ7
But I didn’t let it get to my head.
Funny thing is, I only ever found out about most of it135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy82oQJwEzh
from her.
From Forevermore.
Somehow, slowly,135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEDGmCeud9u
Rudeus became someone.
Someone important.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxcvUevtHGr
Someone known.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBlDSmPZkF3
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 —135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJmttIvWhiY
the one who stood in silence beside the person he cherished,135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTaDNZksEP1
because that was the only language he knew.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡibQ4ZmTEqA
The boy who questioned every emotion he ever felt.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUNJNizTRNn
The boy who just wanted to be a friend who stays.
