x
So, I made a humble little plan.
“No backlogs. No regrets. And maybe… just maybe… one conversation with Seren.”27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxnlL5OOyF7
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:27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjvyw35yrvC
Learn C. Not because I had to…27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlLDSXD933O
But because I wanted to.
To be better.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ77vtHkKzk5
To maybe help her with something someday.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI62uLCTFoG
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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF88PokIyMe
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…27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd0DG9vZqg8
If I just stayed quiet, binge-watched anime, and slept all day…27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnZ3laO8yYv
She wasn’t going to magically walk over and talk to me.
I wasn’t good at face-to-face.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡARpVMt84LG
But texts? Texts felt safer.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaW6jssK3pm
So, like my favorite character from Eminence in Shadow, I stayed hidden.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLfc4YHSHSO
My phone which is empty for the first time it's becoming lively.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfHat6CWWRO
Replying to doubts in a flash. Quick. Clean. No name. Just help.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡledaCSi4Db
Soon enough, people began asking me privately,27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqB2zaaZriY
“Who are you?”27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡODllEBjuhs
But not her.
She never messaged.
Still, I stayed active in the group.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzW9arpbWk1
Hopeful? Maybe.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRP9w5zvV6q
Desperate? Nah.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiAOOfd6hkx
Romantic? Probably.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9KzpKEsSOI
Delusional? 100%.
Time passed.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVfzj7kl63A
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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFOOCfpjsYD
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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM3UwyG77jf
She thanked me. I thought, that’s it. It’s over. Back to shadows.
But she texted again:27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2d4UoGRVNT
“Do you know me?”
I grinned. “Maybe,” I replied,27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYVyuaQUTTN
…knowing exactly who she was.
Of course I did.
Her name was Alice.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD29p23Cw9Y
But for me, she’ll always be Seren.
We talked. She reminded me of our earlier conversation — back when she was in IT.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxBs2ZC9dRi
And I replied:27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxDk0EIc6s8
“Ohh! Alice? Is this you?”
That opened the door.
We went from talking about college…27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTSh9GTvE9W
to anime…27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBqCKgqlhQs
to life.
When I get excited, I forget everything else.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsOkcKLgKNr
The world disappears. The fan stops spinning.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRdueRsHSDH
It’s just words. Her texts. My heartbeat.
At one point, we talked about how people call anime “just cartoons.”27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡanQ6fCITkn
And she said:
“I feel you, bro.”
I don’t know what it meant exactly…27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ52FixqdsEH
But at that moment, I didn’t feel invisible.
Now the real question is:
Did I tell her how I feel?27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4n8KVIGRUf
Did I explain my intentions?27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlicGY8bS8T
Or did I continue the act… play along…
Let’s just say:27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVBKom63I2G
We’ll find out if this Fool’s decision… was truly foolish.
