x
So, I made a humble little plan.
“No backlogs. No regrets. And maybe… just maybe… one conversation with Seren.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSFX05yvDq0
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:28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8uCSG4Fbyb
Learn C. Not because I had to…28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUK746RukE9
But because I wanted to.
To be better.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNs51JjPKKP
To maybe help her with something someday.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsWnU9THhET
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHsNTSU15CW
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…28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwGsXppc0dT
If I just stayed quiet, binge-watched anime, and slept all day…28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5khTNUqlwm
She wasn’t going to magically walk over and talk to me.
I wasn’t good at face-to-face.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFQfkVyjUEk
But texts? Texts felt safer.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwJTBSrodS4
So, like my favorite character from Eminence in Shadow, I stayed hidden.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgCEv8JkwAl
My phone which is empty for the first time it's becoming lively.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbNSm2DUMlh
Replying to doubts in a flash. Quick. Clean. No name. Just help.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWhgfduvWy4
Soon enough, people began asking me privately,28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZTiVkvx3xO
“Who are you?”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVe3l2Vizrf
But not her.
She never messaged.
Still, I stayed active in the group.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1U8KYyvakm
Hopeful? Maybe.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxzIQjGAsoT
Desperate? Nah.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN87XZcbfI1
Romantic? Probably.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy05hiyirIF
Delusional? 100%.
Time passed.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdFGd9U8Rvl
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTGHKoNRn1n
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡapsdd2nnBf
She thanked me. I thought, that’s it. It’s over. Back to shadows.
But she texted again:28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRbxLmUksjt
“Do you know me?”
I grinned. “Maybe,” I replied,28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIxPwWY9K4d
…knowing exactly who she was.
Of course I did.
Her name was Alice.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUzCjkasPi1
But for me, she’ll always be Seren.
We talked. She reminded me of our earlier conversation — back when she was in IT.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn6ceK965ZW
And I replied:28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdUBDFwOmiO
“Ohh! Alice? Is this you?”
That opened the door.
We went from talking about college…28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdLjn79wPiL
to anime…28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqsWtPNvx37
to life.
When I get excited, I forget everything else.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4SwWgdU42f
The world disappears. The fan stops spinning.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLXBIzvfJEa
It’s just words. Her texts. My heartbeat.
At one point, we talked about how people call anime “just cartoons.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOFIOeswgmp
And she said:
“I feel you, bro.”
I don’t know what it meant exactly…28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSMGKgAlj4W
But at that moment, I didn’t feel invisible.
Now the real question is:
Did I tell her how I feel?28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxhoMfneg4L
Did I explain my intentions?28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxtMtrr25mT
Or did I continue the act… play along…
Let’s just say:28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8JZkMrqXoT
We’ll find out if this Fool’s decision… was truly foolish.
