I was going steady.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz6fSsWeVBR
Nothing too grand, nothing too heavy.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpCqJLzesw4
Just... life. With a little joy stitched into the seams.
Academics, Thub, labs, scattered exams —415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgE6A2DPw1E
it was all a beautiful mess.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKfjkfyrdwj
Filled with tension, doubts, and the classic "why should I care" moments.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBWTWARZKNO
A delicate dance between chaos and comfort.
And somewhere in between,415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeKDECcKvZ7
there was her.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDsE1MU3rbK
Forevermore.
There were small fights —415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjcnfrT8EWj
misunderstandings, moments of silence that felt longer than they should.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwJcy9h8X5q
But I had my way of patching things up.
I would just go near her.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXPdjbKU84C
Stand beside her.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWsHARFeqCN
Not a single word. No explanations. No apologies.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqyriCNZupc
Just presence.
It was my little way of saying,415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqqBggTTJ0f
"I’m here. Still here. Through everything. Even if you forget, I won’t."
Maybe she never noticed it.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ27AB7lVgUl
Maybe she did.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRhnza3DpCJ
But I never waited to know.
I did things for her —415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Dc5zdF3SI
small, silly things that would go unnoticed.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd7dlI3EVHU
Sometimes even the big things,415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjjBmwOt7g4
the kind that pull pieces out of your soul when no one’s watching.
And all the while, I wondered:415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0XmKGCTCFQ
What even is the line between selfishness and selflessness?
Isn’t wanting to be selfless...415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKYsvkNz1Ws
a kind of selfishness too?
Was I helping her because I cared?415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg4pHkUgRi6
Or because I wanted her to see that I cared?
Was I doing it all for her happiness?415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAVIivdKnNN
Or for that brief warmth I felt when she smiled because of me?
I guess I’ll never really know.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNCuhwI3Eyp
Maybe the heart doesn’t divide its reasons.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDkGRpqJCuC
Maybe it just does what it does.
Meanwhile, preparations for Code Engine had begun.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ18o6y3fye1
And to me, skipping academics was the biggest motivator of all.
Making stalls, designing banners, running around with duct tape and dreams —415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ107ATiFsiW
it wasn’t my thing.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ48uBWmeCBl
But it was fun.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhaUeXspxDN
Mostly because it pulled me away from the routine.
We went class to class,415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdBGwwS3ymP
all three campuses, handing out invitations like salesmen of curiosity.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBJgcw2lT4x
I stood awkwardly outside classrooms while seniors did the talking.
I didn’t mind.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoXU0mNVeiQ
The wind was cooler outside.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsXtt5Jjdy1
And I was invisible — the way I liked it.
But then... something changed.
People started recognizing me.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzY5UsxBgwN
They’d point, whisper, wave.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ21wPtfrRjk
"Hey, you're Nova, right?"
It was surreal.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3XlQhdpyQY
But I didn’t let it get to my head.
Funny thing is, I only ever found out about most of it415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyFKd8oODdR
from her.
From Forevermore.
Somehow, slowly,415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvTecLEooR1
Rudeus became someone.
Someone important.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEXbRaDfRE3
Someone known.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHVaPdoKSD8
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 —415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd8BZ5B2FLK
the one who stood in silence beside the person he cherished,415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDHE5pbLezv
because that was the only language he knew.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy8tVb75UMN
The boy who questioned every emotion he ever felt.415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLlKB1U0CyO
The boy who just wanted to be a friend who stays.
and then Add to home screen.