I was going steady.127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5YH18jJadl
Nothing too grand, nothing too heavy.127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZVgfmEX8D6
Just... life. With a little joy stitched into the seams.
Academics, Thub, labs, scattered exams —127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYDtrgczLdj
it was all a beautiful mess.127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtKYSc4XJOS
Filled with tension, doubts, and the classic "why should I care" moments.127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt9RPKWsFE0
A delicate dance between chaos and comfort.
And somewhere in between,127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdObLySu4yQ
there was her.127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPxkPRQNRvJ
Forevermore.
There were small fights —127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡybfqiYn7I5
misunderstandings, moments of silence that felt longer than they should.127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjHKSDl2HVC
But I had my way of patching things up.
I would just go near her.127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGyhXipblrR
Stand beside her.127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpp2osVncoW
Not a single word. No explanations. No apologies.127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpAghbPjXoj
Just presence.
It was my little way of saying,127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsl9uzteDzZ
"I’m here. Still here. Through everything. Even if you forget, I won’t."
Maybe she never noticed it.127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfCSHmzo09l
Maybe she did.127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxUwaf08gYM
But I never waited to know.
I did things for her —127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZOy1iYtJwS
small, silly things that would go unnoticed.127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ55TKWJ3Sf1
Sometimes even the big things,127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYmrk4pCB6v
the kind that pull pieces out of your soul when no one’s watching.
And all the while, I wondered:127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIIggt2y7M1
What even is the line between selfishness and selflessness?
Isn’t wanting to be selfless...127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ536QznqYem
a kind of selfishness too?
Was I helping her because I cared?127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxsJm1jng5r
Or because I wanted her to see that I cared?
Was I doing it all for her happiness?127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJDOofTZn9k
Or for that brief warmth I felt when she smiled because of me?
I guess I’ll never really know.127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTi9Nrjxe4v
Maybe the heart doesn’t divide its reasons.127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ZYbLtoIFR
Maybe it just does what it does.
Meanwhile, preparations for Code Engine had begun.127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6juXTRfAZj
And to me, skipping academics was the biggest motivator of all.
Making stalls, designing banners, running around with duct tape and dreams —127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡepq8crWMH6
it wasn’t my thing.127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt80jrvnrdf
But it was fun.127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIdPKFZsnLx
Mostly because it pulled me away from the routine.
We went class to class,127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAT5CTkSLqk
all three campuses, handing out invitations like salesmen of curiosity.127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡga86TMZfid
I stood awkwardly outside classrooms while seniors did the talking.
I didn’t mind.127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsSXuZcKhQ9
The wind was cooler outside.127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsgkzMyAaOl
And I was invisible — the way I liked it.
But then... something changed.
People started recognizing me.127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ68DG3OJ5nM
They’d point, whisper, wave.127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoPJdLaQO32
"Hey, you're Nova, right?"
It was surreal.127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRSMxhfqoPK
But I didn’t let it get to my head.
Funny thing is, I only ever found out about most of it127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWV9mif9xLx
from her.
From Forevermore.
Somehow, slowly,127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsBkwKCI9mR
Rudeus became someone.
Someone important.127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVuYnonmcjY
Someone known.127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ93L3HAIEGk
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 —127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD9nY7twyPv
the one who stood in silence beside the person he cherished,127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP1miHZHwCl
because that was the only language he knew.127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWMcgwOB7ox
The boy who questioned every emotion he ever felt.127Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMkho3hjMkS
The boy who just wanted to be a friend who stays.
and then Add to home screen.