Second year had barely begun when the word “freshers” echoed through the corridors.
A celebration for the new batch — new faces, new stories, a new chapter.125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ610OVsZRf2
For us, it was an excuse to pretend like we had it all figured out,125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNSZMGVbcRj
to welcome them while barely holding our own chaos together.
I didn’t plan to involve myself.125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3L6tpuZco0
Not in organizing.125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxGk5iYBQcu
Not in performing.125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmWV1FbY3bm
Just… present.
They needed money.125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwilL5MYcQ9
I gave it.125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIR0HIjLovt
They needed support.125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ1o2trWnW7
I stood in the back, clapping quietly.
The first event was for our IT department, held in our own campus.125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7cdNAkmOE8
Forevermore decided to come — with her friends.125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAGh5NtdBZz
I hadn’t expected that.
The event went on… music, dance, laughter that felt like echoes from someone else’s joy.125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd3tzMJ5XWJ
I stayed in the shadows, a spectator in my own celebration.
Then she handed me her phone.
“Can you shoot my friends’ dance on stage?”
Simple.125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuJTpSiQgH6
I did it.
But after that… I found myself looking for her again.125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3UvbMLDhTx
Like a habit. Like a whisper.125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfYYRE5Xmx8
I wandered around, the traditional attire weighing heavier with each step —125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtvAZ2zEwCZ
until I called.
“Where are you?”
“Heading to the buses.”
“Wait for me. Let’s go together.”
And we did.
We walked back together,125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZnlsSgi9gY
the usual banter about songs, anime, dramas dancing in the air between us.125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlzCHqxW0Uc
Nothing grand.125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ71PLElZrHR
But it was enough.125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQkcd1woTok
Sometimes enough is everything.
Then came her department's freshers’ event.
But before that — something happened.
She had a falling out with one of her friends, the same one I first met at the college fest.125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOHy04pO2ek
A sudden storm of words.125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpvfC1Pjqde
She was furious, broken —125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNxqtvgpaWl
and just like that, she didn’t want to be part of their CSP project anymore.
I saw it.125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt2u60r4pgU
The quiet ache behind her decision.125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtrPby9ipZh
And without thinking much, I asked:
“Would you like to do it with us instead?”
By us, I meant Simon, Ramu, and a few from her own department.125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJnzkZyBV6Q
She hesitated.125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI4ykvNe0Yy
Asked around.125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGTi32TI9UX
Took her time.
And finally, she said yes.
October 8th, 2024.125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFvyV5BtkU6
That was the day we began.
I picked up Forevermore that morning —125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4IIlcIax8k
just like I used to pick up my favorite songs for a journey.125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm0j0DCObft
We met Bettie and the others.125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH30g8SBvoc
Our project was about farming and floriculture. 125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaXoMzyIUqu
Ironically fitting — for someone who called people flowers.
The day flowed like a page from a lighthearted slice-of-life anime.125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMtrEPsdynC
Laughter over muddy fields,125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv4SNcnIZ9s
my untamed hair rebelling in the wind as I drove without a helmet,125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjkA1EM1I9T
moments I knew I’d want to rewind again someday.
By noon, Simon and I wandered around the area for an auto to help the others.125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkgvdP6EepL
Hungry and half-sunburned, we ducked into a local restaurant —125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhAEAgUjBDv
the same one from our first visit.
But this time…125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlIHJfqr5qu
she was here.
And somehow that changed the flavor of everything.
We moved to the nurseries,125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDtakDAdcZY
ran through rows of green and yellow,125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3IXvd30sS0
clicked pictures and let the day melt into memory.
By evening, it was time to part.
But before it all ended,125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBGldion6Ls
we all are heading back to the restaurant again — one last round of shared laughter.125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSMemwDFxoe
One last glimpse of what it meant to be in the same story.
Everyone left one by one.125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0pZjeARQIW
Simon and Ramu were the last to go.125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTg5RA6zu7f
And then… it was just me and her.
I dropped her home.125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTewOtyC5r7
No grand goodbye.125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYpica81VzU
Just that quiet warmth of knowing125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv9klIdWIWc
—I was the one to get her home safely.
And as I rode back, hair wild, heart fuller than before…125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZnXf8kIAnK
I swear the clouds opened a road for me in the sky.
Because sometimes,125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUM2xueD7WJ
even a single shared day125Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGSNsVCJDsz
can feel like flying.
and then Add to home screen.