So, I made a humble little plan.
“No backlogs. No regrets. And maybe… just maybe… one conversation with Seren.”186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnlY9f61htz
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:186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt1owJlEQ93
Learn C. Not because I had to…186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc8eUoWs0WJ
But because I wanted to.
To be better.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB2q4Mdd48E
To maybe help her with something someday.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt87l5uPB4M
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.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3N7RekguHd
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…186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX0exn6wvAm
If I just stayed quiet, binge-watched anime, and slept all day…186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe9AQr7qk4E
She wasn’t going to magically walk over and talk to me.
I wasn’t good at face-to-face.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnOQlYrOC83
But texts? Texts felt safer.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWWzypZYwsj
So, like my favorite character from Eminence in Shadow, I stayed hidden.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwohn0GPjmj
My phone which is empty for the first time it's becoming lively.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPSE3BITZC7
Replying to doubts in a flash. Quick. Clean. No name. Just help.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTfcsO3wUOX
Soon enough, people began asking me privately,186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc99YrobG1r
“Who are you?”186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0DFeszomUD
But not her.
She never messaged.
Still, I stayed active in the group.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlREhan6tD5
Hopeful? Maybe.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPAQEOpfows
Desperate? Nah.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFZhOaBrcOZ
Romantic? Probably.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgwenye42B4
Delusional? 100%.
Time passed.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhjCaUbdLBp
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.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZXkvcyUDFm
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.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGrN75vouXy
She thanked me. I thought, that’s it. It’s over. Back to shadows.
But she texted again:186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡomMae4izVk
“Do you know me?”
I grinned. “Maybe,” I replied,186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLyICEfPUr0
…knowing exactly who she was.
Of course I did.
Her name was Alice.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2nighzlICS
But for me, she’ll always be Seren.
We talked. She reminded me of our earlier conversation — back when she was in IT.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOj39YRyBmp
And I replied:186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw5yuKnChna
“Ohh! Alice? Is this you?”
That opened the door.
We went from talking about college…186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPACuQYF6la
to anime…186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnaluvaWxcr
to life.
When I get excited, I forget everything else.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9uqhz1k0n6
The world disappears. The fan stops spinning.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1I0BJc49aP
It’s just words. Her texts. My heartbeat.
At one point, we talked about how people call anime “just cartoons.”186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYE0AJEmlsw
And she said:
“I feel you, bro.”
I don’t know what it meant exactly…186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI5y2pSPJem
But at that moment, I didn’t feel invisible.
Now the real question is:
Did I tell her how I feel?186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Li1GzjIya
Did I explain my intentions?186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8E390A8win
Or did I continue the act… play along…
Let’s just say:186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYL2UYCWoYK
We’ll find out if this Fool’s decision… was truly foolish.
and then Add to home screen.