So, I made a humble little plan.
“No backlogs. No regrets. And maybe… just maybe… one conversation with Seren.”157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvw4DQPXJ4Q
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:157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡreZvLdbC45
Learn C. Not because I had to…157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkj3wD31aY7
But because I wanted to.
To be better.157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTnJ66DahnI
To maybe help her with something someday.157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg9EWrAtgYu
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.157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMOX5eeLnAr
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…157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi3qANgCi9x
If I just stayed quiet, binge-watched anime, and slept all day…157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQo20KY69d6
She wasn’t going to magically walk over and talk to me.
I wasn’t good at face-to-face.157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfQA411iK2e
But texts? Texts felt safer.157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnYxBhEAx6o
So, like my favorite character from Eminence in Shadow, I stayed hidden.157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNQasYxiSN9
My phone which is empty for the first time it's becoming lively.157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD9M0p6NibC
Replying to doubts in a flash. Quick. Clean. No name. Just help.157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKdu0amlHoH
Soon enough, people began asking me privately,157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMozJaj2IiA
“Who are you?”157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0T9IcgqhwS
But not her.
She never messaged.
Still, I stayed active in the group.157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMc46rQ70cI
Hopeful? Maybe.157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1qkFWjlubf
Desperate? Nah.157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN9wFn8JGpW
Romantic? Probably.157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ36QstOgvAA
Delusional? 100%.
Time passed.157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡychKTmovyi
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.157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXxDBr0jwKs
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.157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB7H0q1yirP
She thanked me. I thought, that’s it. It’s over. Back to shadows.
But she texted again:157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEFf6YRdLYX
“Do you know me?”
I grinned. “Maybe,” I replied,157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzsBFKxrufq
…knowing exactly who she was.
Of course I did.
Her name was Alice.157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHv335RbimM
But for me, she’ll always be Seren.
We talked. She reminded me of our earlier conversation — back when she was in IT.157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3lRbWBXd5k
And I replied:157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYoUKit3oxI
“Ohh! Alice? Is this you?”
That opened the door.
We went from talking about college…157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh3RSrNiW63
to anime…157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxE8dtBxUz4
to life.
When I get excited, I forget everything else.157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7v9AB55q1t
The world disappears. The fan stops spinning.157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzUfVDlSS6o
It’s just words. Her texts. My heartbeat.
At one point, we talked about how people call anime “just cartoons.”157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXUFGKJ9gj0
And she said:
“I feel you, bro.”
I don’t know what it meant exactly…157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJT7VUnZRhU
But at that moment, I didn’t feel invisible.
Now the real question is:
Did I tell her how I feel?157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsKL0D2hK6A
Did I explain my intentions?157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeJHaZhBwaV
Or did I continue the act… play along…
Let’s just say:157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡexTbIXJaS0
We’ll find out if this Fool’s decision… was truly foolish.
and then Add to home screen.