Time didn’t pause. It never does.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTfFzgvo95t
And before I even realized, my birthday crept in again—quietly, without fanfare.
I didn’t feel special. Honestly, I never really did.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSfOEuc672z
Some people remembered and sent their wishes—those who genuinely cared, and some who remembered just for the day. I used to try and figure out who meant it and who didn’t. Now? I just let it all pass. I didn’t reply to many. Didn’t check my phone often.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYta6umbpkR
Because birthdays, to me, were always the most dangerous kind of mirrors—ones that reflected everything I was, everything I wasn’t, and everything I feared I’d become.
I didn’t go to college that day. Just couldn’t bring myself to.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhKcJNSTfPN
Instead, I stayed home—quiet, thinking, breathing. I did speak to Seren that day, though. It was a short conversation. Nice, calm, normal. But it didn’t really lift the strange heaviness I felt.
That was also the day Eren died.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl60mJCdsCd
Yeah—Eren Yeager. My favorite character from Attack on Titan.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD2veRmeYqJ
Poetic, right? My own day of birth marked by the death of a fictional character I somehow understood more than most real people.
The world moved forward anyway.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDq4hUvWVi6
It always does.
Soon came the second round of internals. Then the externals. And finally, the semester-end exams.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn9MRpckwjw
I never panicked. I never really cared for exams—not in the way others did. For most, it was a battle. For some, a gamble. Some survived with pure memory. Some with borrowed luck.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUXFUrQMHPU
Me? I coasted through with instinct. Gut feeling. Pattern recognition. My brain had a habit of remembering just enough. Not more. Not less.
December moved like a blur. Wake up. Classes. Occasional learning. Rare focus. Occasional sleep. Repeat.
And somewhere in the middle of all this, came the festival celebration.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO78OxYGWSa
Our college was buzzing. Cultural vibes in the air. Colors, music, that strange collective energy people only summon during festivals.
I showed up in traditional dress. Not my comfort zone, but I was oddly okay with it that day.
That morning, I wrote my exam and then ran into Seren. She too was in traditional attire.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn7Q6zQ86F1
A saree.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXvFejw9gXV
But not just any saree—white.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoiCBYBX2XU
It wasn’t plain. It was pure.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMNttq8Ds7T
There was something about her that day… soft-spoken grace and a kind of presence that made me hesitate. I wanted to compliment her. I really did.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfGVt3uH1K0
But I didn’t.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDCSBttcfuI
Words stayed stuck behind my tongue.
She was walking with me and along with her friend to THub so we could collect our records. I followed a few steps behind.
On our way, we met up with—Helen, her sister.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAVqEhLjKCc
A final-year student from the CSE department in the first campus.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPJqTjLF1OU
She stood confidently among her group of friends—people who radiated assurance and seniority. And amidst them, Seren fit in effortlessly.
Helen introduced me with a smile. Her friends offered polite nods.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6tVTWsiyQT
I tried to be normal. I tried to be relaxed.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKg1LBnbOe0
But inside? I felt like a misplaced puzzle piece—present, but not belonging.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH31Cb4T6sX
So, I stayed quiet. Offered a few half-smiles. Watched Seren interact with her sister, and something about that interaction made me realize how little I really knew about her world beyond our small shared corner.
Eventually, Seren and I made our way inside T-Hub to collect the records.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6zOyaMNoDL
Or should I say find them at the first place, to collect them.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3HeOODCU4V
77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuT9ZoJLuDq
Afterwards, though, she told me she needed to return to her sister. Something had come up.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsRl4iWlrhB
I stayed behind to collect both of ours.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNfBbbphmS8
I watched her walk away, back to that other circle she belonged to.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi6aDxssb4i
77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0m9iYOCrX1
And when I finally found them after some time searching.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2DTkBczMIi
I almost called her. Almost asked where she was.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdhifB09vhb
But I didn’t.
A voice inside me whispered that I’d only make things awkward. That my presence now felt… extra.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDq0UjUc8na
So, I collected her record, submitted mine, left hers in the right place, and turned to go.
That’s when I ran into Leona.
Leona wasn’t the kind to hesitate.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRFQnTdYnB2
She asked me directly, “Wanna hang out for a while?”
And I figured—why not? It was better than sitting on the bus in silence till evening.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfdcqnxebyw
So, I let her lead. We walked. Talked.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo416EOyv0Z
Her energy was different—confident, direct, occasionally teasing. Refreshing, in a way.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvkOtufSrOX
Then Ren showed up, and the three of us ended up wandering around campus—passing the time, talking about things that didn’t really matter but still filled the silence.
Evening crept in. The sun painted long shadows across the ground.
Eventually, I found myself near the bus bays again. And there she was—Seren.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy3jvElE8fj
But this time, something had shifted.
Our buses, once parked side by side—our little ritual at the end of the day—77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpWxdpeE7cz
They weren’t next to each other anymore.
She stood by hers. I stood by mine.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBeZZuTkOnN
A small distance. Nothing dramatic. But enough to feel like something had changed.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmZ86AdmDbQ
And in that moment, I realized…77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8VCdtNgBSN
We were starting to drift.
然後按「加至主畫面」