I was going steady.343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD1s4rIYONQ
Nothing too grand, nothing too heavy.343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ56kzw1bu9d
Just... life. With a little joy stitched into the seams.
Academics, Thub, labs, scattered exams —343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzhq8jaUCZ6
it was all a beautiful mess.343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ30YO2md9G1
Filled with tension, doubts, and the classic "why should I care" moments.343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp3iiEWovKe
A delicate dance between chaos and comfort.
And somewhere in between,343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEENs4851BE
there was her.343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3EWcy4ww00
Forevermore.
There were small fights —343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZBiD15QYaB
misunderstandings, moments of silence that felt longer than they should.343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGt29HlYZ5U
But I had my way of patching things up.
I would just go near her.343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcI75zkTp4o
Stand beside her.343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaaI4Yr0GnM
Not a single word. No explanations. No apologies.343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWfvicdotvg
Just presence.
It was my little way of saying,343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBGX35jbcdo
"I’m here. Still here. Through everything. Even if you forget, I won’t."
Maybe she never noticed it.343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz4KVKLQ6l3
Maybe she did.343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcNsyT6MJez
But I never waited to know.
I did things for her —343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgH54K2mzmo
small, silly things that would go unnoticed.343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkY5MEq53Xc
Sometimes even the big things,343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCBj6US0x0v
the kind that pull pieces out of your soul when no one’s watching.
And all the while, I wondered:343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhtTppRELsn
What even is the line between selfishness and selflessness?
Isn’t wanting to be selfless...343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsVSYbjaMe1
a kind of selfishness too?
Was I helping her because I cared?343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkePIWp5P6P
Or because I wanted her to see that I cared?
Was I doing it all for her happiness?343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGlfOVfFjl8
Or for that brief warmth I felt when she smiled because of me?
I guess I’ll never really know.343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5H2ipthFA4
Maybe the heart doesn’t divide its reasons.343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUFY5A6XRTX
Maybe it just does what it does.
Meanwhile, preparations for Code Engine had begun.343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡArOxdQF1It
And to me, skipping academics was the biggest motivator of all.
Making stalls, designing banners, running around with duct tape and dreams —343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv0nZjY8WBO
it wasn’t my thing.343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEXwOXwktxD
But it was fun.343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0l16kB3PP9
Mostly because it pulled me away from the routine.
We went class to class,343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkhmwkxWU1r
all three campuses, handing out invitations like salesmen of curiosity.343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9uXJtu9qLe
I stood awkwardly outside classrooms while seniors did the talking.
I didn’t mind.343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡif10jlSEsQ
The wind was cooler outside.343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgNkVABn4NX
And I was invisible — the way I liked it.
But then... something changed.
People started recognizing me.343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdVLzDUvNvZ
They’d point, whisper, wave.343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpUlJWknWWY
"Hey, you're Nova, right?"
It was surreal.343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyiUZ7B0tDp
But I didn’t let it get to my head.
Funny thing is, I only ever found out about most of it343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXutH9AVCqE
from her.
From Forevermore.
Somehow, slowly,343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡviWW3GkVUx
Rudeus became someone.
Someone important.343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzcw3Tr82KE
Someone known.343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡki1lwZtVeJ
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 —343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOtfhMJYMON
the one who stood in silence beside the person he cherished,343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4L7CZ3YCfy
because that was the only language he knew.343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡduzgcVr5rE
The boy who questioned every emotion he ever felt.343Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2tCVVJukJW
The boy who just wanted to be a friend who stays.
and then Add to home screen.