I was going steady.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLrW3DnPtIG
Nothing too grand, nothing too heavy.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhYyDHIPqhk
Just... life. With a little joy stitched into the seams.
Academics, Thub, labs, scattered exams —63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo87wmm7sFX
it was all a beautiful mess.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuTp5o5tkss
Filled with tension, doubts, and the classic "why should I care" moments.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsbNRvjKSRS
A delicate dance between chaos and comfort.
And somewhere in between,63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Zb6YcKG1f
there was her.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwkU1trORrE
Forevermore.
There were small fights —63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOUXcEFxtjQ
misunderstandings, moments of silence that felt longer than they should.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjfVIFGDj0x
But I had my way of patching things up.
I would just go near her.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlTe3Mz2xSJ
Stand beside her.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWykUZfyEcK
Not a single word. No explanations. No apologies.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuJkNj3MnoJ
Just presence.
It was my little way of saying,63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwXloBhyCuw
"I’m here. Still here. Through everything. Even if you forget, I won’t."
Maybe she never noticed it.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNWsVbTbnps
Maybe she did.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC4WsuVw26O
But I never waited to know.
I did things for her —63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyqHL9HsLhR
small, silly things that would go unnoticed.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK7cIe2pdSw
Sometimes even the big things,63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP6IFmFumvF
the kind that pull pieces out of your soul when no one’s watching.
And all the while, I wondered:63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0oAP3biZTW
What even is the line between selfishness and selflessness?
Isn’t wanting to be selfless...63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpRIEjXABlc
a kind of selfishness too?
Was I helping her because I cared?63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7fZqFgWQLp
Or because I wanted her to see that I cared?
Was I doing it all for her happiness?63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtGuwVjDHin
Or for that brief warmth I felt when she smiled because of me?
I guess I’ll never really know.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2I8u83MjYd
Maybe the heart doesn’t divide its reasons.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRQk9bKDktD
Maybe it just does what it does.
Meanwhile, preparations for Code Engine had begun.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡagkBAWITJZ
And to me, skipping academics was the biggest motivator of all.
Making stalls, designing banners, running around with duct tape and dreams —63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ7rgljo4Er
it wasn’t my thing.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoPYyOjWGet
But it was fun.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzR34gY2eLu
Mostly because it pulled me away from the routine.
We went class to class,63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSjDZE9IDzu
all three campuses, handing out invitations like salesmen of curiosity.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡinrOWJvszP
I stood awkwardly outside classrooms while seniors did the talking.
I didn’t mind.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Y87EyXqma
The wind was cooler outside.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG2AfW8eFW5
And I was invisible — the way I liked it.
But then... something changed.
People started recognizing me.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH6D3sm7CeQ
They’d point, whisper, wave.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdQ7fIubMa1
"Hey, you're Nova, right?"
It was surreal.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDsC9PsT4mn
But I didn’t let it get to my head.
Funny thing is, I only ever found out about most of it63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqtla1w3RRW
from her.
From Forevermore.
Somehow, slowly,63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDnQleIM2bj
Rudeus became someone.
Someone important.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRFOnMpE9US
Someone known.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGekb6pRnFf
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 —63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmYyOBMMk17
the one who stood in silence beside the person he cherished,63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ58RgPmZUg8
because that was the only language he knew.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9UQnew7wzV
The boy who questioned every emotion he ever felt.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpIJSaPGZEL
The boy who just wanted to be a friend who stays.
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