I was going steady.366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8fkE5jxDTh
Nothing too grand, nothing too heavy.366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9vzbYWh2AG
Just... life. With a little joy stitched into the seams.
Academics, Thub, labs, scattered exams —366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbJHo5d1MDy
it was all a beautiful mess.366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4l5UEsN2k2
Filled with tension, doubts, and the classic "why should I care" moments.366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZzWM7LQ5eX
A delicate dance between chaos and comfort.
And somewhere in between,366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKmN07iUdvT
there was her.366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsJXtvoIl17
Forevermore.
There were small fights —366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA0HhpbP23c
misunderstandings, moments of silence that felt longer than they should.366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh8m27xyv3w
But I had my way of patching things up.
I would just go near her.366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDm43BnvqFS
Stand beside her.366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ78r1itcESK
Not a single word. No explanations. No apologies.366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRYw0um1e8a
Just presence.
It was my little way of saying,366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrPv5HIJI23
"I’m here. Still here. Through everything. Even if you forget, I won’t."
Maybe she never noticed it.366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ3etBRy9Ys
Maybe she did.366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYmv2EZ9qUx
But I never waited to know.
I did things for her —366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8LGbre5Q5X
small, silly things that would go unnoticed.366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnmwx1mmkbv
Sometimes even the big things,366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQEdu7ooFu7
the kind that pull pieces out of your soul when no one’s watching.
And all the while, I wondered:366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡru1B0r0a35
What even is the line between selfishness and selflessness?
Isn’t wanting to be selfless...366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp87uVLYNSv
a kind of selfishness too?
Was I helping her because I cared?366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfskBl2R5uQ
Or because I wanted her to see that I cared?
Was I doing it all for her happiness?366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg2qxL9uomC
Or for that brief warmth I felt when she smiled because of me?
I guess I’ll never really know.366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoVvTqRpHlu
Maybe the heart doesn’t divide its reasons.366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡys9psFPdin
Maybe it just does what it does.
Meanwhile, preparations for Code Engine had begun.366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTV6MhoEr4S
And to me, skipping academics was the biggest motivator of all.
Making stalls, designing banners, running around with duct tape and dreams —366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkKLLr8lmSM
it wasn’t my thing.366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCDRn8o5Nvm
But it was fun.366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrsZeYbqMot
Mostly because it pulled me away from the routine.
We went class to class,366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVEGX1NzV44
all three campuses, handing out invitations like salesmen of curiosity.366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHN2K0fxqGP
I stood awkwardly outside classrooms while seniors did the talking.
I didn’t mind.366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkZAPzahO06
The wind was cooler outside.366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLM1gPvYbaO
And I was invisible — the way I liked it.
But then... something changed.
People started recognizing me.366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl2O6Ia8BuN
They’d point, whisper, wave.366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUCaLRtLKWs
"Hey, you're Nova, right?"
It was surreal.366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG3hMsFINB0
But I didn’t let it get to my head.
Funny thing is, I only ever found out about most of it366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjuJMiY0niu
from her.
From Forevermore.
Somehow, slowly,366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHvVR5KxhQj
Rudeus became someone.
Someone important.366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5feus5gdJR
Someone known.366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr5VEnKo8h6
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 —366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQVU8PhlESy
the one who stood in silence beside the person he cherished,366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwTxjM2cQ5B
because that was the only language he knew.366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLBFQEe3yni
The boy who questioned every emotion he ever felt.366Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ54oGS4JGln
The boy who just wanted to be a friend who stays.
and then Add to home screen.