So, I made a humble little plan.
“No backlogs. No regrets. And maybe… just maybe… one conversation with Seren.”131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Hlhy6QSdN
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:131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4W5PSjP5BJ
Learn C. Not because I had to…131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxEAkgHepc4
But because I wanted to.
To be better.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyLviFiDeKx
To maybe help her with something someday.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnXgEfTgpuE
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.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaiI1NV8Aly
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…131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFuqzL0jOd0
If I just stayed quiet, binge-watched anime, and slept all day…131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdBTwJLPUi1
She wasn’t going to magically walk over and talk to me.
I wasn’t good at face-to-face.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcybYIgwEZb
But texts? Texts felt safer.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdvugnp99Xk
So, like my favorite character from Eminence in Shadow, I stayed hidden.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnjwHtxjNMW
My phone which is empty for the first time it's becoming lively.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1nIKoDXICQ
Replying to doubts in a flash. Quick. Clean. No name. Just help.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoDOulKvJYV
Soon enough, people began asking me privately,131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIAXKE7rZuH
“Who are you?”131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAOQGywnOfb
But not her.
She never messaged.
Still, I stayed active in the group.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFAS693kkj3
Hopeful? Maybe.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe861qKwF3X
Desperate? Nah.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqMqlshKh87
Romantic? Probably.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzI2zKNMtCd
Delusional? 100%.
Time passed.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTPNVEl9CEE
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.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqdt1jPr4g8
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.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzLrcI5BSge
She thanked me. I thought, that’s it. It’s over. Back to shadows.
But she texted again:131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe8ctfCniNn
“Do you know me?”
I grinned. “Maybe,” I replied,131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtKtNDEBV5U
…knowing exactly who she was.
Of course I did.
Her name was Alice.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7OQOhhK2CS
But for me, she’ll always be Seren.
We talked. She reminded me of our earlier conversation — back when she was in IT.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUjBNh1cVjP
And I replied:131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtgDSt2t5HD
“Ohh! Alice? Is this you?”
That opened the door.
We went from talking about college…131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmsRxlPKFJR
to anime…131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIObnqnUxMc
to life.
When I get excited, I forget everything else.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ535aybblzx
The world disappears. The fan stops spinning.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1BU2xzDaXp
It’s just words. Her texts. My heartbeat.
At one point, we talked about how people call anime “just cartoons.”131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXxHVhXQtLc
And she said:
“I feel you, bro.”
I don’t know what it meant exactly…131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0OJ0Wto62v
But at that moment, I didn’t feel invisible.
Now the real question is:
Did I tell her how I feel?131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcBtbWhT7bM
Did I explain my intentions?131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2WpuTFQQiH
Or did I continue the act… play along…
Let’s just say:131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE70tuNeH9P
We’ll find out if this Fool’s decision… was truly foolish.
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