So, I made a humble little plan.
“No backlogs. No regrets. And maybe… just maybe… one conversation with Seren.”469Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMlAvnFfPml
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:469Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU4kj7fiqnx
Learn C. Not because I had to…469Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCgMBrqzzNm
But because I wanted to.
To be better.469Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7odjAJ6v8G
To maybe help her with something someday.469Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlVoLqmSTZa
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.469Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwcF2qVD4mE
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…469Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2PYKm6JrvD
If I just stayed quiet, binge-watched anime, and slept all day…469Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk8q5TZ7v2h
She wasn’t going to magically walk over and talk to me.
I wasn’t good at face-to-face.469Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6B7miAUn3S
But texts? Texts felt safer.469Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTzTI6snp5g
So, like my favorite character from Eminence in Shadow, I stayed hidden.469Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQX3TBZXzf8
My phone which is empty for the first time it's becoming lively.469Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLikVdfjeB2
Replying to doubts in a flash. Quick. Clean. No name. Just help.469Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡytPohQ8PYM
Soon enough, people began asking me privately,469Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFmYOhX1BzV
“Who are you?”469Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDUgzUyCSi5
But not her.
She never messaged.
Still, I stayed active in the group.469Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡndQoPCmxfP
Hopeful? Maybe.469Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhdwTUME2NY
Desperate? Nah.469Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhNn7rklLQP
Romantic? Probably.469Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnUejK96F4z
Delusional? 100%.
Time passed.469Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoW7uJHxRvK
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.469Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3KJmQt3gn6
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.469Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5eOSil5f4l
She thanked me. I thought, that’s it. It’s over. Back to shadows.
But she texted again:469Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2tl0LY5VCc
“Do you know me?”
I grinned. “Maybe,” I replied,469Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1OfHONB5sI
…knowing exactly who she was.
Of course I did.
Her name was Alice.469Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKV9uvUbIwr
But for me, she’ll always be Seren.
We talked. She reminded me of our earlier conversation — back when she was in IT.469Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPkSQMzWpME
And I replied:469Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI2ZxcrMhG5
“Ohh! Alice? Is this you?”
That opened the door.
We went from talking about college…469Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd4B1CCUE9l
to anime…469Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGz1pdWVPsa
to life.
When I get excited, I forget everything else.469Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ5QXF1lfgA
The world disappears. The fan stops spinning.469Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsEKWn4RjtS
It’s just words. Her texts. My heartbeat.
At one point, we talked about how people call anime “just cartoons.”469Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTktrompnPM
And she said:
“I feel you, bro.”
I don’t know what it meant exactly…469Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCUYw2lrEda
But at that moment, I didn’t feel invisible.
Now the real question is:
Did I tell her how I feel?469Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4fOtueH8SH
Did I explain my intentions?469Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiPMlmPIOAR
Or did I continue the act… play along…
Let’s just say:469Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMBLU250rv1
We’ll find out if this Fool’s decision… was truly foolish.
and then Add to home screen.