So, I made a humble little plan.
“No backlogs. No regrets. And maybe… just maybe… one conversation with Seren.”187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6MVUOf0DDQ
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:187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlqcH47pOEA
Learn C. Not because I had to…187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8k9AxM6Da1
But because I wanted to.
To be better.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcGCcXgC0l8
To maybe help her with something someday.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsL0Rs8HNRV
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.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhXA63smZ6M
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…187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnuIm47B8zJ
If I just stayed quiet, binge-watched anime, and slept all day…187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpQNQNmFJUS
She wasn’t going to magically walk over and talk to me.
I wasn’t good at face-to-face.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVGiPSUTIv9
But texts? Texts felt safer.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCDs1jJvJgV
So, like my favorite character from Eminence in Shadow, I stayed hidden.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLd39zX2dyr
My phone which is empty for the first time it's becoming lively.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡscXwVJMI6X
Replying to doubts in a flash. Quick. Clean. No name. Just help.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3BAujzg6KB
Soon enough, people began asking me privately,187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvayJAx2wx8
“Who are you?”187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiR9aK0SY0x
But not her.
She never messaged.
Still, I stayed active in the group.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnv3Kds5dXf
Hopeful? Maybe.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxoIQCSSONw
Desperate? Nah.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKVtJlzkjGk
Romantic? Probably.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ0XLaUKTW3
Delusional? 100%.
Time passed.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH4zWfbUz2n
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.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOnh2PHW4ed
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.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYcswsNfnQH
She thanked me. I thought, that’s it. It’s over. Back to shadows.
But she texted again:187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkphPGOVWR8
“Do you know me?”
I grinned. “Maybe,” I replied,187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡILoJRbdP6g
…knowing exactly who she was.
Of course I did.
Her name was Alice.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWLkI0rWYH8
But for me, she’ll always be Seren.
We talked. She reminded me of our earlier conversation — back when she was in IT.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeeeTFKAyJX
And I replied:187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2tKHfLckcp
“Ohh! Alice? Is this you?”
That opened the door.
We went from talking about college…187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeL5iKh9r4i
to anime…187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZf6mYdDcxy
to life.
When I get excited, I forget everything else.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMPO2Zn35o5
The world disappears. The fan stops spinning.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFL87jpCo4j
It’s just words. Her texts. My heartbeat.
At one point, we talked about how people call anime “just cartoons.”187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDGZsk3N7TE
And she said:
“I feel you, bro.”
I don’t know what it meant exactly…187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrWo0UATG8m
But at that moment, I didn’t feel invisible.
Now the real question is:
Did I tell her how I feel?187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtDd3qc2Ry9
Did I explain my intentions?187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPZeXpMr8jY
Or did I continue the act… play along…
Let’s just say:187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMuLckqXISa
We’ll find out if this Fool’s decision… was truly foolish.
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