I was going steady.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYIAta7g3aD
Nothing too grand, nothing too heavy.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPzx0hAlQMm
Just... life. With a little joy stitched into the seams.
Academics, Thub, labs, scattered exams —70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsvMg19xQnd
it was all a beautiful mess.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtEbPm3b8mI
Filled with tension, doubts, and the classic "why should I care" moments.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2CqGN7Hfvn
A delicate dance between chaos and comfort.
And somewhere in between,70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0SJfhyAX4n
there was her.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiTjMfy6KqC
Forevermore.
There were small fights —70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEB3YR1z2AC
misunderstandings, moments of silence that felt longer than they should.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJDsPoseuHO
But I had my way of patching things up.
I would just go near her.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj9P5kavoD9
Stand beside her.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfIjTdbwmCd
Not a single word. No explanations. No apologies.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDSAVzwxlPd
Just presence.
It was my little way of saying,70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdn5wN2xwzF
"I’m here. Still here. Through everything. Even if you forget, I won’t."
Maybe she never noticed it.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgV3LipzBNy
Maybe she did.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmap5bCTAhY
But I never waited to know.
I did things for her —70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsNwlapWmph
small, silly things that would go unnoticed.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKkZkgS6wct
Sometimes even the big things,70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMESbPzYtEQ
the kind that pull pieces out of your soul when no one’s watching.
And all the while, I wondered:70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV29jbhuaNY
What even is the line between selfishness and selflessness?
Isn’t wanting to be selfless...70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqrWn9400nD
a kind of selfishness too?
Was I helping her because I cared?70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA4PCFwuyLm
Or because I wanted her to see that I cared?
Was I doing it all for her happiness?70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQhbbiLvmtF
Or for that brief warmth I felt when she smiled because of me?
I guess I’ll never really know.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡafbJtMwW3B
Maybe the heart doesn’t divide its reasons.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPGzYp2MNBH
Maybe it just does what it does.
Meanwhile, preparations for Code Engine had begun.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpB9xMtHDGf
And to me, skipping academics was the biggest motivator of all.
Making stalls, designing banners, running around with duct tape and dreams —70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ3qKtEtA0R
it wasn’t my thing.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf0X77eu4tG
But it was fun.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbPqMopHlTi
Mostly because it pulled me away from the routine.
We went class to class,70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIxMlAGAtUA
all three campuses, handing out invitations like salesmen of curiosity.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Bv2aCBkyK
I stood awkwardly outside classrooms while seniors did the talking.
I didn’t mind.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVfvZPRGJ9R
The wind was cooler outside.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMCmwDCoEj0
And I was invisible — the way I liked it.
But then... something changed.
People started recognizing me.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡikCdO4eWEh
They’d point, whisper, wave.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡth26NEYYIO
"Hey, you're Nova, right?"
It was surreal.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZnFEvbh4vl
But I didn’t let it get to my head.
Funny thing is, I only ever found out about most of it70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrRQ7okFHKI
from her.
From Forevermore.
Somehow, slowly,70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZUIyjUWBhv
Rudeus became someone.
Someone important.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOtfnnvb2ZE
Someone known.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnjjRJPpBA1
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 —70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBRqqX6AK4m
the one who stood in silence beside the person he cherished,70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmscE0dmPDP
because that was the only language he knew.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAmCC1KvVXO
The boy who questioned every emotion he ever felt.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyHoffiOBN4
The boy who just wanted to be a friend who stays.
and then Add to home screen.