I was going steady.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXiqMztFtdz
Nothing too grand, nothing too heavy.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNOtd0MUQox
Just... life. With a little joy stitched into the seams.
Academics, Thub, labs, scattered exams —74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4dMn3JCWM5
it was all a beautiful mess.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUfhh06xYwk
Filled with tension, doubts, and the classic "why should I care" moments.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyVuuLxA9Dd
A delicate dance between chaos and comfort.
And somewhere in between,74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡifgpjHx5AH
there was her.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFBF7lTbYDP
Forevermore.
There were small fights —74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKIsS5VGLcf
misunderstandings, moments of silence that felt longer than they should.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1WgsRHHrxl
But I had my way of patching things up.
I would just go near her.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡByMUgzJh7i
Stand beside her.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVdgdGhd6fq
Not a single word. No explanations. No apologies.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFLhQ0KJp3M
Just presence.
It was my little way of saying,74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPWJTl28Rsn
"I’m here. Still here. Through everything. Even if you forget, I won’t."
Maybe she never noticed it.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrJ3u8d1JmG
Maybe she did.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNga99ZjUKz
But I never waited to know.
I did things for her —74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIULzk27HSL
small, silly things that would go unnoticed.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvoXbI5Kw14
Sometimes even the big things,74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9cmz2vDj5W
the kind that pull pieces out of your soul when no one’s watching.
And all the while, I wondered:74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIhaV0EmfIo
What even is the line between selfishness and selflessness?
Isn’t wanting to be selfless...74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3txJLfo2UB
a kind of selfishness too?
Was I helping her because I cared?74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡspjg6HKjRB
Or because I wanted her to see that I cared?
Was I doing it all for her happiness?74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVkrAM4kc4J
Or for that brief warmth I felt when she smiled because of me?
I guess I’ll never really know.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO2cV0sFZ6N
Maybe the heart doesn’t divide its reasons.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMGKr3rHYdi
Maybe it just does what it does.
Meanwhile, preparations for Code Engine had begun.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnlRt8XHth5
And to me, skipping academics was the biggest motivator of all.
Making stalls, designing banners, running around with duct tape and dreams —74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Smjeqzaek
it wasn’t my thing.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlmvE4WKfgw
But it was fun.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPQROD8FD1H
Mostly because it pulled me away from the routine.
We went class to class,74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU0kyB0MaqT
all three campuses, handing out invitations like salesmen of curiosity.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaVP9RWRL7E
I stood awkwardly outside classrooms while seniors did the talking.
I didn’t mind.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqJeSfa09ID
The wind was cooler outside.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIYatM6y2a6
And I was invisible — the way I liked it.
But then... something changed.
People started recognizing me.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡizZ50BiO7S
They’d point, whisper, wave.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs5QLIMIh3i
"Hey, you're Nova, right?"
It was surreal.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA0wV6bbJ5H
But I didn’t let it get to my head.
Funny thing is, I only ever found out about most of it74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKNxxcg2WZ4
from her.
From Forevermore.
Somehow, slowly,74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdkwzR6OJO0
Rudeus became someone.
Someone important.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuwwgp0S84R
Someone known.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhiAag0sfCe
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 —74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv2BPn0oaWC
the one who stood in silence beside the person he cherished,74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1y6oCP32T9
because that was the only language he knew.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡICK0osby9S
The boy who questioned every emotion he ever felt.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJQ40VgcMni
The boy who just wanted to be a friend who stays.
and then Add to home screen.