So, I made a humble little plan.
“No backlogs. No regrets. And maybe… just maybe… one conversation with Seren.”97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyYxeyYEciF
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:97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Jf1hYiGaz
Learn C. Not because I had to…97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvGFHyDxqQl
But because I wanted to.
To be better.97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTD4lBNQsUE
To maybe help her with something someday.97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGr2XM2B5ML
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.97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtfulXWC4tv
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…97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHTj0OxSYlQ
If I just stayed quiet, binge-watched anime, and slept all day…97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKLvbbvm2L4
She wasn’t going to magically walk over and talk to me.
I wasn’t good at face-to-face.97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8yTi4sSgb7
But texts? Texts felt safer.97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaQu2xRP7rz
So, like my favorite character from Eminence in Shadow, I stayed hidden.97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI4nMwUaema
My phone which is empty for the first time it's becoming lively.97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9AnjlAyCkz
Replying to doubts in a flash. Quick. Clean. No name. Just help.97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOr7ko1u5dI
Soon enough, people began asking me privately,97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSKbH6vsZUQ
“Who are you?”97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyL74TrCAxG
But not her.
She never messaged.
Still, I stayed active in the group.97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0T4VwILbIH
Hopeful? Maybe.97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd2KBuF9eFs
Desperate? Nah.97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQcca3D4oKT
Romantic? Probably.97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOS2zI4RedM
Delusional? 100%.
Time passed.97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL8BJXCBWja
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.97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcUWSidOhFS
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.97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaDvEHRe8dh
She thanked me. I thought, that’s it. It’s over. Back to shadows.
But she texted again:97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDErRrHXkVx
“Do you know me?”
I grinned. “Maybe,” I replied,97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWf1DL3hfAb
…knowing exactly who she was.
Of course I did.
Her name was Alice.97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM95CipvvI5
But for me, she’ll always be Seren.
We talked. She reminded me of our earlier conversation — back when she was in IT.97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK0UE6Waubb
And I replied:97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY5ZyWXB9pj
“Ohh! Alice? Is this you?”
That opened the door.
We went from talking about college…97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxmbfvihS13
to anime…97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk36juHk2WI
to life.
When I get excited, I forget everything else.97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjbH6iGviNZ
The world disappears. The fan stops spinning.97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc5PuU920Pp
It’s just words. Her texts. My heartbeat.
At one point, we talked about how people call anime “just cartoons.”97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnvYjSMbyKJ
And she said:
“I feel you, bro.”
I don’t know what it meant exactly…97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrTtajUSUim
But at that moment, I didn’t feel invisible.
Now the real question is:
Did I tell her how I feel?97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJf9O8ym4Dp
Did I explain my intentions?97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3zwRCM2ziR
Or did I continue the act… play along…
Let’s just say:97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4phJkpZYCV
We’ll find out if this Fool’s decision… was truly foolish.
and then Add to home screen.