So, I made a humble little plan.
“No backlogs. No regrets. And maybe… just maybe… one conversation with Seren.”95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfh1gubDCJ0
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:95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRPbq4n8vD5
Learn C. Not because I had to…95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGaqwS6JJaO
But because I wanted to.
To be better.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8EVVieC3W4
To maybe help her with something someday.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSDlz62kAGc
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.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ96PvRQYrAX
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…95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlUBKmjs88n
If I just stayed quiet, binge-watched anime, and slept all day…95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr49sJ5Hbyd
She wasn’t going to magically walk over and talk to me.
I wasn’t good at face-to-face.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡarAcYAThai
But texts? Texts felt safer.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNh9jeIJVZu
So, like my favorite character from Eminence in Shadow, I stayed hidden.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa5peKkaRYO
My phone which is empty for the first time it's becoming lively.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtgVZwpPVhe
Replying to doubts in a flash. Quick. Clean. No name. Just help.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6dEN38f7be
Soon enough, people began asking me privately,95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCMf86SVMPs
“Who are you?”95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEJWzHaGd0s
But not her.
She never messaged.
Still, I stayed active in the group.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxsYvo97vi0
Hopeful? Maybe.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuKfczZwmoR
Desperate? Nah.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuaEKheGVnN
Romantic? Probably.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡekZjq5CzWm
Delusional? 100%.
Time passed.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVaSab5qQh0
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.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpQpii7QGZK
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.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRKRgDfyMTA
She thanked me. I thought, that’s it. It’s over. Back to shadows.
But she texted again:95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW0vkI246CP
“Do you know me?”
I grinned. “Maybe,” I replied,95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ89r7Juo3JO
…knowing exactly who she was.
Of course I did.
Her name was Alice.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaQFrersOK2
But for me, she’ll always be Seren.
We talked. She reminded me of our earlier conversation — back when she was in IT.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNHaObUYjCD
And I replied:95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ALsU7KCr0
“Ohh! Alice? Is this you?”
That opened the door.
We went from talking about college…95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4DzBOvcAed
to anime…95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGiX0rowh4j
to life.
When I get excited, I forget everything else.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlHhpzS3pDp
The world disappears. The fan stops spinning.95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9uC58gMjCc
It’s just words. Her texts. My heartbeat.
At one point, we talked about how people call anime “just cartoons.”95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmflirgFikT
And she said:
“I feel you, bro.”
I don’t know what it meant exactly…95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0kOZlZ9s6r
But at that moment, I didn’t feel invisible.
Now the real question is:
Did I tell her how I feel?95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLqyBcYNsll
Did I explain my intentions?95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKrMm89wFWV
Or did I continue the act… play along…
Let’s just say:95Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMv9e4nYBUl
We’ll find out if this Fool’s decision… was truly foolish.
and then Add to home screen.