The Pixelated Panda

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your university experience had been lackluster so to say. you were the type of person who was only focused on your academics during your school life. that’s not to say that you didn’t have a social life because you did. but you just put that at the bottom of your priority list. you always read those romance novels as guilty pleasures and scrolled through tumblr looking for x reader fics. so it's safe to say that you were a hopeless romantic. all that hardwork and chastity payed off as you got into one of the most prestigious universities in your country.

you imagined your college life. all the new friends, new oppurtunities to find romance. a casual fling at one of the greek like parties, or a serious relationship after a meet cute at the campus' historical library. you planned it in your head. how you'll meet someone, or finally learn how to have casual-no-strings-attached relationships. matter of fact, all of those remained as that, plans in your head. in reality, the life at your university was chasing the newest deadlines, or compteting against your very ambitious classmates for the esteemed intership. this left you a but frustrated. you wanted to experience what romance feels like. what it feels like to be attracted to someone.

you thought the universe has some kind of beef with you. you really only asked for one thing; to know what it feels like to be in love. and feel it you did. with your bestfriend of three years no less. you met him during the orientation in your freshman year. he was struggling to keep his too-large-gor-his-face glasses from sliding off. he was standing in a corner, avoiding socializing. you don't know why, but you walked towards him and introduced yourself. and the rest was history.

you realized that you might have a crush on your bestfriend. he was a complete nerd. just like you. he was an introvert, stoic, and handsome. so fricking handsome. you always wondered how girls weren't trying to get with him. maybe his cold demeanor or his shyness doesn't do him any favours. and maybe most girls weren't really interested in his rants about keynasian economics or digimon. but you weren't any different. you always rejected the guys who asked you out citing that you didn't feel like you were "attracted to them". you debated if you were just not into men, but you realized that you were. you had all those fictional crushes from the trashy romances you read. you pondered if you'll ever meet someone. but what you didn't expect was to find yourself falling for your bestfriend during one of your board game nights.

this realization came with dread. that confessing might sabotage your friendship. what if he doesn't feel the same way. or what if we break up and start hating each other. this dread didn't last you long because you decided to get over your feelings and move on. maybe this is your only shot at romance but you can't lose your bestfriend. then began the saga of you avoiding him. your friends were quick to catch on, quicker than him. and they were witty enough to also pick up on the reason you were doing that. but he remained oblivious.

you were having a discussion after class with your friend tara. she was talking about how she was completely lost during today's discussion as she didn't finish the readings. you were half-listening and half-pondering about what the frick you were even doing with your life. she realizes that and suddenly her voice changes.

"are you daydreaming about him?" she quickly whisphers at you. "that's so cute", she gushes.

that brings you out of your stupor and your eyes immediately widen.

"of course not!" you scoff and tara cackles like she heard the biggest joke of the century while you feel your face heat up. great, now your friends will keep teasing you forever.

"and stop bringing that up. it's done, i'm getting over him," you said doubtfully.

"huh, why would you wanna move on?" she asked suddenly with a serious expression.

"uh because it would ruin our friendship?" you retorted back at her.

"okay, you're just as oblivious as him. i know that i shouldn't meddle because it's too much fun to tease you, but he's been in love with you since our freshman year. i can see it, all of our friends can see it, and even harper the librarian can see it." she said in a matter-of-fact-ly way.

"that's not true! i would have noticed if he was into me". you weren't going to just believe her, he never gave any hints that he liked you as more than a friend.

"oh my sweet summer child, please believe me. think back to all of the times he put you first above everyone else. he's an idiot in love and so are you." she said as she picks up her laptop.

looking back, you realized that tara might be right. he was always putting you first. always there for you when you needed him. and always knew what you were feeling and thinking. huh, so has your bestfriend been in love with you all along?

kallu kallu plussu, vallu veellu minus

you caught his eyes just as you were gathering up your things to leave your organic chemistry class. he looked straight into your eyes. for a moment you forgot that you were in a classroom, surrounded by the student body of a prestigious institute. it was just him and you. you. and him. his eyes. and your eyes. you forgot that the rest of the world existed. oh so he was in love with you. it wasn't just a one-sided romance.

it was a week later, both of you were walking hand in hand to your next class. that night after tara made you realize that you were both idiots in love, and you had that rom-com moment of staring into each others eyes, you confessed to each other. it wasn't dramatic or over the top. you just talked about how you genuinely felt about each other. a week later now, you were dating. a couple. you and him. you had a boyfriend. and you were someone's girlfriend. you thought you would never get used to this feeling. whenever you look at him across the campus, you feel the adrenaline rush.

"we will go to that thai place after the class, just like we planned right?", he asked you cutely.

"yeah of course." you replied and left to find your group.

this class had seating arrangements, mainly because your professor picked groups at random to do all the assignments together for the whole semester. as you were listening to the class, you felt drowsy. you were honestly bored, so you started doodling on your notebook. you feel someone patting your shoulder to get your attention. when you turned around, they passed a note to you.

i really want to kiss you rn : 3

you immediately felt yourself blushing at the note. you turned around to look at your nerdy boyfriend. when did he get this bold? where was the shy nerd that you knew for 3 years now? you couldn't control the small smile that remained on your face.

after class you ended up at your place, thai food containers sprayed all over your coffee table, half-eaten. you were straddling your boyfriend. his large glasses crooked, his mair messy, he looked at up at you. you kissed him like he was being drafted to war any moment now. he whimpered into your mouth.

vollu vollu into chesethi equations

ila ila vuntey equal to infatuation

you woke up the next morning to him in your bed, staring at you. you groan and pull away from him to get your day started. he holds your waist to keep you from leaving.

"please stay. i want to stay like this for a while." he looked so innocent. his doe eyes staring at you expectantly. his voice deep and husky from sleep, but also gentle. you stay back. academics can wait.

dhooralaki metre lanta, bharaniki kg lanta, korikalaki kolamanam ee janta

you joined your friends at tara's place for a movie night. all of your friends were talking about some random incident that happened last week. you were helping dylan set up the popcorn and snacks as you feel your boyfriend stand right beside you. you immediately give him a peck and get back to work. emily, one of your friends noticed that.

"you guys are like couple goals you know?"

everybody's attention is suddenly on the two of you. you felt your boyfriend moving closer to you and noticed his face heating up.

"yeah i agree." another one of your friends adds. everyone else nods and they go back to debating about what movies to watch. yeah maybe you were couple goals.

centigrade saripodhanta, farenheit pani cheydanta, vayasu vedi kolavalante thanta

you never expected your boyfriend to be so horny. you would dolled up to go out, he would be all over you. you would be just laying around you house in old pjs and he still finds it attractive. you would answer something correctly in the class, best believe he is dragging you into the nearest private space for a quickie. you thought you would get an idea about what turns him on but apparently everything you do does.

letha letha prayalu lona, anthe leni akarshana, ardam kadu ee science ki ayina.

you were bunnies, always going at it. you wondered if your boyfriend could ever be satiated completely because he is always getting bricked up when you just compliment him. you didn't understand how it was physically possible for him to have such stamina, and for him be to be so into you. you wondered if you might have to do some kind of study on him, to get to the bottom of this, because the existing science really didn't have the explanation for this.

paiki visirinadhi kinda padunu ani kalipe gravitation, paina kinda thalakindhu louthadi infatuation

you also didn't understand how much you loved him. you were a science student. you were someone who understood things like gravitation and evolution, but you didn't understand how love came to be. how did you end up loving someone so deeply? what's the theory behind this? you wondered whenever you were contemplating your love for your boyfriend.

pusthakala purugulu rendanta eedu kochenanta, avi aksharala chekkara thinthu mymarichenanta

at graduation you realized something. you were both the opposites, but also the same thing. you didn't feel like elaborating on that. both of you fell in love, way before even the both of you realized. over your shared classes, shared study sessions, shared hobbies. you wondered if it happened that one night during your sophomore year, when you were both cramming for a biology test. you were both so anxious that you wouldn't score well, so you decided to pull an all-nighter at his place. you remember now, how you both feel asleep together, too tired from studying. backs against his bed, thighs touching, books in hand, your head on his shoulder, him leaning back against his bed. maybe that's when you fell in love. entranced in your books. just like the nerds you are. and maybe that's why you'll keep falling for each other, because you're similar but also completely opposite, and science says that opposites attract each other. maybe science can explain some points about love.

i hope y'all like this. i didn't edit it tbh so ignore any grammatical mistakes. and i do know that science can explain love etc but i just wanted to stick to the lyrics a bit so i glossed over that fact.

here's the translation:

kallu kallu plussu, vallu veellu minus - literal translation is eyes plus eyes, minus everyone else

vollu vollu into chesethi equations - body x body, solving this equation

ila ila vuntey equal to infatuation - all of this is equal to infatuation

dhooralaki metre lanta, bharaniki kg lanta, korikalaki kolamanam ee janta - metre is used to measure distance, kg is used to measure weights, to measure desires, you need to use this couple. (they're saying that this couple is literally what everyone desires)

centigrade saripodhanta, farenheit pani cheydanta, vayasu vedi kolavalante thanta - centrigade won't be enough, farenheit won't work, to measure the heat of hormones/youth is a struggle (alluding to like measuring horniness ig lol)

letha letha prayalu lona, anthe leni akarshana, ardam kadu ee science ki ayina. - these tender times lead to endless attraction, even the science cannot understand it (they're alluding to being adolscents/young adults who wear their hearts on their sleeves, easily fall for each other etc)

paiki visirinadhi kinda padunu ani kalipe gravitation, paina kinda thalakindhu louthadi infatuation - gravitation says that, something which is thrown upwards, falls down, but if it feels like it's going topsy-turvy it's infatuation

pusthakala purugulu rendanta eedu kochenanta, avi aksharala chekkara thinthu mymarichenanta - two bookworms/ nerds have come of age, and they fell in love while eating the sugar of letters.

oof this was hard, i hate the way i translated these lyrics ngl. anyways i hope this made sense lol.

p.s. i was reminded of zayne from lads when i listened to this song recently and that's where i got the inspo for this fic.