On the first day of freshman year, Jiang Heng met Lin Shushu for the first time.
One was quiet and reserved, the other warm and considerate. One seemed difficult to approach, while the other seemed kind to everyone.
They met because a seat happened to be empty, and, thanks to some inexplicable twist of fate, gradually became friends.
Later, they chose different academic tracks.
With a hallway between them, they saw each other now and then and occasionally chatted. Neither made a point of keeping the friendship alive, but they never truly drifted apart.
After graduating from high school, they went to different cities.
They were in touch less often in college, but an unexpected reunion brought them close again.
They ate together, called each other, met up, and shared the little, everyday details of their lives.
They seemed to have always been very good friends.
At least, that's what they both thought.
Then, after graduation, they found themselves at another crossroads in life.
One chose to stay, the other headed for distant horizons.
They drifted apart and reunited, again and again. Some things were said, others were left unsaid, and feelings hidden in those seemingly ordinary days gradually became impossible to ignore.
But neither of them rushed to define their relationship.
After all, they'd known each other for so long that it was hard to say exactly when "liking" each other began.
They only knew that ever since they sat side by side at sixteen, no matter where life took them in the years that followed, they could still hear each other's names in a crowd.
And this time, would they finally understand what they were hearing?
Theme: This story is about the feelings of youth that were never spoken in time, and the long, sincere companionship between people. Some people drift apart, miss their chance, and meet again years later. Rather than write a passionate, whirlwind romance, I wanted to show how two young people gradually discover their place in each other's lives through each time they draw close, leave, and reunite.
