One Step Short of Forever

People often say that life can start over. In truth, people live on the foundation of everything they’ve accumulated in the past. It can’t be changed so easily. There’s no need to rebuild the blocks that have been knocked down. Just keep stacking them securely, and one day they’ll take the shape you hoped for.”

I looked at NANA, then at him, and for the first time seriously wondered whether we could be together forever.

Everyone carries traces of affection, some deep and some faint, throughout their lives. In this endlessly winding world, every step forward is a resolute one that cannot be taken back.

This is simply a story about two people who can’t forget the past meeting and falling in love. That past may have been about love, or it may have had nothing to do with love.

I only hope that the person who couldn’t take that final step can wait until the day they take a step toward themselves.

Ji Lin carries the weight of the past and has prepared an ending for herself. She doesn’t try very hard, but she still moves forward, one step at a time. She never expected Qiu Cun to appear along the way. Fortunately, he didn’t throw her off course. After all, there’s more to living than love.

This is just a story I’m telling. For the first time, I’ve dared to tell it to myself: the story whose ending I never got to see. Let me tell it slowly, and listen to it carefully. Maybe I’ll understand, at last, the things I couldn’t understand when I was so very young. Or maybe I’ll keep stumbling along, even more fearless than I was when I couldn’t stop.

For the girl who once shared my dream: even though we’ve become strangers, I still think of you now and then, and I’m deeply grateful from the bottom of my heart. Thank you for giving me something I can never forget.

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