Long Time No See

[Due to schoolwork, updates will probably be one or two chapters a week]

My tangled fate with Zhou Feiran began when I left without saying goodbye.

On April 1, April Fools' Day, I boarded a train to Yuning without even saying goodbye to him.

I thought our paths had finally parted, but when I returned to school in my second year of high school, I ran into Zhou Feiran in the security office. I'd accidentally set my alarm wrong and been forced to get up early.

After three years apart, perhaps our reunion should have been a little more dignified.

But all I said was, "Long time no see."

So I thought that would be the only time we'd meet in this lifetime.

I never expected him to become my tenant. My back was against the wall, and his face was right in front of me.

"Don't you think we should talk?" Three years later, he finally found the chance to say it.

Later, during a game of Truth or Dare, it was my turn to answer a particularly difficult question.

[91. Who are you most grateful to?]

I named a lot of people, and mentioned him last.

I said, "Thank you for being so good to me."

At the time, I wished I'd drawn question 100 instead.

But later, he boarded a plane overseas and left without a word.

Before he went, he left me a string of garbled characters. He said he hoped I'd get into the computer science department, and that this would be my reward.

I hid the note at the back of a drawer.

Zhou Feiran, this time, I'm not the one who broke our promise first.

Many years later, I bumped into him at a convenience store, and we shared an iced coffee.

He asked how I'd been lately. I told him I'd gotten into the computer science department, just as I'd hoped.

I realized that all I was thinking about was how good the iced coffee tasted, how beautiful the sunset was, and how lovely the song in my earphones sounded.

There was no sign of Zhou Feiran in my thoughts.

Then I finished my iced coffee, pushed open the convenience store door, and walked out.

There was no rekindling an old romance. We'd simply gone a long time without seeing each other, and all the questions we'd once wanted to ask had become small talk.

But Zhou Feiran just wouldn't give up, and so the next time we played Truth or Dare, I finally drew question 100.

[100. What are you thinking about right now?]

Holding the hand of the person I'd secretly loved seven years ago, I could finally say, "Zhou Feiran, I'm thinking of you."

1. I'm still a student, so update times are irregular.

2. One-on-one romance, mutual feelings in bold, and a guaranteed happy ending, though there may be a few bumps along the way.

3. Written in first person.

4. Slow burn, truly super slow, with an incredibly slow romance.

5. Suggested song: "Just Say Hello" by Gan Caopian r.

Theme: Love means not wanting to let go.