A Broken Promise

[The character “Tong” was once written the same as “together.”

Everyone hopes to share one heart and one path. We once thought that meeting that autumn would be the beginning of walking side by side for years to come.

Ye Zhishu turned around amid the crowds on an autumn hike and caught sight of Bai Yanxun. In that instant, she fell for him, a feeling she would carry for years.

Outside the restroom on the west side, they shared whispered words after evening study. On the night of the autumn equinox, the evening breeze seemed to give its blessing to their love. At the Top Ten Singers competition, one voice sang for one person alone.

They made it through the push and pull of their ambiguous relationship and found a secret place that belonged only to them. They believed their small, enduring acts of companionship could weather every storm.

But love bred cracks, and a moment of confusion led to a mistake that could never be undone.

The two who had once hoped to stay together, heart and soul, eventually went their separate ways.

It turned out that “together” had been nothing but an illusion. Though they met amid a sea of people, they could never reach the same destination.

Their passion began in late autumn; their regrets remained in youth.]