Close at Hand, Yet Never Meeting

Lin Jia'er always seemed timidly wrapped in a gentle mask.

Her family was respectable, but deep down she was insecure and timid. She loved Li Ruiqi and was constantly afraid she wasn't good enough, afraid her flaws would show, afraid she couldn't keep up the appearance of perfection forever.

Li Ruiqi was the campus heartthrob, admired by everyone, and genuinely loved Lin Jia'er. But pride and the need to maintain appearances held him back from expressing his feelings outright.

Chen Wanyi was elegant and gracious, born into wealth. When she met and spoke with Li Ruiqi, she was merely attending a social engagement arranged by her family. She had no romantic feelings for him at all.

But in Lin Jia'er's eyes, Chen Wanyi's effortless poise and ease were impossible to imitate, no matter how hard she tried.

She mistook Chen Wanyi for someone like herself, and assumed Li Ruiqi preferred someone so relaxed and composed.

She secretly ordered a school badge just like Li Ruiqi's. When it was delivered to him, her timidity kept her from stepping forward to claim it;

At the sports meet, she struggled to finish the long-distance race in second-to-last place. Someone gave her a love letter, which she clearly rejected, her eyes secretly turning toward him. But burdened by his heartthrob image, he didn't come over to her;

Every day at lunch, Li Ruiqi secretly slipped gifts into her schoolbag. His love was quietly hidden, and Lin Jia'er never once guessed that he was the one giving them.

Their paths crossed again and again. All it would have taken was one explanation, a little courage.

It was a misunderstanding no one ever cleared up, and the chains each of them carried alone.

There was no villain, no one deliberately driving them apart. She was trapped by timidity, and he was trapped by the need to maintain appearances