ch 4 .The space between us

Xin Ran

The next morning, Qin Yang’s seat was empty.

Xin Ran tried not to react, but her eyes kept drifting to the chair beside her. The minutes passed. Class started. Still nothing.

Maybe he’s late, she told herself.

But when the bell rang and the seat remained empty, something cold settled in her chest.

At lunch, she heard it again—another whisper.

“Qin Yang transferred to the sports committee.”

“He’ll be sitting with them from now on.” " All the girls in sports committee are getting excited to see Qin yang everyday ,so lucky they are !"

Xin Ran froze.

She didn’t look for him after school.

Qin Yang

I didn’t mean to avoid her.

The sports teacher pulled me aside in the morning and changed my seating for practice sessions. By the time I got back, class had already started. I glanced toward Xin Ran’s desk—but she didn’t look up.

At lunch, I searched for her. She wasn’t at the window seat.

Did she leave early?

A strange panic crept in.

Xin Ran

That afternoon, Xin Ran stayed back in the classroom. She told herself she needed to finish notes, but really, she just didn’t want to walk the road where they usually talked.

When she finally left, the sky was already dark.

Someone called her name.

Qin Yang

“Xin Ran!”

She turned, surprised.

For a second, I felt relieved. Then I saw her expression—guarded, careful, like she had already stepped back.

“Why didn’t you come today?” she asked quietly.

Xin Ran

“You didn’t either,” she said before she could stop herself.

He blinked. “I tried.”

The words hung between them.

“I heard you’re sitting somewhere else now,” she added, her voice steady even though her heart wasn’t.

Qin Yang

So that’s what this is about.

“That’s not what I want,” I said quickly. “It was just for practice.”

She looked at me like she wasn’t sure whether to believe me.

Xin Ran

She wanted to believe him.

But believing hurt more than doubting.

“Then why does it feel like you’re moving away?” she asked softly.

The question surprised them both.

Qin Yang

I didn’t have an answer ready.

Because the truth was—I wasn’t moving away. I was standing still, afraid of stepping closer.

“I don’t want to,” I said. “I just don’t know how.”

Her breath caught.

Xin Ran

For the first time, he sounded unsure.

She looked at him, really looked—and realized something strange.

He felt it too.

“I don’t want things to change,” she whispered.

Qin Yang

“But they already have,” I replied.

The silence stretched. Too heavy. Too full.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said again—out of habit, out of fear.

She nodded.

They walked away in opposite directions, both carrying the same thought:

If we keep hesitating…

we might lose each other.

Not strangers.

Not together.

Caught somewhere fragile—

still, painfully… almost.

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