Part 1: The Person Beside Him
The first snow of winter fell on Beijing the day Gu Chen returned home.
Lin Yuwei stood at the airport arrival gate, clutching a paper cup of coffee that had long gone cold. Around her, families reunited with laughter and tears. Lovers embraced after months apart.
She waited quietly.
After three years overseas, Gu Chen was finally coming back.
The moment she spotted him, her heart betrayed her.
He looked older than before. More mature. Broader shoulders. Sharper features. Yet his smile remained the same—the smile she had spent more than ten years secretly loving.
“Yuwei!”
He waved.
Just one wave.
Yet it made her feel like she was seventeen again.
She walked toward him, trying to appear calm.
“Welcome back.”
“Only that?” Gu Chen laughed.
“What else should I say?”
“I’ve been gone three years.”
Yuwei shrugged.
“And you still owe me money from high school.”
His laughter echoed through the terminal.
“There it is. The Lin Yuwei I know.”
She smiled.
If only he knew.
If only he knew how many nights she had stared at her phone waiting for his messages.
How many times she had replayed old conversations.
How many birthdays she had spent wishing for something impossible.
Because loving Gu Chen was like holding snow in her hands.
Beautiful.
Cold.
And destined to melt away.
⸻
The ride back into the city felt strangely familiar.
Gu Chen talked endlessly.
About work.
About life overseas.
About funny coworkers.
Yuwei listened.
She always listened.
Then suddenly—
“How is Su Wan?”
The question arrived exactly as she expected.
Like a knife she had learned to live with.
Her grip tightened around the steering wheel.
“She’s doing well.”
Gu Chen smiled.
A genuine smile.
The kind Yuwei rarely received.
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Did she ask about me?”
There it was.
The same woman.
The same name.
The same person who had occupied his heart for nearly a decade.
Yuwei forced herself to answer normally.
“Sometimes.”
His eyes brightened.
And Yuwei felt something inside her dim.
⸻
They met Su Wan three days later.
At a restaurant overlooking the city.
Yuwei arrived first.
Then Gu Chen.
Then Su Wan.
The moment Su Wan entered, heads turned.
She was beautiful.
Elegant.
Confident.
The kind of woman who effortlessly attracted attention.
Yuwei had never hated her.
How could she?
Su Wan had never done anything wrong.
The only problem was that Gu Chen loved her.
And not Yuwei.
“Long time no see.”
Su Wan hugged Gu Chen warmly.
Yuwei watched the scene quietly.
The way his eyes softened.
The way his posture changed.
The way happiness seemed to radiate from him.
Love was obvious.
Even when unspoken.
Especially when unspoken.
⸻
Dinner passed pleasantly.
Mostly.
Until Su Wan casually mentioned—
“I’ve been seeing someone.”
Silence.
Yuwei felt it immediately.
The shift.
The disappointment hidden behind Gu Chen’s smile.
“Oh?”
“His name is Zhao Ming.”
The smile remained on Gu Chen’s face.
But Yuwei knew him too well.
Far too well.
She knew exactly when he was hurting.
Because she had spent years doing the same thing.
Pretending.
⸻
After dinner, snow began falling again.
Su Wan left first.
Soon only Yuwei and Gu Chen remained.
They walked slowly through the white-covered streets.
Neither spoke.
Finally—
“She’s happy.”
Gu Chen’s voice sounded distant.
Yuwei looked ahead.
“Yes.”
“That’s good.”
She almost laughed.
Because those were exactly the words people said when their hearts were breaking.
“It’s okay to be sad.”
He smiled bitterly.
“Am I that obvious?”
“To me?”
She paused.
“Always.”
For a moment, Gu Chen looked at her.
Really looked at her.
Not as a childhood friend.
Not as someone convenient.
Not as the person who was always there.
Just—
Looked.
And Yuwei’s heart skipped.
Then he smiled.
The moment vanished.
“Thank you.”
The words hurt more than they should.
Because after ten years—
She was still receiving gratitude instead of love.
⸻
That night, Yuwei stood alone on her apartment balcony.
Snowflakes landed softly on her hair.
Her phone vibrated.
A message from Gu Chen.
Thank you for today.
She stared at the screen.
Then typed:
Of course.
After all.
What else could she say?
That she loved him?
That she had loved him for ten years?
That every smile he gave another woman shattered her heart a little?
No.
Some feelings were never meant to be spoken.
Some people were never meant to know.
And some loves existed only to teach you how to let go.
Yuwei looked at the snowy city below.
For the first time in years—
She wondered if it was time to stop waiting.
Because perhaps the hardest part of unrequited love wasn’t rejection.
It was hope.
The tiny, stubborn hope that refused to die.
And maybe—
Just maybe—
It was finally time to say goodbye to it.
