10
12.19
One year later.
I returned from the coast to attend a youth project awards ceremony.
The event was held at Northwood University.
My old university.
After the ceremony, I took a walk around campus by myself.
The lecture halls were just as old as I remembered, their glass windows reflecting the golden light of dusk.
was passing the third floor of Building A when I heard someone playing the piano in a nearby classroom.
The melody was soft, like a practice etude.
I stood at the door, but I didn’t go in.
When the music stopped, the person inside looked up and saw me.
It was him.
Leo.
He was thinner, and a quietness surrounded him that hadn’t been there before.
The moment he saw me, he didn’t get excited. He didn’t call out my name.
He just offered a faint smile. “You’re back.”
I nodded.
He looked down, gathering his sheet music. “Here for a lecture?”
“Here to get an award,” I replied with a smile. “You?”
“I’m in a teacher–in–training program. Just back on campus for a refresher course.”
Neither of us mentioned the past.
Perhaps we both knew that everything that needed to be said, to be felt, to be broken, was long gone.
As we were walking out of the building, he said softly, “You know, I’ve been watching you.”
“The project you did abroad, the papers you published, even the pictures of the cat at that guesthouse you moved into… I know all of it.”
“I saw everything. I just… didn’t dare to bother you anymore.”
I was silent for a few seconds. “You’ve changed a lot.”
He nodded. “You have too. You’re better.”
The comments didn’t appear.
Before we parted ways, he hesitated for a long time before finally speaking. “If only… if only it had been a little sooner.”
Chapter 2
1219
I smiled gently. “If only I had fallen for you a little later, maybe it wouldn’t have hurt so much.”
He didn’t say anything else, just looked down and gave a small, sad smile.
The wind blew through the doorway. He stood there, looking just like the boy I had chased so desperately all those years ago.
But this time, I didn’t chase him.
I didn’t need to.
I turned and walked away. The sun was warm on my back, and the wind lifted the hem of my coat.
My phone vibrated. It was an invitation for a new project.
I answered the call as I walked toward the school gates.
There were no footsteps behind me.
And I never looked back.
(The End)
