The sun hung lazily above the clouds as the day melted into afternoon. The scent of chamomile tea drifted in from the balcony, where Yinyin had been trying to distract herself with a book she hadn't turned a single page of.
She heard the soft creak of the front door and a low voice ask, "Can I come in?"
Yinyin didn't turn immediately. "You're already in."
Mingze stepped inside, shutting the door gently behind him. The silence between them stretched until it hummed.
"I figured we should talk," he said finally.
Yinyin closed the book and looked up. Her expression was neutral, too neutral.
Mingze pulled out a chair and sat, leaning slightly forward. "You've been avoiding me."
Yinyin arched an eyebrow. "I've been busy."
"You're always busy when I'm around."
She gave a dry laugh. "And you always show up when I've just started getting my balance back."
"That's not fair—"
"No, Mingze. What's not fair is you showing up again like nothing happened." Her voice cracked. "You were my best friend. My anchor. And then you just… left."
He winced. "I didn't just leave. You know that."
"Do I?" she snapped, standing. "Do I really? Because to me, it felt like one day we were laughing at stupid memes and planning our future… and the next, you were gone. No explanation. No goodbye. Just silence."
Mingze stood too, but his voice remained calm. "You know why I left, Yinyin. I needed space."
"You didn't need to cut me off to find space," she whispered. Her fists were clenched at her sides. "You could've just said something. Anything."
He sighed. "I didn't know how to deal with it. With us. With what I was feeling and what you weren't."
She blinked. "What?"
"You didn't notice," he said, voice low, almost a confession. "But I was in love with you, Yinyin. For years. I thought I could be just your friend, your shadow, your comic relief. But it started to hurt. Every day. Watching you with Lu Chen… watching you smile and never once wonder if I felt something more."
Yinyin was frozen. Her lips parted slightly, but nothing came out.
"And when you left for abroad," he continued, "it broke something in me. You didn't even tell me properly. You just left a message. Said you had to go. That you'd explain later."
Yinyin sat slowly. "Mingze… I—"
He raised a hand. "I'm not telling you this to guilt-trip you. I just… I need you to understand why I became distant. Why I didn't chase after you. Why I built that wall."
The words hung in the air between them, fragile and heavy.
"I thought it would fade," he muttered. "That by the time you came back, maybe I'd be over it. But here we are."
She looked at him. Really looked at him.
"I never knew," she whispered. "I was so caught up in my own world… in Lu Chen… in everything. I didn't see it."
He gave a half-smile. "That's the thing about being the best friend. People forget you have a heart too."
Silence.
"I don't expect anything from you," he said softly. "I just wanted you to know. To clear the air."
Yinyin swallowed the lump in her throat. "Thank you… for telling me. I'm sorry I didn't see it."
He nodded and started to stand, but she reached out and touched his wrist.
"Mingze," she said, her voice raw, "I don't want to lose you. Not again. You were my constant, even when everything else was falling apart. Please… can we at least fix the friendship?"
He looked at her hand on his and smiled—a little sad, a little hopeful.
"We can try."