Chapter 6 Almost Face-to-Face
My heart was pounding so hard it felt like it would jump out of my throat.
The footsteps stopped abruptly.
“I’ll head out first.” Shen Xiuming didn’t keep walking toward me. “Something came up suddenly.”
“Hey! You promised to play ball with the guys tonight, and now you’re ditching us again!”
“You guys go ahead. Dinner’s on me. I’m picking someone up at the airport.”
“Oh~~ I get it. Say hi to Qiao Zhi for me.”
“Don’t you have her number? Ask her yourself.”
“Tch. Go on, go on, you heartless guy who forgets his friends for a girl!”
...
I crouched down and picked up the books that had fallen one by one. A pair of sneakers appeared in my view.
“Little classmate, need a hand?”
A young man in casual sportswear bent over, looking at me with amusement.
It was Chen Xu, the math professor. Shen Xiuming’s friend.
I stood up, thanked him, hugged the books to my chest, and bolted.
Even when I walked out of the library, my heart was still racing.
I pulled out my phone. Sure enough—
A huge red exclamation mark sat in the chat box.
The message I sent earlier failed to go through!
I let out a long breath. For the first time in my life, I was grateful for the library’s terrible signal.
Otherwise I would have walked right into him.
Still shaken, I plopped down on the library steps.
Couples and groups walked past me. Early autumn wind lifted the fallen leaves around my feet.
From their conversation, I heard Shen Xiuming was going to pick up his returning partner, Qiao Zhi.
I opened the chat with Brand and deleted the three carefully worded lines I had typed, word by word.
Even the ones saved in my notes—I deleted them all.
My phone suddenly popped up a calendar reminder: Tonight at midnight, the largest Leonid meteor shower in five years would appear over North City.
We had once promised to watch the meteors under the same sky.
He would keep voice chat on and tell me about the birth and death of stars, the evolution of the universe...
Did none of it count anymore?
I wasn’t willing to accept it.
Without hesitating for a second, I tapped Brand’s avatar again and sent everything I wanted to say in one rush.
【Brand, I was actually planning to ask to meet today. But I backed out at the last minute.】
【We’re pretty close in distance. But you... feel so far away...】
【I’ve never regretted the time we spent talking. Every morning I woke up looking forward to your messages.】
【I want to tell you—I’m just a very ordinary, average girl. Not as good as you imagine.】
【Professor Shen, nice to meet you in person. I’m Cen Cen.】
【Maybe... we could give it a try...】
One minute.
One minute thirty seconds. No reply...
The conversation I overheard earlier echoed in my ears:
【I could never be interested in a little kid.】
【I heard your academic partner from abroad is coming back? This time it’s also for her...】
Online, Brand was always gentle and warm, spoiling me, coaxing me. Every minute felt like spring breeze.
Just seeing his name flash on the screen made early classes bearable.
But in real life, Shen Xiuming was aloof and restrained, unsmiling, someone only to be admired from afar.
Someone like me—who struggled even with classical physics—might manage a few sentences with him online.
But in reality...
How could I ever compare to his academic partner who could stand side by side with him, sharing the same ambitions?
Rip away the thin veil of online romance between us.
There was nothing left.
One minute fifty-five seconds...
One minute fifty-nine seconds—
Before he could respond, I hit Recall on the messages.
Then I typed two new lines:
【Brand, thank you for the company and the tutoring. I think there’s no need for us to waste each other’s time anymore.】
I gripped the phone tightly, holding back the sourness in my chest.
【I’m going back to real life. I wish you all the best.】
Finally, I blocked Brand on every possible contact.
My heart felt numb.