A Billion Stars Can’t Amount to You

Ji Yi forcefully held her breath. Her entire body stood there lifelessly, still as a statue.

In actuality, she had only stood there for a few short seconds, but the scenario unfolding in front of her seemed as long and complicated as a century.

She struggled to keep her emotions in check, to not completely lose herself and break down. Little by little, she relaxed her hold on his sleeve and slowly straightened herself up.

She didn’t cry or scream. In fact, she didn’t even say a word. It was like He Jichen wasn’t even standing right in front of her. She turned and headed right out of the alley.

She tried hard to control her feet to avoid embarrassment as she walked, but her feet started to pick up the pace uncontrollably. As she took just a few steps forward, behind her, He Jichen spoke again, ”Oh and if it’s possible, I hope you never show your face in front of me ever again.”

For just a moment, Ji Yi’s legs felt weak. She almost fell to the ground, but in the last second, she quickly made a break for it and rushed out onto the street.

With a single breath, Ji Yi ran for quite a distance before she came to a stop. It was as though she couldn’t feel exhaustion as she stood there by the side of the road, lost in a daze. It wasn’t until she felt the strange gazes of people checking her out that she remembered her shirt was still all ripped up.

His words rang in her ears again and an indescribable pain coursed through her body. Ji Yi lowered her eyes and hurriedly headed back for the school dorms.

As it was almost time for lights off, her roommates were already back in their dorm. When they saw her, they immediately flooded her with questions.

”Ji Yi, did you find your dream guy and confess to him? Any success?”

”Ji Yi, you’re officially dating now, aren’t you? Congratulations...”

”Hm? Ji Yi, what’s wrong with your clothes?”

Ji Yi’s eyes were sore, but she didn’t make a sound. She headed straight for the bathroom, pushed open the door, locked the door behind her, and turned on the tap. With the sound of the running water, she lost all strength in her body and collapsed to the ground. She hung her head between her knees and started to quietly sob.

Her first love, her innocence buried alive, just like that.

Her love hadn’t even started, yet she was already utterly defeated.

-

Since He Jichen told Ji Yi to never appear in front of him again, that’s exactly what she did.

As soon as her college exams ended, Ji Yi, who had lived with her grandma since junior high, prepared to take off. She hadn’t spent her entire youth in that city—she booked a flight back to Beijing, where her parents lived.

The years went by and little changed in the world. In the blink of an eye, it had been four years since Ji Yi arrived in Beijing.

Even whilst in the same city, Ji Yi and He Jichen never crossed paths. In the last four years, the two didn’t run into each other even more so, considering that they were now in separate cities.

-

As October was nearing, Beijing was humid as usual, making people feel suffocated.

Just by going downstairs to pick up her mail and standing outside for no longer than two minutes, Ji Yi was already drenched in sweat.

Ji Yi didn’t like to feel sweaty, so she headed back to her dorm. Before even opening her mail, the first thing she did was grab her towel and pajamas, and jump in the shower.

Her roommates weren’t in, so Ji Yi was the only one left in the dorm. After she came out of the shower and dried her hair, because she was bored, she climbed into bed and continued to watch her movie. After the movie ended, sleepiness came over her. Since it didn’t seem like her roommates had returned, Ji Yi simply put her phone down and shut her eyes to sleep.

Considering she hadn’t set an alarm, Ji Yi took a nice, long nap. She didn’t wake up until she heard her phone ring.