A Billion Stars Can’t Amount to You

Right after the bathroom door closed, the sound of running water was heard.

Soon enough, that sound stopped and the room slipped into silence. In one short minute, the bathroom door opened and He Jichen emerged from inside.

Like before, Ji Yi kept her eyes shut, but she could clearly hear He Jichen’s footsteps getting closer to the side of the bed. Eventually, he stopped by the balcony.

For a short while, it was silent again. Then Ji Yi heard rustling noises and realized that He Jichen was putting his clothes on when she heard a belt being buckled.

Ji Yi knew that with He Jichen’s departure this time, they would never have anything to do with each other again.

She really wanted to open her eyes and ask him, ”Could you not leave Beijing?”

But she knew that she couldn’t do that. Last night, they weren’t supposed to have sex - she already hurt his wife, so she couldn’t make another mistake like that. All she could do was pretend everything that happened last night was all just a dream. Waking up from her dream, all she could do was force herself to endure the pain in her heart and pretend to not know what he was doing at that moment. She laid quietly in bed like she was still sleeping and let him leave.

As the sound of him getting dressed endlessly drilled into her ears, Ji Yi couldn’t help but pinch the bedsheets even harder.

Eventually, the silence in the room returned. Ji Yi knew He Jichen was done getting dressed. Her hands couldn’t help but start to tremble gently.

Fully dressed, He Jichen lingered in the room for just half a minute before he walked over to the door.

Ji Yi heard his footsteps moving further and further away. Tears finally poured from the corners of her tightly shut eyes.

She heard the sound of the doorknob turning and knew he had already walked up to the front door. She suddenly bit the corner of the sheets to muffle her own mouth then started to cry silently.

The door was silent for a while before she heard the sound of footsteps again. She knew it meant he had walked out the door. She curled her body into a ball and her face was drenched in tears as she trembled violently.

He took just two steps before the doorway fell silent again. This time, a long time passed before a soft ”kacha” came from the door. Ji Yi knew He Jichen had closed the door behind him.

She abruptly flung the covers off like she had been electrocuted then jumped out of bed completely naked and headed over to the door. She stared blankly at the door for a while then crouched down as though she lost the whole world and sobbed helplessly.

He was gone. He left her with only ”Wish you all the best.”

Tonight, their story had come to a full stop.

As the sound of Ji Yi’s cries got louder and louder, a slurred name escaped her mouth.

”Jichen, Jichen, Jichen, Jichen...”

She cried over and over again until the pain penetrated her heart, until her heart broke.

We’re still so young. We still have really long lives ahead of us, yet we’ll be spending it with other people. It seems like our time together ends right here.

He Jichen, I really wanted to stay within your radius. I don’t mind if you love me or not.

He Jichen, I love you.

He Jichen, goodbye.