“Thank you, mom. Seriously, I couldn’t thank you enough.”

Mei pressed her cell phone closer to her ear as she put the last of her clothes in the luggage. It was still early in the morning and although there was still time before the departure, she was already awake since she hadn’t been able to sleep long that night anyways.

“Luhan just arrived yesterday. You can still make it.”

Mei hadn’t spent the night thinking over these words, she didn’t lay awake to decide whether she should or not, whether it was right or wrong. Once Luhan’s mother had spoken those words out, she had immediately made the decision to follow the woman’s advice to not think too much and to just do it.

Mei had spent the night imagining their reunion. She had imagined his reaction when he saw her standing right in front of him, his surprised expression, his raised brows, his widened eyes; she had imagined how all the surprise and shock would suddenly be replaced by the cute wrinkles around his eyes as his lips slowly formed to a bright smile; she had imagined him stretching out his arms and welcoming her with the same familiar warmness, telling her, “You’ve taken so long, silly.”

And Mei couldn’t wait for it.

There was no need to be scared of anything anymore. She wasn’t scared of Luhan getting back with Lin, she wasn’t scared that he might meet someone else, she wasn’t scared of getting rejected, she wasn’t scared that he might not be in love with her anymore.

A love that caused two lives to change couldn’t fade that easily - a love that had someone at a point where they’d leave their entire world behind for the other. What they had was true love. If it was true then, it was still true now.

“It’s alright, Mei,” she heard her mother speaking and Mei could imagine her sly smile all too well. “You also need to only pay half of the money back. It’s a gift.”

“What? No, I can’t accept that,” the girl protested. “I’ll pay you back everything, mom. I won’t ask you for such a big amount of money and never give it back. When I have a job, I’ll be able to repay everything, so—”

“Just treat me to dinner when I come to visit you next time, that’s all.” The woman’s giggle could be heard slightly through the phone.

“Mom, no, I—”

“I won’t accept a ‘no’. And aren’t you supposed to be packing and going to the airport now instead of discussing this with me when I clearly told you that I won’t change my opinion? I’d be utterly mad if I’d have paid for nothing because we’re wasting time here. Hurry!”

“But—” Mei just perceived another laugh and a “Bye!” before the line went dead. Her mother obviously didn’t want to talk over this anymore, but for her, the topic wasn’t closed yet. Though, Mei didn’t have time to call her back now and pushed this issue behind for calmer times when she had safely arrived in Beijing.

Her mother was right. She needed to hurry.

Mei had made the decision to move on. It didn’t happen automatically. She had to rise up and tell herself that it didn’t matter how hard it was, how disappointed she was, or how wrong it felt – she wouldn’t let this situation get the best of her.

She had decided to move on with her life.

Mei’s gaze fell on the ring which was lying on the bed. It shone brightly in its elegant silver as the sun’s rays illuminated it. With a fond smile, she reached out for it and slid it down her ring finger – there where it belonged. And this time, it felt absolutely right because there was no need to think about an answer anymore. She wasn’t in need of a few weeks to make sure whether she’d be sure in her decision. Mei already knew how to respond to him.

Back then in Tianjin, Luhan was the first one to ever put that ring on her finger. And he would be the last one to do it in front of the altar.

Mei had never known what that kind of love felt like - a love to leave loved ones for, a love to cross countries for. But now that she was feeling it, she had brought up the courage to seize it.

“What’s this supposed to mean?”

Mei froze in her movement for a second, but then picked up where she left off and closed her luggage’s zipper. She had known that this moment would come, that this conversation was inevitable. She had been thinking how and when to start this when the thought of breaking up first broke through her mind in between the blissful ones that revolved around Luhan during nighttime.

Mei clenched her fists and breathed in to gather her thoughts before she turned around to face Ren, who looked at her with a half-suspicious, half-worried gaze. If the suspicion hadn’t been there, only worriedness, it would have been way more difficult than she expected it to be. Not that it would have been easy now at all.

It was never easy to break up with someone who was still in love with you, and whom you, after all, still care about very much.

“I’m going back to Beijing.”

Silence enveloped them, a cold silence that made one freeze although it was a warm summer day, a silence that would cause goose bumps, not because of the coolness, but because of the fear that was sweeping in, the fear of the trembling uncertainty.

“Today.”

Once spoken out, it was more hurtful than repeating it over and over again in one’s mind. Thoughts weren’t hurtful because they could be kept to oneself, locked up in the mind. But words were as sharp as a knife cutting the skin and what’s left was to see the other bleeding.

“No. You’re going back to Luhan.”

It was not a secret between them, that their relationship had been going downhill since they were reunited. It had never been a secret, yet neither of them ever dared speaking it out. Maybe they had been hoping that time would bring them back together, or do the opposite, break them apart for good. And sadly, the latter had taken place.

“It was our summer vacation, Ren. It was our summer vacation that we were supposed to spend together like the past years. But from the very beginning, we didn’t mind that we’d be separated for an entire month. We didn’t mind at all. That’s not how it’s supposed to be. One is supposed to want to stay together all the time.”

There had been times in the beginning when Mei was really longing for Ren and missed him very much, just to realize that he had never felt the same way about her. And somewhere along the way, she started to don’t mind thinking about him less often than before.

With Luhan, everything was different. She wanted to be with him all the time. She always wanted to see him and to hear his voice, waking up to a soft “Good morning” and going to sleep with a tender goodnight kiss. Every day. Now that she had gotten used to his presence, she never wanted to miss it anymore.

This was how it was supposed to be.

“You didn’t mind our separation as well,” Ren told her dryly with a husky voice, and Mei just nodded approvingly.

“Yes, I didn’t mind being separated from you as well. And that was the problem. I should have never gone with Luhan in the first place. But I did,” she admitted and added in a whispering tone, “And I’m glad that I did it.”

“It was my fault.” Ren cut her off. “I should have never asked you to go with him.”

Eagerly, Mei shook her head. She didn’t want Ren to feel guilty, because he was absolutely not. And neither was she. They were just two people who had been in love, but unfortunately found out that they weren’t meant to stay together their whole lifetime.

People grew, they changed, and there was nothing wrong with it. Changes belonged to life. People lived from their experiences, regardless of whether they were good or bad. It helped people to grow and mature, to find out who they are and wher