Until My Soul Finds You Again - Chapter 15

Love is beautiful.

But love is also frightening.

Because the person who gives you the greatest happiness…

Is often the only one capable of breaking your heart.

Ironically, the biggest storms rarely begin with something important.

They begin with something small.

So small that neither person realizes it will change everything.

For several days, Su Qingyi had been staying late at the university to complete a group presentation.

The workload was overwhelming.

Most evenings ended long after sunset.

One night, Chen Mo called at eight o’clock.

She didn’t answer.

He called again an hour later.

Still nothing.

By the time her call finally returned, it was already half past ten.

“I’m sorry.”

Her voice carried obvious exhaustion.

“We were still working on the project.”

“With Zhou Yu?”

The question slipped out before Chen Mo could stop himself.

A quiet sigh came from the other end.

“Chen Mo…”

“Not this again.”

“I’m only asking.”

“No.”

“You aren’t.”

“You’re doubting me.”

He immediately shook his head.

“I trust you.”

“But?”

She already knew what would come next.

“I don’t like another man spending more time with you than I do.”

Su Qingyi pinched the bridge of her nose.

“He’s my project partner.”

“What do you expect me to do?”

“Fail the assignment?”

“I never said that.”

His own frustration had begun surfacing.

“Then what are you saying?”

He looked out the window.

For several seconds, he couldn’t answer.

Finally, he whispered,

“It feels like I’m being replaced.”

Silence filled the call.

Then Su Qingyi spoke carefully.

“No one can replace you.”

“But I can’t stop living my life just to reassure you every single day.”

The sentence landed heavily.

“So now I’m the problem?”

“I didn’t say that.”

She took a slow breath.

“But your insecurity is becoming one.”

The word struck him like a blade.

Insecurity.

He hated hearing it.

Because deep down…

He knew she wasn’t wrong.

“I’m insecure because I love you.”

“No.”

Her voice remained calm.

“You’re insecure because you still believe you’re not good enough.”

His fingers tightened around the phone.

For a long while, neither spoke.

Sometimes the truth hurts so much that anger becomes easier than acceptance.

Finally, Chen Mo laughed bitterly.

“So what do you actually want?”

“Someone more successful?”

“Someone from your university?”

“Someone who understands your new world better than I ever could?”

Su Qingyi’s eyes slowly reddened.

“How can you even say that?”

“Because that’s what it looks like.”

His voice had become unusually cold.

“You have new friends.”

“A new life.”

“A new future.”

“And I’m nothing more than a voice on your phone.”

She closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, disappointment had replaced anger.

“If you think so little of yourself…”

“How long do you expect me to keep convincing you that you matter?”

“I never asked you to.”

“No.”

“But you expect it.”

“Every single day.”

“Every call.”

“Every message.”

Her shoulders slowly slumped.

“I’m tired, Chen Mo.”

The words echoed painfully between them.

He froze.

Not because she sounded angry.

But because she sounded exhausted.

“So…”

“You’re tired of me?”

She shook her head immediately.

“I’m tired of fighting the same battle.”

“I’m tired of proving that I love you.”

“I’m tired of feeling as though every step toward my dreams pushes you farther away.”

“I never wanted you to choose.”

“But it feels like I have to.”

The room fell completely silent.

Both were breathing unevenly.

Both were hurt.

Both were saying things they would soon regret.

Then Chen Mo quietly murmured,

“Maybe…”

“We’re simply walking toward different futures.”

Su Qingyi’s heart sank.

“What do you mean?”

“You want a bigger world.”

“A bigger career.”

“A bigger life.”

“I just want something simple.”

“A quiet home.”

“A peaceful family.”

“Maybe…”

“We were never meant for the same ending.”

Her vision blurred with tears.

“So after everything we’ve survived…”

“You still think we don’t belong together?”

Chen Mo closed his eyes.

Several seconds passed.

Then he whispered the sentence that would haunt both of them for years.

“Maybe love isn’t always enough.”

Silence.

Absolute silence.

Those five words shattered something invisible between them.

When Su Qingyi finally spoke again, her voice carried no anger.

Only emptiness.

“I understand.”

Chen Mo frowned.

“Understand what?”

“If you truly believe that…”

“Then perhaps we’ve already reached the end.”

His heartbeat accelerated.

Some part of him desperately wanted to stop her.

To apologize.

To tell her he didn’t mean it.

Instead…

Pride won again.

He quietly answered,

“Maybe that’s for the best.”

Tears continued falling down Su Qingyi’s face.

Yet her voice remained astonishingly calm.

“Then let’s stop here.”

Neither moved.

Neither hung up.

Both waited.

Secretly hoping the other would change their mind.

Neither did.

After several moments, Chen Mo forced himself to speak.

“Take care of yourself.”

“You too.”

The call disconnected.

That night, both remained awake until sunrise.

Their phones never left their hands.

Each hoped the other would call back.

Would laugh awkwardly.

Would admit it had all been a mistake.

But no notification ever came.

Because sometimes…

Pride speaks louder than love.

The days that followed felt strangely empty.

No late-night conversations.

No good morning messages.

No photographs.

No shared songs.

No plans for the future.

They quietly removed each other’s pictures from social media.

Stopped checking online statuses.

Stopped pretending they weren’t waiting.

Yet no matter what disappeared from their screens…

Neither could erase the other from their heart.

One evening, Chen Mo sat beneath the old persimmon tree with his grandfather.

The old man watched him silently before asking,

“You argued with that girl again, didn’t you?”

Chen Mo looked surprised.

“How did you know?”

His grandfather smiled gently.

“When someone loses the person they treasure…”

“It shows first in their eyes.”

For several minutes, neither spoke.

Then the old man continued,

“Love isn’t about finding someone perfect.”

“It’s about choosing one person…”

“And standing beside them while facing the entire world.”

“If you stop fighting the world…”

“And begin fighting each other instead…”

“Both of you lose.”

Chen Mo lowered his head.

His grandfather sighed softly.

“Most people only understand someone’s value after they’ve already let them go.”

A bitter smile appeared on Chen Mo’s lips.

“I think…”

“I’ve just lost the most important person in my life.”

Hundreds of kilometers away, inside her dormitory in Shanghai, Su Qingyi sat alone by the window.

On her screen remained an old message Chen Mo had once sent.

You are my home.

Her fingers lightly touched the words.

Then she whispered through quiet tears,

“If I was your home…”

“Why did you make me feel like I was only a burden?”

Two people.

Still deeply in love.

Separated not by distance.

But by fear.

By pride.

And by words neither truly believed.

For the first time since they had met…

Neither knew whether fate would ever bring them back to each other again.