Until My Soul Finds You Again - Chapter 7

At the beginning of love, everything feels beautiful.

Every smile carries meaning.

Every shared meal becomes a memory.

Every ordinary day feels worth remembering.

But love is never made only of happiness.

Sometimes, it quietly asks two people how much pain they are willing to endure for each other.

By the time winter arrived in Hangzhou, Chen Mo and Su Qingyi had been together for several months.

Their classmates no longer bothered whispering.

Everyone knew.

The quiet boy and the top student had fallen in love.

For Chen Mo, life had never been brighter.

No matter how difficult his day was, seeing Su Qingyi’s smile made everything feel worthwhile.

But slowly, another problem began to appear.

His grades started slipping.

He had never been among the best students, but now his scores were dropping even further.

The teachers noticed.

So did he.

One afternoon, after class, the homeroom teacher asked him to stay behind.

“Chen Mo.”

She placed his latest exam paper on the desk.

“What’s happening to you lately?”

He lowered his head.

“I’m trying.”

She sighed.

“Trying isn’t enough.”

“If this continues, you’ll struggle to get into university.”

After a brief pause, she asked quietly,

“Is your relationship affecting your studies?”

Chen Mo remained silent.

The teacher continued.

“Su Qingyi is one of the best students in this school.”

“She has limitless opportunities ahead of her.”

“But if you continue down this path…”

Her voice softened.

“You’ll only become a burden to her future.”

Those words pierced straight through his heart.

A burden.

For the rest of the day, they echoed endlessly in his mind.

That evening, he ignored Su Qingyi’s messages.

He didn’t wait for her outside the library.

He didn’t answer her calls.

Instead, he sat alone in his dormitory room.

The words of his teacher blended with memories of Li Jun’s warning.

“She has a bright future.”

“What do you have besides sincerity?”

“One day she’ll realize she deserves better.”

Chen Mo stared at the photo on his phone.

It was one they had taken together beside West Lake.

His thumb gently brushed across the screen.

“I love you.”

His voice was barely audible.

“And that’s exactly why I have to let you go.”

The following afternoon, he sent Su Qingyi a short message.

Meet me behind the old classroom building after school.

She arrived almost immediately.

Slightly out of breath.

Her face filled with worry.

“Why have you been avoiding me?”

“I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”

Chen Mo couldn’t meet her eyes.

After several seconds of silence, he finally spoke.

“We should end this.”

The words hung in the cold winter air.

For a moment, Su Qingyi simply stared at him.

As though she hadn’t heard correctly.

“What did you say?”

“We should break up.”

His voice was steady.

Only because he was using every bit of strength he had left.

The color slowly drained from her face.

“Is this some kind of joke?”

He shook his head.

“No.”

Her eyes immediately reddened.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“No.”

“You did nothing wrong.”

“Then why?”

Her voice trembled.

“Why are you doing this?”

Chen Mo finally looked at her.

The pain in his eyes almost made her cry even harder.

“Because I love you.”

Tears slipped silently down her cheeks.

“That’s not a reason.”

“It is.”

He forced himself to continue.

“You’re talented.”

“You have a future waiting for you.”

“I’m holding you back.”

“I don’t want to become the reason you stop moving forward.”

Su Qingyi took a step closer.

“I don’t care what anyone else thinks.”

“I care about you.”

“But I care about your future.”

“And your future deserves someone better.”

She shook her head desperately.

“No.”

“My future includes you.”

Every word struck his heart.

Yet he still forced himself to say the cruelest sentence of all.

“Maybe…”

“I’m simply not meant to be part of it.”

Something inside Su Qingyi shattered.

She stepped forward and lightly struck his chest.

Again.

And again.

Her strength carried no anger.

Only heartbreak.

“You don’t get to decide my future.”

“You don’t get to decide who I love.”

“I chose you.”

Her tears fell faster.

“I love you, Chen Mo.”

He closed his eyes.

For one dangerous second, he almost gave in.

He almost reached out and pulled her into his arms.

Instead, he gently held her wrists.

Then slowly lowered her hands.

“I’m sorry.”

The apology sounded powerless.

Su Qingyi looked at him quietly.

Her tears continued falling.

After what felt like forever, she asked one final question.

“So…”

“Are you really leaving me?”

Chen Mo couldn’t answer.

Because if he opened his mouth, he knew he would tell her the truth.

That he wanted nothing more than to stay.

His silence became the answer.

A faint smile appeared on Su Qingyi’s tear-streaked face.

A sad smile.

The kind that hurt more than crying.

“Then remember this.”

She took a step back.

“I’m not leaving because I stopped loving you.”

“I’m leaving because you chose to walk away first.”

When she turned around, she didn’t look back.

Her figure gradually disappeared beneath the fading evening light.

Chen Mo remained where he was.

Unable to move.

Every instinct told him to run after her.

To apologize.

To hold her hand.

To tell her he had made a mistake.

But his feet refused to move.

Because sometimes, people convince themselves that sacrificing their own happiness is the same as protecting the person they love.

That day, Chen Mo made the greatest mistake of his life.

That night, two lights remained on long after midnight.

One in the boys’ dormitory.

One in the girls’ dormitory.

Separated by only a few buildings.

Yet feeling farther apart than ever before.

Both cried.

Both reached for their phones countless times.

Neither sent a message.

Because love was still there.

Only now—

Silence stood between them.