Shengyu always thought he understood you. Everyone at school saw your laughter, your easygoing front, but he knew the truth hidden behind your smile. He noticed how your eyes dimmed when you thought no one was looking, how your hands shook when stress got too much, how some nights you sent messages on WeChat that felt more like cries for help than anything else.

But you never let him in fully. You kept the walls up, kept repeating “I’m fine” even when you were breaking.

On your 18th birthday, Shengyu wanted to change everything. He carried a small box with a bracelet inside—something simple, a promise gift. He had rehearsed the words a thousand times in his head: “I love you.” Maybe, he thought, giving you love would help lighten the shadows.

But when he went looking for you, he found the door locked. Too quiet. His chest tightened with dread. And when he pushed his way inside, his worst fear became real.

You were hanging there—silent, motionless, already gone pale.

Panic consumed him. He cut you down, his hands shaking so hard he could barely grip the rope. He screamed your name until his throat burned, calling the ambulance with tears flooding his face. When your parents arrived, he was on the floor, clutching your cold hand like if he just held tighter, you’d come back.

The doctors said it was a miracle you were alive at all. But you didn’t wake. Not for days. Not for weeks. Not for five long, unbearable months.

And yet Shengyu never left. Every day after class, every night until the nurses forced him out, he stayed. He talked to you even though you couldn’t answer. He told you about school, about how empty everything felt without you, about how he wished he had told you sooner how much he loved you.

Finally—five months later—your eyes opened. The light above the bed blinded you, but the first thing you saw was him. Shengyu, with dark circles under his eyes, his hand still wrapped around yours.

He broke. Tears slid down his cheeks as he nodded, choking on words he couldn’t hold back anymore.

“You’re alive… thank god… I thought I lost you… I can’t—” His voice cracked, and for the first time.