Zhuang Nai Nai had wanted to be with Si Zheng Ting forever.
That was the very definition of puppy love; innocence and naivety.
Then, 5 years ago, she would get a rude reality check and later, when they had to return to school to list their university of choice, she had returned to that tree and had crossed out their names.
She has no idea why she suddenly remembers about all that today.
They are clearly together now, but why can’t they be happy together?
Is that tree cursed? Or is it because she scratched out their names from the trunk?
She has no idea what she was thinking about, running to their old school in the middle of the night in search for a tree.
She has no idea if that tree is still here. She checks the trees one by one, before finally spotting it in the corner.
It has grown a lot in the span of 5 years. It’s trunk has gotten wider and the tree has gotten taller. If it had not remain in it’s original position, she would not have recognized it.
She trembles as she walks towards the tree. She searches for their names.
There is nothing there.
Nothing.
Where has their names gone to?
She looks at the trunk in disbelief. She circles around the tree, trying to find any hint of their names, even the scratches, but none.
Not even the scratches are there.
Just like them. Their beautiful memories from 5 years ago are no longer here.
She stops in her steps, her tears falling.
Liar!
He is a liar!
He said their names would be here! He said their names would be engraved here for 4000 years!
But it is no longer here!
She suddenly feels so aggrieved, as though her entire body is being submerged in water. She sits helplessly on the ground, sobbing her heart out.
Turns out, nothing can win over time. What was here five years ago is not necessarily here now.
Just like them. They will never recover their relationship, won’t they? They can never go back.
She had tried so hard for so long; begging and chasing, only to realize that they are all futile.
They are all useless!
She suddenly lifts her head, screaming as though venting her emotion, “Si Zheng Ting, I don’t want to be with you anymore!”
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
Si Zheng Ting watches her from afar as she enters the little forest. Then, he hears the sound of her weeping.
What is she crying over?
Is she crying over their lost youth or over regret? But, does she even remember what they were?
He clenches his fists; emotions that he cannot name mixing with bitterness and pain in his heart.
She was clearly the one who abandoned him, the one who betrayed him, yet why does he feels like he was the one who ruined their relationship?
Just as he is about to run into the forest and tells her to return to his side, he hears her sentence, “Si Zheng Ting, I don’t want to be with you anymore!”
Her voice carries resolution and anger. He pauses in his steps, turning rigid.
The two of them are close, but the distance between them makes him feels like they are worlds away.
