Chapter 4
1508 Words
Qin Wan Tang froze.
Mo Jing Han’s words struck directly at the weakest place in her heart, leaving her completely defenseless.
Give him up… to Yan Si Dao?
She… couldn’t do it.
She had chased after him for so many years. Ever since she was a tiny child, she had followed behind him with small, hurried steps, looking up at his back as if it were something unreachable. And now, after all this time, she was finally standing close to him.
To let go now…
How could it possibly be that easy?
“But… if I don’t let go…” her voice was barely above a whisper, trembling like a thread about to snap, “I’ll die…”
Mo Jing Han stared at her, his gaze so deep and steady that it was almost impossible to look away.
“That’s only if we do nothing,” he said slowly, each word deliberate. “What if we change it?”
“Change… it?” she repeated blankly.
“The plot.” He lifted the novel slightly, his fingers resting on its worn edges. “If it already wrote our future, then all we need to do is act differently.”
It sounded simple.
Too simple.
And yet, Qin Wan Tang felt a chill crawl down her spine, as if something invisible was brushing past her.
“What if… we can’t change it?” she asked, her voice unsteady.
“Then we try until we can,” he answered immediately, without the slightest hesitation.
She bit her lip.
This person… he had always been like this.
Cold. Certain. Unshakable.
As if everything in the world was within his control.
And her?
She was the complete opposite.
Just the thought of dying miserably, like in those novels she had read, was enough to make her want to run away as far as possible.
“You…” she hesitated, her fingers tightening slightly, “do you really want to go against it?”
Mo Jing Han leaned slightly closer.
The sudden reduction in distance made her heart pound wildly, as if it were about to leap out of her chest.
“Or do you want to follow it?” he asked, lowering his voice. “Let me fall in love with Yan Si Dao… and watch you die?”
“No!” she blurted out almost instantly.
He curled his lips slightly, as if he had expected that reaction all along.
“Good.”
His tone softened just a fraction, though there was still a subtle sense of pressure beneath it—so faint that it was hard to notice, yet impossible to ignore.
“Then listen to me.”
Qin Wan Tang swallowed nervously and nodded.
“…Okay.”
“First, we need to confirm something.” Mo Jing Han opened the novel and flipped to several pages he had already marked. “Do the events written here absolutely have to happen?”
“What do you mean?”
“If simply acting differently is enough to change things, then this will be easy,” he said. “But if there’s some kind of ‘force’ that pulls everything back onto its original track… then it’ll be much more troublesome.”
Qin Wan Tang felt goosebumps rise on her skin.
“Like… no matter how hard we try to avoid it, the ending still happens?”
“Yes.”
“Then… how do we find out?”
Mo Jing Han was silent for a moment before answering.
“We test it.”
“Test it?”
“The simplest example.” He looked at her. “The novel says you would come to my house today.”
“…But I didn’t,” she muttered softly.
“And I called you here anyway,” he continued.
“…Oh…”
A strange feeling crept over Qin Wan Tang.
Something wasn’t right.
It felt like… even though she had tried to avoid it, things still ended up aligning with the original path.
A shiver ran down her spine.
“So… we can’t escape it?”
“Not necessarily.” Mo Jing Han shook his head. “Minor details can change. But the major turning points—we don’t know yet.”
“Like… the engagement?” she asked quietly.
He didn’t answer immediately.
The atmosphere in the room suddenly became heavier, as if the air itself had thickened.
After a moment, he spoke again.
“There’s another issue.”
“What is it?”
“If we change the plot…” he looked directly at her, his gaze sharp and unwavering, “there might be side effects.”
“Side effects?!” she exclaimed, panic instantly rising in her chest.
“I don’t know what kind,” he replied calmly. “But something that can ‘write’ our lives… won’t be simple.”
Qin Wan Tang’s imagination immediately spiraled out of control.
An accident? Disappearing? Losing her mind? Or worse… dying even earlier?
“Maybe… we should just forget it…” she began to waver, her courage crumbling. “We can just stay away from each other…”
Mo Jing Han fell silent, watching her.
His eyes grew colder, just slightly—but enough for her to feel it.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“…Mm…”
“Then from now on, don’t see me again,” he said bluntly.
She froze.
“Don’t text me. Don’t talk to me.” His voice became increasingly distant, each word cutting deeper than the last.
“….”
“Let’s pretend we never knew each other.”
Each sentence felt like a blade, slicing cleanly through her chest.
Qin Wan Tang’s eyes began to redden, her vision blurring.
“…I can’t.”
“What can’t you do?”
“I can’t do that…” her voice trembled uncontrollably, “I really can’t…”
She lowered her head, tears slipping down her cheeks.
“You’re so cruel…”
Mo Jing Han watched her for a moment.
Then he sighed softly.
He reached out and gently wiped away her tears, his movements unexpectedly tender.
“Then stop running.”
His voice softened noticeably, losing much of its earlier sharpness.
“Stay here.”
Her heart softened instantly, like something melting under warmth.
“We’ll figure it out together,” he said. “I won’t let you die.”
It was such a simple sentence.
And yet, it completely shattered the last of her defenses.
“…Okay.”
She nodded.
At some point, without her even realizing it, her right to choose seemed to have slipped into his hands.
And she—
was willing to let it happen.
After a moment of hesitation, Qin Wan Tang lightly tugged at his sleeve.
“Um… there’s something else.”
“What is it?” Mo Jing Han glanced at her.
“When I met Yan Si Dao…” she said slowly, trying to organize her thoughts, “even though it was just the first meeting, almost everyone was really warm toward her.”
She frowned, still unable to fully understand that strange feeling.
“Lin Nuan too. Just one greeting, and she already liked her.”
“…Including me.”
She lowered her head slightly, her voice quieter.
“Obviously, I don’t even know her, but I still felt drawn to her… like something I can’t explain.”
The room fell silent for a few seconds.
“Did you feel that too?” she asked, looking up at him.
Mo Jing Han didn’t hesitate.
“No.”
“…Huh?”
“I felt nothing unusual,” he said bluntly. “If anything, I found her annoying.”
“….”
Qin Wan Tang blinked, stunned.
The difference… was that big?
Mo Jing Han crossed his arms, thinking for a moment before speaking.
“It’s possible that this ‘automatic favorability’ only applies to certain people.”
“What do you mean?”
“In the novel.” He tapped lightly on the book. “Yan Si Dao is set up as someone who is naturally liked by everyone.”
“Mm…”
“But I’m different,” he continued. “At this stage, I’m not supposed to have any special feelings for her.”
Qin Wan Tang blinked again.
“…That’s true.”
“The relationship develops slowly,” he said calmly. “The kind where feelings grow over time.”
“Slow burn…” she murmured.
“Exactly.”
He looked at her again, his gaze steady.
“So most likely, that effect only influences ‘side characters.’”
“…I’m a side character…” Qin Wan Tang choked slightly on her words.
Mo Jing Han looked at her for a second before replying,
“For now.”
“….”
“But that doesn’t mean you always will be.”
His voice was quiet.
Almost casual.
And yet, it was enough to make her heart skip a beat.
Because for the first time—
The role she had always believed was fixed…
didn’t feel so certain anymore.
- Writer
