Chapter 5 — The Line Between Wanting and Needing
1954 Words
For the first time in a long time, Diara didn't want to go home.
She stood outside the office building, watching the evening traffic move past her.
Normally, going home meant taking off her shoes, throwing her bag onto the sofa, eating something quick, and pretending she wasn't exhausted.
Tonight, the thought of her apartment felt strangely empty.
Maybe it was because of what had happened at the event.
Maybe it was because of Tian.
Or maybe she simply didn't want to admit that the woman from his past had bothered her more than she should have.
She checked her phone.
No messages.
She locked the screen.
Then unlocked it again.
Still nothing.
“Pathetic,” she whispered.
She hated waiting for messages.
Especially from someone she had known for barely a week.
Her phone vibrated.
Her heart jumped.
Tian: Are you still outside?
Diara immediately smiled.
Then she frowned at herself.
Why am I smiling?
She typed:
Diara: Yes.
His reply came almost instantly.
Tian: Wait there.
She stared at the message.
Diara: Why?
No answer.
Five minutes later, a familiar figure appeared across the street.
Tian.
He crossed the road carefully and stopped in front of her.
“You waited.”
“I was already here.”
“You could've gone home.”
“I know.”
He smiled.
“Then why didn't you?”
Diara looked away.
“I don't know.”
Tian didn't tease her.
Instead, he held out a small paper bag.
“Here.”
She took it.
“What is it?”
“Food.”
She opened it.
Inside was a warm pastry.
Her favorite.
She looked at him.
“How did you know?”
“You ordered it yesterday.”
Diara blinked.
“You remembered?”
“Of course.”
Something about those two words made her chest tighten.
She looked down at the pastry.
“Thank you.”
“You're welcome.”
They started walking.
Neither spoke for a while.
The silence felt different tonight.
Heavier.
Closer.
Finally, Diara broke it.
“Who was she?”
Tian didn't pretend not to understand.
“My ex.”
Diara nodded.
“I figured.”
“She came back recently.”
“Do you still love her?”
The question came out before Diara could stop it.
Tian looked at her.
She immediately regretted asking.
“You don't have to answer.”
“I don't.”
Diara frowned.
“You don't what?”
“I don't love her.”
She looked ahead.
“Oh.”
“She was important to me once.”
“That sounds complicated.”
“It is.”
“Then why is she back?”
“I don't know.”
“Do you want her back?”
“No.”
The answer came too quickly to be anything but honest.
Diara looked at him.
Tian's expression was serious.
“I don't want my past to interfere with my future.”
She didn't know what to say.
So she smiled.
“That's a very dramatic sentence.”
He laughed.
“You asked a dramatic question.”
“I did not.”
“You asked if I still loved my ex.”
“That was normal.”
“For you, maybe.”
She laughed.
The tension between them disappeared.
But something else remained.
Something neither of them named.
They reached a quiet street near the river.
The city lights reflected on the dark water.
Diara leaned against the railing.
“This is beautiful.”
Tian stood beside her.
“Yeah.”
She looked at the water.
“Do you ever feel like you're somewhere you're not supposed to be?”
He turned toward her.
“What do you mean?”
“Like everyone else knows what they're doing except you.”
She laughed softly.
“I don't know what I'm doing with my life.”
Tian didn't answer immediately.
“You don't have to know.”
She looked at him.
“Everyone says that.”
“Maybe because it's true.”
“What if I make the wrong choice?”
“Then you'll make another one.”
“What if I hurt someone?”
“Then you'll apologize.”
“What if they don't forgive me?”
Tian looked directly at her.
“Then you'll have to learn to forgive yourself.”
Diara went quiet.
Nobody had ever said that to her so simply.
She looked away before he could see how much his words affected her.
“You're surprisingly wise.”
“Surprisingly?”
“Don't get excited.”
He laughed.
She smiled.
Then their eyes met.
Neither spoke.
The distance between them suddenly felt smaller.
Tian stepped closer.
Diara's heartbeat quickened.
He looked at her lips for only a second before returning his gaze to her eyes.
She noticed.
He noticed that she noticed.
Neither moved.
Then Tian quietly asked,
“Can I?”
Diara's breath caught.
She didn't answer with words.
She simply nodded.
He leaned toward her.
Their lips met softly.
The kiss lasted only a few seconds.
But when they pulled apart, Diara couldn't remember what she had been thinking before.
Tian smiled.
She touched her lips unconsciously.
“You're smiling.”
“So are you.”
“I am not.”
“You definitely are.”
She looked away.
“Shut up.”
He laughed.
And for the first time, Diara didn't feel afraid of liking someone.
She only felt happy.
Across the city, Jin Zhao sat in the back of his car.
He had spent the entire day in meetings.
He should have been thinking about business.
Instead, his mind kept returning to one conversation.
Tian.
I like her.
Jin stared through the window.
He had known Tian for years.
He knew when Tian was joking.
He knew when Tian was pretending.
And he knew when Tian was serious.
Tonight, Tian had been serious.
Jin's fingers tightened slightly around his phone.
He opened their conversation.
He stared at Tian's name.
Then closed it.
It shouldn't matter.
Diara wasn't his responsibility.
She wasn't his friend.
She wasn't even someone he knew.
So why did the idea of Tian kissing her bother him?
Jin leaned back.
His expression remained calm.
But his thoughts were not.
He remembered Diara's face when she had seen Tian's ex.
The slight change in her expression.
The way she had looked away.
She had been hurt.
And Tian hadn't noticed quickly enough.
Jin had.
He hated that he had noticed.
Because once you started paying attention to someone, it became difficult to stop.
The next morning, Diara arrived at work early.
Yun immediately noticed.
“You're early.”
“I'm improving.”
“You're smiling.”
Diara stopped.
“I am not.”
“You are.”
“Why does everyone keep saying that?”
“Because you're terrible at hiding it.”
Yun leaned closer.
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
“Diara.”
She sighed.
“Tian kissed me.”
Yun's mouth fell open.
“What?”
“Keep your voice down!”
“When?”
“Last night.”
“And you didn't tell me?”
“I just did.”
Yun grabbed her arm.
“Details.”
“No.”
“Was it good?”
Diara's face became warm.
“Yun!”
Yun laughed.
“Oh my God.”
“Stop.”
“You like him.”
Diara looked down.
“I think I do.”
Yun's expression softened.
“Then what's wrong?”
Diara hesitated.
“I don't know if I'm ready.”
“For what?”
“For someone to matter this much.”
Yun didn't joke this time.
She squeezed Diara's hand.
“Then take your time.”
Diara nodded.
She wanted to believe that.
At lunchtime, Diara received an unexpected message.
Unknown Number
We need to talk.
She stared at it.
A second message arrived.
About Tian.
Her stomach tightened.
She didn't reply.
Another message.
I'll be at the café across from your office at 6.
Diara looked at the screen.
She knew who it was.
Tian's ex.
She should have ignored her.
She knew that.
But curiosity was stronger.
At six, Diara walked into the café.
The woman was already sitting by the window.
She looked exactly as she had at the event—elegant, composed, completely confident.
She gestured toward the chair.
“Sit.”
Diara sat.
“Why did you ask me here?”
The woman studied her.
“You really don't know?”
“Know what?”
“Tian.”
Diara remained silent.
“He isn't the kind of man you think he is.”
Diara frowned.
“You don't know what I think.”
The woman smiled.
“Maybe not.”
She leaned back.
“But I know him better than you ever will.”
The words were clearly meant to hurt.
Diara refused to react.
“If you have something to say, just say it.”
“I want you to stay away from him.”
Diara stared at her.
Then laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because she couldn't believe what she had just heard.
“You called me here to tell me that?”
“He still has feelings for me.”
“Then tell him.”
“He'll listen to you.”
“That sounds like a problem between you and Tian.”
The woman's expression hardened.
“You're very confident.”
“No.”
Diara stood.
“I'm just not interested in fighting over a man.”
She turned to leave.
“Then you're going to lose him.”
Diara stopped.
She looked back.
“Maybe.”
Her voice was quiet.
“But if he leaves because you want him to, then he was never mine to begin with.”
She walked away.
Her hands were shaking.
But she didn't look back.
Outside, Diara took a deep breath.
She hadn't realized how tense she had been until that moment.
She started walking.
Then someone stepped beside her.
Jin Zhao.
She looked at him.
“You?”
He glanced toward the café.
“You were inside with Tian's ex.”
Diara frowned.
“Were you watching me?”
“No.”
“Then how did you know?”
“I saw her enter.”
She looked away.
“It's nothing.”
“Did she threaten you?”
“No.”
“Did she hurt you?”
“No.”
“Then why are your hands shaking?”
Diara looked down.
Her hands were trembling.
She quickly hid them inside her coat pockets.
“I'm fine.”
Jin looked at her.
“You're not.”
She sighed.
“Why do you care?”
He didn't answer immediately.
Because he didn't know.
That was becoming a problem.
Finally, he said,
“I don't like seeing people upset.”
Diara smiled faintly.
“That's almost kind.”
“Don't get used to it.”
She laughed.
For a moment, Jin simply watched her.
Then he noticed something.
She was still wearing the small bracelet she'd worn at the event.
The one she'd absentmindedly touched whenever she was nervous.
He had noticed that too.
He was noticing too much.
Jin's gaze hardened.
He needed to stop.
But as Diara walked away, another thought entered his mind.
Not I want her.
Not yet.
Something simpler.
I need to know when she's safe.
And that thought frightened him more than it should have.
Because Jin Zhao had never been a man who needed anyone.
Yet somehow, he had begun needing to know about her.
Where she was.
Who she was with.
Whether she was okay.
And he had no idea when curiosity had quietly crossed the first line.
— End of Chapter 5 —
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