Trapped in Your Hands

CHAPTER 6: True Love Saves The Day

I had never felt this way before.

It wasn’t like I hadn’t been pursued before—there had been guys who showed interest, who sent me messages, who nervously confessed. And I had always turned them down with a polite smile, never once feeling the slightest pull in my heart. At the time, I thought it was because I wasn’t interested in dating. I wanted to focus on my studies, to get through school without distractions. That was what I told myself, what I told others.

But now, lying in bed with my phone still clutched in my hands, rereading Jiejie’s messages over and over, I realized—

It wasn’t that I didn’t want to date.

It was that I had never met someone like her.

Jiejie had unraveled something inside me that I never even knew was tangled. The way she spoke, the way she carried herself, the way she made me feel both safe and completely, utterly helpless at the same time.

And maybe—just maybe—I had never realized I could like girls.

That thought should have startled me, maybe even scared me a little. But instead, it felt strangely… right. Like something that had always been there, just waiting for the right person to bring it to the surface.

And no, it had nothing to do with the fact that Jiejie was famous.

Absolutely not.

It was her. Just her.

For the following weeks, the more I thought about it, the more uncertain I became. True love—what did it even mean? Wasn’t it something meant for people who were sure of themselves, people who knew exactly what they wanted? I was none of those things. I was stumbling, feeling my way through emotions I had never encountered before. Was I even allowed to feel this way? Did Jiejie feel the same, or was I just a passing moment in her life—a fleeting curiosity, soon to be forgotten?

My heart and my pride gave different answers.

But before I could decide, my phone lit up.

Jiejie: "Little babe, are you asleep?"

My heart stuttered.

That was the thing about her—she always reached out just when I needed her to, like she could sense the storm of thoughts brewing in my mind.

I wasn’t the type to believe in fate. But love—the kind of love that could save you from yourself, from your fears, from the weight of your own doubts—maybe that was real. Maybe that was Jiejie.

I took a deep breath, my fingers trembling slightly as I typed back.

Me: "Not yet. Were you thinking about me?"

The little dots appeared immediately, and I could almost picture the way she would smile at her phone before replying.

Jiejie: "Maybe. What if I was?"

A warmth bloomed in my chest, a quiet, certain kind of happiness.

Maybe I didn’t have all the answers. Maybe I didn’t know what true love was supposed to feel like.

But at that moment, with Jiejie on the other end of the screen, I knew one thing for sure—

Love, true love, real love, the kind that saves the day, doesn’t always arrive with grand declarations or perfect timing.

Sometimes, it’s just a simple text message in the middle of the night.