The house was quiet as I unpacked my schoolbag.
Evening light filtered softly through the curtains, tinting the room in gentle gold.
It felt warm.
Calm.
Familiar.
I placed my notebooks on the desk and checked tomorrow's schedule.
Joint class project — Day 1.
Group meeting.
Introductions.
Planning.
Xia would be excited, of course.
Rui would be... nervous, in a way that almost made me feel sorry for him.
And me?
I wasn't sure.
I'd always preferred quiet days—
the kind where nothing changed, and everything stayed predictable.
But recently...
things felt slightly different.
Not dramatic.
Just... shifting, little by little.
Rui's awkward attempt at conversation during lunch.
Cai Qing's laughter echoing across the cafeteria.
Ling walking beside Tang Yuan after school, both of them looking unexpectedly at ease.
And Tang Yuan himself—
calm, steady, quietly present.
My fingers brushed the edge of my notebook without thinking.
Why did I notice those things today?
Why did they stay in my mind?
I didn't know.
I closed the notebook gently, the soft sound settling into the quiet evening.
Tomorrow would be noisy.
Different.
Chaotic, maybe.
But for the first time, something faint stirred in my chest—
like a small shift of wind just beyond reach,
something I wasn't ready to name.
I turned off the lamp.
"Tomorrow..." I whispered to myself.
"Let's see what happens."
Outside, the sky darkened slowly—
quiet, steady, promising.
Just like the beginning of something new.