Chapter Two: The Promise of Forever

1. The Bookstore and the Girl Who Loved Time

Lin Ge never knew how it happened—how a single afternoon, a simple book recommendation, had turned into something so much more.

Qiu Qian became a fixture in his life, an unspoken presence that lingered even when she wasn't there.

Every week, she would come into the bookstore, sometimes with a purpose, sometimes just to sit in the farthest corner, flipping through old pages as if they held the secrets of the universe.

She always asked for books about time.

At first, it was classics—The Time Machine, Slaughterhouse-Five, Einstein's Dreams. But then, as the months passed, she began seeking something deeper.

"Do you believe in time loops?" she asked one day, looking up at him from behind the counter.

Lin Ge glanced up from the inventory list he had been sorting. "You mean… like living the same moment over and over?"

She nodded, resting her chin on her hand. "Or maybe… living the same life, but making different choices."

Lin Ge hesitated. It wasn't the first time she had asked something strange, but there was something in her voice—an edge of desperation, of hope.

"I don't know," he admitted. "I think people like the idea of second chances, but reality doesn't work that way."

Qiu Qian hummed thoughtfully. "But what if it did?"

He sighed, putting down his pen. "Alright, I'll bite. If time really could reset, if you had a second chance… what would you do differently?"

She smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "I'd save someone."

Lin Ge felt something tighten in his chest.

Before he could ask more, she pushed herself up from the chair and stretched. "Anyway, enough philosophy for one day. Do you have anything new for me?"

Lin Ge exhaled, shaking off the strange heaviness that had settled over them. He turned to the bookshelf, running his fingers over the spines. "You've read almost everything we have on time. Maybe it's time to branch out?"

But Qiu Qian only grinned. "No way. Give me something that'll make me believe in miracles."

Lin Ge found himself staring at her, the way the late afternoon light caught in her hair, the quiet determination in her eyes.

Maybe she already believed in miracles.

Maybe she was waiting for one.

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2. The Unfinished Letter

Lin Ge wasn't sure when it started—the feeling that Qiu Qian was slipping away.

She still came to the bookstore, still asked about time travel and fate and impossible love stories. But there were moments when she seemed… distant.

As if her mind was somewhere else.

As if she was running out of time.

One evening, as he was locking up, he found something tucked between the pages of a book she had returned. A folded piece of paper, delicate and slightly worn.

He hesitated before opening it.

The handwriting was unmistakably hers.

Lin Ge,

If you're reading this, it means I didn't have the courage to say it to your face.

You once asked me if I could change the past, what would I do differently.

The truth is… I already tried.

I've done this before.

Lin Ge's breath caught in his throat.

What was this? A story? A joke?

But as he read on, his pulse quickened.

I don't know how much you remember. Sometimes, it feels like you almost do. Like a shadow of a memory just out of reach. But in every version of this life, I find you.

And in every version, I lose you.

His hands tightened around the paper. His heart pounded.

What was she saying?

He forced himself to keep reading.

I thought if I made different choices, if I found you sooner, if I said the right words… maybe this time, things would end differently.

But fate is cruel, Lin Ge. Time is cruel.

The letter ended there.

It wasn't signed.

It wasn't finished.

Lin Ge swallowed, staring at the words until they blurred.

Something about them—about her—felt like a warning.

Or a goodbye.

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3. Chasing Shadows

The next day, Qiu Qian didn't come.

Or the day after that.

Or the week after that.

Lin Ge told himself it was nothing. That people got busy, that she would be back. But the letter burned in his pocket, its words echoing in his mind.

He tried calling, but her number was disconnected.

He tried finding her address, but it led to an old building that had been abandoned for years.

It didn't make sense.

It felt impossible.

Like she had never existed at all.

But that was ridiculous. Of course she had existed. He remembered the way she laughed, the way she tilted her head when she was deep in thought. He remembered the warmth of her fingers when they brushed against his.

She was real.

And yet, the more he searched for her, the more it felt like she was slipping from his grasp.

Like she was fading from time itself.

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4. The Photograph

It was nearly a month later when he found it.

Tucked away in the back of the bookstore, buried under a pile of old newspapers. A dusty photo album he didn't recognize.

He flipped through it absentmindedly, until his fingers froze on a page.

It was an old photograph, slightly faded, taken in front of the bookstore.

His bookstore.

And standing in the center, smiling at the camera, was a girl.

A girl who looked exactly like Qiu Qian.

But the date at the bottom of the photograph was wrong.

The photo was taken fifteen years ago.

Before she was even born.

Lin Ge's breath hitched. His mind reeled.

He flipped through the other pages, hands shaking.

And then he saw it—another photo, another year, another life.

Qiu Qian was in all of them.

Always the same. Always unchanged.

As if time had never touched her.

As if she had always been waiting for him.

Lin Ge's heart pounded as a realization settled over him like a storm.

She had told the truth.

She had done this before.

And now, he was beginning to remember.

The past. The love. The loss.

And the promise that time had never let them keep.

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