Close to the Heart

Tang Zhen did two major things—
She started a relationship with Chi Yuqin.
And she broke up with Chi Yuqin.

On her first day in the Cardiac Surgery Department of Renhua, Chi Yuqin set her sights on Tang Zhen.
She would call on her during rounds, single her out in meetings, and even pick her for case summaries of difficult and unusual illnesses.
Tang Zhen was pushed to the point where she nearly wanted to submit her resignation.
Chi Yuqin wore a cold expression, looking at everyone as if they were lacking, yet her emotions were unreadable only when her gaze fell on Tang Zhen.
One was a favored daughter of the heavens, standing at the top of the pyramid; the other was a pure and simple flower that had sprung from a mountain valley.
The difference between them was like that of the clouds and the earth.
Tang Zhen felt as if she were walking on thorns.

Until that night—Chi Yuqin, under the pretext of being drunk, made her stay.
She grasped Tang Zhen’s slender, fair wrist, her usual cool and severe demeanor replaced by one of utmost seduction, her moist, hot breath seeping into the shell of Tang Zhen’s ear—
“Stay? Do you want to?”
A deep blush spread across Tang Zhen’s face.
Chi Yuqin leaned her head on her shoulder—
“Those are two separate things.”

This unequal relationship lasted for three years.
In Tang Zhen’s eyes, it had been her own chaotic one-woman war.
For the sake of her own dignity and self-love within this sacrificial happiness, she chose to live alone, and so she resolutely left Chi Yuqin.
Until one evening, Chi Yuqin appeared on the path Tang Zhen always took home from work, blocking her way and leaving her no room to escape.
Tang Zhen made a final struggle, but her defenses were shattered by Chi Yuqin’s humbled posture.
“You were the one who said that if I left, I should never come back.”
It was still the same person, still the same cool and severe face.
The difference was in her eyes.
Those dark, profound pupils reflected a deep affection and sincerity she had never shown before—
“I was the one who said it. So this time, it’s my turn to come find you.”

—I embrace her, offering her my maturity and my innocence.