After Cat A Saved the Wrong Female Lead - Chapter 38

Chapter 38: Almost, Always

That night, Tang Li woke from a dream she couldn’t remember.

She turned over, half-asleep, and found that the other side of the bed was empty.

The sheets were still warm.

She sat up.

Dim light leaked under the bedroom door.

Quiet footsteps, the sound of water running.

She padded out barefoot.

….

Qin Shiyang stood in the kitchen in her robe, hair damp, pouring herself a glass of water.

She didn’t notice Tang Li at first.

Only when she turned did she blink in surprise. “You’re awake?”

Tang Li nodded. “Couldn’t sleep.”

“You dream again?”

“I don’t remember.”

Qin Shiyang set down the glass. “Want something warm?”

Tang Li shook her head.

She stepped forward and leaned into Qin Shiyang’s shoulder without speaking.

Qin Shiyang hesitated.

Then wrapped an arm around her waist.

They stood there in the kitchen, in silence, lit by the refrigerator’s glow and the hum of the city beyond the windows.

….

Back in bed, they lay facing each other.

Tang Li whispered, “When did you know?”

Qin Shiyang’s voice was low. “Know what?”

“That you wanted me to stay.”

Qin Shiyang didn’t answer immediately.

Then said, “The night you said nothing and still made me feel like everything.”

Tang Li’s chest tightened.

She didn’t reply.

Just reached out and brushed her fingers against Qin Shiyang’s wrist.

A quiet gesture.

Not asking.

Not begging.

Just… there.

….

Qin Shiyang didn’t pull away.

But she didn’t lean in either.

She simply looked at her.

As if memorizing something.

Tang Li asked, almost inaudibly, “Do you ever want more?”

More than this.

More than quiet nights and brief touches and words that danced at the edge of truth.

Qin Shiyang looked at her for a long time.

Then said:

“I want almost everything.”

Tang Li blinked. “Almost?”

A pause.

Then a faint smile.

“I don’t want to ruin it.”

Tang Li exhaled slowly.

And somehow, that was enough.

….

Later, with her head resting just over Qin Shiyang’s heartbeat, she whispered:

“I don’t need everything.”

And Qin Shiyang replied, barely audible:

“I know.”

….

They didn’t kiss.

They didn’t touch more than that.

But in the dark, the space between them felt full.

Of what could be.

Of what almost was.

And of something that might, someday, become more.