After Cat A Saved the Wrong Female Lead - Chapter 42

Chapter 42: The Space Between

Qin Shiyang’s mother came to visit.

Unexpected.

Unannounced.

She called from downstairs, saying, “I’m here.”

Qin Shiyang looked at Tang Li, who had just finished drying her hair and was standing in the hallway barefoot, holding a towel.

Neither of them moved for a moment.

Then Tang Li said, quietly, “I’ll go to my room.”

Qin Shiyang didn’t stop her.

Didn’t ask her to stay.

But before opening the door, she turned and said,
“You don’t have to disappear.”

Tang Li gave a small smile.
“But I can.”

And then she was gone.

….

The visit was brief.

Polite.

Qin Shiyang’s mother didn’t ask about the extra shoes at the door or the second cup drying on the rack.

But she noticed.

Of course she did.

Mothers always notice.

She said, while sipping tea,
“You seem… more settled.”

Qin Shiyang replied calmly,
“Maybe I am.”

Her mother didn’t press.

But when she left, she paused at the door and said,
“Whatever it is, take care of it gently.”

Qin Shiyang stood there long after the elevator had closed.

….

Later, Tang Li came out of her room.

She didn’t ask how it went.

Didn’t ask what was said.

Just began tidying up the mugs on the table, as if nothing had happened.

Qin Shiyang watched her for a long time, then said,
“She didn’t ask about you.”

Tang Li looked up.

“Did you want her to?”

Qin Shiyang didn’t answer.

Tang Li smiled faintly.

“That’s okay. I’m not… something people need to know about.”

“You’re something I’m still learning how to hold,” Qin Shiyang said.

Tang Li froze.

Not because the words were warm.

But because they were honest.

Quietly, she replied,
“Then hold me slowly.”

….

That night, they didn’t touch.

But they slept closer than usual.

And in the space between them—

Small, careful, still—

There was the softest sense of beginning.

Not yet spoken.

Not yet defined.

But there.

Waiting.

….

Sometimes, intimacy is not in closeness.

It’s in the silence two people choose to share.

And the distance they choose not to cross—

Until they’re both ready.

Together.