Prologue

🕊️ Prologue

One Step Away (一步之遥)

... We met in the kind of silence that only happens right before it rains....

Not in the thunder or the downpour, but in that quiet moment — when the sky forgets how to hold itself together and everything feels like a question.

...He offered me an umbrella that day. I never gave it back....

And maybe that’s how it always was between us.

...He offered me pieces of himself without knowing. I held on to them quietly, afraid to ask for more....

We were always one step away. From a confession. From the beginning. From the kind of story that might’ve had a different ending.

This isn’t a love story the way you expect.

It’s the kind you remember when no one’s looking.

The kind that never had a beginning — and never really ended.

We were never a love story.

Just two people, walking beside each other... always one step away.

No promises. No endings. Just the soft, unbearable ache of what could’ve been.

And sometimes, I think that hurts more than heartbreak ever could.

Because we didn’t lose each other.

We simply never had the courage to begin.

---

... Author’s Note to the Reader...

Dear reader,

One Step Away was born from a single feeling — the ache of “almost.”

Of knowing someone saw you the same way you saw them, but neither of you said it. Of standing so close to something real and stepping back before it could begin.

...This isn’t a story of grand declarations or dramatic twists....

It’s about the quiet love. The kind we carry in glances, in what-ifs, in the pause between words.

It’s about growing up with someone in your heart, even when they aren’t beside you.

If you’ve ever held a feeling too tender to speak out loud…

If you’ve ever looked back and whispered, “We were almost something” — this story is for you.

We don’t always get closure in real life.

Sometimes, all we get is a smile across a room,

A name we don’t say aloud,

And a heart that remembers quietly.

If you’ve ever loved someone in silence,

If you’ve ever wondered, “What if I had said something?”

— then this story was always yours.

...Thank you for reading their silence....

Thank you for picking up One Step Away. This story is very close to my heart — it's woven from quiet emotions, unspoken feelings, and all the things we sometimes leave unsaid. But as much as it began with me, it isn't just mine anymore.

Every page you turn, every heartbeat you feel alongside the characters — it becomes yours too. Your hopes, your interpretations, your memories make this story complete. So I hope you find a little piece of yourself here.

Because One Step Away isn't just a story. It's a shared silence, a mutual glance, a love that almost was — and now, it's ours.

With all my heart, the author welcomes you all in the story.

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