Standing Next To You-Chapter 447: Face-to-Face

Bei Sangyun was still berating herself for being so pathetic today. Stalking Fei Chuan was already too much, but disrupting the people he was meeting with? That was crossing the line. She knew she had no right to do any of it, especially since she had been the one to leave him that day.

But... she just couldn’t stand the thought of Fei Chuan being with other women. Even though he had every right to.

She pressed her hand to her forehead. How long would she have to keep this up? How long would she need to tiptoe around him, stealing glances from afar, all while longing for him?

Bei Sangyun felt she was at her breaking point. She was barely holding herself back from appearing in front of him and trying to win him back. This separation was becoming unbearable.

As she mulled over her thoughts, the elevator doors opened.

She instinctively looked up and locked eyes with the person about to enter.

Both of them froze. It was as if time had stopped, and all the sounds around her disappeared.

It happened so suddenly that she had no time to escape or hide. The man she had been following, the one she so desperately wanted to meet but couldn’t, was now standing right in front of her. Face-to-face.

Her wide eyes met his equally shocked gaze.

Those eyes—eyes she hadn’t seen in four years. The last time they met, they were filled with tears, confusion, and grief. Now, seeing him eye to eye felt utterly surreal.

"...Fei Chuan." Bei Sangyun choked out his name, her heart heavy as stone, her body frozen.

She had to run. She had to keep her distance. She needed to leave...

But she couldn’t move.

Unlike her, Fei Chuan quickly regained his composure. He stepped forward, entered the elevator, and pressed the button for the underground floor. Then, he looked straight ahead, ignoring her completely.

Bei Sangyun didn’t dare to breathe too loudly. Her mind and heart were in chaos.

How could she have forgotten that she might run into him in this building? She had been so caught up in her own guilt that she hadn’t been careful.

Bei Sangyun cast a subtle glance at him. His broad back and the back of his head—a sight she had watched for years. This was the familiar view she had grown so accustomed to.

But this was the first time she had been so close to him since their break-up.

She pressed a hand to her chest. Their eyes had met earlier. Judging by his hesitation, Fei Chuan had surely recognized her. But... he didn’t say a word.

He ignored her. As if she were just a stranger—someone he didn’t know at all.

A sharp pang shot through Bei Sangyun’s heart. Though Fei Chuan’s silence was perhaps the best way to keep their distance, it still hurt deeply.

Had he really moved on? Was she now just a part of his past, an unfortunate Chapter from his younger days? Was she simply ’someone’ who had come and gone?

The elevator ride felt agonizingly long yet unbearably short at the same time. When the soft ’ding’ finally sounded and the doors slid open, no one moved.

The silence between them was suffocating.

Just as the doors were about to close again, Fei Chuan pressed the button and stepped out.

Bei Sangyun remained frozen inside. Her feet felt like they were glued to the floor.

When the doors closed once more, leaving her alone in the elevator, she slumped to the ground.

She clutched her chest, feeling an unbearable weight pressing down on her. This wasn’t how she wanted to meet him again. But she couldn’t bring herself to speak or act, instead remaining silent like a stranger.

But what could she do? She didn’t have the courage to call out to him, to reach for him.

Not yet. Not until she had the answers she was searching for.

Bei Sangyun stayed inside the elevator for an unknown length of time, only stepping out when a crowd began to form, waiting for the elevator.

...

The red car pulled up and stopped in front of the villa. This is where Bei Sangyun was currently staying.

A short while later, a white car parked a short distance away.

The window rolled down, revealing Fei Chuan’s handsome face.

He stared at the villa’s gate in silence, his expression unreadable.

"...Sir, would you like me to ring the doorbell?" his secretary, seated in the driver’s seat, asked.

Fei Chuan didn’t respond immediately. His gaze drifted to one of the windows on the second floor of the villa.

"...No need. It’s been four years, and she still hasn’t said a word." His voice was calm, but cracks of frustration began to show. "What is she waiting for?"

The secretary glanced at him. "Why not stop being passive and take the initiative?"

Fei Chuan lowered his head, recalling the brief encounter in the elevator. His hand clenched into a fist. "You’re right. I’ve been patient long enough. It’s time to stop waiting."

His eyes returned to the villa, the place she was staying.

Maybe it was time for her to feel what he had felt four years ago—when she had clung to him so relentlessly, only to abandon him for a reason he could never understand.

****

The sudden face-to-face encounter with Fei Chuan two days ago had taken a toll on Bei Sangyun, both mentally and physically. The next day, she fell ill.

Grandma Bei and the others, worried she was overworking herself, insisted she take time to rest.

Bei Sangyun was indeed exhausted and frustrated, but not because of work—her distress came from something deeper. She had been on edge lately, and the closer she got to Fei Chuan, the stronger her longing for him grew.

For the entire day, she was treated like an invalid, pampered by Grandma Bei and Maid Ye Zhai.

When she finally recovered, she wasted no time. She boarded her private helicopter and headed straight for the mountains. She had to meet the old man.

She couldn’t wait any longer. The fact that her longing had even made her physically ill was a clear sign that she was at her breaking point.

Ever since that brief meeting with Fei Chuan, he had been on her mind day and night.

It was the first time she had seen him up close in years. It was a shame she had been too shaken to truly take him in. But that day, she realized just how much she had lost during their separation.

Fei Chuan had grown more handsome, more powerful, in ways she hadn’t seen. Though she had been stalking him all these years, all she ever saw was his back.

She hadn’t been by his side in their past life when he underwent these changes, and in this life, it was no different. It was truly a shame that she couldn’t accompany him during both of those times.

She couldn’t wait any longer. She wanted to win Fei Chuan back so that the next time they met, even if he tried to ignore her, she wouldn’t stay silent like last time.

Since the start of the year, Bei Sangyun had sent her subordinates to the mountains, seeking the old monk’s advice. But each time, they returned with the same message from him: ’It’s not time yet.’

Screw that.

Determined, Bei Sangyun boarded her private helicopter and flew toward the distant mountains.