aishijanica
She was never truly gone.
That's what people said when Sang Anran returned.
"This is still your home."
"You're part of this family."
"Nothing has changed."
But they didn't understand.
A house can stay the same, yet feel unfamiliar.
Voices can be familiar, yet sound distant.
And people-people can grow without you noticing.
Sang Anran spent most of her life away, in a quiet home filled with the careful watch of her doctor aunt and uncle. Every day was measured, controlled, and safe. Safe from triggers. Safe from risks. Safe from the things that could harm her.
But also-safe from everything else.
From noise.
From closeness.
From belonging.
So when she came back in senior high, it wasn't like returning.
It was more like stepping into a place she was supposed to know-but didn't.
Her twin brother, Sang Yan, felt both familiar and distant.
Her younger sister, Sang Zhi, was warm in a way she didn't know how to respond to.
And then-
There was Duan Jiaxu.
Someone who had always been there, just not in her world.
He wasn't loud like her brother.
Wasn't openly affectionate like her sister.
But he noticed things.
Small things.
The things she tried not to show.
And slowly, without meaning to-
Sang Anran began to notice him too.
Not all at once.
Not in a way that could be named.
Just... little by little.
Like sunlight that stays long enough for you to realize it's warm.