Qinran pushed open the café door, Luoli balanced on her hip.
The familiar smell of coffee and warm air greeted her. The soft hum of the machines. The faint click of keyboards from the back corner.
"Hey, Nana." She set Luoli down. "Where's the boss?"
Nana looked up briefly from her laptop. "You're here…? Oh — she's in the back." Already back to her screen.
"Okay."
She took Luoli's hand and walked toward the back.
—
She knocked.
"Who is it?"
"It's me. Qinran."
"Come in."
The office was small and neat, the way it always was. The boss sat behind her desk, reading glasses on, papers spread in front of her.
She looked up.
"What is it?"
Qinran stood straight.
"I'll be leaving the café."
A beat of silence.
The boss set her pen down slowly.
"…So it's time," she said. A quiet exhale. Not surprised. Just accepting.
"When do you start?"
"Two weeks."
She nodded once. "Then work here until then."
"Okay."
"Anything else?"
"No." Qinran paused at the door. "I'll try to come by whenever I can."
The boss looked at her for a moment — the same look she'd had the very first day.
Then she picked her pen back up.
"See that you do."
—
The last day came quietly.
No announcement. No countdown. Just an ordinary shift that happened to be the final one.
When the time came, Qinran collected her things, took Luoli's hand, and walked toward the door.
"Luoli," she said. "Say goodbye."
He looked around the café — the counter, the machines, the worn keyboards he was never allowed to touch.
"…Goodbye," he said, his voice a little small.
"Bye, Little Prince Lin."
Nana's voice came from behind the counter. She wasn't looking at them. She was wiping down the same spot she'd already wiped twice.
Her face was doing something complicated.
"Let's go," Qinran said.
"Okay."
She walked to the door and pushed it open.
Then she stopped.
One glance back — the counter, the pale light, Nana still wiping that same spot.
It was a good first step.
She stepped outside.
The door closed softly behind her.
Luoli slipped his hand into hers.
She held it and walked forward.