University life quickly became busy.
Lectures, assignments, group projects, long walks across campus, late-night studying, cafeteria food that Zhao Ming said was "emotionally disappointing but physically necessary."
But even though everything was new, one thing stayed the same.
They still met almost every day.
They still sat in the back of lecture halls.
They still ate together.
They were still the Last Row Trio.
But something between Su Ran and Jiang Chen had changed after graduation.
They both knew it.
They just hadn't talked about it properly yet.
---
The Rainy Afternoon
One afternoon, it started raining heavily while they were in the library.
Zhao Ming looked outside and said,
"I am not walking in that rain. I value my life and my hair."
"You barely have a hairstyle," Su Ran said.
"This is natural style," he replied proudly.
After a while, Zhao Ming suddenly stood up.
"I forgot I promised to call my mom," he said.
"I'll go outside for signal."
"You can call here," Jiang Chen said.
"No, no, I need… emotional privacy," Zhao Ming replied and walked away very quickly.
Su Ran and Jiang Chen both knew he was lying.
"He is very obvious," Su Ran said.
"Yes," Jiang Chen replied.
The rain hit the windows loudly, and the library was quiet.
They sat across from each other, books open, but neither of them was really studying.
After a few minutes, Su Ran closed her book.
"Jiang Chen," she said.
He looked up.
"Yeah?"
She hesitated for a moment.
"About graduation day… when you said you liked me."
He didn't interrupt.
"I didn't answer properly," she continued.
"It's okay," he said.
"No," she said softly.
"I want to answer properly now."
He didn't move, didn't speak.
She looked a little nervous but continued anyway.
"In high school, I always thought you were just the quiet, smart boy who sat in the back and helped me with homework."
He said nothing, just listened.
"But then… we started walking home together, studying together, sitting in the last row every day…"
She smiled slightly.
"And without noticing, you became the person I talk to the most, the person I look for first in class, the person I feel most comfortable with."
His hand tightened slightly around his pen, but he still didn't speak.
She took a small breath and said,
"So I think… somewhere along the way… I started liking you too."
For a moment, neither of them moved.
The rain kept hitting the windows, steady and loud.
Then Jiang Chen said quietly,
"So… is that a yes?"
She smiled a little and nodded.
"Yes. It's a yes."
He didn't smile widely or say anything dramatic.
He just looked relieved. Really relieved.
Then he said,
"Okay."
She laughed.
"Okay? That's all?"
"I don't know what else to say," he replied.
"You just got a girlfriend and you say okay," she said.
He thought for a moment and then said,
"Then… I'm really happy."
She smiled.
"Me too."
---
Zhao Ming Returns
A few minutes later, Zhao Ming came back and looked at both of them.
He looked from Su Ran → Jiang Chen → Su Ran → Jiang Chen.
Then he slowly put his bag down and said,
"Something happened."
"No," Su Ran said immediately.
"Yes," Zhao Ming said immediately.
Jiang Chen didn't say anything.
Zhao Ming pointed at both of them.
"You two look like people who just finished a very important conversation."
Su Ran tried not to smile.
Zhao Ming's eyes slowly widened.
"WAIT."
He looked at Jiang Chen.
"WAIT."
He looked at Su Ran.
"WAIT."
Then he whispered loudly,
"ARE YOU TWO DATING NOW??"
Several students in the library looked at them.
"Be quiet!" Su Ran whispered.
Zhao Ming covered his mouth dramatically.
Then he whispered again,
"I KNEW IT. I AM ALWAYS RIGHT."
Jiang Chen said calmly,
"Don't tell anyone."
"I am not anyone. I am Zhao Ming," he replied.
"That's exactly why we're telling you not to tell anyone," Su Ran said.
Zhao Ming put his hand on his heart.
"I cannot believe this. My two best friends are now a couple. I am really the third wheel."
"You were always the third wheel," Jiang Chen said.
"This is very sad," Zhao Ming replied.
"But I will accept it."
---
Zhao Ming Meets Someone
A few weeks later, Zhao Ming suddenly started coming late to their lunch meetings.
"Where were you?" Su Ran asked one day.
"Busy," he said.
"With what?" Jiang Chen asked.
"Life," Zhao Ming replied.
"This is suspicious," Su Ran said.
A few days later, Zhao Ming arrived at lunch with a girl standing next to him.
He put his bag down dramatically and said,
"I would like to introduce someone."
Su Ran and Jiang Chen looked at each other.
"This is Lin Yue," Zhao Ming said.
"She is in my economics class. She is very smart, which balances our friendship group."
Lin Yue laughed a little.
"I'm not that smart."
"You are smarter than Zhao Ming," Su Ran said.
"That is not difficult," Jiang Chen added.
"Why are my friends attacking me in front of new people?" Zhao Ming said dramatically.
Lin Yue smiled and said,
"I think your friends are very honest."
Su Ran smiled at her.
"Welcome to the Last Row Trio."
Zhao Ming immediately said,
"We might need a new name now."
Jiang Chen said,
"No. The name stays."
Su Ran nodded.
"The name stays."
Lin Yue looked confused.
"What is the Last Row Trio?"
Zhao Ming put his arm around Jiang Chen and pointed at Su Ran.
"Long story," he said.
"Very long story. It started in a classroom many years ago, in the last row."
Su Ran looked at Jiang Chen and smiled slightly.
High school had ended.
University had begun.
They were no longer just classmates.
Now they were:
A couple.
A best friend.
A new friend.
A group that started in the last row and somehow kept growing.
And even though their lives were moving forward, changing, becoming bigger and more complicated,
somewhere deep inside all of them,
they were still just three students sitting in the back of a classroom,
laughing, talking, and not knowing yet
how important those days would become.