Manga Story

**“The Third Chair”** Lin Zhixia first met Zhou Jin at a window-side table in a café. The sunlight was beautiful that day, yet the chair across from him was empty. She learned later that the chair belonged to his girlfriend—Shen Yan. Zhou Jin never hid the truth. He said he loved someone, and he also said he wasn’t sure whether he could still love another. Lin Zhixia understood—yet she sat down anyway. Their relationship was like a nameless river. Unspoken, unacknowledged, never crossing the point of no return— and yet, step by step, it ran deeper. When Shen Yan appeared, everything finally gained weight. She was calmer than Lin Zhixia had imagined. She only looked at her and said, “You’re not a bad person.” The words felt sharper than a knife. That night, Lin Zhixia asked herself for the first time in earnest: If love has to hurt someone in order to exist, did she really want it? Zhou Jin tried to keep her, saying, “I can’t live without either of you.” But in that moment, Lin Zhixia suddenly understood— in a love shared by three, someone is always sitting in the extra chair. She stood up and gave up her seat. Later on, the café was still the same café. By the window, the table still held three chairs.