"I'm real," Zhou Yuxi confirmed, squeezing his hand harder, grounding them both in the pressure, in the warmth, in the undeniable fact of her presence. "I'm here. I'm alive. I made it."
"But the explosion—" He stopped, swallowed hard, throat working painfully. His eyes darted to the side, as if checking the room for other people, for confirmation. "I saw it. I saw the water and I—how did you—"
"I got out of the car before it detonated," she said quickly, the words tumbling out in a rush to reassure him, to fill the space where his terror had been living. "Went through the window, dove deep, let the water disperse the blast. It knocked me around pretty badly and I drifted for hours, but I made it to shore. Tang Yuze and Jin Boyuan found me. They brought me back."
Mu Yunchen was still staring at her like she was something impossible, something the universe had no right to give back. His eyes were wet now, tears gathering on his lower lashes, catching the lamplight.
