The silence that followed was different from all the ones before it.
It wasn't heavy.
It wasn't empty either.
It was… uncertain.
Bai Zhiqi kept her gaze on the horizon, as if the sunrise suddenly required her full attention. The light had grown warmer now, spreading across the clouds in soft waves.
Ji Yanluo did not press her.
He simply stood beside her, close enough that the wind no longer felt like it was between them, but not close enough to disturb her space.
For a long while, neither of them spoke.
Then Bai Zhiqi finally let out a quiet breath.
"You always speak like everything is already decided," she said softly.
Ji Yanluo glanced at her. "It usually is."
That earned the faintest flicker of something in her expression—almost like disbelief, almost like amusement, but quickly gone.
"…You're very confident," she said.
"I'm not," he replied simply.
That made her turn her head slightly.
He continued, voice steady.
"I'm certain."
The distinction made her pause.
A gust of wind passed over the peak, lifting a few strands of her hair. She didn't fix them. For once, she let them be.
Bai Zhiqi looked back toward the sunrise.
"I don't know what I'm supposed to say to that," she admitted.
"You don't have to say anything," Ji Yanluo said.
A pause.
"Not yet."
That word lingered longer than the others.
Not yet.
Bai Zhiqi's fingers tightened slightly at her side.
"I don't have time for… distractions," she said after a moment, though her voice lacked real firmness.
Ji Yanluo didn't respond immediately.
Then, calmly:
"I'm not asking you to make me one."
That made her finally look at him again.
Properly this time.
There was no pressure in his expression. No expectation. No insistence.
Just patience.
And something quieter underneath it.
Steadiness.
Bai Zhiqi exhaled slowly.
"You're not like other people," she said.
"No," he agreed.
That simple agreement almost made her smile—but it didn't fully form.
Instead, she looked away again.
"I don't know what I feel," she said honestly. "About anything anymore."
The admission was quiet.
But real.
Ji Yanluo's voice softened slightly.
"Then don't force it."
A pause.
"Just don't shut everything out while you figure it out."
That made her go still.
Because it wasn't a demand.
It wasn't an expectation.
It was just… understanding.
The sun rose a little higher, bathing the mountain in full light now. The cold from earlier had softened, replaced by warmth that didn't ask anything in return.
Bai Zhiqi stood there for a long moment.
Then she spoke again, almost reluctantly.
"…You didn't have to bring me here."
Ji Yanluo looked ahead.
"I did."
"Why?"
This time, he didn't answer immediately.
Not because he didn't know.
But because he chose his words carefully.
Then—
"Because I wanted you to see something that isn't tied to your past."
A pause.
"And because I wanted to be here when you did."
Bai Zhiqi's eyes lowered slightly.
For a moment, she didn't respond.
But her shoulders—just barely—relaxed again.
Behind them, the wind moved gently across the peak, carrying the first full light of morning over the world below.
And for the first time in a long time, Bai Zhiqi didn't feel like she was being pulled in any direction.
Not forward.
Not backward.
Just… present.
Beside her, Ji Yanluo remained silent.
Not leaving.
Not demanding.
Just staying.
As if that alone was his answer.