Fangfang nodded, and the gratitude in her voice carried more weight than any line about the shoot ever could.
Bai Zichen appeared at once to escort her out, walking alongside her and her assistant with the earnest energy of someone who had claimed the role for himself.
Pei Jiahao followed at a respectful distance, attending to the formalities that remained.
Guiying remained where he was.
He turned his gaze back to the horizon, where the lake stretched outward and the afternoon light lay golden across the water. The park had grown quiet in the way places grow quiet after they have fulfilled their purpose, as if the air itself were resting.
In that stillness a thought surfaced, unbidden and clear.
Liuxian.
He turned the thought over slowly, the way he had been turning it over since Fangfang had asked why her partner had chosen to bear the burden alone. The answer he had reached in the grass had not shifted. It remained unchanged, certain, and aching.
He loved Liuxian.
