Shi Nian returned home, but Xiang Yuan was already gone. He left a note on the fridge with a magnet, saying he had to go out temporarily and would try to come back early.
Tonight, such a note didn't disappoint Shi Nian; instead, it made her quietly breathe a sigh of relief and have a good sleep.
Early in the morning, she woke up in the sunlight filling the window, staring blankly at her own silhouette in the light halo.
She had a dream, in which there was a patch of darkness, and she couldn't see anything. But she could feel she wasn't alone in that darkness. There was another person, a man.
...In the dream, that man touched her. Though it was unfamiliar, the gesture was filled with incredible gentleness, as if she were a fragile treasure. It was the long-lost feeling of being cherished.
Strangely, such a bizarre dream didn't scare her; when she woke up, she wasn't covered in cold sweat anymore. Instead, she felt somewhat—lost.
She sighed, got up, and washed up.
