Drawing a deep breath, the surgeon pulled his hand away, fingers curling into a loose fist. Lips pressed into a thin line, he looked up, golden eyes flashing as he walked to the fox spirit slumped by the window and joined him in sitting on the floor, the silken curtains dancing between them.
The silence between them was heavy, it choked him, Li Xinyuan could not imagine what it made the two fox spirits feel.
Slowly, the surgeon exhaled, drawing his knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around his legs as he leaned back, head tipping back slightly. "Hey."
Beside him, Hu Lijing gave no reaction, not a sound nor a single twitch. His frame was eerily still, amber eyes glazed over and vacant. Li Xinyuan's frown deepened, the cold tendrils of worry coiling tighter around his lungs, thorns digging deeper. The surgeon's throat bobbed, after a long, hard fought battle with himself, he turned to look at the nine-tailed fox spirit properly, lips tugging down.
"Hey."
