The three of them set off on their journey once again.
Only this time, whatever each of them was holding in their hearts, none of them said it out loud.
Lan gazed out the train window at the scenery rushing past—the blurring trees and road signs felt like reflections of their unsettled moods.
The train's air conditioning was overly cold, yet the space around them felt unbearably suffocating.
They'd made it onto the train, but there were no seat tickets left. So they squeezed into the narrow corridor between two carriages.
People came and went around them; if they relaxed even a little, they'd be pushed aside. Jie kept looking left and right, like he was searching for something.
Finally, his eyes lit up.
"There's a seat over there!"
Without waiting for Di to respond, he grabbed his arm and started dragging him toward it.
"Wait—"
"You didn't sleep well last night. Don't try to tough it out this time."
Di's resistance crumbled instantly under Jie's words. In the end, he didn't pull away.
In the next moment, he was pushed into the seat, and as soon as he sat down, the exhaustion washed over him like a tide.
Within minutes, he had dozed off against the window.
Lan and Jie stood on the other side of the glass door, watching the sleeping Di in silence.
After a while, Lan let out a soft laugh.
"Looks like you really didn't let him sleep well last night."
Jie raised his eyebrows and shrugged.
"Yeah, yeah. All my fault."
His tone was playful, but there was a hint of evasive lightness in it.
Lan didn't respond. She tilted her head slightly, her gaze falling on his face, as if trying to read something from it.
The train shook slightly, and they instinctively leaned a little closer. The distance between them became so small they could hear each other even in a whisper.
The atmosphere quietly shifted into something… strange.
Jie only then realized how close he and Lan were standing. He straightened up, trying to put some space between them.
But right then, Lan suddenly spoke.
"I mean… just hypothetically…"
"If Di were a girl, would you like him—or me?"
Jie froze.
Her tone sounded casual, but the faint probing in her eyes gave her away.
He didn't answer right away.
His gaze drifted to the sleeping figure in the distance, then came back to her as he muttered under his breath,
"What kind of dumb question is that… it's not like we're playing house."
Lan let out a quiet laugh and didn't press the issue.
They both knew—it wasn't a joke.
If life were really just a game of house play, maybe things would be much simpler.