The sun over this coastal city was always dazzling and impatient. By five in the morning, daylight had already claimed the sky.
Perhaps not everyone noticed anything unusual. For most, today was just another ordinary day—yet somehow, not quite so ordinary.
"Ahh… mm…"
When Ji Yu opened her eyes, she was greeted by a green ceiling and wallpaper patterned with flowers, as if the whole room had been turned into a garden.
Turning her head, she found her sister Ji Yu—already fully made up—clasping her hand and shaking it excitedly.
She looked happy.
Or rather, Ji Yu always seemed happy whenever she was with her younger sister, as carefree as a little girl. After waking her, she left the room.
Today was the final day of their so-called designers' conference—also the day before the Chengyin Festival.
Ji Yu rose and rubbed her forehead. Golden sunlight already filled the room, striking her drowsy eyes like a sudden blow.
Truth be told, the past few days hadn't been easy for her.
Since arriving in Shanghai, her spirits had been strangely low. Though she'd unexpectedly run into Yu Yuan—still the same frivolous guy as ever—she couldn't shake the feeling he carried some hidden burden.
But the real weight on her heart was Tang Li.
Standing by the window, she lowered her gaze to the phone in her hand.
When had it started? That she no longer even had the courage, or the thought, to call him?
Summer afternoons carried a lazy kind of magic. The sunlight burned hot against the skin, making every movement feel heavy.
"…Hah, I thought you weren't going to show up!"
Yu Yuan raised his cup, waving at the girl in a white cap standing at the shop entrance.
Ji Yu blinked, looking around nervously, clearly out of place in the unfamiliar milk tea shop.
"So… what made you suddenly want to see me today?" she asked, puzzled by his crooked grin.
Instead of answering, Yu Yuan gave her that infuriating smirk of his.
"…Forget it. Anyway, I'm free today. Better to spend time with someone I know than sit around alone."
Ji Yu, ever oblivious when she wanted to be, just shrugged it off. After ordering a fruit drink, she trotted over to his table and plopped down.
"Didn't you drop out of Yu Yang? How come I bump into you here in Shanghai? Don't tell me you transferred schools again?"
Yu Yuan studied her bright, lively face for a moment. Only after her drink arrived did he reply:
"You too? I didn't think your family had the money for you to live in Shanghai."
The words struck a little too close. Ji Yu's smile stiffened, and she shot him a glare.
"Alright, alright. I asked you out today because I actually wanted to talk about something."
"Go on, then. I'm listening."
Ji Yu leaned back with a nonchalant air, as if she'd caught his lazy attitude herself.
"I saw Tang Li here in Shanghai."
Ji Yu only nodded, keeping her face carefully blank even though her chest tightened.
"…So, he already told you," Yu Yuan muttered with a scowl, biting down hard enough on his straw to split the paper.
Ji Yu silently handed him another one, watching as he accepted it with a sheepish shrug.
"Wait, you just saw him recently? I thought since you were both here, you'd be hanging out a lot."
Yu Yuan snorted. "Ever since I introduced you to Mo Yachen, that guy's been cold to me."
Ji Yu froze. She raised her eyes to him, lips parting slightly.
"Speaking of him—didn't Mo Yachen have some art exhibit? You broke up with him, right? A shame, after all the effort I wasted setting you two up. But then again, when I asked him back then why he liked you, do you know what he said?"
"…?"
"He said feelings don't need a reason. No logic, no buildup—you just like someone."
Yu Yuan scoffed. "I thought that was a selfish answer, honestly. Back then, I didn't believe he'd win you over.
"But in the end, you said yes. Made me wonder… maybe it really is possible to like someone for no reason. Love at first sight? Just attraction?
"And then you broke up. Which fits my view of reality better."
Ji Yu listened quietly. For all his arrogance, Yu Yuan did have a charisma that drew girls in. Even knowing he was frivolous, she still found herself sitting here with him, almost enjoying the conversation.
But she had always wondered—why none of his relationships lasted more than three months.
"…So what's your point? With your track record, are you even qualified to criticize Mo Yachen's views on love?"
"Hey, what's wrong with my track record? I'll have you know—I've always been the one getting dumped!"
"…What?"
This time, it was Ji Yu's turn to gape.
She had assumed he was the type to toy with girls, then toss them aside. But hearing the bitterness in his voice, she wasn't so sure anymore.
"…Then, what do you think counts as a good view on love?" she asked softly.
Yu Yuan leaned back, waving for another milk tea. When it arrived, he fixed his gaze on her, his tone suddenly calm.
"My view? It's simple. Companionship is the truest confession of love."
Ji Yu blinked, her mouth falling open as if struck by something. Faces flashed through her mind—those who had always stayed by her side.
Her mother. Her sister.
And Tang Li. Only Tang Li.
"Look at you, all dumbfounded. How did Mo Yachen even fall for you?" Yu Yuan teased.
This time, Ji Yu ignored him. She stirred the fruit at the bottom of her cup, crushing a slice of lemon with her straw.
"…Is it true?" she murmured. "That the one who stays the longest is the one who understands you best—the one who really suits you?"
As she spoke, her heart grew restless. She pressed harder on the fruit, grinding it into pulp.
Across the table, Yu Yuan sat just as distracted, his dark eyes losing focus as he stared blankly at the couples passing outside.
Too anxious. Too hungry for something he couldn't name.
The shop bustled with customers, even the air conditioning failing to keep the clerks from sweating. But their table seemed untouched by the noise and light, wrapped in its own quiet shadow.
Only when Yu Yuan's second milk tea arrived did the silence finally break.
"…Here, I ordered this one wrong. You take it." He pushed it toward her. Then, almost as an afterthought, added, "About your question…"
He paused, thinking for a long moment. Finally, his lips curled into his trademark smirk.
Ji Yu recognized it. His usual mocking smile. And yet—behind it, his eyes… the blackness in his pupils seemed to fade, leaving something softer.
"Companionship is the truest confession, sure. But honestly—why are we even talking about this? Two people who can't manage a single successful relationship, acting like love experts."
It was true.
One who had never known love.
One who had never managed to keep it.
Ji Yu could still blame inexperience. But Yu Yuan's bitter self-mockery… what did that mean?