Later that same morning inside Xu Chen's bedroom.
The room remained warm and quiet around them.
Too quiet, honestly.
Because outside the villa, Sanyuejie had fully awakened.
Xu Chen could hear it now beneath the soft silence of the bedroom:
distant music drifting upward from the old town,
festival voices carried faintly through mountain air,
the occasional sharp burst of laughter somewhere below the hillside roads.
Dali was alive today.
And somehow he was still lying beneath tangled blankets with Aum half-curled against him while sunlight stretched lazily across the bed.
Xu Chen realized suddenly that they had spent almost an entire night and morning existing inside their own separate world.
The thought felt strangely intimate.
Aum's fingers continued moving slowly through his hair.
Xu Chen closed his eyes again automatically.
"There," Aum murmured softly.
Xu Chen groaned weakly.
"You really developed a dangerous level of confidence overnight."
"That appears to be your fault."
Xu Chen laughed quietly against his shoulder.
God.
Even his humor had changed.
Softer now.
Warmer.
Less careful.
The realization settled gently through him.
Aum shifted slightly beneath the blankets, moving unconsciously closer once again until Xu Chen could feel the steady warmth of his body completely along his side.
Neither acknowledged the movement verbally anymore.
Because apparently this had simply become natural.
Xu Chen lifted his head slightly to look at him.
Morning light softened everything about Aum still. The exhaustion from earlier had faded somewhat now, leaving behind something calmer in his expression.
Peace.
Xu Chen realized with terrifying clarity that this might genuinely be the most relaxed he had ever seen him.
Not composed.
Not controlled.
Happy.
The understanding hit hard.
"You look different today," Xu Chen murmured quietly.
Aum blinked once slowly.
"You already stated this earlier."
"No, I mean…" Xu Chen hesitated briefly. "Lighter."
The silence afterward softened immediately.
Aum thought about it carefully before answering.
"I think my internal stress responses reduced significantly overnight."
Xu Chen laughed softly.
"That is the least romantic way anyone has ever described emotional healing."
"It remains accurate."
"It does."
Warmth touched Aum's expression again.
Xu Chen's pulse reacted instantly.
Hopeless.
Absolutely hopeless.
Then—
A sharp vibration suddenly broke through the room.
Both of them froze.
Xu Chen stared toward the bedside table.
His phone vibrated again.
Aum looked at it carefully.
"The external world appears persistent."
Xu Chen groaned quietly into the pillow.
"No. Ignore it. Society is cancelled."
The phone vibrated a third time.
Then stopped.
Silence returned briefly.
Before another message notification arrived almost immediately afterward.
Aum glanced toward him.
Xu Chen sighed dramatically.
"That's definitely Meera."
"Why."
"Because she possesses demonic intuition."
A faint pause.
"That description appears affectionate."
"Unfortunately, yes."
Xu Chen finally reached one arm reluctantly toward the bedside table without fully leaving the warmth beside Aum.
The second he unlocked the screen, he regretted it.
Meera:
You two alive?
Second message:
If you are both still asleep at 11 AM after Sanyuejie eve celebrations I am choosing to assume emotionally catastrophic developments occurred.
Third message:
Also your bookstore alien hasn't replied to me either which is EXTREMELY suspicious.
Xu Chen closed his eyes.
Aum immediately noticed the reaction.
"Negative stimulus?"
Xu Chen handed him the phone silently.
Aum read the messages carefully.
Then looked up thoughtfully.
"She refers to me as your bookstore alien."
Xu Chen buried his face briefly against the pillow.
"Yes."
A faint pause.
"I do not dislike it structurally."
Xu Chen turned toward him in disbelief.
"You absolutely cannot encourage her."
Warm laughter—actual laughter this time—escaped Aum quietly.
Xu Chen froze immediately again.
God.
That sound.
The morning sunlight.
The blankets.
Aum laughing beside him.
Xu Chen's chest physically hurt from how happy he felt suddenly.
Aum noticed him staring.
"You are doing it again."
Xu Chen smiled helplessly.
"You laughed."
"I have apparently begun doing that near you repeatedly."
"That sentence alone could ruin my life."
Warmth softened Aum's face immediately afterward.
Then his attention returned thoughtfully to the phone still in his hand.
"She appears highly observant."
"She's a geologist," Xu Chen muttered weakly. "Those people spend entire careers noticing fractures."
Aum processed that carefully.
"That metaphor was emotionally intentional."
Xu Chen blinked once.
"Oh no. You're learning subtext now."
"I am adapting."
"That phrase genuinely scares me now."
The room filled softly with warmth and morning quiet again.
But something had shifted slightly.
The world outside had returned.
Not intrusively.
Not harshly.
Just enough to remind them that eventually they would have to leave this room.
Xu Chen realized suddenly that he did not dislike the idea as much as he expected.
Because now Aum would be beside him outside too.
The realization settled deeply.
Aum handed the phone back carefully.
"You should respond."
Xu Chen sighed.
"I know."
But he still did not move immediately.
Instead he looked at Aum lying beside him in the late morning sunlight and suddenly understood something terrifying:
this no longer felt like escape from reality.
It felt like reality itself had quietly rearranged overnight.
Aum watched him carefully.
"You became emotional again."
Xu Chen smiled faintly.
"Yeah."
Then, after a brief pause:
"I think I'm realizing I actually want the world to see you beside me now."