Late morning inside Xu Chen's bedroom.
Xu Chen stared at the message.
Then at Aum.
Then back at the message again.
Meera:
She appears disturbingly accurate.
Xu Chen actually laughed into the pillow.
Soft.
Defeated.
Entirely too happy.
Aum watched him carefully from beside him on the bed, sunlight stretching warmly across both of them now while distant festival music drifted upward through the mountain air outside.
"You are reacting positively to her observational capability."
Xu Chen lowered the phone slowly.
"That's because she's unfortunately right."
The silence afterward shifted immediately.
Not awkward.
Aware.
Aum looked at him steadily.
"You are referring to the confession."
Xu Chen's pulse destabilized instantly all over again.
God.
Hearing Aum say it calmly in daylight somehow felt even more dangerous now.
Xu Chen pointed weakly toward him.
"You really need to stop sounding emotionally devastating before lunch."
"I was identifying the topic."
"That does not help."
Warmth softened Aum's expression again.
Xu Chen genuinely thought he might spend the rest of his life emotionally compromised by those tiny changes in his face.
The phone buzzed again.
Meera:
Oh my god you're BOTH ignoring me now.
That means I'm correct.
Xu Chen buried his face briefly against the blanket.
Aum leaned slightly closer automatically.
"You are experiencing embarrassment."
"Yes."
"Why."
Xu Chen lifted his head enough to stare at him incredulously.
"Because my best friend somehow detected catastrophic emotional developments through text-message response times."
A faint pause.
"That appears statistically impressive."
Xu Chen laughed helplessly.
"Please never say that sentence to her directly."
Warm amusement flickered visibly through Aum's expression now.
Xu Chen froze slightly.
"You're doing it again."
"What."
"The smiling thing."
Aum blinked once.
"I was unaware it had become repetitive."
"It became devastating approximately ten chapters ago."
Aum's eyes narrowed faintly at the chapter reference again.
Xu Chen immediately pretended not to notice.
The room softened around them once more afterward.
Morning had fully settled into the villa now. The sunlight no longer carried dawn gentleness; it was brighter, warmer, touching the blankets and walls with clear late-morning gold.
Reality was waiting outside.
Xu Chen could feel it gradually approaching:
festival crowds,
noise,
movement,
people.
And somehow the idea no longer felt exhausting.
Because Aum would be there beside him.
The realization settled quietly through his chest.
Aum noticed the shift instantly.
"You are thinking about leaving the room."
Xu Chen smiled faintly.
"Yeah."
"You dislike the idea less now."
Xu Chen looked at him steadily.
"I think that's because you stopped feeling separate from my life."
The silence afterward became dangerously soft.
Aum became very still again.
Then quietly:
"I do not want to feel separate from it."
God.
Xu Chen closed his eyes briefly because there genuinely needed to be limits on how much emotional damage one person could inflict before noon.
When he opened them again, Aum was still watching him with complete openness.
No defenses anymore.
Xu Chen suddenly realized something terrifying:
Aum trusted him completely now.
Not strategically.
Not cautiously.
Completely.
The understanding hit harder than any confession.
Xu Chen reached over and touched his face gently.
"You know what's scary?"
Aum looked at him immediately.
"What."
"I think if you looked at me like this six months ago, I would've panicked."
A faint pause.
"And now."
Xu Chen smiled helplessly.
"Now I think I'd panic if you stopped."
The room fell silent.
Warm silence.
Morning silence.
The kind shared between two people already too emotionally intertwined to retreat cleanly anymore.
Aum's hand slid slowly over Xu Chen's wrist.
"I do not think stopping is structurally possible now."
Xu Chen actually laughed softly from pure disbelief.
"You know what? I'm officially banning you from using the word structurally while in love."
"I believe enforcement would fail."
"That confidence is deeply unattractive."
"It is affecting your heartbeat positively."
Xu Chen stared at him.
Then laughed harder.
God.
How had this become his life?
The phone buzzed again.
Meera:
Xu Chen.
If I arrive there and discover emotional intimacy happened WITHOUT INFORMING ME I will become unbearable.
Xu Chen sighed dramatically and finally began typing.
Aum watched the screen carefully.
"What are you telling her."
Xu Chen typed slowly:
We're alive.
Stop threatening me before coffee.
Three dots appeared instantly.
Then:
"WE"?????????
Xu Chen closed his eyes.
Aum leaned closer to read the screen fully now.
Then, after a brief thoughtful pause:
"She appears highly intelligent."
Xu Chen fell backward dramatically against the mattress.
"She's going to murder me psychologically."