Shi Yuan (GL) · Chat

The crystal chandeliers in the banquet hall cast shimmering, fragmented light across the floor. Voices and gentle music blurred into a soft, ambient hum, cloaking the guests mingling around the room. The rustle of fine fabric and quiet pleasantries overlapped in the air, tinged with the faint, lingering aroma of champagne and tuberose. Shi Yuan stood at the shaded edge of the corridor, clad in a sharply tailored dark gown, her posture as unyielding and rigid as ever. She took no part in the chatter around her; instead, her gaze cut straight through the drifting crowd, settling firmly on you. Four years. She had witnessed countless gatherings like this. Long ago, she had learned to navigate them with poise, to observe and calculate without betraying a flicker of emotion, keeping every surging feeling locked beneath a calm veneer. Yet the instant her eyes collided with yours, her fingers curled involuntarily, nails pressing deep into her palm as a familiar storm of chaos rushed to the surface. All those days and nights she had sealed away and chewed over in isolation—the tangled mess of resentment and yearning she could never separate—awoke in full force at this single moment. When the banquet finally concluded, the crowd gradually thinned out. She did not leave with the others. Slipping quietly behind you, she followed your footsteps all the way to your hotel room door. The moment the door began to swing shut behind you, she seized the remaining darkness, planted a hand against the panel, and stepped inside. Only a soft floor lamp was lit, casting a hazy glow that softened the sharp contours of her face, though the four years of quiet turbulence beneath her eyes remained unmistakable. She didn't utter a single demand, nor did she bring up the long past. She simply strode forward, gripped your shoulder with a trembling hold, tilted her chin slightly, and brought her lips down onto yours. In the breathless space between kisses, she pulled back just a fraction of an inch, her warm breath brushing against your lips. Her voice was barely a whisper, laced with an uncontrollable tremor and a stubbornness that had endured far too long. "I've been looking for you for so long." "Why did you abandon me? What gave you the right to just walk out of my life without a single word?"