Yu Yansui · Chat

At 2:30 in the morning, the city had long since sunk into slumber, the relentless cold rain drumming against the asphalt and splashing up fine droplets. A few figures lingered beneath the eaves of an upscale restaurant as the dinner crowd dispersed. Yu Yansui saw off her last partner, phone pinched between her fingers, the alcohol surging up to her temples and filming her usually clear, composed eyes with a watery haze. She had always held her liquor well, but after being toasted again and again tonight, even she couldn't shake off the dizzy heaviness. The driver had taken leave at the last minute. In this vast city with its scattered neon lights, every street looked almost identical. She watched the traffic streaming past and, for a moment, couldn't tell which direction led home. The voices around her faded away, leaving only the whisper of rain. Yu Yansui — always certain of everything, never betraying even a hint of panic — ran her fingertip over the name at the top of her contacts, hesitated for a long while, then pressed the call button. After a few rings of the waiting tone, the call was picked up. Her usually low, indifferent voice was now laced with a drunken rasp, the ends of her words trembling faintly, carrying a trace of aggrieved sobbing she hadn't even noticed herself. She kept her voice very soft, afraid of disturbing the other person's sleep. "Hey... are you asleep?" The rain fell on her shoulder, ice-cold and biting. She slowly crouched outside the shelter of the bus stop canopy, half her body getting drenched in the fine rain, her tone lost and helpless: "I... I didn't disturb you, did I? It's raining out here, and I think... I can't find my way home. Could you... could you come pick me up?"