The remaining words seemed to get stuck, plunging the room into silence.
Sang Yan's eyelashes fluttered slightly. From his angle, he could only see Wen Yifan's slightly disheveled hair and her lowered lashes. His Adam's apple bobbed as he asked hoarsely, "What are you doing?"
Wen Yifan didn't answer.
Sang Yan's hair was still damp.
Drops of water slid from the ends of his hair down his cheeks, dripping from his jawline onto her hair. He watched intently, then slowly raised his hand, gently brushing them away with his fingertips.
As if unaware, she showed no reaction.
Wen Yifan wasn't short, standing about up to his chin, but her frame was slender with hardly any flesh on her. Now, her cheek rested against his chest, her arms wrapped around his waist with just the right amount of pressure.
Yet her presence felt as intense as a drop of scalding lava landing on his skin.
This lasted for over ten seconds.
"Care to give me a straight answer?" Sang Yan spoke again, his tone teasing. "How long do you plan to keep hugging me?"
The moment he finished speaking, Wen Yifan immediately let go.
She took a slow step back, avoiding his gaze, mumbling a few indistinct words that seemed to roll around her tongue before coming out muffled.
Sang Yan didn't catch it. "What did you say?"
But Wen Yifan didn't respond.
As if she hadn't done anything out of the ordinary, she turned and trudged toward the master bedroom. Calm and composed, as though suddenly hugging him in the middle of the night was the most natural thing in the world.
Not expecting such a reaction, Sang Yan's brow twitched, his voice laced with disbelief.
"Wen Yifan?"
At the same time, Wen Yifan reached the door of the guest room. She paused mid-step, as if hearing him, but her gaze remained fixed in the direction of Sang Yan's room for several seconds.
Then she averted her eyes and continued walking.
"..."
With the sound of a door closing, the two were separated once more.
Sang Yan remained rooted in place. "?"
The scene seemed frozen.
A few seconds later, the towel slipped from his shoulders and fell to the floor with a soft thud.
Sang Yan snapped out of his thoughts and bent to pick it up.
The bright white light in the living room was glaring and disorienting. The surroundings were eerily silent, so quiet that the faint flow of air could be heard. Wen Yifan's brief presence seemed to have dissipated along with it.
As if it had all been a dream.
The next morning.
Wen Yifan woke up feeling completely refreshed, as if she had recharged overnight. All her bad mood and discomfort had vanished. She sat up in bed, taking a moment to wake up properly, idly thinking that sleep was the ultimate remedy.
Just one good night's sleep could dissolve all the negativity.
She grabbed her phone and headed to the bathroom. Out of habit, she scrolled through the news before checking WeChat. As she swiped down, she noticed a message from Sang Yan sent around nine o'clock the previous night.
Sang Yan: [What's wrong with you?]
Wen Yifan blinked, unsure whether she had already fallen asleep by then. After coming out of the bathroom, she had gone straight to bed to try and sleep, not checking her phone again afterward.
She put her toothbrush in her mouth and typed with her free hand: [What?]
A moment later.
Sang Yan replied with a question mark: [?]
"..."
Where did he pick up this habit of throwing question marks at people?
Wen Yifan pondered this as she brushed her teeth.Last night when Sang Yan sent that WeChat message, she wasn't in the living room and hadn't made any noise to disturb him. Moreover, when she returned home, her attitude while speaking to him had been completely normal.
After some thought, Wen Yifan replied: [Did you send this to the wrong person?]
Sang Yan: [?]
A few seconds later, he sent a thumbs-up emoji.
"......"
Utterly baffled, Wen Yifan couldn't comprehend his thoughts at all. But from those two question marks, she understood this thumbs-up couldn't possibly carry good intentions. Spitting out the toothpaste foam, she didn't know how to respond.
She always felt this person's moods fluctuated unpredictably.
Every day brought something slightly strange.
Not overthinking it, Wen Yifan simply interpreted the thumbs-up at face value—assuming Sang Yan was sending her encouragement first thing in the morning.
Thinking this exchange should be reciprocated,
After some consideration, she returned a thumbs-up emoji as well.
......
It was just past eight now.
Carrying her jacket draped over her arm, Wen Yifan stepped out of her room in slippers. Though Sang Yan was already awake, since it was still early, she instinctively moved more quietly.
She assumed Sang Yan hadn't left his room yet.
Unexpectedly, upon entering the kitchen, she saw him leaning against the counter drinking ice water.
Sang Yan seemed particularly partial to dark-colored clothing, even his loungewear at home was no exception—a solid black T-shirt with matching pants. His demeanor was casual yet somewhat weary, as if he hadn't slept well.
Currently, he was looking down, idly playing with his phone with one hand.
Noticing her presence, he only lazily lifted his eyelids.
Wen Yifan took a box of yogurt and a packet of toast from the fridge. Closing the refrigerator door, she hesitated briefly before mentioning his earlier WeChat: "What did you want to talk about last night?"
Sang Yan raised his eyes, staring directly at her, then suddenly smiled.
"Trying to pretend it never happened?"
"......"
If Wen Yifan wasn't absolutely certain she hadn't drunk alcohol yesterday, she might have thought she'd blacked out and done something.
In a flash of realization, she recalled the timing—just past nine o'clock.
Last night, the moment she returned home, she'd mentioned wanting to sleep early today and asked him to turn down the TV volume before nine. But when they first moved in together, her request had been to keep noise down after ten o'clock.
She'd moved the deadline up by an hour.
Wen Yifan hadn't considered this a big deal.
But Sang Yan had always been one to make mountains out of molehills.
Perhaps the more he thought about that moved-up hour, the more it irritated him.
"Last night was a special circumstance," Wen Yifan explained. "Sorry for disturbing you—it won't happen again. And thank you for accommodating me."
"......" Sang Yan indifferently averted his gaze. "Fine."
Wen Yifan exhaled in relief.
"This isn't some trivial matter to me," Sang Yan tilted his head, enunciating each word. "In the future when you do things like this, I expect a proper explanation."
"......"
Now Wen Yifan truly thought him petty and unreasonable.
This counts as a major issue?
All I asked was for you to turn down the TV.
Biting back her words, she simply said: "Alright, I will."-
When Wen Yifan arrived at the television station, the office was still empty. She first went to the break room to make coffee. Returning to her desk, she saw Su Tian had already arrived, currently slumped over the table catching up on sleep, looking utterly exhausted.After greeting her, Wen Yifan asked, "Why are you so early today?"
"I didn't go home. Pulled an all-nighter and just got back from the editing room," Su Tian mumbled drowsily. "I’m gonna nap for a bit."
"Alright," Wen Yifan said. "Sleep as long as you need. I’ll call you if anything comes up. But isn’t sleeping like that uncomfortable? Do you want to move to the couch? I have a blanket here."
"No need," Su Tian replied. "I’ll just sleep for half an hour, then I have to get up and finish the draft."
Wen Yifan didn’t press further but still handed her the blanket. She opened a document, skimmed through some materials, and worked on her interview outline for a while.
Some time later, Su Tian suddenly sat upright next to her, looking dazed from sleep. She turned to Wen Yifan, breathing rapidly. "Yifan."
Hearing her, Wen Yifan glanced over. "What’s wrong?"
"I just had a nightmare—really bizarre," Su Tian said, her forehead damp with sweat. She didn’t seem to have slept well. "I dreamed I was sleeping right here, and I could hear you typing on the keyboard. There was also a child crying nearby, and something felt like it was pressing down on my back."
Wen Yifan froze. "That sounds terrifying."
"Yeah, I almost suffocated," Su Tian sighed. "I felt conscious, but it was like I was wrapped in cling film—completely unable to move."
"That sounds like sleep paralysis. You were sleeping in a bad position, so your blood circulation might’ve been poor," Wen Yifan reassured her. "Try sleeping on the couch. It probably won’t happen there."
"Forget it, I’m still shaken," Su Tian said. "First time having such a weird dream."
Hearing this, Wen Yifan recalled something. "I had a strange dream last night too."
Su Tian picked up her water glass. "What was it?"
"Not exactly a nightmare," Wen Yifan said thoughtfully. "I dreamed I wandered alone into a deep mountain forest and walked for hours without finding an exit. Then it got dark, and I couldn’t see anything. I started feeling really cold."
"And then?"
"Suddenly, I remembered seeing the sun on my way in," Wen Yifan continued. "So I tried to go back to find it for warmth. After walking a bit more, I actually found it."
Su Tian pointed out the flaw. "But it was already dark. How could there be a sun?"
Wen Yifan laughed. "Hence, it was a dream."
"That’s it? You didn’t make it out of the forest?"
"I did. The moment I saw the sun, I was out." Wen Yifan tried to recall, but the memory of the dream was already fading. It felt a bit absurd now. "And when I saw the sun, I think I even—"
"What?"
"—hugged it."
...
Wen Yifan had arrived early today, and since there wasn’t much work at the station, she left on time.
Back in her apartment complex, she coincidentally ran into Sang Yan in the elevator. He seemed to have just returned as well, likely coming straight from the underground parking lot. He was on a phone call.
Wen Yifan nodded at him in greeting.
Sang Yan only glanced at her.
After a moment, he said lazily into the phone, "No need to doubt it. She’s just not interested in you."
"..."
The elevator reached the sixteenth floor.
Wen Yifan took her keys from her pocket and stepped out.Sang Yan followed behind her: "Why don't you tell me what ambiguous behavior she showed towards you."
Wen Yifan opened the door and was about to change into her slippers.
From behind, Sang Yan suddenly added: "Gave you a hug?"
"..."
His words were accompanied by the sound of the door closing.
At the same time, Sang Yan tapped her head lightly: "Hey."
Wen Yifan turned around.
"Since you're both girls, answer me this." Sang Yan tilted his chin slightly, implying something. "This person hugged my friend, then acted like nothing happened the next day. What does that mean?"
Wen Yifan didn't catch on immediately: "Huh?"
Sang Yan: "Is this behavior grounds for calling the police?"
"..." Wen Yifan was startled and hesitated before saying, "A hug... probably isn't that serious..."
Noticing Sang Yan's expression, she cautiously added: "It mainly depends on how close your friend is with this girl. Maybe she was just feeling down and needed some comfort."
Sang Yan remained silent.
His demeanor somehow made Wen Yifan feel like she was the villain who had committed such an act, making it difficult for her to continue speaking: "The hug might not have any other meaning, just between friends..."
Under Sang Yan's intense gaze, Wen Yifan couldn't finish her sentence: "But I don't really know the current situation between your friend and this girl, so what I say might not be very helpful."
Hearing this, Sang Yan expressionlessly averted his eyes and spoke into the phone again: "He's asking you, what's your relationship with that person?"
"Are you insane?! Calling the police?!" Qian Fei, who had been ignored for a while, raised his voice on the other end. "What do you mean what relationship?! She's my goddess! I've had a crush on her for a year!"
"..."
Qian Fei: "And what are you even talking about?! Didn't I make it clear?! My goddess gave me chocolates on Valentine's Day! Not a hug?!"
"Oh, he says it's someone," Sang Yan lowered the phone, scanning Wen Yifan up and down as if drawing conclusions from her, "who's madly in love with him."
"..."
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