The meal was all set, just waiting for Yun Li to sit down and eat.
Facing this situation for the first time—sitting across from someone she had already given up pursuing—Yun Li felt awkward and unsure how to act.
Fu Shize watched her quietly, the shifting light brushing across his face.
Yun Li knew that, for him, this was just a meal with a colleague, an utterly ordinary affair.
She swallowed hard and moved at an excruciatingly slow pace. As that cold, indifferent face drew closer, time seemed to slow to a crawl.
She stopped at the seat diagonally across from Fu Shize, pulling the takeout box that had been beside him toward herself.
"I'll sit here," Yun Li murmured softly, pulling out the chair and sitting down.
She kept her head down as she ate.
The person beside her moved little, and the two of them maintained a tacit silence.
They interacted as they always had.
Every time she looked up, she could see his dark, inscrutable eyes.
Yun Li felt like she was sitting on pins and needles. The emotions she had suppressed over the past few days surged up now. She fiddled with her chopsticks, then pretended to check her phone. "A colleague messaged me. I'll finish eating in the office."
The atmosphere grew stiff.
After a pause, Fu Shize stood up as well, not calling out her lie directly. "You stay here. I'm done."
His takeout box was barely touched. He closed the lid and left the break room without another word.
He must have noticed her discomfort.
He was trying to spare her feelings.
A pang of guilt struck Yun Li. After all, in this entire situation, she was the one who had given up pursuing him. Fu Shize hadn’t done anything wrong from start to finish.
She couldn’t interact with him as naturally as he did, but she didn’t want to be petty either, forcing him to constantly accommodate her emotions.
As soon as the door closed, she turned to the internet for answers.
["You're both adults. So what if the pursuit failed? Just be more open-minded!"]
["It's perfectly normal for someone not to like you. No need to take it to heart—just treat them like any other colleague. Aren’t there always coworkers you don’t click with?"]
["Put yourself in their shoes—your colleague probably just wants normal social interactions and work relationships."]
Of course.
Most people saw it this way—just an ordinary, everyday matter.
Fu Shize was different from her. He was no stranger to admirers. To him, whether he rejected someone or they gave up on him, it was all just part of life.
She was the one who cared too much.
...
As the year drew to a close, EAW’s workload piled up, with many projects reaching their year-end evaluation deadlines. Yun Li had heard He Jiameng complain about the insane overtime recently, and even as an intern, she was being borrowed by other departments to help organize materials.
The tech department needed to submit a report tomorrow, and Yun Li was responsible for the final consolidation, proofreading, and formatting. The materials were handled by different colleagues, and by the time they sent them to her, it was nearly the end of the workday.
Before leaving, He Jiameng stopped by Yun Li’s desk. "Are you the one consolidating this report? Are you working overtime?"
Exhausted after sitting all day, Yun Li sighed. "Yeah..."
He Jiameng cheered her on. "Hang in there!"
"Oh, and," she added before leaving, "I heard there’s been a creep around the residential area nearby. Don’t you live around there?"
Yun Li tensed. "What kind of creep?"
"You know, the kind who wears just a thick coat, walks right up to you, and then—""Alright, alright, stop talking." Yun Li quickly shook her head.
He Jiameng adjusted her bag and reminded her, "Then remember not to stay too late. If it’s really necessary, call someone to pick you up."
"Okay."
Apart from Yun Li, the rest of the HR department was packing up to leave. Unable to handle the farewells from her colleagues, Yun Li slipped away early to the break room to make tea.
Pushing the door open, she saw Fu Shize sitting on a beanbag chair, his phone seemingly playing a video. The color of the bullet comments resembled those on E-Station.
Before Yun Li could get a clear look at the content, Fu Shize calmly turned off the screen.
Not wanting to repeat the awkwardness from dinner, Yun Li took the initiative to ask, "Aren’t you leaving yet?"
Fu Shize: "What about you?"
Yun Li: "Not anytime soon."
Not keen on continuing the conversation, Yun Li left after filling her cup with hot water.
After working for three hours, Yun Li had processed all the materials she’d received according to the requirements. One colleague had said they weren’t finished yet and would send their part to her once they got home, but she still hadn’t received it.
Having stared at the screen for too long, Yun Li rested her head on the desk, closing her eyes to take a short break. She thought she’d wait just a little longer—
It was past nine when Fu Shize finally emerged from the break room.
The HR department’s lights were still on. He knocked on the door, but there was no response.
Opening the door, the office appeared empty, yet he could hear faint breathing.
Fu Shize approached and found Yun Li lying on the desk, her face turned to the side, the computer keyboard pushed aside.
She looked small, occupying only a tiny portion of the office chair.
One of her hands still loosely gripped the mouse, while the left earbud had fallen onto the desk between her ear and elbow from her position. The other earbud remained in her right ear.
Fu Shize reached out and picked up the earbud near her elbow, placing it in his own left ear.
Soft piano music played through the earbud.
Fu Shize lowered his gaze, looking at Yun Li. Her face was small, her tightly closed eyelids fluttering slightly, making her appear gentle and harmless.
He stood there quietly for a while before finally removing the earbud and placing it back on the desk.
Fu Shize spoke softly, "Yun Li."
Yun Li didn’t move.
Fu Shize pressed his lips together and called again, "Yun Li."
Yun Li still didn’t move.
Left with no choice, Fu Shize reached over and removed the earbud from her right ear, calling out, "Yun Lili."
Yun Li remained motionless.
The office was completely silent except for his deliberately hushed calls.
Not wanting to startle her awake, Fu Shize leaned down, bringing his face close to her right ear.
Before he could speak, Yun Li suddenly opened her eyes, still half-asleep. Seeing Fu Shize’s face so close, she squinted.
Fu Shize froze for a moment before silently straightening up.
Yun Li, still groggy, asked, "Were you calling me just now?"
Fu Shize’s momentary daze passed quickly, and his usual indifference returned. "You fell asleep."
Yun Li’s face flushed again. "Oh..."
"Is something wrong?" Yun Li sat up.
Fu Shize answered honestly, "I saw the lights were still on here."
"Leaving?" He handed the earbud back to her.
Yun Li was taken aback. "Are you going with me?"
Fu Shize nodded.
Yun Li felt uneasy. "I can go back by myself..."
Fu Shize: "It hasn’t been safe lately."Hearing him say that, Yun Li hesitated again. After all, personal safety was the most important thing. She lowered her head in thought. "But I still need to wait for my colleague's documents. Maybe you should go ahead first."
Fu Shize replied, "I'll wait for you."
His tone carried no extra emotion, as if it were the most natural thing in the world—just a simple favor.
Yun Li tried not to overthink it, but her mind was already a tangled mess.
Fu Shize stood nearby for a while before leaving.
When Yun Li finished handling the documents and turned off the lights to leave, she saw Fu Shize emerge from Xu Qingsong's office across the hall.
"Let's go," Fu Shize said.
"Mm..."
As they passed his office, he suddenly said, "Wait a moment," then turned back to grab two baseball caps from the solid wood coat rack by the door. The styles and shapes were nearly identical, except one was black and the other blue.
He casually put on the blue cap, adjusting it slightly. His hair wasn’t long, and with the cap on, his features became even more defined.
"It's getting colder," Fu Shize said as he handed the other cap to Yun Li.
The cap was a bit too big for her. After adjusting it, she caught their reflections in the glass—standing side by side, they were nearly a head apart in height, looking like a pair of awkward teenagers.
At night, Nanwu's temperature dropped to around three or four degrees. The high humidity after the rain intensified the winter chill.
Yun Li followed behind Fu Shize, watching as he walked with his hands in his pockets, his steps light. Perhaps influenced by his ease, her mood also improved.
The comforting moment didn’t last long. Before she knew it, they had already reached the building’s entrance. Fu Shize nodded toward the apartment, signaling for her to go inside.
"Get some rest early too," Yun Li said softly before hurrying away as if escaping.
After the busiest period had passed, EAW announced its year-end trip. This year’s destination was the "Steal a Moment" Homestay. Different departments would go in staggered shifts, and HR had scheduled theirs for the Monday and Tuesday after Christmas.
Not long after hearing the news, Deng Chuqi called.
"Xia Xia said you’re going to her family’s homestay next Monday and Tuesday. She invited us to come over early on Friday night," Deng Chuqi said cheerfully. "I just resigned, and Xia Xia and the others want to celebrate my escape from misery."
Yun Li stirred the noodles in the pot. "Will Xia Xia’s uncle be there?"
"I asked Xia Xia who’s coming. Her uncle might not have time—he’s busy with year-end stuff," Deng Chuqi teased. "What, if her uncle isn’t going, you won’t celebrate with me either?"
"That’s not what I meant..." Yun Li dragged her words, turning off the stove and pouring herself a glass of warm water. Only after preparing everything did she recount everything that had happened earlier.
Anticipating the reaction, Yun Li held the phone slightly away. Sure enough, within seconds, Deng Chuqi’s voice amplified several times: "Lili! Are you joking?! Did you ask him directly? What if he wanted to ask you out?!"
Yun Li replied, "Because it’s a girl he’s known for years, so it definitely wasn’t me."
Deng Chuqi disagreed. "No, that’s just what someone else said. You should ask him yourself."
Deng Chuqi had always been straightforward, and Yun Li suddenly felt unsure. She admitted bluntly, "But I’ve been chasing him for so long, and he’s always rejected me. He turns down every invitation I extend."Yun Li said dejectedly, "And this was two weeks ago. He hasn’t reached out to me at all during this time. He probably doesn’t even know I deleted him on WeChat."
"Holy crap," Deng Chuqi blurted out. "You deleted him on WeChat?"
Yun Li: "Yeah..."
Deng Chuqi: "You still work at the same company, and your lives occasionally overlap. Meeting like this would just be one big awkward performance."
Yun Li: "Actually, I kind of regret it now... Maybe I should secretly add him back?"
Deng Chuqi: "..."
Yun Li muttered to herself, "He might not have noticed yet..."
Deng Chuqi stayed silent.
After a moment of thought, Yun Li added, "But what if he already noticed? That would be even more awkward. Forget it."
Deng Chuqi fell into a long silence before finally comforting her, "It’s good to draw a clear line with him. If you don’t want to come, then don’t. It’s not a big deal."
Yun Li admitted honestly, "I did draw a line... But in Nanwu, you guys are my only friends. I don’t want this to affect my normal life."
"It’s okay, Lili," Deng Chuqi tried to ease her anxiety, joking, "We can have Xia Xia find a couple of single colleagues to join us..."
Hearing this, Yun Li’s tone lightened, "No, don’t. If you do, I won’t come."
The mood between them relaxed considerably. Deng Chuqi turned on speakerphone, and together with Xia Congsheng, they finalized the arrangements for that day.
Yun Li returned to the kitchen and turned on the stove. The noodles had already turned into a soggy, tangled mess. She poked at them with her chopsticks.
Her mind drifted back to the scene a few days ago when Fu Shize had walked her home.
In the end, she hadn’t been able to resist looking back.
Fu Shize was still standing there, his tall frame blending into the winter night. The moment she turned around, she unexpectedly met his calm, gentle gaze.
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