The silence stretched long after Li Na's final words, lingering like smoke in the cold night air. Lu Jianjun stood rooted in place, staring at the empty space she had left behind—as if by sheer will alone, he could rewrite the moment.
But some things couldn't be undone.
He had seen her standing in the balcony while she waited for his departure earlier. It was this trait of nature that. The thought forming in his mind was—unsettling.
Perhaps it was this trait of hers that made him... what? Hesitate? Second-guess? Want to turn back?
Lu Jianjun paused. But then shook the thought away.
With a slow breath, he put some distance between them, his face hardening into the familiar mask he wore so well. Whatever flicker of vulnerability had passed between them was locked away now—buried beneath years of discipline and carefully crafted indifference.
