He walked with his head down,his steps unsteady—as if the weight of his emotions was pressing the air out of his lungs.
Suddenly, a car approached from ahead with its high beams on.
The harsh glare made him instinctively raise a hand to shield his eyes,muttering a silent curse at the inconsiderate driver as he slowly stepped to the side to avoid it.
But in that moment,something strange surged through his mind,like a jolt of electricity.
Under those starry skies,he had always remembered being the one behind the camera,the one framing the shots, pressing the shutter.
But now,a strange sensation struck him.A powerful, disorienting feeling that he hadn't been alone behind the lens.
In certain fragments of his memories on the edge of those frames,there was another presence.A vague shadow standing just beyond the aperture,watching him quietly.As if it had always been there.
A warm night breeze passed by,carrying with it a fleeting coolness.
He shivered.
Something deep within him,something not yet awakened stirred.
"That's… impossible."
In his mind,the image of that woman in glasses remained vivid,a composed professional,sitting across from Dorian Xu in the restaurant,smiling,her tone casual, her gestures familiar.
Selene had always assumed that when he first saw this woman,he would feel anger,maybe even the urge to confront her.
But in that moment,what surfaced instead was something far stranger.
A sense of familiarity.
It wasn't anger.It was a deep, unsettling feeling,impossible to explain—as if the shadow of a long-buried experience had suddenly forced its way into the present.
He felt like he had seen her before,somewhere, somehow.
But no matter how hard he tried to recall,no matter how deep he searched through the frames of memory,it was like reaching into a muddy river,grasping for fragments that had long since sunken into silt.
His fingertips trembled.A cold sweat prickled down his spine.
Had he simply remembered wrong?Or had someone… tampered with his memory?
He suddenly realized,that strange sense of familiarity didn't just come from the woman.
It was there, too,in certain photographs,certain frames that kept resurfacing in his mind.
His breathing grew heavy all at once.
Gripping the rail at the subway station entrance,he fought to steady himself.
Could it be… something was wrong with his memory?
He didn't dare think further.Lowering his head,he hurried into the station.
The train car was nearly empty that night.He leaned back against the seat,closed his eyes,and tried to quiet his thoughts.
But the void,the twisting distortions,kept circling, refusing to fade.
When the train finally pulled into his stop,he opened his eyes,rubbed at his temples,and stepped off with a leaden gait.
Outside his apartment building,he hadn't even taken out his keyswhen he heard faint music drifting through the gap in the door.
Dorian Xu was home.
The moment he opened the door,music poured into his ears—a familiar, quiet melody that surged over him like a tide.It was Kurokawa Mio's solo piece, "Moon Beneath the Deep Sea."
The sound of the violin flowed softly from the black vinyl turntable in the living room,
its slow cadence filling the air with a fragile kind of peace.
It was one of the few musicians they had both loved.Selene still remembered the first time they'd heard Kurokawa live—a concert in a small theater in Torino.
He had leaned close to Dorian's ear and whispered,"I want to listen to more concerts with you someday."
But now,this music made him want to run.
He hadn't listened to Kurokawa Mio in a long time.He was afraid—afraid of how those too-perfect memories might flood back again.
He closed the door behind him and stepped into the living room.Then his eyes caught something on the sofa—a white shopping bag with the GUCCI logo.
Exactly like the one he had seen on the table at the restaurant in front of Dorian and the woman.
His chest tightened all of a sudden,as if an invisible hand had gripped his heart.
A sting rose to the tip of his nose,and a wave of unspoken grievance surged up his throat,too bitter, too sudden to swallow.
"You're back."
The bathroom door opened.Dorian Xu stepped out,still damp from a shower,wearing gray-blue pajamas.His hair was wet,strands clinging lazily to his forehead as he casually toweled off the moisture.
He looked relaxed,almost sleepy with a faint, easy smile on his face.As if nothing were out of the ordinary.
Selene stared at him,his gaze locking for a moment.
He remembered,he remembered the first time he had ever seen Dorian.It was this exact look that had drawn him in.That disarming softness.That sense of steadiness.That face.Gentle. Reliable. Handsome.Who wouldn't fall for a man who looked like safety itself?
But now—that same face only felt foreign to him.Unfamiliar.Even a little terrifying.
"Why didn't you answer my call today?"
"Or reply to my messages?"
He finally spoke.The words came out tight, strained,like a violin string pulled just a breath away from snapping.
Dorian didn't seem to notice the strain in Selene's voice.He simply slung the towel over his shoulder,then walked over to the sofa and picked up the white GUCCI shopping bag.
"It's been a really busy day."
"I just got home, finished showering—haven't even looked at my phone yet."
As he spoke,he placed the bag down in front of Selene,his expression calm and composed.
"I bought this for you while you were away these past few days."
"Thought it might be a nice surprise when you got back."
"You've seemed a little off lately."
"Take this time to rest a bit—or maybe go on a trip, clear your head."
"You're saying... this was for me?"
Selene's voice barely escaped his throat—tight, raw,like something forced out through clenched teeth.
His eyes flinched,as if stabbed by a blade of truth—and in the next instant,everything collapsed.
He slapped the bag away with a sharp motion.The sleek, delicate GUCCI paper crumpled as it hit the floor,landing with a heavy, muffled thud.
"You dare say that was for me?!"
His voice cracked, suddenly sharp and trembling with fury.
"She didn't want it, right?That woman in glasses didn't want your gift—so you brought it back for me instead?"
"How long has this been going on?!"His words came fast, like bullets.
"You don't have to love me,but if you're done, then say it.You could've just broken up with me!"
"You didn't have to treat me like this!"
A flicker of something cruel,something venomous,flashed across Dorian Xu's face.
So brief, it was gone in an instant.
He stepped forward,wearing that same calm, gentle smile,and pulled Selene into an embrace.
He leaned in,his voice low and soft against Selene's ear,the words smooth—too smooth—like a drop of ice falling into boiling water:light, vanishing without a trace.
"It's my fault.I neglected you today."
"That woman—she's a business partner, that's all.It's just... work."
As he spoke,he stepped in closer still,lifting a hand to gently touch Selene's cheek.
Then,he leaned in.And kissed him.
Selene jerked his head away,his hair whipping to one side,lashes trembling violently.
He wrenched himself free from Dorian's arms with all his strength,stumbling back a step—like a cornered animal,backed into the wall.
And then his voice cracked—burst out of him like something that had been held in too long:
"Dorian Xu—do you really think I'm stupid?!"
He shouted,his voice breaking,as if clinging to the last thread of his dignity with everything he had.
"When did it start—you and her?"
"Why did you lie to me?"
"Why do you treat me like some kind of fool?!"
Tears spilled freely down his face,blurring his vision,blurring the sweetness of all those once-precious memories.
His teeth clenched,fists curled so tight his knuckles turned white,his whole body trembling as he threw the words like shattered glass:
"Why?!"
"When we were in Italy—you couldn't even afford rent.Who scraped together money with you, bit by bit?"
"When you ran out of living expenses,who wired you money every time you needed it?"
"You said you loved me.You said you couldn't live without me.You said we'd walk into the future together..."
"But what about you?"
His eyes locked onto Dorian's—those deep, dark irises, calm as still water,and yet utterly empty.
Selene's voice was hoarse,low and cracking under the weight of everything he was forcing out:
"You came back to China,and right after that,you're with someone else?"
Dorian didn't move.His expression remained gentle, composed.He let out a soft sigh,
like a parent trying to soothe a child who was simply being too emotional.
Then he stepped forward,his voice so soft it was nearly a whisper—sweet and coaxing:
"Listen to me...It's not what you think."
And as he looked into Selene's eyes,something flickered in his own.A glint—small, sharp, unnatural.Like a wire-thin thread of firelight,unfolding deep within his pupils.