The day before the surgery, neither Shen Che nor Lin Zhou could sleep much.
They woke up before dawn.
"Let's go watch the sunrise," Lin Zhou suggested.
"Okay."
They didn't go to any scenic spot, just to the rooftop of their apartment building. This was the place where Shen Che used to come alone to get some air.
The early autumn morning was cool. Shen Che hugged Lin Zhou from behind, wrapping them both tightly in his coat.
They watched the eastern sky, from a fish-belly white, to being tinged with gold, until a red sun broke free from the clouds, bursting forth, its brilliant rays instantly blanketing the earth.
"Zhou Zhou," Shen Che whispered in her ear. "After we both recover, let's go traveling. Let's see all the sights we missed."
"Okay," Lin Zhou leaned against his chest, feeling his steady heartbeat. "We'll go to many, many places. We'll see mountains, see the sea, see every sunrise and sunset in this world."
They no longer spoke of "forever" or made promises of a "next life." After everything they had been through, they both understood that the most precious thing was every "now" and "today" they could embrace together.
The sun shone on them, casting a warm golden glow. The physical distance of upstairs and downstairs was gone, and the once-vast distance between their hearts had finally closed to zero in this beautiful sunrise.
There might still be storms ahead, but as long as they held each other's hands, they had the courage to face anything.
Because they were, in each other's lives, the most dazzling light.