The curtain swayed—so lightly, it could have been from a breath.
But Su Rui's heart pounded so violently, it felt like it would tear through her chest.
She pressed herself flat against the wall, her fingers digging into the edge of the windowsill, knuckles white, cold sweat running down her back. Her breath was so shallow it barely stirred the air. Any louder, and she was sure she'd be caught.
Through that thin veil of fabric, she could hear Shen Yichen's footsteps—each one landing like a hammer against her nerves.
He was too close.
She could even smell him. That familiar clean scent she used to know from his shirts, from the warmth he left behind in the car seat. It used to be comforting—now it crushed her.
He stood by the curtain. One tug, and everything would fall apart.
Then—
A knock. The door opened.
"Mr. Shen, excuse me." A nurse peeked in, her voice polite but firm. "We need to conduct a routine check-up. Please step outside for a moment."
The tension snapped.
Shen paused for a beat, then said coolly, "Alright."
His footsteps retreated. The door clicked shut. Silence returned.
Su Rui stayed frozen behind the curtain, still too tense to move. Only when she heard the nurse adjusting machines did she finally allow herself to breathe.
Several minutes later, the nurse left too.
She emerged slowly, step by step from the corner, as if climbing back from a cliff.
The room was quiet, save for the steady beeping of the monitor.
She walked to the bedside and looked down at the face lying there—her own, yet no longer hers.
"You really know how to pick your moment to lie down," she muttered. "Everyone thinks you're just 'asleep,' but I know… this body's no longer truly you."
And then—her words caught in her throat.
The fingers on that lifeless body twitched.
She held her breath.
The eyelids fluttered slightly.
"…Lin Yueying?" she whispered.
The woman didn't open her eyes, but her lips moved, barely producing a sound that seemed to rise from the depths of the earth.
"I'm… here…"
Su Rui's heart jolted, as if something inside her had been torn open.
"You… you're awake?"
"Not… awake… just… sensed you came… so I came too…"
The voice was distant, dreamlike.
Su Rui stepped closer, her fists clenched.
"You… are really Lin Yueying?"
"Mmhmm… I am…"
She opened her mouth, unsure what to ask. Too many questions choked her—why her, why this body, what now?
In the end, all she could say was, "You know… this body… it's dying, right?"
"I know… I've known… that's why… I wanted to leave something behind…"
Su Rui's eyes stung with sudden heat.
She thought of the old diary, the white dress, the wishes hidden in everyday scribbles.
"The dance… was that your dream?"
"Yes… thank you… for dancing… for me…"
Su Rui inhaled sharply, but before she could speak again, Lin Yueying's lips stilled, her breathing slowed.
She had fallen asleep once more.
Like a breeze slipping through a crack in consciousness, the connection faded.
Su Rui stood there, unmoving.
She looked down at the woman lying still in the bed—and felt something she couldn't explain.
Not familiarity with her own face, but something in the soul beneath it. Lin Yueying.
Something warm.
Something… almost motherly.
It crept into her chest, slow and steady, like a thread being gently pulled from the depths of memory.
She frowned.
The feeling didn't belong to the Su Rui she was now.
It felt like it had been with her for a long, long time.