[Workshop Backyard · Shadows in the Night]
Lin Lie had only been passing through the backyard, intending to fetch some parts from the storeroom,
when he stopped short at the corner.
From not far away, among the moonlit shadows of the trees, a low voice drifted over—
"Do you like me?"
It was Tang Jun.
Lin Lie's gaze sharpened; instinctively, he held his breath.
Looking through the gaps between the branches, he saw Tang Jun stepping forward again and again, while Ding Yuxuan retreated until her back pressed against a tree.
In the next instant, Tang Jun planted both hands on either side of her, trapping her in place.
Lin Lie's fingers tightened, his fist clenched hard inside his sleeve.
The heavy pressure surging in his chest was nearly enough to shatter his restraint.
He wanted to rush out at once, to pull her away from that boy.
But at that moment, Ding Yuxuan spoke, her voice trembling:
"Ah-Tang… we're friends. But this… this is really too much."
Lin Lie's steps froze.
Her eyes were frightened yet resolute; both hands pressed firmly against Tang Jun's chest, drawing a clear line she refused to cross.
Under the moonlight, the girl looked shaken, yet she lifted her head straight on, her gaze clear.
In that instant, he saw her not as the carefree, laughing girl who never seemed to think too deeply—but for the first time, someone who was seriously defining her own boundaries.
At last, Tang Jun stepped back and left, bitterness in his retreat.
Ding Yuxuan leaned against the tree and let out a long breath.
Hidden in the darkness, Lin Lie watched in silence, the heaviness in his chest still churning.
—She finally understands the need for distance.
—She finally came to that realization on her own.
He should have turned and left.
Yet he found his feet rooted to the ground, his eyes surging with hidden currents.
That suppressed emotion was no longer merely the responsibility of a mentor or colleague—it was something deeper… concern.
[Workshop · At the Workbench, Afternoon]
Gears and metal plates lay scattered across the table, sunlight pouring in through the high windows and bathing everything in gold.
Ding Yuxuan bent over her work, using both hands to force a small part into place.
No matter how she tried, it wouldn't fit—and with her strength, she ended up skewing it instead, her face flushing red with frustration.
"Ugh… why won't it go in…?" she muttered, a sheen of sweat forming on her forehead.
Just then, a familiar presence approached from behind.
Lin Lie leaned down, placing his hand over hers, and said evenly, "The angle's wrong."
His fingers were long and defined, his movements calm and precise.
In a single motion, he took the piece from her hand, adjusted the angle, and with a clean click, snapped it into place.
Ding Yuxuan froze, her whole body stiff.
Lin Lie's presence was right by her ear—so close she could hear his breathing, so close her heartbeat nearly spiraled out of control.
Her cheeks flared red in an instant, her heart pounding wildly as she hurriedly stepped half a pace forward.
"Th-thanks!" she stammered, then fled almost as if in panic.
Lin Lie stood there, stunned, watching her retreating figure, his brow slowly furrowing.
"…Is she avoiding me?"
He should have been pleased.
After all, it meant she finally understood propriety between men and women, no longer as oblivious as before.
Yet an inexplicable heaviness settled in his chest.
—If she even draws a line with me, then what am I to her?
—In her eyes, am I just another "man" she needs to keep her distance from?
Lin Lie's gaze darkened as it fell on the small part she had struggled with for so long—one he had snapped into place so easily.
His feelings were tangled beyond words, like gears jammed tight, unable to turn yet stubbornly grinding on.
[Workshop Backyard]
Ding Yuxuan sat on the wooden steps, hugging her knees, the mechanical bird resting quietly in her palm.
A light breeze carried the scent of iron and oil, stirring her hair.
Her head was lowered, yet her heart thumped relentlessly.
—It was only that he had come up behind her and taken a part from her hand.
—Only that brief moment when his breath brushed her ear.
So why had her face burned as if on fire?
Even sneaking a glance at his back just now had made her chest tighten, as though something inside had slipped out of rhythm.
She tried to recall the early days when she first got to work by his side.
Back then, every interaction was driven by admiration—by the desire to learn more, by the feeling that he was someone she could never quite catch up to.
But now?
She lifted a hand to press against her chest.
Her heartbeat was still racing.
"This… isn't just admiration anymore, is it…?"
She murmured softly, even the tips of her ears flushed red.
Images flickered through her mind:
his focused expression as he worked, his cool features, yet the way he would instinctively adjust her hands when she made a mistake;
the warmth he couldn't quite hide in his eyes when he watched her giggle, even as he scolded her for "fooling around."
She bit her lip, her heart in turmoil, both flustered and sweetly sore.
"Could it be… that I've fallen for him?"
The words were like a stone dropped into a lake.
Ripples spread outward, impossible to ignore.
Ding Yuxuan sat there hugging her knees, her gaze fixed on the mechanical bird in her palm, her expression dazed.
Her heart was in chaos—the question she had just asked herself, do I like Lin Lie, left her restless and unsettled.
"Ding-ding."
A familiar voice called out. She looked up to see Tang Jun walking over with a teapot in hand.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, instinctively tucking away her unease and flashing a grin.
Tang Jun handed her the teapot and sat down casually beside her, his demeanor more restrained than usual.
After a moment, he spoke quietly, "About that day… I was in the wrong."
Ding Yuxuan paused, then realized he meant what had happened in the backyard.
She blinked and waved it off with a smile. "It's all in the past! I don't blame you."
But Tang Jun shook his head, his expression earnest.
"I was too rushed and didn't think things through. I almost ruined the most precious thing between us."
She blinked. "The most precious thing?"
"Our friendship," Tang Jun said, looking at her sincerely.
"You're my best friend. I don't want a misunderstanding to make you avoid me whenever you see me."
Ding Yuxuan paused, then broke into a wide grin and slapped his shoulder hard.
"That's more like it! Ah-Tang, if you dared to ignore me over something like that, then I'd be mad!"
Tang Jun froze, then finally laughed.
He didn't move any closer, just sat quietly beside her, the two of them gazing up at the night sky.
Moonlight spilled down, their shadows stretching side by side.
From that moment on, Tang Jun understood:
Some feelings don't need to be forced.
To walk side by side, to share one's thoughts—that kind of companionship is already precious enough.
"This is for you."
Tang Jun held out his hand, revealing a small hexagonal nut in his palm.
Ding Yuxuan blinked, took it, and examined it, raising an eyebrow.
"These are everywhere in the workshop. Why give me this?"
Tang Jun smiled, his tone unusually serious.
"Hexagons are the most stable shape—they represent balance and steadiness. An old senior once told me they also symbolize good fortune. You've been frowning a lot lately, so I thought… I'd give you this, to remind you to smile when it's time to smile."
He paused, his eyes sincere.
"You're not meant to stay weighed down. You're like a little sun—you're meant to light up the people around you."
Ding Yuxuan blinked a few times, then grinned as she stuffed the nut into her pocket.
"Alright, then I'll take it! Next time I frown again, I'll throw it at your head to remind you to remind me!"
Tang Jun froze, then burst out laughing, the heaviness between his brows finally easing.
—That was just who she was: straightforward, unrestrained, yet always able to dispel tension with the simplest response.
They exchanged a look and laughed together, as if after a misunderstanding, they had found their way back to their purest rapport.
Under the corridor not far away, Lin Lie stood quietly.
His gaze rested on the two of them, his brow tightening unconsciously.
Only when he saw that Tang Jun no longer moved closer—sitting properly at her side, hands to himself—did the long-suppressed weight in his chest slowly ease.
Yet when his eyes fell on her smiling face, on the way she turned that hexagonal nut in her hand, a fresh pang of bitterness welled up.
—Why can she smile so freely?
Lin Lie's lips pressed into a thin line, his fingers curling inside his sleeve.
At last, he turned away coldly and walked off.
Footsteps echoed softly against the stone path, unable to drown out the emotions surging deep within his chest.
He knew it clearly now—the feeling he harbored could no longer be ignored.
As he walked away, the scene replayed relentlessly in his mind—
Tang Jun placing that tiny hexagonal nut into Ding Yuxuan's palm, her smile bright as if she had received a priceless treasure.
He suddenly recalled a long time ago, when he himself had casually handed a component to Gu Xingyu.
Back then, his intentions were pure—he wanted her to test a principle, to learn through guidance and trial.
Even when Gu Xingyu smiled in gratitude, his heart had remained calm and undisturbed.
But now, watching Ding Yuxuan tuck the nut into her pocket as if cherishing something invaluable…
his chest churned inexplicably, sour and unsettled.
—Why?
—It's nothing more than an ordinary part.
He understood that toward Gu Xingyu, his feelings had been steady—marked by responsibility, by the role of guardian and companion.
But with Ding Yuxuan… it was entirely different.
Every smile of hers threw his heart into disarray; every gift she accepted from someone else sparked irritation out of nowhere.
Lin Lie stopped, lifted his gaze to the night sky, his eyes deep and unreadable.
—So that's it. He had always known the difference.
Gu Xingyu was a mission he carried.
But Ding Yuxuan… had quietly slipped into his heart, impossible to ignore.
His fingers curled tighter in his sleeve as he murmured softly,
"…How can she smile in a way that makes it so easy for me to care?"
Candlelight burned quietly; blueprints lay spread across the desk.
Lin Lie meant to lift his pen, yet could not bring himself to draw a single line.
His gaze fell on an unremarkable piece beside his hand—
a hexagonal nut he had casually taken from the parts bin.
He rubbed its edges with his fingertips, his mind betraying him once more—
moonlight, Tang Jun placing the same object into Ding Yuxuan's palm;
her eyes crinkled in a smile, as if she had received the most precious treasure in the world.
Lin Lie frowned slightly.
—Why?
He murmured under his breath, his voice hoarse.
Her smile was pure, yet like an accidental key, prying open the deepest, most guarded compartment of his heart.
It made him realize that what he cared about was no longer the duty of a mentor, nor the pride of a craftsman.
But… her.
Lin Lie closed his eyes, tightening his grip around the nut in his palm.
Candlelight flickered, the shadows on the desk stretching and shrinking—just like the turbulent undercurrents in his heart.
After a long while, he finally opened his eyes, his gaze heavy, as though carrying a secret no one should ever know.
"…Ding Yuxuan."
He whispered her name, a restrained emotion pressed deep into his voice.
The next moment, he abruptly withdrew his gaze and tossed the nut deep into the parts bin.
His clenched knuckles had turned white.
—This isn't right.
She is an apprentice in the workshop, a girl he has guided with his own hands.
What he should give her is guidance and responsibility—not… this uncontrollable feeling.
Yet the gear lodged in his chest bit down hard, refusing to stop turning.
The candle flame flickered. No one answered.
Only that hexagonal nut lay quietly at the bottom of the bin, still holding the lingering warmth of his grasp.