Sang Yan’s hand froze mid-motion as he was drying his hair as if he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. After a few stiff seconds, he placed the towel aside and got up, following Wen Yifan back into the room.

This room had previously been Wen Yifan’s.

But after Sang Yan moved in, he slightly rearranged the layout, adding a computer desk. He had moved the bed from the window to the center, with a bedside table on the left and a floor lamp on the right.

By now, Wen Yifan had already reached the middle of the room.

Not knowing what she intended to do, Sang Yan walked over and stood in front of her.

“Where are you going?”

Wen Yifan’s forehead bumped into his chin, causing her to stop. She looked up at him blankly. Then, she slowly tried to sidestep him and continue forward.

Sang Yan also moved a step, continuing to block her: “You’ve gone the wrong way.”

Wen Yifan looked at him again, as if pondering his words, or perhaps waiting for him to move aside on his own.

As if talking to a child, Sang Yan patiently said, “This isn’t your room.”

Wen Yifan didn’t move.

Sang Yan didn’t touch her, only tilting his chin up slightly.

“The door is that way.”

Wen Yifan stood in a daze for quite a while before seeming to understand his words. She turned around, obediently walking towards the door like a robot following instructions.

Fearing she might go the wrong way again, Sang Yan didn’t stay put this time but followed her.

He watched her return to her room, only going back to the living room to get his laptop after the master bedroom door closed. He turned off the living room lights, leaving only the hallway light on. Back in his room, he tiredly glanced at the messages on his phone.

He quickly put it down, placing the phone aside.

Sang Yan’s eyes were painfully tired, but just as he closed them, he suddenly remembered Wen Yifan walking into his room earlier.

Like a headless fly.

Wasn’t everything fine before? Why had her route changed this time?

Or was it because his room door had been closed during previous occurrences, preventing her from entering? But this time it was open. Were her sleepwalking actions unpredictable, randomly wandering in any open space?

Every cell in Sang Yan’s body seemed to protest with fatigue. But thinking of this, he opened his eyes again, got up, left the room, and closed the balcony’s floor-to-ceiling windows and the kitchen door.

…

The next day.

Wen Yifan opened her drowsy eyes and sat up, taking a moment to wake up. Her gaze shifted, noticing the chair placed in front of the dressing table. After a moment’s reflection, she remembered that she had forgotten to block the door with the chair last night.

However, since she hadn’t sleepwalked for some time, she didn’t pay much attention to it.

Wen Yifan lingered in bed for a while.

Opening her WeChat messages, she saw Zhong Siqiao and Xiang Lang chatting in the group. Seeing Xiang Lang’s name reminded her of what Zhong Siqiao had said yesterday. Wen Yifan opened a web page and searched for the company “Youshen Technology.”

Before she could click on anything, Wen Yifan caught herself.

Why was she looking this up?

Wen Yifan pulled back her thoughts and immediately exited the page.

She had woken up late, and by the time she left her room, Sang Yan seemed to have already gone out.

There was a simple breakfast of soy milk and youtiao on the table.

These things wouldn’t keep overnight; if not eaten, they’d probably be thrown away.

“Wen Garbage Bin” didn’t want to waste food, and since this was a reciprocal gesture – she would buy breakfast for Sang Yan when she got some – she very consciously took the soy milk to reheat it while checking her phone messages.

Sang Yan hadn’t contacted her about anything.

Wen Yifan breathed a sigh of relief.

So indeed, nothing had happened last night?

But of course.

Even if she had sleepwalked, it wasn’t possible to run into Sang Yan every time in the middle of the night.

–

Once work got busy, even if Wen Yifan wanted to visit the hospital, she couldn’t find the time. When the weekend arrived, she was too lazy to go out, procrastinating and just wanting to lie at home for a day to recharge.

Moreover, Wen Yifan’s sleepwalking wasn’t that serious, so over time, she pushed the matter to the back of her mind.

The temperature gradually rose, and the air became stuffy and dry.

In mid-July, Nanwu welcomed the hottest time of the year. The nights gradually shortened, and the sunlight became fierce and scorching, sparing no mercy. Staying outside for even a short while would cause a thin layer of sweat to seep from one’s body.

Wen Yifan had just returned to the office from the editing room when Gan Hongyuan suddenly came out and threw her a lead.

He wanted her to follow up on an investigation over the next few days.

It was about a traffic accident that had occurred a few days ago.

On the road near Duoluo Street, a man driving under the influence of alcohol had run a red light, directly hitting and injuring a middle school student who was crossing the road, causing a comminuted fracture in the student’s right leg.

Back at her desk, Wen Yifan opened her computer and began to check materials, read reports, and write an interview outline.

Halfway through writing, her phone, placed beside her, buzzed once.

It was a WeChat message from Sang Yan.

Sang Yan: [My sister will be coming over for dinner tonight.]

Sang Yan: [Is that okay?]

Wen Yifan quickly replied: [That’s fine.]

After thinking for a moment, she added: [In the future, your sister can just come over directly.]

Wen Yifan: [You don’t need to inform me about this anymore.]

After a while, Sang Yan sent an “ok” emoji.

…

Wen Yifan didn’t work overtime for long, leaving the company just after seven o’clock.

When she got home, Wen Yifan looked up to see Sang Zhi sitting on the sofa watching TV. Compared to the last time they met, she seemed to have lost more weight, her face smaller and her chin sharper.

Seeing Wen Yifan, Sang Zhi obediently called out: “Sister Yifan.”

Wen Yifan smiled and glanced around the house. At this moment, Sang Yan was in the kitchen, apparently still preparing dinner. Seeing this, she glanced at the time, a bit surprised: “Haven’t you eaten yet?”

“No,” Sang Zhi glanced over, complaining softly, “My brother is so slow, he just started cooking.”

Wen Yifan sat down next to her, also feeling it was a bit late. She pointed to the TV cabinet and suggested: “Why don’t you eat some snacks to tide you over? It’s almost eight o’clock, don’t let yourself get too hungry.”

Sang Zhi curved her lips: “It’s okay, I’m not that hungry.”

Wen Yifan poured a glass of water and looked at her face for a few moments: “How did you lose so much weight? Is the pressure from the college entrance exam very high?”

Sang Zhi: “It’s fine, I eat quite a lot, I don’t know why I’ve lost weight.”

“Eat more later to gain it back. Now that the exam is over, go out and play more, relax a bit.” Wen Yifan casually asked, “By the way, Zhizhi. Have your admission results come out? Didn’t you say before that you were hesitating between Nan University and Yi University?”

Sang Zhi nodded: “Yes.”

Wen Yifan: “So which one did you choose in the end?”

Sang Zhi honestly replied: “Yi University.”

“Oh?” Wen Yifan was surprised, “Have you thought it through? Yihe is quite far.”

“I’ve thought it through, I considered it for a long time.” Sang Zhi said softly, “Compared to Nan University, the major I want to study is better at Yi University. And I don’t want to always stay in Nanwu, I want to go to other cities and explore more.”

Wen Yifan smiled: “That’s quite good too.”

Sang Zhi felt a bit frustrated: “But my brother is quite angry about it.”

Wen Yifan: “Why?”

“Because I didn’t discuss this application with him, I was mostly talking about it with my parents, so he always thought I had applied to Nan University.” Sang Zhi said, “He just found out about my admission results and scolded me.”

“…”

“My admission results came out last week, and I didn’t see him ask about it.” Sang Zhi felt Sang Yan was being unreasonable, and the more she spoke, the more upset she became, “It’s been so long, and it wasn’t until today when I was coming over that he casually asked. After finding out it was Yi University, he started lecturing me, saying my wings have hardened and now I’m acting on impulse without considering anything.”

Wen Yifan tried to comfort her: “Your brother is probably just worried about you being bullied if you go so far alone.”

“His attitude was as if I had initially filled in Nan University,” Sang Zhi said, “and then changed my application without telling anyone.”

Hearing this, Wen Yifan’s movements froze.

Sang Zhi didn’t dare to speak too loudly, fearing Sang Yan might hear: “When I asked for his opinion, he couldn’t be bothered to care, saying such a trivial matter didn’t need consideration. Now that I’ve made my choice, he has to lecture me.”

Wen Yifan just smiled, not saying anything.

Perhaps feeling she had complained too much, Sang Zhi quickly reined herself in and changed the subject. She renewed her curiosity about the matter Sang Yan had interrupted earlier, asking: “Sister Yifan, do you know who my brother’s high school girlfriend was?”

Wen Yifan took a sip of water, calmly lying: “I’m not too sure either.”

“I’m just really curious about who could catch the eye of someone with such an arrogant dog personality—” Saying this, Sang Zhi felt something was off and corrected herself, “Oh, no, I mean who could be interested in him.”

“…”

“But he seemed to like that early love of his.” Bored while waiting for dinner, Sang Zhi brought up past events, “I remember my brother’s grades used to be quite poor, but suddenly in his second year of high school, he started studying.”

Wen Yifan listened silently.

“He was always the type who didn’t study much, and his grades were very uneven, but during that period, I don’t know what possessed him, he did nothing but study.” Sang Zhi propped her chin on her hand, speaking slowly, “At that time, my parents were really happy, thinking he had finally matured. My dad even asked him which university he wanted to attend, but he didn’t answer, just said he wanted more options.”

Wen Yifan lowered her eyes, quietly drinking water.

“Anyway, later he applied to Nan University, and he was really happy the day the admission results came out. He kept boasting, saying he could get into Nan University without even trying hard. Not long after, he went out and came back very late.” Sang Zhi thought for a moment and guessed, “I feel like he might have been dumped that day.”

Wen Yifan looked up: “Why?”

“Because his demeanor was completely different before and after he went out,” Sang Zhi said. “He never mentioned being admitted to Nan University again, and I’ve never seen that early girlfriend of his.”

“…”

“Even now, I’ve never seen him date anyone,” As if remembering something, Sang Zhi spoke with exasperation, “He’s always bragging about how great his conditions are, how many people pursue him, even his roommates are eager to date him.”

“…”

Before Wen Yifan could respond, Sang Yan happened to come out of the kitchen. Noticing them whispering, he raised an eyebrow slightly and said with interest, “What are you talking about?”

Having said so much about Sang Yan, Sang Zhi felt a bit guilty and asked instead, “Is it ready?”

“Mm,” Sang Yan walked to the tea table and poured himself a glass of water. “Let’s eat.”

Sang Zhi tugged on Wen Yifan’s hand and suggested, “Sister Yifan, have you eaten? Let’s eat together.”

Wen Yifan shook her head: “You two go ahead, I’ve already eaten. I ate at the company before coming back.”

She didn’t look at Sang Yan’s expression and stood up, saying, “I’ll go back to my room first.”

But after a few steps, Sang Zhi grabbed her again: “Sister Yifan, just eat a little bit, it doesn’t matter if you can’t finish… let’s chat…” As she spoke, she glanced in Sang Yan’s direction and said softly, “If it’s just me and my brother, he’ll scold me again.”

Wen Yifan had no choice but to agree.

She only filled a bowl of soup and remained completely quiet throughout.

For most of the dinner, Sang Zhi did most of the talking.

After talking for a while, she was impatiently interrupted by Sang Yan: “Can you eat quickly?”

“…” Sang Zhi felt she had tolerated him all evening, and this time couldn’t help arguing, “Why are you always like this? I’ve told you everything about this matter, you just pretended not to hear, and now you’re blaming me?”

“I’m exhausted,” Sang Yan couldn’t be bothered to argue with her, his expression weary, with obvious dark circles under his eyes. “Otherwise, you can take a taxi back by yourself later, I need to go to sleep.”

He indeed looked like he hadn’t had a good sleep for quite some time.

“…”

Sang Zhi had no choice but to swallow her anger: “Alright, I’ll finish eating soon.”

–

After they left, Wen Yifan cleaned up the table and returned to her room. Just as she came out after taking a shower, she heard movement at the entrance but didn’t go out.

Wen Yifan lay back on her bed, hugging her quilt, blankly recalling Sang Zhi’s words.

— “He was still happy the day the admission results came out.”

— “Because his demeanor was completely different before and after he went out.”

It felt like a heavy stone was pressing on her chest, making it hard for Wen Yifan to breathe.

She turned over, not wanting to recall past events.

Wen Yifan simply picked up her phone and started watching a horror movie. She focused her attention on the film until she saw the ending credits before closing her eyes. Amidst complete alertness, she suddenly caught a thread of drowsiness.

Gradually, she fell into deep sleep.

An unknown amount of time passed.

Wen Yifan sat up and got out of bed. She slowly pushed the chair blocking the door back to the dressing table, turned around, and left the room. She walked to the living room and sat on the sofa.

In this dim light.

Wen Yifan looked up, staring at the rotating second hand of the clock, her eyes unblinking.

The living room was extremely quiet.

Apart from her breathing, which was so soft it could be ignored, there was nothing else.

Perhaps because something was missing compared to previous times, this time Wen Yifan only sat for a few minutes before standing up. She walked towards the hallway, stopping again when she passed the second bedroom.

Seeing the tightly closed door, she stared at it for a good while.

Then, as if driven by something, Wen Yifan hesitantly raised her hand.

She gripped the doorknob and turned it down.

The door wasn’t locked.

Wen Yifan easily turned it open and pushed forward. She was barefoot, walking silently as if treading on cotton. She paused for a few seconds, gently closed the door, and walked towards the bed.

She mechanically climbed up, found an empty spot, and lay down.

In the small room, the air conditioner’s sound was neither loud nor soft.

The man’s breathing was regular and even, his scent faint, sandalwood mixed with a hint of tobacco. He was wearing a dark T-shirt, lying on his side, his chest rising and falling gently. The quilt only covered half of his body.

Wen Yifan stared at him blankly, suddenly reaching out to grab the quilt covering him.

She pulled it over herself.

…

Early the next morning.

Wen Yifan woke from her dream, slowly opening her eyes. She stared blankly ahead for a while, quickly realizing something was wrong. Looking at the strangely familiar surroundings, her expression became confused.

The next moment.

As if sensing something, Wen Yifan lowered her eyes to see an arm draped over her waist.

“…”

She instantly became alert, her expression cracking slightly.

Wen Yifan slowly turned her head, meeting Sang Yan’s face just inches away, close enough to see the mole on his eyelid. As if still in deep sleep, his eyes were closed, unaware of the unusual situation around him.

F*ck.

Ahhhhhhhhh!

F*ck.

Shit.

Shit.

The strings in Wen Yifan’s mind seemed about to snap, just a thread away from breaking down completely. She had no idea what had happened, her mind blank. Her first reaction was to check her clothes.

Seeing nothing amiss, her spirit relaxed slightly.

Wen Yifan tried hard to calm her emotions, attempting to regain her composure.

This was Sang Yan’s room.

It seemed there was no need to overthink.

She had woken up early in the morning, not in her room, but in Sang Yan’s bed. There was no other possibility except that she had sleepwalked in the middle of the night, entered his room by mistake, and slept in the wrong bed.

At this moment, the only solution Wen Yifan could think of was to leave this place first.

Before Sang Yan woke up.

Wen Yifan held her breath, like a thief, gently lifting Sang Yan’s arm. Her movements were extremely slow as she moved his arm to the side, trying to place it back on himself gently.

At the same time.

Perhaps disturbed by this movement, Sang Yan’s eyelashes flickered slightly.

This subtle change exploded like a bomb in Wen Yifan’s mind. She felt as if she was about to be thrown in jail the next moment, and her movements stopped.

The next moment, Wen Yifan saw Sang Yan slowly open his eyes.

Their gazes met.

Two seconds passed.

Perhaps still not fully awake, Sang Yan’s expression looked unclear. He didn’t seem to notice anything amiss, closed his eyes again, and reached out to pull her into his embrace.

Wen Yifan’s back hit his chest, her entire body freezing, completely unsure how to react.

Her body was enveloped by his overwhelming presence.

Thump.

Thump.

Wen Yifan’s heart skipped a beat, then quickly accelerated.

In that instant, everything around her disappeared.

All her senses were invaded by the man behind her, with an intensely strong presence.

Everything was magnified.

The man’s breath was warm, his actions still carrying the tenderness of dreams. His nose lightly brushed against the back of her neck, his arm once again draping over her waist, pulling her into his embrace.