043 - No One Knows

Xia Yuwei sat on the marble sill of her bedroom window, arms folded, dressed in her loungewear. She gazed at the people coming and going below in the residential complex, her mind utterly blank, as if emptied of thought. None of the figures passing by truly registered in her eyes.

The early autumn sunlight was dazzlingly bright, especially in the morning, falling warmly on her skin.

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Xin Xin emerged carefully groomed and saw Lu Yichen waiting outside the door, hands in his pockets, his head tilted slightly, a roguish smile playing at the corners of his lips as he watched her. Immediately, she felt as if she’d been struck by electricity, pink bubbles bursting in her eyes. How could anyone be so handsome? God’s own masterpiece!

Amen. If Xin Xin rarely fell in love, then now that she thought of romance, she had run straight into a top-tier heartthrob. She really ought to pray every day for the chance to have him. Imagining the looks of disbelief on her friends’ faces only made her inwardly gleeful.

“Good morning!” Xin Xin said.

“Good morning. Maybe I came too early,” Lu Yichen replied. He knew her habits—on nice days, she would rise early.

“Haha, sorry, maybe I was just lazy and slept in a bit.” Xin Xin scratched her head and looked around. “Hey, where’s Yuwei? She was just sitting here a moment ago…”

Lu Yichen pointed toward Xia Yuwei’s bedroom. Xin Xin walked over, opened the door, and saw Xia Yuwei sitting on the marble windowsill, staring intently outside. “Yuwei darling, have you had breakfast?”

“I don’t feel like eating. Go ahead without me, just ignore me,” Xia Yuwei replied without turning her head.

Xin Xin quietly closed the door again.

Xia Yuwei didn’t seem quite herself, and Xin Xin didn’t want to bother her at times like this. She knew Xia Yuwei needed quiet, and if disturbed, she’d only be more irritable. Xin Xin understood her temperament and didn’t call her again.

Turning around, Xin Xin saw Lu Yichen standing behind her, also gazing at the closed door, expressionless, his thoughts unreadable.

“Yuwei’s skipping breakfast. Let’s eat together,” Xin Xin said, leading Lu Yichen to the dining table.

Lu Yichen took the seat across from Xin Xin, looking down at the orange juice and fried eggs in front of him.

Only then did Xin Xin notice that Xia Yuwei’s breakfast seemed to have already been touched. She quickly pushed her own plate over. “Sorry, I didn’t see—someone’s already started on that one. You can have mine.”

“It’s alright. That plate was actually mine. Your friend said I could have it,” Lu Yichen replied, pushing the breakfast back toward her.

He picked up his knife and fork, and began to eat the fried egg before him, head lowered, taking slow, deliberate bites, as if reluctant to finish.

Xin Xin could only marvel at the elegance with which he ate, like someone born to nobility. Then she focused on her own breakfast.

She had no idea of the sour ache in his throat, no inkling of what he was feeling at that moment.

No one would ever know.