Bai Meilin looked up.
The fog drifted between them and she held his hand like it was the most natural thing to do.
I missed you to Jiang Yi, very much, when I am with you," she said slowly, "it feels less quiet."
Jiang Yi stopped breathing.
Bai Meilin seemed to realize what she had said only after the words left her mouth. Her eyes widened slightly, and color rose into her cheeks again.
"I mean," she rushed to explain, "not noisy. You are not noisy. You are actually very quiet. But it is different. It feels…"
She struggled for the right word and Jiang Yi waited, he would have waited all day.
Finally, she said, "It feels like someone is there who understands me...the little parts I hide I can show you.
Something in Jiang Yi's eyes shifted. The world, which had always asked him to be useful, dangerous, efficient, ruthless, feared, had never asked him simply to be there.
