Chapter 15

The hallway was very quiet. Cheng Lang stood frozen in place. Shuangyun's body had left, but her fragrance seemed to remain, as if also fixing him here, unable to leave.
Cheng Lang didn't like complicated, unpredictable things.
He didn't like exploring new restaurants or making new friends. He had no variety of hobbies and interests, and didn't like all kinds of flashy decorations.
He liked simple things and lived a simple life.
Shuangyun was like a hand reaching into his calm life. Whenever he thought she was about to settle down, she would forcefully stir his thoughts.
She left his apartment, but her voice didn't leave.
Her body left, but her scent didn't leave.
She left his sight, but her energy didn't leave.
When hitting on him, she wasn't shy or nervous like anyone else. When the pickup failed, she left cleanly. He seemed unable to see any hesitation, regret, or disappointment on her face. When she refused to add his WeChat, she also disappeared like a wisp of smoke before his eyes.
It didn't seem like Shuangyun was pursuing him. Instead, it seemed like his gaze was always following Shuangyun.
Unpredictable Shuangyun.
In the early morning hours, she sent him a WeChat message telling him she'd run the model. She far exceeded his expectations for a student. When leaving his apartment, she was also clean and decisive. He'd thought she might take the opportunity to do something "out of line," but Shuangyun hadn't at all.
Inviting her to the apartment was both wanting to see the model she'd made at that moment, and also a trap Cheng Lang had set for her. Or rather, a button that would completely draw the line if Shuangyun made a mistake. But she hadn't triggered that button.
That afternoon, she'd continued returning to the office to watch his lecture videos.
Unpredictable Shuangyun, bold Shuangyun, walking every step outside Cheng Lang's predictions.
Tonight's hug was the same.
Was it breaking through clumsy acting to directly express that she still liked him, or... gratitude, thanking him for giving her a ride home tonight?
In Australian culture, hugs were too common a greeting, but they'd both also received Chinese culture. What exactly did that hug mean? Cheng Lang hated all behaviors without instruction manuals.
Someone in the hallway asked Cheng Lang if he was getting on the elevator. Cheng Lang took two steps back and said, "No, thanks."
Returning home was already 10 PM. Cheng Lang finished up some incomplete work, started the model running so he wouldn't waste the night, and could see results tomorrow morning.
Cheng Lang rested in his chair for a moment and picked up his phone.
He didn't have the habit of posting on WeChat Moments, nor the habit of looking at them. Overall, he didn't care about other people's lives, and didn't want others to care about his life.
He'd heard Shuangyun tell Ian she didn't use social media.
Perhaps out of curiosity, Cheng Lang clicked on Shuangyun's WeChat Moments. It was completely different from what Shuangyun had said.
She didn't post frequently, but every time she did, it was nine pictures.
The most recent was a month ago—her bouldering at a climbing gym, a back photo. Black sports bra and black shorts. A seemingly slender body but with great strength hanging on a high rock wall. Cheng Lang swiped to the last picture—Shuangyun hanging at the very top of the rock, turning her head to laugh at the camera.
Cheng Lang remembered her laughter bursting out on that path tonight.
When she laughed, she held nothing back, letting you feel her complete emotions, no blurring or hiding. Even in this soundless photo, Cheng Lang seemed to hear her voice.
Swiping further down, there were photos from three or four months ago of her surfing in Bali. Not all of her standing on the board—there were several of her falling into the sea. But there was no sense of embarrassment at all, only an irresistible sense of vitality. She was someone who didn't feel embarrassed about failure or mistakes. She completely accepted herself.
There were also photos of her eating at various restaurants. The food became background, her expressions as captivating as always.
Swiping further back, there was last year's Halloween. She was dressed as a sexy nurse, with a man next to her wearing a doctor's white coat. Cheng Lang didn't know him.
He exited Shuangyun's WeChat Moments and returned his gaze to the model running on the screen.
A feeling he couldn't deny—Shuangyun's world seemed colorful, fragrant, full of laughter, while his world was like the model before him—colorless, odorless, soundless.
The ordinary, regular, uneventful life he'd once liked very much.
Cheng Lang sat quietly at his computer for a while, then got up and went to the bedroom.
Shuangyun didn't come to the company for her internship the following week. Cheng Lang didn't ask. The week after that, Shuangyun still didn't come.
Cheng Lang asked Shuangyun's direct supervisor Tim and learned she'd taken two weeks off.
Tim: "She fractured her calf. I thought you knew."
Shuangyun hadn't told him.