Cen Jin watched him seriously handling business matters at his desk and was too lazy to argue with him. She took the bag off her shoulder, turned around, tossed it onto the sofa, sat down, and picked up a psychology book from the geometric coffee table to start flipping through it.
Regarding psychology, Cen Jin had never studied it, so when she flipped through the first page of the book, she felt like she was reading something incomprehensible and couldn’t understand it at all. Resolutely, Cen Jin turned a few pages, but after grasping a few words, she decisively put the book back on the table. As she looked up, she saw the lingering light streaming through the blinds onto Jiang Baizhou’s profile, softening his stern features somewhat.
Cen Jin gazed in this manner for a long time. She only snapped out of it when she heard Jiang Baizhou get up and move his chair, trying to avoid him noticing her awkwardness by guiltily averting her eyes, aimlessly surveying the surroundings, and finally lowering her head. Hurriedly, she picked up another psychology book to pretend to read.
Jiang Baizhou finished handling his tasks and walked over to her with his phone, suddenly noticing that she was holding the book upside down. He squinted his eyes, took a small step forward, glanced slightly ahead, and saw beneath the cover of the book her drifting, uncertain eyes. A hint of smile curled at the corner of his eyes as he slightly bent down and gently took the book from her hand, leisurely flipping through two pages: "You’re holding the book upside down, what are you reading?"
Cen Jin jerked her head up and gave a sheepish smile: "Nothing... nothing." Then she slowly stood up, tilted her head to glance at the desk’s direction, saw that the computer was off, and purposely changed the subject with a smile: "Um... are you done with your work?"
"Yes." Jiang Baizhou responded lightly, reached out to hold her hand again and pulled her closer, asking back: "What were you thinking about just now?"
Cen Jin instinctively averted her eyes and guiltily touched her nose: "Nothing..."
"Cough, cough. Since you’re finished, let’s go!" Cen Jin didn’t want Jiang Baizhou to continue his questioning and risk further embarrassment, so she immediately pushed him towards the office door: "I’m starving."
Jiang Baizhou chuckled lightly. After they left the office, he continued to hold her hand as they descended the stairs together.
The evening twilight painted most of the sky. As the two walked out of the clinic, their shadows stretched long on the ground. Looking at the shadows, Cen Jin suddenly recalled many times under the streetlights at night when they walked side by side , feeling from the shadows as if they were hand in hand. She never thought that now, all of her dreams had finally come true, making her feel quite surreal, like she was dreaming.
"What’s wrong?" Jiang Baizhou asked, tilting his head when he saw her stop.
"Nothing, just feeling..." Cen Jin looked into his eyes, raised her delicate brows, and took the initiative to hold his arm, but seemed hesitant to continue.
"If... if I hadn’t confessed to you yesterday, would we still be the same as before, kind of close but still distant?" Cen Jin pursed her lips and pondered, raising her pair of bright eyes. Her gaze reflected the red twilight, appearing very tender, her tone carrying a hint of probing and uncertainty.
Jiang Baizhou paused, so this was what she was pondering!
Upon realizing this, a trace of smile colored his dark eyes. He pulled her into his arms and gently lowered his head closer to her, softly murmuring: "If you hadn’t spoken up, I would have because... I can’t wait any longer."