Conquer the other worlds with abandon, they've fallen in love with me!

When Lin Yu came out of Lilia's room, the sunlight in the corridor had already moved.

The neat, temporarily altered light spots that originally shone on the floor have now climbed up the wall, turning into slanted shadows, like flags bent by the wind.

The corridor remained quiet, with only the low hum of the air conditioner and the faint sound of running water coming from a distant room.

There was a faint smell of cleaning agents in the air, like someone had just mopped the floor.

He closed the door and stood in the doorway, straightening his collar.

His movements were neither hurried nor slow, just like everything he did—decisive and efficient, without any unnecessary frills.

He pinched the collar with his fingers, gave it a gentle tug, and smoothed out the creases left by the pressure.

Then he patted his shoulder, where there was a small crease, probably from leaning against Lilia's bed.

His palm pressed down along the shoulder line twice, smoothing out the crease little by little, as if smoothing out a soft, unknown period of time.

Lilia's creamy scent still lingered on her clothes, sweet and mixed with her milk candy fragrance.

The scent was faint, so faint that he had to bend down to smell it clearly, yet it clung to the fibers of his clothing like a stubborn little animal, nestled in his shoulder and collar. Lin Yu stood there for a while longer, not trying to dispel the scent. He simply stood in the sunlight of the corridor, letting the sweetness slowly and naturally diffuse into the air.

He thought of Lilia's appearance just now.

When he left, she was still huddled in bed, her pink hair a mess like a bird's nest, only her half-open eyes peeking out, gazing at him mistily. She mumbled something indistinctly, something like "sleep a little longer," then pulled the blanket over her head, curling herself into a small ball. He didn't wake her, but stood by the bed for a while, watching the ball, making sure her breathing was even and deep again, before turning and leaving.

Before leaving, he pulled the blanket down a little, exposing her nose—he was afraid she would suffocate.

Lin Yu stood in the corridor for a few seconds.

Sunlight fell on his shoulders, making his white shirt almost dazzling. His expression remained calm, revealing little emotion, but a closer look revealed a warmer light in his eyes and a softening of the usual slight downward curve of his lips. It was as if someone who had walked a long way through winter had finally entered a house; though his face remained expressionless, the hard lines of his features had begun to melt away quietly and unconsciously.

He turned and walked up to the second floor.

The staircase was at the end of the corridor, passing through three doors and a floor-to-ceiling window. His footsteps echoed in the empty corridor, unhurried, his leather shoes making a steady "tap-tap" sound on the floor.

As he passed the floor-to-ceiling window, the sunlight streamed directly onto his face. He squinted slightly, but didn't stop. His shadow stretched long, from his feet all the way to the top of the stairs, like a silent, loyal follower.

As he went upstairs, his fingers rested on the handrail, the wooden post slightly warm from the sunlight. He climbed the stairs one step at a time, his mind preoccupied with the matters he needed to attend to. Vera's office was the third one on the left side of the second-floor corridor. There was no nameplate on the door, only a small piece of frosted glass through which one could vaguely see the light inside.