Sweetie, don't look at him, kiss me.

The car drove past several familiar street scenes and came to a stop in front of the Deep Blue Apartment building. Lin Qingmian carried the bag of chestnuts upstairs, changed her shoes, and entered the living room. She found a delivery box on the coffee table with a note on the seal. The note was written in Ji Linzhou's handwriting: "Your things."

She crouched down and opened it; inside was a sample garment. It was the men's shirt she had designed before, but in women's size. The fabric had been changed to a softer, misty blue, and the details of the collar and cuffs had been slightly adjusted. The overall cut was much more delicate than the men's version.

She stood in the living room for a long time, holding the shirt, then flipped through the packaging box. Inside was a thin design feedback form with only one line of text. It didn't look like it was written by a professional; it seemed more like Ji Linzhou's own handwriting: "This one suits you." In the fitting evaluation section next to it, someone had drawn a small line of text: "Wearing it and confirming a good fit."

She held the feedback form for several seconds, then looked down at her clothes, hesitated for a moment, and took the shirt into the bedroom.

After changing, she stood in front of the full-length mirror, turning to check the fit of her shoulders and waist. The misty blue fabric made her skin look brighter than usual, the neckline just revealing a sliver of her collarbone, and the cuffs were neatly folded. She looked at herself in the mirror for a while, then picked up her phone, took a casual photo, and sent it to Ji Linzhou.

There was a reply about five minutes later. It was a voice message. She listened to it; the background noise was a bit loud, like she was in a private room at a restaurant. His voice came through the noise, a little lower than usual, with a suppressed laugh: "It looks pretty good. But isn't it a bit early to wear it now—I should wait until I get home to wear it."

As she listened to the voice message, the tips of her ears slowly turned red. She put down her phone, took off her shirt and hung it up, sat on the edge of the bed for a while, then picked up her phone again and replied with a message: "What time are you coming back?"

There was a pause before they replied: "We're still talking. You go to sleep first, don't wait for me."

She held her phone for a while, then put it on the bedside table, turned off the light, and lay down. Moonlight streamed in through the curtains, casting a narrow band of light on the floor. She turned over, pulled the covers tighter around her, and closed her eyes.

She didn't know how much time had passed when, half-asleep, she heard the sound of a lock being opened at the door. The footsteps were very light, as if afraid of waking her. They paused for a moment in the entryway before walking towards the bedroom. The door was pushed open a crack, and the light from the hallway shone through, casting a long shadow of the tall figure.

She groggily rolled over, squinting as she saw Ji Linzhou standing in the doorway, his coat draped over his arm, his tie half-loose, looking down at her. She mumbled indistinctly, "You're back."

"Hmm." He came in, sat down on the edge of the bed, and reached out to brush a stray strand of hair from her forehead. "Go to sleep."

Her hand emerged from under the covers and unconsciously tugged at the fingers of his hand that hung by the bedside. The touch was very light, like an instinctive movement in a half-awake state. He didn't move, letting her hold his hand, sitting by the bed for a while until she fell asleep again, before gently withdrawing his hand and getting up to go to the bathroom.