“What are you doing?”
Yan Yi walked over and saw water spilled across the balcony. The shattered glass of a vase lay scattered on the floor, mixed with the fallen baby’s breath.
Lu Shangjin was crouched on the ground, picking up the shards one by one with his bare hands. In the dark, he had unknowingly cut himself—thin threads of blood seeping from his fingers, smearing across his usually clean, striking face and eyes.
He looked a little disheveled. Almost lost.
Yan Yi stood there for a second, then walked closer and turned on the light.
The sudden brightness flooded the room. Both of them instinctively raised a hand to shield their eyes. Yan Yi covered his face from the glare, while Lu Shangjin did so from something harder to bear.
Silence settled for a moment, broken only by the faint sound of glass being set down.
Yan Yi looked at him. “Why did you break it?”
Lu Shangjin didn’t answer immediately. He continued picking up the shards carefully, as if the act itself could undo whatever had already happened. Blood continued to well from his palm, but he didn’t seem to notice.
“I…” His voice was low, almost hoarse. “I just… got angry.”
Yan Yi frowned slightly. “At what?”
Lu Shangjin paused.
At the silence in the house earlier.
At the emptiness in the dining room.
At the way Yan Yi’s presence had been drifting farther and farther away these days, even when he was physically right there.
At himself.
But none of that came out.
Instead, he said only, “At nothing.”
Yan Yi looked at him for a moment longer, then crouched down and gently pulled his hand away.
“Don’t pick it up anymore.”
Lu Shangjin hesitated, then let go.
Yan Yi took a tissue from the nearby cabinet and wrapped it around the cuts on his hand. His movements were calm, precise, almost indifferent—but careful in a way that didn’t match his tone.
“You’ll bleed all over the floor,” he said lightly.
Lu Shangjin stared at him.
For a moment, he didn’t move.
Then he lowered his head slightly, almost like a defeated animal.
“I didn’t mean to break it,” he said quietly. “It just… slipped.”
Yan Yi didn’t respond right away. He simply cleaned the last of the glass from the floor, piece by piece.
The room was quiet again.
Finally, he stood up.
“Go get disinfected,” he said.
Lu Shangjin remained crouched there for a second longer, then slowly got up and followed him inside.
His gaze lingered on Yan Yi’s back the entire time.
Like he was afraid that if he looked away for even a moment, something would disappear again.