Lin returned to the cafe and found Cai wiping the reception table. He looked up and slowed down his pace.
"You are back."
"Hm."
Cai changed the cleaning cloth and continued his work in silence.
"Do you want to ask anything?"
"No."
"Nothing at all?" Lin approached him and stared.
Cai stopped. "Did they give so sob story to lt your heart?"
Lin said nothing for a while.
"They were living separately for all these years. Dad had slipped into alcohol addiction over ti."
"...I see," he only quietly responded and went back to work.
Silence returned between them. Cai took a deep breath and asked, "Just say it out, Bro. I know you have sothing in mind."
Lin’s hands were on the counter, tapping it with his fingers.
"Will you et her soti? She was asking about you."
"And do what, Bro? I am sure if I go, I will only spout bitter words. She is already..." he pressed his lips inward. "I don’t want her to see resentnt in my eyes before she leaves. It will only hurt her more. It’s better if I don’t visit her for her own peace of mind."
He stayed quiet.
"I understand you, Cai. It’s fine if you don’t want to et her. I don’t want to force you. But even if you know about her health condition, I don’t think...you completely realize it yet that a few months from now, she would no longer be with us. There is no hope."
A faint tremble passed across his shoulders.
"You don’t have to talk to her, much less forgive her against your wishes. I think...it will be nice if she gets to see you one last ti. You too."
He took a asured and purposeful pause, carrying the weight of his next words.
"Cai. I just don’t want you to regret your decision in the future. I don’t want you to ever feel guilty and question yourself if you should have t her at least once."
Lin placed his hand on his shoulder, softly gripping it.
"It feels easier to hold onto our resentnt, but we can also, " his eyelashes fluttered gently, rembering Shui’s kind smile, "free ourselves from the burdens and pain of the past. I think...we will feel much lighter."
He smiled and ruffled his head. "Think about it. If you still decide to not et her, then it’s alright. I will always stand by your side."
—
Ti didn’t announce itself when it began to slip away. There was no clear day when things worsened, no mont Hou Luli could point at and say this was when it started. It happened in incrents so small that they felt harmless at first. She would miss als, nap longer and took longer pauses in conversation.
Lin began coming over more often. Not every day or with an urgency. Just regularly to keep her company.
He sat through lunches and dinners that rarely finished. He listened more than he spoke. Sotis he left early, sotis he stayed longer than intended, staring out of the window while Hou Fa pretended not to watch him.
Shui ca with him most of the ti. She didn’t involve herself too often because she knew that they needed that precious ti to be as a family more than anything else.
She would brew tea and make light snacks. She reminded Hou Luli to rest without sounding like she was giving instructions. She would crack jokes and make her laugh.
That laughter beca rarer, but her eyes softened whenever Lin appeared. She didn’t dwell on the past much but instead, asked small things like - if he liked the soup, if the cafe was busy, if Cai was doing okay, if they were sleeping enough, is his relationship with Shui was going well.
Lin answered all of them truthfully. So days, he said very little at all, especially when ca the hospital visits. Shui noticed how he washed his hands more thoroughly afterwards, scrubbing as though he could erase the inevitable reality said over and over again.
Hou Luli soon stopped going outside altogether. Her world shrank to the bedroom. Lin sat by the window more often than by her side. When she would open her eyes and still see him sitting him by the window side, a satisfied smile would lift her lips upwards.
In that ti, Shui learned the language of his silence during those weeks. The way he tightened his jaw when doctors spoke too gently and when his hand clenched briefly into a fist before relaxing again. But even as the days grew heavier, Lin never brought the weight ho with him.
When he t Shui after work, he spoke about new coffee blends instead of hospital corridors. He listened to her complaints about deadlines. He joined her with her art projects as the kind of handso male model she wanted. Their little dates continued where Lin would only allow Shui to have the first bite of his new recipes. He would always send flowers to her office, and everyti, she eagerly waited for her pleasant surprise to arrive.
"Is this my gift?" Her eyes sparkled as she took the small present from him.
"Happy birthday, Miss. Han," Lin smiled, though his heart was thudding with extre nervousness over her reaction.
Shui abruptly stopped.
"Don’t you want to open it?" He blinked.
"I will if you correct your mistake."
"Correct?"
She fud. "We have been going out for a while now and you still address as Miss. Han. Who in the world would be so formal?"
He stiffened and looked away.
"Hey! Don’t you look away."
He only looked away farther. "The sky is very beautiful tonight."
"..."
He heard an ominous crack of knuckles coming from very close to him.
"I can send you there right away to join with the stars if you want," she smiled with an alarm to the curve of her lips.
His brow twitched.
"Co on now. Say my na. I will consider this as your present."
"That’s not fair."
"Shut up. Fair is what I decide. I call the shots, especially today."
Lin cleared his throat. "...Sh...Sh..."
"Yes, yes, go on," she urged, her eyes beaming hopefully.
"...Han Sh..ui..."
"Without the last na," her eyes narrowed.
"This is progress."
"No, it isn’t. So continue. Also don’t forget that I won the card gas back when I stayed in your cafe for the night. So you have to listen to anyway."
Lin steeled his heart. Calling her on a firstna basis felt more nervewracking than giving the present he had chosen for her.
After a long back and forth and restless breaths, he finally whispered, "...Shui."
She bead. "Perfect! See? Was that so hard?"
Watching her face light up with pure joy made his heart thump. He listened to the lody of her laughter, feeling as if he was flying in the sky, lighter and freer. He rested his palm and bent closer. The shadow of his tall stature enveloped her, faintly darkening her view.
"You shouldn’t also forget that I had won the bowling ga."
"..."
"...Today is my birthday so you cannot bully . Only pampering the birthday girl is allowed."
He smiled. "When have I ever bullied you?"
And with that, he inched forward slowly and steadily, looking to close the last gap.
The drum of her heartbeats grew louder, her breath stopping at her throat, wondering if this would be their first...
She closed her eyes when he was barely an inch away when-
"Where is our birthday girlllll!!! Shui, let’s playyyy!"
The two froze.
So did Chyou who had barged into their intimate mont.
"..."
"..."
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