Salty and bitter.
They were real tears.
Tang Song's kiss lingered at the corner of her eye.
Her skin was as delicate as the finest white jade, trembling faintly beneath his lips.
Su Yu felt as though something had gently pulled her back into reality.
She had not been startled awake.
She was slowly coming to her senses.
Her amber eyes finally regained their focus.
Her gaze passed through the faint morning light and saw the face so close before her.
She saw the genuine warmth in his eyes.
She instinctively bit her lower lip.
A sharp pain struck, making her body tense slightly.
She raised a trembling hand.
Her fingertips did not touch his face directly, instead hovering an inch before his nose.
Inhale—exhale—
Warm breaths rhythmically brushed over her cool fingers.
He was warm.
Then, her palm slowly moved down and pressed against the left side of his chest.
"Thump, thump, thump—"
Beneath her palm was a beating heart.
Steady and powerful, beating quickly.
The vibrations traveled up her arm and through her entire body, gradually syncing with her own heartbeat.
He was alive.
Finally, her gaze fell on Tang Song's chin.
A faint layer of bluish stubble had appeared there.
Her fingertips lightly brushed across it, meeting a prickly roughness.
He was real.
Breathing, heartbeat, stubble.
Those trivial, real, rough details pieced together a complete, living Tang Song.
It was not a dream.
It was not an illusion woven from alcohol and longing.
Over the past few years, she had begun drinking heavily. At first, it was to numb her nerves and draw his attention.
But later, she became addicted to that slightly drunk state.
Because only after getting drunk, in that hazy state between dreaming and waking, could she see his warm presence.
"Y-you saw my