The corridor from the changing room to the recovery room was indeed short, carpeted in soft flooring and lit by warm, gentle lights.
Yet Kitasan Black felt strangely awkward walking that stretch of hallway.
Every step beneath her feet seemed inexplicably heavy, yet also so weightless that she could not seem to plant them firmly.
Her heart beat an irregular rhythm in her chest, while the teasing laughter from the hot spring and Wanlai Zhengming's off-key romantic tune still seemed to echo faintly in her ears.
All sorts of images and sounds continued to whirl and intertwine through her mind.
Anjing Zhen's focused profile, California Spangle's teasing gaze, her own foolish remark about an "ideal type," and the heart-pounding effect of those words, "your A-Zhen"...
It all left her feeling as though she had just run a long-distance race that had drained every last ounce of her strength—only mentally, she was even more exhausted and confused.
Yet that agonizingly long distance seemed to reach its end in the blink of an eye.
Before she could sort out her thoughts—or even mentally prepare herself—Almond Eye reminded her from beside her:
"Senior Little Kita, we're here. You walked past it..."
Almost at the same time, the half-closed door behind and to the side was pulled open a little from within.
A familiar voice came through in its usual calm tone, but it was like a faint electric current that instantly struck Kitasan Black, making her whole body stiffen almost imperceptibly.
"How was the hot spring, Little Kita?"
The voice paused. Seeing that she did not respond right away, he called again with slight concern:
"Little Kita...?"
Kitasan Black answered in a fluster, then abruptly turned her head.
The moment her gaze met Anjing Zhen's usual calm, focused expression, she looked away again