Footprints

Fang Jin clearly hadn't dreamed of anything, yet he felt as if he were trapped in a massive ice cellar, unable to find his way out.

Something buzzed deep in his heart, as though his soul had been yanked. He let out a muffled groan of pain, his forehead covered in cold sweat. He pressed the blanket balled up in his hand deeper against his chest, held his breath for a long while, then broke into a wrenching fit of coughs.

Panicked footsteps sounded outside the window, and Fang Jin thought it was part of the dream.

Crash—

Something shattered. Fang Jin frowned, and then a presence drew near.

It felt familiar. Before Fang Jin could even react, some emotion in his heart had already been stirred, carrying a faint trace of longing.

That sliver of longing sent the vigilance he had always prided himself on plummeting to the bottom.

Lu Jiatang looked utterly disheveled. After all, Mr. Lu, who had been restrained and proper since childhood, was climbing over walls and through windows for the first time in his life.

Lu Jiatang felt as though he could barely breathe. Moonlight spilled in through the window, illuminating the person he had constantly yearned for.

Fang Jin was injured. Lu Jiatang had given him freedom, but he could not truly let go. He had been keeping watch over him in silence. He had thought Fang Jin's discharge from the hospital meant he had recovered, but Fang Jin was even thinner than when they had last parted. Even small-sized pajamas hung loosely on him, pooling softly beneath his collarbones. The young man's hair was a mess, making his face seem even smaller and his features clearer, yet not sharp. Everywhere Lu Jiatang looked seemed frail.

After a brief silence, Fang Jin began