Eight in the morning.
Xu Shi had washed up early and casually thrown on a light-colored coat, still using his glasses to hide the dark circles beneath his eyes.
He hadn't slept at all last night.
He hadn't found the sketchbook filled with drawings of Xie Yanci.
He had searched everywhere, inside and out, but still hadn't found it.
Perhaps it was better that he couldn't find it.
He was getting ready to forget him anyway.
Perhaps Xie Yanci was waiting for him to forget, too.
Taking the wedding ring off his ring finger, Xu Shi casually left it on the bedside table, then closed the door and left without a trace of attachment.
It was cold in winter, and he took a taxi to the Dessert Shop.
The cold wind instantly blew his hair into a mess.
He raised a hand, intending to tidy it up again.
Looking at himself in the mirror, he thought about it, then decided against it.
It was cold.
It was Zhou An, not Xie Yanci.
"..."
[I don't like Xie Yanci.]
Xu Shi gave a cold snort, casually smoothed down a few windswept strands, and turned to enter the Dessert Shop.
He didn't notice the person standing far behind him.
The man stood beneath a Chinese parasol tree across the road.
He wore a deep black coat and leaned against the rough roots of the tree, his neat, clean hair blown into a mess by the wind.
Winter in Hong Kong City was cold. People came and went around him, while he alone stood there quietly.
Just as he had once existed only in Xu Shi's imagination.
No one could see him. He drifted beside Xu Shi, and even Xu Shi couldn't see him.
He would appear once in a while.
Only when