After the waiter softly closed the door, the room instantly flipped into a wall of intense silence.
Ji Yi's eyes were glued to He Jichen's face as her tears couldn't stop flowing.
They continued to stare at one another for a while then Ji Yi finally said, "He Jichen..."
Ji Yi's crying made He Jichen's fingers quiver violently as a big chunk of ash burnt off. While it rustled to the floor, some ashes fell on the back of his hand and burned him slightly.
He Jichen hadn't moved an inch since he saw Ji Yi. He finally blinked gently and removed his hand from the corner of his lips.
After putting the cigarette out, he froze for two seconds before turning to look back at Ji Yi.
"You're finally back..." the tears in the corners of Ji Yi's eyes fell violently. "...Do you know that I've been looking for you non-stop for over a year now, and I've been waiting for you to come back all this time?"
He Jichen looked as though he hadn't quite returned to his senses since their sudden reunion. His eyes stared unwaveringly at Ji Yi without any hint of looking away.
"How could you be so silly? Why didn't you tell me about so many things while quietly carrying the burden on your own..."
"Why did you just leave and where have you been for over a year?"
Every day and night for the past year or so, Ji Yi had been longing to reunite with He Jichen. Every day and night, she'd also been thinking about what she was going to say to He Jichen if they ever really met one day.
She recited this script countless times and played out that scene in her dreams a million times. However, now that it really came down to it, she completely forgot what she wanted to say. Her delighted and excited mind went blank and the words that came out of her mouth were incoherent.
"How have you been the past year or so? And when did you get back? After you returned, why didn't you call me first? You were at TE cafe on Chinese New Year, weren't you?"
On her own, Ji Yi asked many questions and only stopped when she realized that He Jichen hadn't said a word.
Ji Yi stared at the silent He Jichen for a while and figured she could find a day to slowly ask him in more detail.
Now that she got to see him after so much difficulty, she couldn't ruin the mood...
With that thought, Ji Yi walked over to He Jichen.
As she drew closer, she realized that aside from his dark eye bags, he was no different from how she pictured him in her dreams. After over a year, he hadn't really aged.
After Ji Yi walked over to He Jichen, she raised her head. Looking at him up close, she smelled the unique yet faint scent of his body.
Her throat tightened as she stared at him for a short while before forcing herself to say, "Look at me, babbling non-stop. I forgot about the most important thing. What would you like to eat? I'll call the waiter over to take our order."
With that, Ji Yi raised her menu, flipped through the pages, and handed it over to He Jichen. "Let's get set A. When you ate here before, you always chose A."
After Ji Yi decided, she flipped through the drink menu. "What would you like to drink? Red wine, just like before?"
Seeing as He Jichen didn't have much of a reaction, Ji Yi decided on her own to call the waiter over to place an order for the set she just suggested.
After the waiter left, Ji Yi pulled out a dining chair. "He Jichen, sit down and let's talk slowly."