“Hope is a dangerous thing.
Once you’ve lost it, even miracles become frightening.”
The room fell silent.
No one moved.
No one spoke.
Even the music outside the private room seemed impossibly distant.
Yu Mingyue stood quietly beneath the warm lights.
Her smile, which had always come so naturally, slowly faltered.
She looked at the familiar faces before her.
Everyone was staring at her.
As though…
They had forgotten how to breathe.
“…Did I scare everyone?”
Her voice was as gentle as ever.
No one answered.
Yu Mingyue blinked.
A little embarrassed, she scratched her cheek.
“…I know appearing after dying is a little rude…”
Still…
Silence.
Not a single smile appeared.
Yu Mingyue lowered her head slightly.
“…”
“…That joke usually works.”
The words were barely louder than a whisper.
Her chest tightened.
Had eight years really changed everything this much?
The room remained utterly still.
Then—
One footstep.
Gu Mingzhe.
He walked toward her.
Slowly.
Calmly.
If someone looked only at his expression, they would think nothing had happened.
Only the faint tremor of his fingers betrayed the storm hidden beneath that calm exterior.
Yu Mingyue looked up.
“…Brother Mingzhe?”
He didn’t answer.
His eyes quietly examined her.
Her complexion.
Her breathing.
The slight rise and fall of her chest.
Everything.
It wasn’t the gaze of a man looking at someone he loved.
It was the gaze of a doctor trying desperately to prove that a miracle was impossible.
He stopped before her.
Close enough to reach out.
Yet he hesitated.
“…May I?”
His voice was hoarse.
Yu Mingyue tilted her head.
“My hand?”
He nodded once.
Without hesitation, she held out her right hand.
Gu Mingzhe stared at it.
White.
Slender.
Warm light rested upon her skin.
It looked exactly like the hand he had held countless times before.
Back when he checked whether she had taken her medicine.
Back when he measured her pulse after every surgery.
Back when he silently prayed that her heartbeat would remain steady for just one more day.
Slowly…
Almost fearfully…
He reached forward.
His fingertips brushed against her wrist.
Warm.
His hand froze.
No.
That wasn’t enough.
Two fingers pressed lightly against her pulse.
One beat.
Two beats.
Three.
Strong.
Steady.
Regular.
His pupils trembled.
He adjusted his fingers.
Checked again.
The same result.
Again.
Still the same.
Yu Mingyue watched him quietly.
A small smile returned to her face.
“…Brother Mingzhe.”
“…”
“If you keep checking…”
She glanced at her own wrist.
“…my pulse is going to get embarrassed.”
Silence.
Gu Mingzhe didn’t smile.
He couldn’t.
His fingertips remained against her skin.
As though the moment he let go…
She would disappear again.
Yu Mingyue’s smile slowly faded.
“…”
“…That joke usually works too.”
For the first time…
Gu Mingzhe raised his eyes to meet hers.
His calm expression cracked.
Only a little.
But enough.
His lips parted.
“…She’s warm.”
The words were almost inaudible.
He wasn’t speaking to Yu Mingyue.
Nor to anyone else.
He was simply stating a fact.
A fact he had spent eight years wishing to witness again.
Warm.
Not cold.
Not a hallucination.
Not a dream.
Alive.
Behind him…
Someone quietly covered their mouth.
A sob escaped before they could suppress it.
Gu Mengmeng.
Tears streamed uncontrollably down her face.
Her vision was already blurred by tears.
“…Xiao Yue’er…”
Her voice trembled so badly that she barely recognized it as her own.
She took one step forward.
Then another.
Only to stop just a step away.
Her hands trembled violently at her sides.
She wanted to hug her.
Wanted to throw herself into Yu Mingyue’s arms exactly as she had done countless times before.
But…
She couldn’t.
Her feet refused to move.
Eight years of impossible dreams had taught her one cruel lesson.
Every time she reached out…
Yu Mingyue disappeared.
“…”
“…If…”
Her voice broke.
“…If I hug you…”
She bit her lip hard.
“…Will you disappear again?”
The room became even quieter.
Yu Mingyue looked at her best friend.
The proud young miss of the Gu family…
Who had once never feared anything.
Now stood before her…
Afraid to take one more step.
Yu Mingyue felt her heart ache.
Not because of herself.
But because these people…
Had been hurting while she knew nothing.
She smiled.
Just as she always had.
Then…
Instead of waiting…
She walked forward herself.
One step.
Then another.
Until she stood before Gu Mengmeng.
Without saying a word…
Yu Mingyue gently wrapped her arms around her.
“…I won’t disappear.”
The embrace lasted only a heartbeat before Gu Mengmengcompletely broke.
She buried her face against Yu Mingyue’s shoulder.
Her entire body shook with suppressed sobs.
“You liar…”
“You promised…”
“You promised we’d grow old together…”
Yu Mingyue gently stroked her hair.
“I’m sorry.”
“I came back late.”
Gu Mengmeng cried even harder.
Across the room…
No one interrupted them.
No one could.
Xie Chengyi had not moved.
Not once.
He continued watching Yu Mingyue.
Watching every movement.
Every breath.
Every blink.
His mind rejected everything before him.
It was impossible.
Impossible.
Impossible.
After eight years of calculations…
After countless sleepless nights…
After building equations that should never have existed…
He knew better than anyone what stood before him.
It couldn’t happen.
It shouldn’t happen.
Unless—
A thought flashed through his mind.
His pupils contracted sharply.
“…No.”
The quiet voice drew everyone’s attention.
Xie Chengyi slowly walked toward Yu Mingyue.
His eyes never left her.
He stopped before her.
Closer than before.
His gaze searched hers.
Not emotionally.
Scientifically.
“…Brother Chengyi?”
Yu Mingyue called softly.
He raised one hand.
It stopped beside her hair.
Not touching.
Only measuring the distance.
His voice remained frighteningly calm.
“…This isn’t right.”
Yu Mingyue blinked.
“What isn’t?”
He whispered,
“…When I calculated the probability…”
“…Success should have been…”
“…Zero.”
Silence.
“…You shouldn’t exist.”
No one understood what he meant.
Except Yu Mingyue.
And somewhere deep inside…
Something stirred.
Not fear.
Not confusion.
Just…
The faint feeling that her return contained a truth she had yet to discover.
Then…
Another figure moved.
Lu Yanxi.
For the first time since Yu Mingyue entered the room.
He walked toward her.
One step.
Then another.
His pace was slow.
Almost cautious.
As though he feared startling a butterfly into flight.
He stopped before her.
Close enough to touch.
Yet…
His hand remained suspended in the air.
Only inches from her cheek.
It trembled.
Very slightly.
Yu Mingyue looked at him quietly.
She understood.
He wasn’t afraid of her.
He was afraid…
That she wasn’t real.
Her eyes softened.
Without hesitation…
She gently lifted her own hand.
And placed it over his.
Warm skin met warm skin.
She guided his trembling hand…
Until it rested lightly against her cheek.
Then she closed her eyes.
A smile curved her lips.
“…I’m real.”
Lu Yanxi’s breathing stopped.
His fingertips trembled against the warmth of her skin.
He looked at her.
Not as the President of the Lu Group.
Not as the man everyone feared.
Just…
As Lu Yanxi.
The young man who had once sworn to protect the little girl standing before him.
His lips moved.
After what felt like an eternity…
One word escaped.
“…Warm.”
A single tear slid silently down his face.
No one spoke.
No one disturbed the moment.
Because everyone understood.
After eight years…
The miracle they had chased…
Had finally come home.