I wanted to escape to a place where not even shadows could follow. To forget everything... and from then on, it was a long, hollow passage of time.
On the competition grounds, Shenjin Qing had already immersed himself in the mirage of dreams, casting everything to the back of his mind. He simply gulped down the bitterness in his cup; unwittingly, tears streamed down his face.
How had it come to this? Since when had everything changed? I never even noticed. But what about her? Did she truly understand my feelings?
In the silence, tears gradually fell into the cup, drop by drop, dampening the palm of his hand. Then they evaporated quickly. It was as if he wasn't holding a water cup at all, but rather a red-hot branding iron. It slowly burned his hand to a charred cinder, sizzling. This was the heat hidden within the cup that finally erupted, spreading out as the ice water diminished.
