The soothing, flat-toned intro sounded like a wind chime swaying in the distance—free of sudden swells, like a tranquil dream.
Shu gripped the microphone, his fingertips pressed against the cold metal mesh. He felt as though his heartbeat was traveling through his fingertips, amplified by the mic into a faint, low-frequency hum vibrating throughout the private room.
He knew it was just an illusion, because the microphone in his hand wasn't even turned on yet.
He was just nervous... It felt like standing on the edge of a cliff, knowing he should jump, but his legs refusing to obey.
He glanced at the screen. The lyrics hadn't appeared yet; only the song title sat there quietly—You've Never Left.
He had listened to these lyrics countless times—through his earphones, late at night, in an empty room.
He had never sung it in front of anyone. At most, he had sung along silently in his heart.
And he had never imagined that the first time he sang it out loud... would actually be in front of her.
Kiana stood beside him, holding her microphone, waiting quietly.
The piano notes fell one by one like a light, pattering drizzle, sounding like someone knocking on a door from far away.
The five countdown dots appeared on the screen and vanished one by one. Shu took a deep breath and turned the microphone on.
"浩瀚星空里...只剩你的背影..."
(In the vast, starry sky... only your silhouette remains...)
When the first line left his lips, he felt like his voice was floating.
Like a leaf falling from a tree, not knowing where to fly, carried aimlessly by the wind, swaying back and forth.
After singing the first line, he used the briefest of pauses to sneak a quick glance at Kiana.
She was even more focused than he was.
Following the melody, he automatically sang the second line, his voice a little steadier.
"银河已凝结成冰,记忆划过泪滴..."
(The Milky Way has frozen into ice, memories streak past like teardrops...)
Shu turned his head back, looking at the screen in front of him.
He also looked at the vast, boundless, gloss-black sky that was mapped out in his mind, echoing the lyrics.
There were no stars, no moon—nothing at all.
There was only a single figure standing far away, their back to him. He couldn't see their face, only knowing that the person was walking forward.
He wanted to shout, but couldn't make a sound.
He wanted to chase after them, but couldn't move his legs.
That person walked further and further away, growing smaller and smaller, until they became a mere speck and vanished into the darkness.
Then... that starry sky changed.
The stars no longer twinkled. They looked as if they had been frozen solid, nailed to the sky one by one, a cold, pale white.
The Milky Way turned into a frozen river. He stood there, looking at those frozen stars, while countless memories flashed through his mind.
Those memories were like light refracting off the ice—sparkling, but intangible, shattering at the slightest touch.
When the ice shattered, it melted into water, slipping through his fingers.
Shu tried to reach out and catch it, but could only catch a single drop. That drop of water landed in the center of his palm, as cold as a tear.
"想象能回到过去,终会存在我心底"
"虽然逃避"
"她消失在梦里."
(Imagining I could return to the past, it will forever exist in my heart)
(Though I try to escape)
(She vanishes into the dream.)
He saw a road. It was very long; he couldn't see the end. He stood at this end of the road and looked back—the path he had traveled was already blurred, obscured by fog, blown apart by the wind.
He imagined he could go back, walk back to those afternoons, walk back to that child squatting alone in the courtyard watching ants, and tell him a few things.
Tell him that in the future, there would be someone who would hold his hand, who would smile at him, who would hold him tight when he was afraid and tell him there was nothing to fear.
But the road back was gone. Those past versions of himself disappeared into the fog one by one, just like after waking from a dream, leaving nothing to hold onto.
"日出的幻景——"
"再次感觉到你."
(The illusion of the sunrise—)
(I feel you once again.)
Then...
Dawn broke.
The night was torn open down the middle by an unseen hand.
Golden, tangerine, and violet light surged out together, like a cloud canvas splashed with vibrant dyes.
Standing within that light, he narrowed his eyes and saw a silhouette walking towards him from the brilliance.
He couldn't see her face, but he knew who it was.
The wind blew from that direction, carrying a scent he was deeply familiar with—he had thought about it for a long time but could never quite figure out what it smelled like.
But he knew, that was "her."
"风送来你的呼吸,月色倒映着惊喜."
(The wind brings your breath, the moonlight reflects a pleasant surprise.)
He closed his eyes, asking for nothing more.
The wind carried her breath back to his side, as if she had always been right beside him, sleeping alongside him.
He opened his eyes within this shared slumber, seeing the moon hanging so low it felt as if he could touch it simply by reaching out.
He did reach out, gently touching the surface of the lake before him. The resulting ripples pushed the reflections of the two people together, until Shu truly felt a physical weight upon his shoulder.
"原来你从未离去,默默守护在这里,无声无息,如影随形."
(So you've never left, silently guarding right here, without a sound, following like a shadow.)
He suddenly understood.
She had always been there.
When you walk, your shadow is always there; when you breathe, the air is always there; when you're alive, your heartbeat is always there.
You can't see her, you can't touch her, but you know she's there.
In every moment you thought belonged only to yourself, she was actually there.
In those lonely afternoons, in those long nights, in those moments when you didn't know what to do—she was there.
It was just that... he had never noticed.
"我不再迷茫,思念是唯一的行囊."
(I am no longer lost; longing is my only luggage.)
And so, Shu opened his eyes. He was still standing on that road.
Looking back, the fog had lifted. The path he had traveled was crystal clear; every footprint was there, every turn remembered.
Those places he thought he had taken a wrong turn, turned out to be right all along.
That effort he thought he had wasted, turned out to lead exactly here.
He packed those memories into his luggage: the good, the bad, the happy, the sad... not a single one was left behind.
This was the only weight he needed to carry into the future.
"漫天的星光"
"有一颗是你的愿望"
"前方的路不再孤单漫长"
"天空下你我不再守望"
"轻声歌唱"
"在我身旁"
(Among the sky full of starlight)
(One is your wish)
(The road ahead is no longer lonely and long)
(Under the sky, we no longer just watch from afar)
(Singing softly)
(By my side)
He wouldn't worry about the road ahead being too lonely anymore.
Because there would always be someone by his side. When he encountered difficulties, she would sing softly; when he felt lonely, she would light up his path.
He raised his head and looked at the starry sky.
That sky full of starlight was the dreams once let loose by the travelers on this road.
They would twinkle in this starry sky forever.
Forever...
Just like she would forever be by his side, singing softly for him...
She was right beside me.
"Singing softly..."
"By my side..."
"Hmm~ mmm——mmm——hummm..."
Shu had already swallowed the final syllable, but Kiana remained by his side, leaning against him and gently humming along to the melody.
She seemed to be advancing on that road forged by starlight as well, swaying... mingling with the dust of flowers formed from moonlight, walking alongside the phantoms pieced together from memories.
She would also feel lost, she had also hesitated, and she had also tried to stop halfway down the road...
But...
She was always moving forward... with indomitable will.
Because—
"All of my most beautiful memories, they have always been right here... heavy, warming me at all times."
Seven years.
Kiana... did you know?
I once spent seven years...
Accompanying a girl as she grew up.