Lin Su was still trying to process things. Why was it Jinhai she saw as soon as she opened her eyes? And why did it seem like he had been by her side all this time. She refused to believe it and thought to herself that probably everyone else went out for lunch and asked him to keep watch of her. Yes that was probably what happened.
"You… why are you here? Where's everyone?"
To Lin Su that question was meant to be harmless but to Jinhai, it felt like a knife slicing through his heart. She didn't want him here?
Lin Su sensed his thought and immediately added, "Hold on, I didn't mean it in the way you think. I was just asking where everyone is. Not like I don't like having you around or something."
He smiled immediately and said, "They are all outside the room door in the visitation area."
Lin Su nodded slowly. "Oh… okay."
There was a brief pause before she looked at him again, this time more carefully. "You've been here long?"
Jinhai didn't answer immediately. "Long enough."
She narrowed her eyes slightly. "That doesn't answer my question."
He shrugged lightly. "Does it matter?"
"It does," she said. "You look like you haven't slept."
"I'm fine."
"You always say that," she muttered.
That made him pause.
Lin Su looked at him again, her gaze softer now. "You knew it was me, didn't you?"
Jinhai didn't pretend not to understand. "At the academy?"
She nodded faintly.
"…The moment you walked in," he admitted.
Lin Su blinked, slightly taken aback. "That fast?"
"You still tilt your head when you're unsure," he said. "And you still frown before you speak."
She instinctively frowned again.
Jinhai almost smiled. "Like that."
Lin Su let out a small breath. "So you knew… all this time?"
"Yeah."
"And you didn't say anything?" she asked.
He looked at her. "You didn't either."
"I wasn't sure," she replied. "It's been seventeen years, Jinhai. People change."
"They do," he said. "But not that much."
She looked away for a second, thinking. "I recognized you too… eventually."
"Eventually?" he repeated.
Lin Su gave him a look. "You weren't exactly the same quiet boy from the orphanage."
"Is that a compliment?"
"I haven't decided yet," she said.
That earned a small breath of laughter from him.
"But I knew," she added after a moment. "Not immediately, but… there were things. The way you watched people. The way you stayed quiet when everyone else was talking."
Jinhai didn't interrupt.
"And then one day," she continued, "you said something. Just one line during training. And I thought… yeah, that's him."
He tilted his head slightly. "And you still didn't say anything."
Lin Su shrugged faintly. "Neither did you."
"Fair enough."
Silence settled between them again, but this time it felt… familiar.
Then Lin Su spoke again. "So you just decided to watch from a distance?"
"Something like that."
"Creepy," she muttered.
"I said something like that earlier," he replied.
She almost smiled.
Another pause followed before she looked at him again. "You really stayed here the whole time?"
Jinhai hesitated for a split second, then said, "Yeah."
Lin Su studied him, like she was trying to figure something out. "Why?"
He didn't answer immediately.
"…Because I wanted to," he said finally.
She didn't respond to that.
Instead, she looked down at her hands, then back at him. "You could've told me."
"Told you what?"
"That you recognized me," she said. "That you knew."
Jinhai exhaled slowly. "And then what?"
Lin Su opened her mouth, then closed it again.
Exactly.
"I thought it was better this way," he added.
"For who?" she asked.
He didn't answer.
Lin Su watched him for a moment before shaking her head slightly. "You're still the same."
"And you're not?" he asked.
She paused. "…Maybe I am."
Another quiet moment passed.
Then she said softly, "Thank you."
Jinhai looked at her. "For what?"
"For staying," she replied.
He looked away slightly. "Don't overthink it."
"Too late," she muttered again.
This time, he actually smiled a little.
Then he stood up. "I should let the others know you're awake. They've been waiting."
Lin Su nodded. "Yeah… you should."
He walked toward the door, then paused for a brief second, glancing back at her.
"Don't start thinking too much while I'm gone."
She raised a brow. "That's not something I can control."
"Try," he said.
"No promises."
He shook his head lightly and stepped out.
Outside, the others were still gathered, their voices low with worry.
Jinhai looked at them for a second before saying, "She's awake."
Xu Yan shot up immediately. "What?!"
Liu Wen stood up. "You're serious?"
Jian pushed himself off the wall. "Finally."
Zhao Yiming let out a quiet breath.
(Assistant Zhao Min) Xiaomin blinked in surprise. "She woke up?"
Jinhai nodded.
That was all it took.
They rushed toward the door almost instantly, the tension of the past weeks breaking in one moment.
Inside the room, Lin Su leaned back against the pillow, staring ahead quietly.
Seventeen years apart.
And yet… it felt like nothing had really changed.