Brianna paused for a few seconds, then pressed the answer button.
She spoke with perfect calm — "Hello?" — and only then noticed she was smiling.
…Huh?
She raised her hand and felt the soft hills of a smile on her cheeks.
How strange. She pressed a fingertip into the corner of her parted lips, and her teeth closed gently around it, biting back a laugh before it could escape.
A brief silence on the other end.
Sometimes, things that slip beyond the reach of the five senses — things that drift beneath murky ambiguity, that slip between words and language — can still somehow be felt by another person.
Like right now. Brianna could practically see it with her own eyes: the moment the call connected, Fu Tailan had been about to speak, and then suddenly stopped.
What was wrong? Why the sudden silence?
Ah — well, she hadn't said anything either.
"Fu Tailan?"
"…You're awake."
