CHANG'AN AVENUE
Shin Ling stared out of the taxi window as the city blurred past her.
The traffic of Beijing moved around her in endless streams of headlights and honking cars, but she barely noticed any of it.
Her fingers kept drifting toward her mask.
Adjusting it.
Pulling it higher.
Checking the reflection in the window.
Then checking it again.
Being one of the most recognizable actresses in China came with its disadvantages. One careless slip of her mask was enough.
A stranger would recognize her.
Someone would whisper her name.
A phone would come out.
Then another.
And within minutes, a quiet street could turn into a crowd.
But today, that wasn't what made her anxious.
Her hands trembled slightly in her lap.
She forced them still.
Chang'an Avenue.
She hadn't been here in years.
And yet the moment the taxi turned onto the familiar road, memories she had spent years burying began clawing their way back.
The buildings.
The streetlights.
That particular stretch of road.
She swallowed.
Some places didn't need to be remembered.
They remembered you.
"Miss?"
The driver's voice pulled her back.
"We're almost there."
Shin blinked.
She looked ahead.
Shulong Towers.
Her stomach tightened.
"Okay."
The taxi rolled to a stop.
She paid the driver.
Then paused.
She had handed him far more money than the fare.
"Miss, you've given me—"
"Keep it."
She was already opening the door.
She needed to get out.
Now.
---
The revolving doors of Shulong Towers turned slowly behind her.
Shin stepped into the lobby.
And stopped.
Only for a second.
Marble floors.
Gold chandeliers.
White lilies arranged in enormous vases.
The faint floral scent hanging in the air.
Everything looked almost exactly the same.
Her eyes moved across the lobby.
Her breathing became shallow.
She hated that she remembered.
Not the building.
Not really.
The details.
The little things.
Things she shouldn't have been able to remember after all these years.
She tightened her grip around her handbag.
"Shin?"
She turned.
Lihyun stood several feet away, dressed casually, his phone in one hand.
The sight of him loosened something inside her.
She forced a smile.
"Hi."
"You okay?"
"Of course."
He didn't look convinced.
Before he could ask again, she walked toward him.
He opened his arms, and she stepped into the embrace.
For a moment, she simply stood there.
Breathing.
His familiar cologne.
His warmth.
Something real.
Something that belonged to the present.
Lihyun pulled back slightly.
"Let's go upstairs before someone recognizes you."
She nodded.
"Good idea."
They walked toward the elevators.
Shin's steps gradually slowed.
The elevator doors opened.
She stopped.
Her fingers tightened around her handbag.
Lihyun glanced back.
"Coming?"
She blinked.
"Yes."
She stepped inside.
The doors closed.
Her eyes immediately went to the panel.
There.
Fourth floor.
Her expression changed.
Barely.
But Lihyun noticed.
"You look pale."
Shin looked at him.
"I haven't eaten."
It came out smoothly.
Almost automatically.
A lie.
Lihyun frowned.
"You should've told me. I'll order something."
She gave him a small smile.
"I'm fine."
"I'll still order something."
He pressed the button for the thirtieth floor.
Shin watched his finger.
Then looked at him.
"I thought you wanted me to meet you at your apartment."
Lihyun gave her an amused look.
"I did. But I own this hotel. Nothing that happens here makes it out. Its safer than an apartment complex where i have no power. Plus the entire 30th floor is mine."
She raised an eyebrow.
"But the hotel renovated the 30th floor last year."
"They didn't renovate it."
Shin glanced at him.
"They didn't?"
"They replaced the carpets."
She stared at him. And for the first time since entering the building, she chuckled.
Then Lihyun's expression shifted to playful curiosity.
He studied her face.
"Have you been here before?"
Her smile disappeared.
"No."
The answer came too quickly.
Lihyun raised an eyebrow.
"No?"
"No."
He looked at her for another second.
"Shin."
"Lihyun."
"You're a terrible liar."
Her heart skipped.
But before he could question her further, the elevator chimed.
The doors opened.
She stepped out immediately.
"Come on."
Lihyun watched her walk ahead.
He shook his head with a faint smile and followed.
He didn't question it further.
He had no reason to.
---
The moment they entered the suite, Shin pulled off her coat and dropped her handbag onto the nearest chair.
Lihyun barely had time to react before she caught the front of his shirt and pulled him toward her.
Their lips met.
It wasn't hesitant.
It wasn't careful.
It was urgent.
Lihyun froze for half a heartbeat, clearly caught off guard by the suddenness of it, before his arms instinctively wrapped around her.
Shin's fingers slipped into his hair, holding him close as though she was afraid that if she let go, the moment would disappear.
Lihyun responded just as eagerly, drawing her closer.
For those few seconds, everything else seemed to vanish.
Yesterday's family dinner.
The marriage neither of them wanted.
The endless pressure.
Even the memories that had followed Shin through the lobby.
None of it mattered here.
When they finally broke apart, it was only by a few inches.
Both were breathing unevenly.
Shin kept one hand tangled lightly in his hair, her forehead almost touching his.
Lihyun looked at her, still catching his breath.
When they pulled apart, Lihyun smiled faintly.
He tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
"I missed you all night."
Shin looked at him.
"I know."
"That confident?"
She laughed softly.
There was something easy between them.
Something familiar.
No grand declarations.
No dramatic promises.
Just two people who had become part of each other's everyday lives.
Lihyun reached for his phone.
"Do you want me to order something?"
"No."
He looked up.
"Why?"
"Because I didn't come here to eat."
His expression became serious.
"I know."
He walked toward the sofa and sat down.
After a moment, he picked up a gold-embossed file from the coffee table and held it out.
"Here."
Shin took it.
Her eyes narrowed.
"What is this?"
"Everything I managed to find on Lily Liang."
Her fingers immediately opened the file.
Page after page.
School records.
Family information.
Photographs.
Articles.
Connections.
Anything Lihyun's people had managed to dig up.
She flipped through them quickly.
Then stopped.
Her eyes landed on one line.
Illegitimate daughter of the Liang family. Mother unknown.
Her expression changed.
"Mother unknown?"
Lihyun nodded.
"That was all we could confirm."
Shin's eyes remained on the page.
For a few seconds, she said nothing.
Then—
"We should investigate this."
Lihyun looked at her.
"Investigate what?"
"Her mother."
"And then?"
Shin looked up.
"We give it to the press."
Lihyun's expression hardened.
"Absolutely not."
"Lihyun—"
"No."
"She is an illegitimate daughter. If the press gets hold of this—"
"She'll be humiliated."
"Yes."
Shin didn't hesitate.
"And your father won't want you marrying someone whose family history is being dragged across every newspaper."
Lihyun stared at her.
"Shin."
"What?"
"That is too far."
Her voice became sharper.
"She just needs a little push."
"A little push?"
"Yes."
"You're talking about destroying someone's reputation."
"I am talking about stopping a marriage that neither of us wants."
"That doesn't make it right."
Shin shut the file.
"Then what do you suggest?"
Lihyun didn't answer immediately.
She leaned back.
"We have to try something else first."
"We don't have time."
"We have time."
"No, we don't."
Her voice cracked.
Lihyun looked at her.
Shin immediately looked away.
Her fingers tightened around the file.
"I can't lose you."
The words came out quietly.
Lihyun's expression softened.
"Hey."
Shin blinked rapidly.
He moved closer.
"Don't."
She wiped quickly beneath one eye.
"I'm sorry."
"You don't have to apologize."
"I just—"
Her voice broke.
Lihyun sat beside her.
"Shin."
She finally looked at him.
"I promise." Lihyun said.
"Promise what?"
"I won't let this marriage happen."
She searched his face.
"You promise?"
"I promise."
She nodded slowly.
He gave her hand a gentle squeeze.
"Now let me handle this."
Shin took a breath.
"Okay."
Lihyun picked up the file again.
"I have an idea."
She looked at him.
"I'm listening."
"Tomorrow, I'll ask Lily to meet me."
Shin immediately frowned.
"For what?"
"Dinner."
"You're going to have dinner with her?"
"It's not a date."
"I know that."
Her tone was slightly salty.
Lihyun almost smiled.
"Let me finish."
She folded her arms.
"Fine."
"I'll ask her to meet me at Zhao Paradise Hotel."
"And then?"
"Then I'll give her two choices."
He reopened the file.
His finger stopped at two separate pieces of information.
Shin leaned closer.
"What choices?"
Lihyun looked at her.
"If she accepts the first one, this entire engagement discussion ends quietly."
"And the second?"
His expression became more serious.
"If she refuses…"
He paused.
Shin waited.
"…we make it impossible for her to say no."
A slow smile appeared on Shin Ling's face.
The tension in her shoulders finally eased.
"Now," she said softly, "that's a plan."
Lihyun closed the file.
Neither of them noticed the way Shin's eyes had briefly drifted toward the window.
Toward the city below.
Toward Chang'an Avenue.
For everyone else, it was just another road.
For Shin Ling,
It was a graveyard of memories she had spent years pretending were dead.
And she had no intention of letting anyone dig them back up.