[Workshop · The Next Night]
Seeing how boldly those girls chased after love, Ding Yuxuan felt something stir inside her.
She finally understood—her constant retreat had never been because she didn't care, but because she was afraid of rejection. Yet if she never spoke, the trembling in her chest would stay buried forever.
—So she decided to be brave. Just once.
That night, she chose to send her feelings with the little mechanical bird she had made. A slip of paper was clamped in its beak, filled with a few crooked, shaky lines.
"Master Lin, there's something I want to tell you. But before I do… can we set three rules?"
Lin Lie lowered his gaze, frowning slightly as he wrote his reply.
"What is it?"
The bird fluttered back.
"First—after you know, you still have to teach me. No more sending me to do errands."
Lin Lie's pen paused, then moved again.
"Mm. Fine."
The bird returned again.
"Second—you can't keep giving me the cold face all the time."
A flicker passed through Lin Lie's eyes. He wrote back:
"Alright."
In the quiet night workshop, the mechanical bird flew back and forth, carrying their words.
By then, Ding Yuxuan's ears were burning red—yet she still had the third note clenched in her hand, the one she couldn't bring herself to send.
On it were the words:
I love you.
Before she could move, Lin Lie suddenly stood. He pushed the door open and stepped out into the corridor—and sure enough, there she was, crouched in a corner. Wisps of hair had fallen over her forehead, and she was gripping a wrinkled piece of paper, turning it over as if weighing her entire life on it.
"Ding Yuxuan." His voice was low, edged with helplessness he couldn't quite hide. "If you've got something to say, why can't you take a few steps inside and say it? Why go through all this trouble?"
Ding Yuxuan jolted. His sudden voice startled her so badly the paper nearly slipped from her fingers.
"M-Master Lin…" Her face flushed as she tried to stand—only to find her legs numb from crouching too long.
Lin Lie walked over and looked down at her. His usually calm gaze was… complicated now, as if emotions held back for far too long were finally pressing against the dam.
"What are you up to?" he asked softly, tension threaded through the words.
"I…" She lowered her head, then unfolded the paper and held it out to him.
Lin Lie's eyes dropped to the crumpled sheet.
The handwriting was crooked—yet the message was painfully clear.
I love you.
His breathing stopped. It felt as though something slammed into his chest; his throat turned instantly dry.
"…I love you," Lin Lie repeated under his breath, hoarse enough not to sound like himself.
"No—n-not you love me." Ding Yuxuan's ears turned scarlet as she blurted, flustered. "It's me. I love you!"
The moment she tried to stand, the numbness in her legs surged. Her body swayed, and she pitched forward.
Lin Lie's eyes tightened. Instinct took over—his arm shot out and caught her.
Warm softness fell into his embrace.
He went rigid, his mind blank.
Both of them froze.
Time seemed to lock in place, leaving only the thunder of heartbeats inside their chests.
When the numbness finally eased, Ding Yuxuan panicked and tried to pull away, whispering, "I… I can stand on my own…"
But the moment she moved, Lin Lie abruptly tightened his arms and pulled her back into him.
"Don't."
His voice was low—full of urgency, raw and unfamiliar.
Ding Yuxuan lifted her eyes and met a gaze that seemed to burn.
Her heart pounded so fast it almost spilled out of her mouth. Lin Lie's breathing was uneven now too, his usual composure nowhere to be found.
In his arms, she saw it clearly: the cold, hard lines of his face… and the struggle beneath them.
His Adam's apple bobbed. His fingers trembled. He told himself to stay calm, to restrain himself—yet the emotion in his chest surged like a broken floodgate.
"Do you even know…" His voice sank, heavy with a pain that sounded like it might crush his throat. "These past few days—how you kept avoiding me—almost drove me mad."
Ding Yuxuan's lashes trembled. The pounding in her chest roared.
"I kept telling myself you were just a student. Just a noisy little girl." His forehead lowered until it touched hers, breath tangled with hers. "But when you were with anyone else, I was furious—so furious I couldn't sleep all night."
He exhaled like surrender.
"Ding Yuxuan… I can't not care about you."
The moment those words left him, it was as if the chains he'd forced around his heart finally snapped.
He held her tighter—as though he wanted to press her into his bones.
Lin Lie's confession struck her like thunder. Ding Yuxuan went still, her mind completely blank.
His embrace was so tight it felt like he might melt her into him. His breath—hot against her forehead—set her cheeks on fire. Her heartbeat was out of control.
"M-Master Lin…" Her voice shook, cautious as if she were stepping onto thin ice.
Lin Lie looked down, his expression more serious than she had ever seen—like he was waiting for her judgment.
Ding Yuxuan's fingers curled nervously, but in the next instant she forced herself to be brave. Slowly, she reached up and clutched the edge of his sleeve.
Her lips pressed tight. Her eyes shimmered as she finally whispered:
"Actually… I'm not afraid of your cold face. And I'm not afraid of being scolded. What I'm most afraid of… is that one day I won't be able to stay by your side and learn anymore. That I won't get to see you again."
She took a breath. Her voice was so small it almost dissolved into the night wind—yet it stayed clear.
"Because I really like you. I like you… a lot. A lot."
Lin Lie shook as if struck.
The last restraint in his eyes collapsed completely.
"Ding Yuxuan…" he murmured.
In the next instant, he stopped retreating altogether. He wrapped her tightly into his arms, his chin brushing the top of her head.
The night was silent, leaving only two hearts colliding in the dark. In that moment, they both understood—
There was no denying it anymore.
The emotions churning in his chest finally found an outlet. He lowered his voice, and for the first time he didn't call her "Miss Ding" or "little brat."
Instead, he said her name—soft, gentle, impossibly careful.
"…Yuxuan."
It landed like a feather on the surface of her heart—so light it nearly vanished, yet more real than anything before.
Ding Yuxuan shivered. Heat rushed into her eyes.
She looked up at him and saw the change—his once rigid features easing, softened by a tenderness she had never seen.
"Say it again… please?" she begged quietly, timid and hopeful all at once.
Lin Lie swallowed, lowered his eyes, and whispered with a gentleness that felt almost unbearable.
"Yuxuan."
This time, his voice was warmer than the night wind—closer than her heartbeat.
Ding Yuxuan's cheeks burned, yet a smile bloomed at the corners of her eyes, bright as spring water.
The night remained still, the workshop lanterns flickering faintly.
Lin Lie noticed a strand of hair had fallen messily across her forehead, shadowing the corner of her eye.
He was always distant, always sparing with words—yet now he lifted a hand, and with careful fingertips, he tucked the loose strand behind her ear.
The movement was clumsy—yet so gentle it felt as though he feared startling something precious.
"Don't keep your head down," he said softly.
Ding Yuxuan stared at him, her blush deepening, her chest sweet enough to overflow. She etched it into her heart:
This is the first time he's called my name. And the first time he's ever been this gentle with me.
Lin Lie withdrew his hand, eyes shifting away as if embarrassed—yet he still tightened his grip on her hand and didn't let go.
The two of them sat shoulder to shoulder beneath the corridor eaves. No one spoke. Only the night wind and their heartbeats filled the silence.
That quiet felt truer than a thousand words.
[The Next Morning · The Workshop]
The workshop was the same as always—hammers ringing, gears turning.
Lin Lie sat at the desk inspecting designs, his features sharp and cold, his expression no different than usual.
But the others quickly sensed something was… off.
"Miss Ding, that part is too heavy. Use a smaller one to test."
His voice was still cool, but it was the first time he had chosen a part for her.
"Your lines are crooked."
He pressed a hand to her blueprint and drew a quick correction with his finger—patient, firm, unmistakably attentive. "Draw it again."
Ding Yuxuan's ears reddened. "O-okay," she mumbled.
The girls in the workshop exchanged looks, holding back laughter.
—Cold face or not, that carefulness… wasn't the same man who used to send her off to do errands.
Ding Yuxuan lowered her head, warmth spreading through her chest.
She knew.
Last night, he had heard her. And he had answered.
Lin Lie lifted his eyes and caught the way she was secretly smiling. Something in his chest jolted; a faint red crept up to his ears before he could stop it.
He snapped his gaze away and said flatly, "What are you smiling at?"
"N-nothing." Ding Yuxuan hurriedly lowered her head—but her fingers tightened around her pen, unable to hide the happiness she couldn't hold down.
—Days like this…
Really were good.