Amid the smell of disinfectant in the hospital room, there once drifted a faint, elusive scent of gardenias.
It was Yang Qiu's private secret: Xia Mengyi, whom he could see whenever he opened his eyes and hear if he listened closely. She would sit in an empty chair and write in her diary, chide him for hiding his vitamin C lozenges, and count through the old days with him in the sunlight.
As long as the flowers smelled sweet, she was there.
But when even the apparition began to tire, when the familiar fragrance grew fainter by the day, and when the words "It's time to let go" pierced that illusory warmth, Yang Qiu finally realized that it was never memory that had trapped him, but his own refusal to wake from his obsession.
When the gardenia scent fades, will it be the chime that signals the apparition's departure, or the beginning of his reconciliation with himself?
I feel like some things haven't been changed 🤔🤔