Embrace Yourself

When Bai Ye came back from his meditation, the afternoon was already drawing to an end. I ran into him in the corridors just as the sun had slanted enough to fill the walkway with golden light, casting a long shadow of his figure as he passed.

"Is everything alright?" I asked, noticing the tiredness at the corner of his eyes. He had been gone since noon. This was too much longer than his usual sessions.

He smiled. "It always takes some work to try out new techniques. Were you looking for me?"

"No … I mean, yes." I cursed at my awkward response silently—I didn't know how to properly express the idea of "I'm always looking for you because I'm always thinking about you". I brushed the shameless thought out of my mind. "Senior Wen came to invite me to a preparation trip for the Jade Temple. I agreed to it … they are leaving tomorrow at sunrise."