The hospital rooftop wind whips through my hair as I stare at the retreating figure ahead of me. Just minutes ago, I thought I was saving a life. Now I'm the one who needs saving from embarrassment.

"I'm really sorry about all that," I mutter, shoving my hands into the pockets of my leather jacket. The pack of cigarettes burns a hole in my pocket, but somehow offering one to Zhuge Jin doesn't seem appropriate anymore.

He turns slightly, one eyebrow raised in that quizzical expression that's becoming surprisingly familiar. The afternoon sun catches the white streaks in his dark hair, creating an almost halo effect around his head. "You thought I was..." He doesn't finish the sentence, but the question hangs in the air between us.

"Look, anyone would have thought that!" I protest, my cheeks burning. "One second you're standing there looking all... I don't know, contemplative, and the next you're climbing over the railing!"

Zhuge Jin glances down at the calico cat now curled in his arms, then back at me. There's the ghost of a smile playing around his lips—the first genuine smile I've ever seen from him. "She was stuck," he says simply, as if rescuing stray cats on hospital rooftops is a perfectly normal afternoon activity.

The awkward silence stretches between us. I should leave. Find another place to smoke. Pretend this entire humiliating incident never happened. But something keeps me rooted to the spot—a strange compulsion to learn more about this Zhuge Jin who's been nothing more than a vague silhouette in my memory until today.

"About that dinner offer," I hear myself saying before I can stop. "I still mean it. To make up for... well, tackling you like that."