Jingyi very seriously considers kissing Sizhui right then, but instead he frown furiously to himself over Sizhui's words, finishes wringing out his overrobe, and slides it back on. He needs to be dressed if they are going to head back to their rooms.

"I am sorry about Jin Ling, and I--" he cuts off, thoughts tangled.

Sizhui had not begun to have thoughts about him in the weird alter-world, which meant...those feelings had started earlier. Which throws him, somehow. Not because he does not like the idea, but because it had not hit him that it was even possible before. "I did not know," Jingyi tells him, chewing on his lower lip in thought. "I did not know that I liked you, until I had gone and come back and"—he speeds up, a little distressed—"I had to think about it! You know I would have done something if I realized?"

That last question is very blatantly for reassurance.