He Wuning didn’t answer immediately. He was sizing up Yi Luo.
Yi Luo seemed to be trying hard to make himself look no different from usual, as if he wasn’t particularly serious—just casually making a suggestion. It was as though the moment He Wuning showed the slightest reluctance, he would immediately retreat.
For example, right now. He Wuning had only stayed silent for a little longer than usual, and Yi Luo was already smiling and giving himself a way out: “Actually, keeping things the way they are is pretty good too. Opening the box can wait until the finale…”
He Wuning looked at him and suddenly lifted his chin. “Open it.”
“Huh?” Yi Luo’s sentence was cut off halfway through. He only managed to make a short, hurried sound. It seemed he hadn’t expected He Wuning to say that. His eyes widened slightly in surprise, revealing a rare look of being caught off guard.
Seeing that expression on him, He Wuning instead calmed down. With a strange sense of victory, he lifted his chin and looked down at him with a faint laugh. “I said open it. So what now?”
He propped one leg up and rested his elbow on it, tilting his head slightly. “Where’s your box? Open it and let me see.”
Q-chan blinked in confusion, clearly not understanding what was going on. “What box?”
Yi Luo’s throat tightened. He picked up Q-chan and opened the window. “Q, go out for a bit.”
Q-chan angrily waved his short little arms. “Hey! What are you doing? I just asked if I should leave, and you clearly said I didn’t have to! You even said you weren’t planning to—”
Q-chan stopped mid-sentence. Suddenly, he realized something and clapped a hand over his mouth like he had discovered a huge secret. “Y-you—you’re planning to do something bad now?!”
His gaze darted nervously between the two of them, and he was horrified to realize that what Yi Luo had said before—that their relationship might have progressed dramatically while he wasn’t around—might actually be true.
He floated over to the car window automatically, looked back as if wanting to say something but stopping himself, and finally left them with a blessing that sounded like something from an old father: “Be careful…”
Yi Luo slammed the window shut with a bang.
With his back to He Wuning, his movements were slightly stiff as he quietly took a deep breath.
He Wuning kept a straight face, but the moment Yi Luo turned around he noticed the color slowly spreading behind his ears, and he laughed again. “You were the one who said you wanted to open it. It’s too late to regret it now.”
He turned and rummaged through the milk tea car’s storage compartment. “Wait a second, I’ll find my box.”
He Wu-ning froze. “A box?”
“Wait. That wasn’t a metaphor? You actually have a box?”
Yi Luo pulled out a square box from the storage and held it in his hands, nodding with perfect confidence. “Yeah. I do.”
He crouched down and held the box out in front of He Wuning. “Opening it or not?”
“I’ll give you one last chance to back out.”
The box made no sound at all when he held it. There was no way to guess what was inside.
He Wuning couldn’t help wondering if it was actually just an empty box—something Yi Luo brought out just to tease him.
—If it was this guy, he really might do something like that.
He Wuning raised an eyebrow and placed a hand on the box, meeting Yi Luo’s gaze. “Who do you think you’re looking down on?”
Yi Luo almost laughed. “When you say it like that, it feels like I used some kind of provocation.”
He Wuning looked at his face and suddenly changed his mind.
He withdrew his hand and lazily clasped it behind his back. “You’re right.”
“Thinking about it carefully, I’m actually not that curious about what He Anan told you.”
He deliberately slowed his tone, his expression calm. “Let’s just wait until the finale to open the box.”
Yi Luo was caught off guard. His eyes widened slightly. “…I regret confirming it with you so many times.”
He Wuning laughed. Then suddenly he reached out, grabbed Yi Luo by the collar, and yanked him forward. Caught completely unprepared, Yi Luo didn’t resist. Their distance instantly shrank until their noses were almost touching, their gazes colliding fiercely along with something invisible between them.
He Wuning’s ears were bright red, but his gaze didn’t waver.
Gripping Yi Luo’s collar, he spoke frankly. “No need to open the box. I’ll just ask you directly.”
“Is what’s in your box… this?”
He leaned closer and gave him a nearly reckless kiss. The impact made Yi Luo’s teeth ache, but his heartbeat suddenly sped up.
He felt like his heart probably couldn’t be hidden anymore—nor could the feelings he had tried to express with restraint.
Yi Luo lowered his eyes, his gaze falling on He Wuning’s lips. The young man’s lips weren’t particularly bright or delicate—thin and pale—but after the collision they carried a deeper flush than usual.
Yi Luo closed his eyes briefly, a helpless feeling rising in his chest.
He had tried to probe with restraint—carefully advancing step by step, leaving room for retreat for both of them, giving each other space to hesitate. But in front of a single sentence from him, it all collapsed.
The box had long since fallen to the side.
Yi Luo lowered his head and gently touched his lips.
He Wuning’s tightly pressed lips matched his personality. It looked as if he was trying to press them into a hard line—as though anyone who tried to kiss him should be prepared to get bitten first.
Yi Luo took a deep breath and answered softly, “It’s probably… a bit more passionate than that.”
He Wuning opened his eyes slightly. His hand still hadn’t let go of Yi Luo’s collar. He was actually very nervous, awkwardly keeping his eyes open as Yi Luo leaned down to kiss him again.
But He Wuning didn’t like hesitation or retreat. Once he decided something, he pushed forward without looking back.
The next kiss was no longer as composed or gentle as the first. It was urgent and burning—Yi Luo’s rarely seen sincerity.
Yi Luo had always felt that he and He Wuning were completely different kinds of people.
He could chat casually with anyone. He seemed close with everyone, joking around freely, yet he never truly took anyone too deeply to heart, always keeping a polite distance.
He Wuning, on the other hand, looked like he didn’t get along with anyone. He wore a cold expression that pushed people away. But he was sincere with everyone.
Yi Luo rested his chin on He Wuning’s shoulder, breathing lightly. All the probing and disguises suddenly felt like insults to that sincerity.
His heart pounded, blood rushing through him, filled with both relief and unease as everything finally settled.
He closed his eyes and said softly, “I really like you.”
As if saying it to himself as much as to him.
“I like the way you look back at me with that slightly smug raised eyebrow every time you finish fighting a boss and sheath your blade. At those moments, it feels like you’re only looking at me.”
“Even when there’s a whole group of people behind you, you still look at me. Like I’m special.”
He kissed his brow gently. “And I like it when you lightly kick me while acting fierce.”
“I know you always hold back.”
His palm rested on his leg. “And the way you listen to every bit of nonsense I say, even when you look impatient. Even when you close your eyes and pretend to sleep.”
“Sometimes you even smile.”
He Wuning closed his eyes. His back was pressed against the wall of the milk tea car. At some point his hand had slipped down to clutch the hem of Yi Luo’s clothes.
Yi Luo kept kissing him, as if eager to share everything in his heart. “I want to go back to reality with you. I want to drive around with you in the real world just like this.”
“I want to take you home and show you around. We can annoy that old man together—though he actually seems to like you.”
“I also want to show you the yard at my house. When I was little I buried a rib bone under a tree there. I thought someday I’d give it to the person I liked.”
He Wuning almost laughed. “Are you a puppy?”
Yi Luo smiled and bit his ear lightly. “If I am, then I am. Talking about it doesn’t cost me anything.”
Then he asked, “What about you?”
“Do you like me?”
He Wuning closed his eyes. His ears were bright red, and the back of his neck felt like it was burning. He turned his head away. “…I don’t know.”
Yi Luo chuckled softly. “Then can I kiss you again?”
He Wuning frowned slightly. He clearly had no intention of stopping anyway, so why suddenly ask so politely?
He knitted his brows, but still slowly nodded.
Yi Luo laughed helplessly. “How are you like this? You’ll let me kiss you, but you still won’t tell me you like me?”
He Wuning: “......”
Yi Luo pressed his forehead against his. “Ningning—”
He Wuning snapped dryly, “Calling me that won’t help!”
Yi Luo laughed. “Even if you don’t admit it now, it won’t change anything. You definitely like me—you’re just too embarrassed to say it.”
He pulled He Wu-ning closer, raising an eyebrow. “But I’m going to keep asking, because I like making things difficult for you.”
“One day, you’ll have to say it to me.”
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