Confession

Shang Sui's originally smiling face went blank, unable to process what just happened for a moment.

'—Oh my god, Shi Qi!'

Unlike everyone else present, Lin Yan knew their real relationship, and his voice nearly cracked. 'Do you know what you're doing??'

He instinctively looked at Shang Sui, who was clearly equally surprised.

After waiting half a beat with no response from Shang Sui, Shi Qi's expression fell. 'Don't you like it?'

Then, on second thought, she felt entirely justified.

The kiss had already happened. She wouldn't regret it anyway.

'I like it,' Shang Sui said, snapping out of it, looking at Shi Qi. 'How could I not.'

He couldn't help but recall the feeling from moments ago.

A soft touch brushed past his cheek, and the arms hooked around his neck carried the scent of lily of the valley, as if entwined by flower branches.

If there weren't so many people, he would have wanted to chase that kiss and return it.

He tentatively reached toward Shi Qi, wanting to pat her head.

The moment he made the gesture, Shi Qi immediately leaned in to meet it.

'Damn, is this still Shi Qi? Has she been possessed by something??'

Qin Shuhe stared at the scene as if seeing a ghost, noticing Chu Tao beside him holding up her phone. 'Little Peach Sister, did you get that on camera? Too terrifying! Once she's sober we have to make her see it for herself.'

'Filming, filming,' Chu Tao said with a beaming smile, finding the scene utterly delightful. 'Oh my, Xiao Qi really knows how to act cute.'

As if finding the most comfortable position, Shi Qi sat on Shang Sui's lap for the rest of the time.

Sitting sideways made it easy to slip, and feeling Shi Qi squirming uncomfortably on him, Shang Sui wrapped an arm around Shi Qi's waist and helped her adjust into a better position.

During this, Shang Sui's loose knit top fell open even wider. Shi Qi saw a slender silver chain swaying slightly, pressing down on a tattoo at his collarbone.

Her eyes had been drawn to that butterfly all evening, itching with curiosity, and finally she reached out.

At her touch, that small patch of skin rose slightly, then sank again, the half-melted butterfly seeming to come alive.

Touch alone wasn't enough. Following her impulse, Shi Qi used her nail to trace along the fine line threading through the chain of butterflies, neither too light nor too heavy.

Because of her restless little movements, Shang Sui unconsciously slowed his breathing, and the butterfly's wings beat slower in response.

He was getting worked up. He'd originally let it slide because Shi Qi was drunk, but the other had not only thrown herself into his arms but was kissing and touching him all over.

'What are you doing.'

As he spoke, he lowered his gaze and only then saw Shi Qi smiling.

A small smile, one Shi Qi might not even be aware of, as if just the playful closeness was enough to make her happy.

Catching the hidden danger in his voice, Shi Qi looked up and asked with some unease, 'Are you uncomfortable?'

Had she scratched too hard?

'...It's nothing.'

Shang Sui's Adam's apple bobbed, and he subtly shifted his gaze away.

I'm too comfortable, actually.

Seeing Shi Qi so obedient, he couldn't take it out on her.

But they were pressed so close together, occasionally touched and nuzzled, like some sweet torment, and Shang Sui felt that if he stayed any longer he'd start reacting.

Fortunately, Qin Shuhe noticed the time was about right and timely suggested ending the dinner and moving on to KTV.

Shi Qi had been barely lucid, so Qin Shuhe volunteered, 'Bro, do you want to head back first? She'd be better off resting early.'

Lin Yan, experienced, said, 'It's fine, Shi Qi will sober up in a bit. Her drunkenness always comes and goes quickly.'

'I want to go back,' Shi Qi interjected at this moment, tugging at the corner of Shang Sui's clothes and shaking it, showing a hint of impatience. 'I want to leave with him.'

'...' Lin Yan couldn't bear to watch, and turned to Shang Sui instead. 'Please take good care of her.'

Taking a drunk Shi Qi to an entertainment venue was indeed inappropriate, so Shang Sui agreed. 'Then we'll head off first.'

'Bye bye.' Ying Yuran was also a bit drunk. Finding it stuffy, he took off the baseball cap he'd been wearing all night, revealing a head of striking red hair.

'Be careful, you'll get photographed in a bit.'

'It's fine, private trip. As long as I don't show up with my fanservice teammates, the fans won't mind...' Ying Yuran finished drowsily, then looked at Shang Sui again.

'But bro, you really look familiar. Haven't we met somewhere—'

Chu Tao cut him off first. 'Shut up, Xiao Qi will glare at you again in a minute.'

As the words fell, someone caught their own name and looked over sharply.

Seeing Shi Qi tilt her head toward him, afraid the other would call his flirting style old-fashioned again, Ying Yuran pressed his palms together. 'May you two be together for a hundred years, I swear I have no second thoughts!'

Shi Qi reluctantly withdrew her gaze.

After saying goodbye to everyone one by one, she followed Shang Sui toward the parking lot.

The accumulated snow crunched softly underfoot, the winter wind whistled past her ears, but her body felt light, like a fluffy soft cloud.

Shang Sui saw her deliberately walking along the edge of the snow piles, sneaking glances at him from time to time, and teased, 'So happy to come back with me? Do you even remember your own name?'

'Mm!' Shi Qi raised a smile. 'I'm very happy.'

After a pause, she asked again, 'Aren't you happy?'

She always felt Shang Sui seemed to be thinking about something, a bit absent-minded all evening.

Shang Sui shook his head and said softly, 'I was just thinking...'

His voice became blurred in the wind, and Shi Qi couldn't make out the last few words, about to press further.

Shang Sui smiled at her. 'I'm happy too.'

The light fell into his eyes, melting into a small patch of fine, dizzying radiance.

As if under a spell, Shi Qi followed him to the car in a daze. Only when they arrived at Shang Sui's home did she wake up as from a dream.

She skillfully found her fuzzy slippers from the shoe cabinet and put them on, then casually hung her thick coat on the rack by the entryway.

Shang Sui found her some hangover medicine, and seeing the flush on Shi Qi's cheeks gradually fade, guessed she was slowly sobering up. 'Go take a shower? Then sleep.'

Just as Lin Yan had said, Shi Qi's drunkenness came and went quickly.

'Oh, okay.'

Shi Qi agreed but didn't move for a long while.

Shang Sui asked jokingly, 'Do you want me to help you wash?'

Shi Qi raised her face, showing a hint of anticipation. 'Can you?'

Shang Sui met that innocent, bud-like little face for a moment, telling himself internally it was just like bathing a cat or a dog.

Even if Shi Qi stripped naked he wouldn't think too much of it, even if he touched intimate places, that would just be unavoidable contact during bathing...

Yeah, right.

In a moment Shi Qi would ask what was poking him.

Shang Sui, knowing he couldn't remain unmoved, shook his head.

Shi Qi pouted in disappointment, took the change of clothes, and headed to the bathroom.

After her shower, Shi Qi was a bit dazed from the steam, and wanted to find where Shang Sui was. On the way, she accidentally pushed open a door.

She stopped, and after a moment realized this was the Art Studio.

The hallway light behind her illuminated a corner of the room, and directly facing her stood a covered painting. The pure white canvas hung down like a Pandora's box hiding danger and secrets.

During his Sensitivity Period, Shang Sui had said he'd painted something new and asked if she wanted to see it.

At the time, she'd resisted her curiosity and refused Shang Sui's offer, but now...

She was alone. Why not sneak a peek?

Once the thought surfaced in her mind, Shi Qi stepped forward as if tempted, involuntarily reaching out her hand.

Accompanied by the soft sound of the canvas being lifted, Shi Qi's pupils contracted sharply.

A cage, an angel, jeweled chains of gold, brightly colored flower branches.

Everything combined into a love and desire that rushed at her, overwhelming enough to swallow her whole. Through the canvas, the creator's viscous and intense emotions were laid bare to the extreme.

The angel's blurred features seemed familiar, platinum hair veiled in a dreamlike halo, a tiny rouge mole dotted on a snow-white, supple thigh.

Shi Qi stared blankly at the image before her, and the same spot on her own thigh suddenly grew hot.

'Xiao Qi?'

A familiar voice rang out without warning.

Shi Qi turned her head sharply.

The Alpha standing in the doorway had half his face obscured by shadow, only the beautifully shaped lips and chin remaining, his gaze unreadable in the darkness.

Yet Shi Qi could feel a gaze almost tangible sweep past the love-and-desire-filled painting behind her, finally landing on her face.

'You lifted it yourself?'

Shang Sui said as he stepped into the room.

An indescribable pressure rose in her chest, and in her panic, the canvas Shi Qi was holding slipped from her hand and fell to the floor.

Shang Sui stood against the light, his features unclear, and seeing her reaction, stepped forward step by step.

'What's wrong? You're not afraid of me, are you.'

Shi Qi remembered belatedly that Shang Sui had once praised her as being as beautiful as an angel.

At the time she'd thought it was just a simple metaphor, but now she knew the compliment carried another layer of meaning.

'The person in the painting... is it me?'

'Of course it's you.' Shang Sui said lightly. 'There could never be anyone else.'

Shi Qi's peripheral vision caught a pile of metal Chain in the corner, and thinking of the angel bound by chains in the painting, her body stiffened involuntarily.

Shang Sui stopped a few steps away from her. 'I painted this during my Sensitivity Period. The Sensitivity Period amplifies an Alpha's dark side, and at the time I lost control...'

Shang Sui paused briefly, finding even himself ridiculous for such pretty words. 'Although I could use some high-sounding excuse to gloss over it, I don't want to lie to you.'

Shi Qi seemed to want to say something, opening her mouth.

'That's how it is, Xiao Qi. This is my most genuine desire.'

Before Shi Qi could fully grasp the meaning, Shang Sui added, 'I can use Mind Manipulation on others. Do you remember that feeling?'

'—Look at me.'

Shi Qi's gaze, which had been wandering, suddenly fixed, uncontrollably looking at him.

'Even among Alphas in special periods, this ability is extremely rare. It once made me feel...'

Utterly disgusted.

Thanks to you, I changed my mind.

He didn't say this out loud, and looking at Shi Qi's silence, assumed she was afraid.

Shang Sui couldn't describe what he was feeling now.

Half was sadness—he was indeed too extreme, and being misunderstood was normal. Shi Qi probably never imagined he harbored such dark thoughts.

The other half was shameless, abnormal excitement.

What to do.

If you're scared now, even more frightening things are still to come.

Since things had come to this, he might as well lay everything out. 'When you were overwhelmed with emotion and developed the desire to get close to me, that was also because I used Mind Manipulation to hypnotize you.'

'No!'

Shi Qi confirmed immediately.

Recovering from her shock, hearing the self-abandoning tone in Shang Sui's words, she said without hesitation, 'If at the very beginning part of it could be called hypnosis, after that phone call interrupted, I was completely clear-headed.'

'So...'

Wanting to accompany you through your Sensitivity Period with intimacy was entirely my own will.

Shi Qi was too embarrassed to say the latter part out loud, and instead gestured to the painting behind her. 'I don't mind any of what you've said. Whether it's the Sensitivity Period or your original thoughts, I don't mind.'

'...'

This time, it was Shang Sui who couldn't react.

The previously pressing expression vanished from the Alpha's face, revealing a completely opposite bewilderment.

Shi Qi looked at him and felt like laughing a little.

Clearly one sentence would be enough to make things better, so why act as if he'd committed an unforgivable sin?

'The painting is beautiful.'

'I wasn't quiet just now because I was angry or scared. I was just too surprised, and didn't expect you to come in suddenly.'

She felt a little guilty about snooping.

Shi Qi paused briefly, her eyes bright as she looked at him. 'What exactly do you mean by desire?'

Meeting her gaze that held hidden anticipation, Shang Sui was silent for a moment.

He didn't answer immediately, but suddenly brought up a seemingly unrelated topic.

'The bouquet you received the year you graduated—was it Endless Summer, larkspur, and snow willow?' Seeing Shi Qi's confused expression, Shang Sui switched to simpler terms. 'A blue-pink bouquet with white branches as decoration.'

'Mm? Yes.'

Shi Qi didn't know why he suddenly brought this up, but still recalled, 'The wrapping paper outside the bouquet was goose-yellow.'

Two summers ago, Shang Sui had happened to return to the Capital City and passed by the attached middle school.

He still remembered Shi Qi saying she attended this School, very likely from middle school all the way through high school.

Back then, Shi Qi had been scared off by his loss of control during his Sensitivity Period, and for four years, he'd never thought of disturbing her.

But seeing the granite school name stone at the entrance, thinking of who might be in this School, he stood in place, slightly lost in thought.

An enthusiastic voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts. 'Handsome! Want to buy some flowers?'

Shang Sui turned and saw a florist. 'Today is the attached middle school's graduation ceremony. Lots of students will come to buy graduation bouquets, and in a bit all the flower materials will be snapped up! You came early, our shop still has snow mountain roses, lisianthus, teddy sunflowers... Oh, and Endless Summer. All colors available, very photogenic!'

Endless Summer?

Perhaps because of the flower name that happened to appear, or perhaps because the florist was too enthusiastic, he inexplicably walked into the shop, carefully selected flower materials, and even specified the color of the wrapping paper.

The florist kept praising his aesthetic sense, saying the materials he chose combined into a particularly beautiful bouquet.

She finally said, 'Wishing the graduate who receives this bouquet a bright future and all the best!'

But this bouquet had no recipient. Truth be told, he himself didn't even know what Shi Qi looked like now.

'The bouquet your friend got was from me.' Shang Sui paused briefly. 'I happened to be passing by.'

Realizing Shang Sui was talking about the bouquet Ying Yuran had given her as a replacement, the one she had held for her graduation photo, Shi Qi's eyes slowly widened. 'Really...! That bouquet was from you?! How could it be such a coincidence?'

Actually, there was an even bigger coincidence.

That day was the summer solstice two years ago, and also happened to be the day he and Shi Qi first met six years ago.

Shi Qi's friend had inadvertently served as a messenger, delivering the bouquet to the person he truly wanted to give it to, on a special day.

'I also find it incredible.' Shang Sui revealed the reason for his occasional absent-mindedness tonight. 'After hearing him say it, I've been thinking about it, feeling like it's... a closed loop of fate?'

He'd always thought Shi Qi was afraid of him, so he didn't dare to meet or disturb her. If he'd known earlier that Shi Qi had already forgotten everything—

At least he could have walked up to eighteen-year-old Shi Qi and given her that bouquet of Endless Summer, like a kind stranger offering help.

'You asked if I'm unhappy? Actually no, just a little regretful.'

'If only I'd been the one to see you back then.'

He didn't want such coincidences anymore, nor did he want to sigh helplessly across stretches of time that all this was some grand coincidence.

After speaking, Shang Sui finally made up his mind. 'I have something to tell you.'

Shi Qi followed immediately. 'I also have something to tell you.'

Forget it.

What prepared gifts, waiting for a romantic, perfect moment.

There was no better moment than now.

Thinking of this, Shi Qi's gaze didn't waver.

'I like you.'

Shang Sui spoke almost simultaneously.

'I've always liked you.'

I hate the midsummer with frequent thunderstorms. They remind me of that past I can't bear to look back on.

But because I met you in summer, I began to have romantic impressions of this season.

From seventeen until now.

I've always liked you.

Their eyes met, and realizing what the other had said, Shi Qi blurted out, 'Be with me!'

Shang Sui was a beat slower than her, his lashes trembling slightly as he spoke, his voice soft and slow. 'Don't leave me again.'

'Shang Sui?' Shi Qi paused in surprise. 'Your eyes...'

Shang Sui's eye sockets were slightly red. He wasn't crying, but they held too much, as if they might fall if he wasn't careful.

Shi Qi had never seen such complex, unspeakable emotion in anyone's eyes, and could only think of one reason. 'Did you wait a long time?'

Shang Sui smiled, then slowly nodded.

'I waited so long, so long that I thought... I'd never be able to wait it out.'

Though he was clearly smiling, his fingers trembled involuntarily, giving the feeling that he was afraid.

As if when very happy, one becomes anxious, afraid that such impossibly beautiful days come only once in a lifetime and will never descend again.

It turned out that while she was hesitating, the other person harbored the same feelings, even more anxious and uneasy.

Shi Qi's heart seemed pulled by invisible threads. She opened her arms and tightly embraced Shang Sui, holding his trembling hand.

'I'm rather slow. Maybe the waiting time is a bit longer than you imagine, or even longer.'

'But as long as we meet—'

Just as cats are always drawn to butterflies.

'I will definitely like you, will be unable to wait to confess to you.'

'Before today arrives, wait for me.'