Chapter 83 After three days of travel plus yesterday's rest...

After three days of travel and a late night's rest, they were all exhausted. It wasn't until the sun was high in the sky the next day that a sliver of sunlight pierced through the curtains, dazzling their eyes. Ren Xiyao frowned and shrank deeper into the blankets, but then she bumped her lower back against something warm. Quan Zhilong's arm immediately wrapped around her, and he whispered sleepily behind her ear, "Awake?"

"Um."

"Sleep a little longer."

Ren Xiyao tried to pry his hands off her waist: "Your phone is ringing."

Kwon Ji-yong buried his face in her shoulder, mumbling indistinctly, "I don't care..."

The phone on the bedside table vibrated persistently, its screen displaying the manager's caller ID. Ren Xiyao stretched out her arm, reached for it, and slapped it across Quan Zhilong's face.

“…murder.” He sighed as he answered the phone, “Hello?”

The manager's hurried voice came from the other end of the phone. Kwon Ji-yong closed his eyes and hummed a few times, then suddenly laughed: "I told you I was having trouble adjusting to the new environment... Didn't I miss the celebration party yesterday?"

Ren Xiyao had her back to him. She heard the rustling of the blankets, and then a kiss landed on the back of her neck.

"No... This afternoon? We'll talk about it this afternoon." Kwon Ji-yong hung up the phone and pressed himself against her: "Assistant, deliver the food at 12 o'clock. Let's sleep for two more hours."

Ren Xiyao turned around and found that his eyes were still closed, his eyelashes casting fine shadows in the morning light. Residual glitter from his stage makeup still clung to his temples, shimmering slightly with each breath.

“You didn’t remove your makeup properly last night.” She reached out and ruffled his hair.

Kwon Ji-yong grabbed her wrist and pressed it onto the pillow: "Busy doing other things..." His voice trailed off, and Ren Xiyao clicked her tongue and fell asleep again.

The two didn't get up until almost noon. On the steamy mirror, Ren Xiyao was unconsciously drawing something with her finger. Quan Zhilong hugged her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder, staring at the watermarks in the mirror: "What are you drawing?"

"I don't know, I just drew it randomly."

"Then draw it well." He nibbled on her earlobe: "Draw me one."

Ren Xiyao drew a wavy line on his collarbone with her hand.

"What's this?"

“You’re just making that sexy ‘bubble voice’ here.”

Kwon Ji-yong chuckled softly, his damp hand pressing against her lower abdomen: "Ren Xiyao, I've noticed that sometimes you really need a good beating..."

Ren Xiyao watched his furious back, and for some reason, she kept thinking of how he would furiously smash his guitar every time he sang "Tonight," a sharp and intimidating sight. Yet now, he looked like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

After the water temperature returned to normal, Kwon Ji-yong turned around to hug her, but was pushed away: "I'm hungry."

“I’m hungry too.” He said meaningfully.

Ren Xiyao pulled a bath towel over herself: "It's twelve o'clock."

"..." Kwon Ji-yong looked at her with a mournful expression: "You've changed. You used to indulge me."

“You weren’t this clingy before.”

"That's because..." He didn't finish his sentence when the doorbell rang. Ren Xiyao gave him a push to open the door.

The food delivered by the food truck was ridiculously plentiful, showing that the service was quite good.

Kwon Ji-yong sat cross-legged on the carpet, picked up a piece of fish, and fed it to Ren Xiyao: "Try it, is it alright?"

"Hmm." She opened her mouth and replied, "Lots of thorns."

"I'll help you pick them out." Kwon Ji-yong actually bent down and started picking out the fish bones, his movements clumsy but earnest. Sunlight streamed through the French windows, illuminating the tips of his hair and creating a fuzzy golden edge.

Ren Xiyao suddenly reached out and rubbed his head.

"What?" He looked up.

"It has a cowlick."

Kwon Ji-yong narrowed his eyes: "Ren Xiyao, you've been quite arrogant lately."

"I learned it from you."

He put down his chopsticks to tickle her, and the two of them wrestled on the carpet. Sesame paste smeared on Quan Zhilong's pajamas, and Ren Xiyao's hair got tangled in his necklace. In the end, it all ended with Quan Zhilong pressing her down and kissing her.

"What are we doing this afternoon?" he asked, panting.

Ren Xiyao glanced out the window; a few fans were still waiting downstairs at the hotel. "Didn't you say you weren't going out?"

“We can…” Kwon Ji-yong’s hand wandered under her clothes: “Let’s explore some indoor activities.”

Ren Xiyao slapped him away: "Let's watch a movie."

"What are you looking at?"

"Zootopia".

Kwon Ji-yong's eyes widened. "Are you serious?"

"Hmm." She said seriously, "Why don't you like it if there are people like you in there?"

In the afternoon, the projector light flickered in the dimly lit room. Ren Xiyao leaned against Quan Zhilong and realized that he wasn't watching a movie at all, but was intently playing with her fingers.

"Doesn't it look good?" she asked.

"You look good." Kwon Ji-yong opened her right hand and intertwined his fingers with hers: "But not as good-looking as you."

Ren Xiyao let him do as he pleased until Officer Judy said, "Life is always a little unpleasant," and suddenly felt a heat on the side of her neck.

"Stop fooling around."

"I wasn't making a fuss." His voice was muffled. "I have to work again tomorrow."

Ren Xiyao turned to look at him. Quan Zhilong lowered his eyes, his eyelashes casting a fan-shaped shadow on his face, revealing a rare childlike sense of loss.

She leaned over and kissed his forehead: "See you in Seoul."

Kwon Ji-yong immediately perked up: "Is the flight time confirmed? I'll pick you up."

"No need. The team will arrange it."

"don't want!"

"Not afraid of being photographed"

"I'll disguise myself!" He jumped out of bed and rummaged through a pile of clothes, finding a baseball cap and mask that he couldn't remember where he'd thrown. "Like this? Or like this?"

Ren Xiyao couldn't help but laugh out loud at his comical appearance, with his hat upside down and mask pulled up to his eyes. Quan Zhilong pounced on her and pressed her down: "You laughed! It's harder to make you laugh every day than to write a hit song."

Is it childish or not?

"I'm only childish with you."

The sun was setting outside the window, and the movie had long since reached its end credits. They kissed in this small, dim space, as if stealing the tranquility of the entire world.

As dusk fell, Ren Xiyao leaned on the railing, gazing at the river view. Quan Zhilong wrapped his arms around her from behind, resting his chin on the top of her head: "Are you hungry?"

"Um."

Order food or eat out?

Ren Xiyao turned to look at him: "Can we go out?"

Kwon Ji-yong smiled mysteriously: "Come with me."

Ten minutes later, Ren Xiyao, wearing a baseball cap and black-rimmed glasses, was led by the hand by Quan Zhilong into the employee entrance. The elevator went directly to the underground parking lot, where a van with ordinary license plates had been waiting for some time.

"Private kitchens," he whispered smugly, "are extremely difficult to book."

As the car pulled out of the garage, Ren Xiyao saw several people with cameras still guarding the hotel's main entrance. Quan Zhilong quickly pulled the curtain shut and winked at her: "Exciting, isn't it?"

What if I get photographed?

"Then let's make it public." He said nonchalantly, "Anyway..."

"Anyway?"

Kwon Ji-yong suddenly became serious: "Anyway, I'm serious."

A gentle evening breeze drifted through the car window, carrying the warmth of spring. Ren Xiyao watched the lights gradually illuminate the riverbank and softly murmured an "Mmm." She knew this was the most profound promise he could give.

As expected of a private kitchen that operates on a reservation basis, the owner kept his word and made an exception for them, even personally serving the dishes and not allowing any waiters to approach the private room throughout the entire process.

On the way back, the car drove slowly, passing through several quiet side roads, and finally stopped at a side gate of a park with few visitors. The driver, a local, chuckled in a thick Hubei accent, "At this time, the cherry blossom garden is long closed, but I know a little path."

Ren Xiyao looked at Quan Zhilong, who was bending down to tie a scarf for her. The evening breeze at the end of March was still a bit chilly. He insisted that she wear a coat, but he only put on a loose black sweatshirt, pulled down the hood, and put on a mask, looking like a cool street kid.

"Shall we go?" he asked, his eyes shining unusually bright under the brim of his hat.

Ren Xiyao nodded.

“There’s no one here at night,” Kwon Ji-yong said, taking Ren Xiyao’s hand. “The early cherry blossoms have already bloomed.”

A night breeze carried pale pink petals across the stone path, and the distant lake shimmered with fragmented moonlight. Ren Xiyao looked up and saw a whole expanse of cherry blossom clouds floating in the twilight, like rosy clouds crushed by the wind.

Kwon Ji-yong suddenly let go of her, took a few quick steps, and turned around: "Ren Xiyao".

"Um?"

He walked backwards on the path paved with fallen cherry blossoms, arms outstretched: "Come and chase me."

The night breeze lifted the hem of his shirt, which was exposed. Ren Xiyao smiled but deliberately stood still. Quan Zhilong then deliberately picked up a handful of cherry blossoms, and the pink and white petals fell gently onto her shoulders.

"childish."

"That's childish."

"Want to dance?"

"You didn't jump very well."

"I'll teach you."

There was no music, only the rustling of the wind through the branches. Kwon Ji-yong hummed an off-key melody, leading her in a clumsy spin on the petal-strewn ground. Every step Ren Xiyao took felt like walking on clouds; occasionally, when she stepped on his foot, he would exaggerate and gasp, then take the opportunity to pull her even tighter.

A petal landed on Ren Xiyao's eyelashes, and Quan Zhilong lowered his head to wipe it off with the tip of his nose: "Beautiful."

"What?"

"You," his breath carrying a faint scent of rice wine, "are more beautiful than cherry blossoms."

The night wind suddenly picked up, and thousands of petals detached from the branches at the same time, forming a pink blizzard around them. Kwon Ji-yong's humming turned into laughter, and Ren Xiyao looked up in his arms, seeing all the starlight fall into his eyes.

Later, they sat on a bench by the lake, Ren Xiyao's head resting on Quan Zhilong's lap. He twirled her hair with his fingers, occasionally leaning down to steal a kiss. In the distance, the faint music of square dancing drifted over, mixed with birdsong, which only made the stillness of the moment seem even more serene.

"Ren Xiyao".

"Um?"

"From now on..."

She waited a while, but nothing came of it. Kwon Ji-yong simply pinched her earlobe gently, swallowed his words, and instead said, "There are still flower petals in your hair."

Ren Xiyao knew what he wanted to say. She sat up and kissed him amidst the swirling cherry blossoms. Quan Zhilong paused for a second, then held the back of her head and deepened the kiss. The night breeze swept across the lake, gently lifting her scarf and his hair, and the unspoken words transformed into the sweet fragrance of flowers between their lips.

On the way back, Kwon Ji-yong discovered that Ren Xiyao had a whole bunch of cherry blossoms hidden in her coat pocket.

"Take it back?"

"Hmm. We can try making a specimen."

"Wow, it's not that you're reluctant to part with me."

Ren Xiyao didn't speak, but Quan Zhilong smiled and scattered flower petals in her hair: "Ren, do you know that cherry blossoms are only truly beautiful when viewed together?"

Ren Xiyao looked at the flowing night outside the window and quietly took his hand: "I know."

So next year, the year after, and every year thereafter, we should watch it together like this.