Chapter 51

It was another cold winter, and the sky over Country J was a crisp gray-blue. Su Rui set foot on this land once again, his mood completely different from that thrilling summer "stealth" adventure. This time, he felt a gentle resolve and anticipation. Ling Yao's debut preparations were incredibly stressful, and he could sense it in his dwindling phone calls and increasingly exhausted tone. This time, he wanted nothing more than to be with him quietly, even if it was just for a few hours.

The meeting place this time was even more secluded. It was an almost abandoned community park that Ling Yao had found a long time in advance. It was hidden deep in a complex residential area. Few people came there during the day, and it was even quieter at night.

When Su Rui arrived, tiny snowflakes began to fall sporadically from the sky. Ling Yao was already waiting there, still dressed in a nondescript black down jacket, his hat and mask tightly covering his face. But when he saw Su Rui, his exposed eyes instantly curved, as if catching a starlight. He quickly stepped forward, pulled her into his arms, hugged her tightly, then quickly released her and glanced around warily.

"Are you cold?" Ling Yao asked softly, his fingers sliding down naturally, tightly grasping Su Rui's hand, and stuffing them together into the warm pocket of his down jacket. Su Rui shook her head, her face already red under the mask, not knowing whether it was from the cold or something else. He could feel Ling Yao's hand in his pocket, his fingertips a little cold, but his palm was burning hot.

The snow gradually grew heavier, transforming from flakes into light, airy snowflakes, silently falling on withered branches, benches, and their shoulders. The park was empty, save for a single, dim, old streetlight, casting a small, blurry halo of light on the ground. The world was so quiet that it seemed as if only the sound of falling snowflakes and their hands, clasped together and hidden in their pockets, remained.

They sat side by side on the cold bench, neither of them speaking, just looking up at the gray sky. Snowflakes landed on their eyelashes and instantly melted into a drop of cool water.

"Look at that cloud," Ling Yao suddenly whispered, pointing to a corner of the sky with his bare hand. "Doesn't it look like a crouching rabbit?" Su Rui looked in the direction he pointed and nodded earnestly. "Yes. Especially with the ears sticking up." "That spread-out cloud over there, doesn't it look like cotton candy?" Ling Yao's voice held a rare, relaxed, lazy, childish air. "Yeah, like the ones we ate when we were kids," Su Rui agreed softly, her lips curling up.

They casually pointed at the various shapes of clouds in the sky, imbuing them with childish yet adorable imaginations. These meaningless conversations seemed incredibly precious at that moment, like a breath of fresh air stolen from a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, so sweet it made one want to sigh.

As the night deepened, the snow showed no sign of stopping, covering the ground with a thin layer of white. Holding hands, they walked slowly in the deserted park on the fresh snow, leaving behind two sets of footprints, one large and one small. Ling Yao finally dared to take off his mask, and the white breath he exhaled became a mist in the cold air. He turned his head and quickly kissed the tip of Su Rui's ear, which was frozen, and then continued to walk forward as if nothing had happened, but the corners of his mouth could not help but rise. Su Rui shrank her neck, her ears burning, and buried half of her face in her scarf, but her fingers in her pockets tightened around Ling Yao's hand.

They didn't dare stay out too late. Ling Yao had deliberately found a hotel room without windows, so they couldn't hear the falling snow. They lay side by side in bed, their bodies pressed together, sharing each other's warmth. Neither of them felt sleepy, but they quietly listened to each other's breathing, feeling the pulse of their real presence.

Ling Yao's arms were around Su Rui, his chin resting on the top of his head. His voice was low and tired, but with unprecedented peace: "It feels like a dream." "Yeah." Su Rui nodded gently in his arms, closed her eyes, and greedily breathed in the clean scent of Ling Yao, mixed with the faint smell of ice and snow brought by the outdoors.

There was no passion, no further words, just this close embrace, like two small animals keeping each other warm in a snowstorm. In these stolen, fleeting hours, the external surveillance, the company's ban, the pressure of debuting, the prying eyes of fans... everything was shut out. There was only them, and the sound of each other's steady breathing.

This quiet winter night, this first snow, this small but warm space, and the person beside him, together weave a short but extremely gentle dream, which is enough to support them through the longer and colder time of separation that will follow.