First Kiss

"So ugly..."

Looking at the bracelet before him, Wu Changqing voiced his most honest reaction.

Yun Yun, who had been full of anticipation, was instantly dumbfounded upon hearing those words.

"Y-You, what did you say? Ugly??"

She had never imagined that Wu Changqing would actually call her bracelet ugly.

Did this man even know how to appreciate things?!

"Who says this bracelet is ugly? It looks so good! You just don't know how to appreciate it!"

"I don't care. Even if it's ugly, you still have to wear it!"

As she spoke, Yun Yun took the bracelet back and personally tied it around Wu Changqing's left wrist.

Wu Changqing looked at her with a smile. "You made this bracelet yourself, didn't you?"

Yun Yun froze, then lowered her head and softly said, "Mm... How did you know?"

She had considered buying a gift to give Wu Changqing in return.

But after looking around, she felt that all the gifts outside were too tacky and not to her liking.

So in the end, she thought of making a bracelet herself. That would make it seem more sincere.

Who would have thought that Wu Changqing's very first words would be to call the bracelet she made ugly?!

I'm so mad!

"You could tell just by looking. If it were bought outside, who would dare sell such an ugly bracelet? Wouldn't they be afraid of losing everything?"

"Only something you made by hand could be this ugly." Wu Changqing's words stabbed straight into her heart again and again.

Yun Yun gritted her teeth in anger and forcefully tied the bracelet into a knot, making Wu Changqing wince in pain.

"I don't care. Even if it's ugly, you have to keep wearing it. You're not allowed to throw it away, or else... I won't let you off!" she threatened viciously.

Wu Changqing could not help but laugh. "I only said it was ugly. I never said I didn't like it."

He simply loved teasing Yun Yun like this.

"Because you made it, that's why I said it was ugly."

"But because you made it, I really like it," he said.

Yun Yun stared at him blankly.

This guy... since when did he learn to talk like that?

Her heartbeat had accelerated uncontrollably because of him.

"You clearly said it was ugly, yet you're still saying you like it to comfort me. I'm not that fragile."

"Anyway, I've already given you the gift. Even if you don't like it, you still have to keep it!"

After saying that, Yun Yun turned to leave.

But Wu Changqing suddenly reached out and grabbed her hand.

Then, amid Yun Yun's cry of surprise, he gave a slight tug and pulled her into his arms, wrapping his other arm around her soft waist.

"Senior Sword Spirit, w-what are you doing...?"

She looked at him, her heart pounding wildly at that moment.

This was the first time the two of them had been so intimate under ordinary circumstances.

Although they had experienced some even more ambiguous moments back in the Magical Beast Mountain Range,

that had been out of necessity.

But now, with no outside reason whatsoever, they were in such close contact.

Yun Yun could feel the masculine aura from him, rich and captivating.

"Do you remember the topic we discussed a few days ago?"

"What topic...?"

"Your teacher asked me how I felt about you. He said that if I was willing, he could personally bring the two of us together."

Wu Changqing bringing up the matter again made the atmosphere even more ambiguous.

"D-Didn't you refuse?" Yun Yun asked quietly.

"When did I refuse? Actually, I was going to say that I was willing back then," Wu Changqing said.

He said it just like that.

Yun Yun found it a little strange.

At first glance, Wu Changqing seemed to be confessing to her.

But considering the current situation, she also felt as if Wu Changqing was simply being shameless.

And this confession did not sound serious at all.

"So what if you're willing... Just because you're willing doesn't mean I'm willing."

"If Teacher asked Elder Gu He the same thing, Elder Gu He would definitely be willing too, but I wouldn't be."

"You said it yourself. This kind of thing requires both people to be willing. It's useless if only one person is willing," she said.

"Then are you willing to be with me?" Wu Changqing suddenly asked bluntly.

Yun Yun felt her cheeks burning, her delicate body tensing slightly from nervousness.

Who... asks so directly all of a sudden?!

Wasn't he going to test the waters at all?

She was completely unprepared for this!

"W-Why are you suddenly asking like this?"

"Shouldn't you normally ask me out somewhere alone, prepare a little surprise for me, and only ask once the mood is right?" Yun Yun muttered softly.

"What kind of surprise do you want? How about I give you back the bracelet you gave me and call that a surprise?"

"I don't want that!" Yun Yun sometimes truly felt that this person did not understand romance at all.

Still, it was already impressive enough for a sword to be able to speak. Expecting him to understand romance was indeed asking too much.

"So stop avoiding the question. Are you willing or not?"

Wu Changqing continued pressing her to face the question.

Yun Yun lightly bit her thin lip, the shyness in her heart nearly suffocating her.

She had always thought that she felt nothing toward romance between men and women, and that she might spend the rest of her life alone.

Only now did she realize that she was not indifferent to love. She simply had never met someone who could make her feel joy.

And Wu Changqing was the one who could make her happy, shy, and jealous.

"Getting married right away... is too fast." After a long while, she finally squeezed out a sentence.

Of course it was too fast!

Who got married immediately after a confession like this?!

Wu Changqing suddenly laughed.

So Yun Yun thought he was forcing her to decide whether to marry him.

"Then what kind of relationship do you think we should start with?"

"At the very least, we should spend some time getting along properly and cultivating our feelings first."

"Do our feelings still need cultivating?"

Yun Yun was momentarily speechless.

She and Wu Changqing had been together for so many years. They already knew each other better than anyone.

"But we still can't get married right away... At the very least, we should start with holding hands, kissing, hugging, and things like that first," Yun Yun said quietly after holding it in for a long time.

She really had thought that Wu Changqing was going to force her into marrying him immediately.

And her reaction was not rejection, but that she felt it was moving too fast.

Sometimes, Wu Changqing truly felt that Yun Yun was adorably silly.

"Alright, then we'll start with holding hands, kissing, and hugging."

As he spoke, he tightened his arm slightly and pulled the woman closer into his embrace.

"Y-You, what are you doing...?" Yun Yun was very nervous.

"We've already held hands, and now we've hugged too. So what do you think is left?" Wu Changqing looked at her, a smile curling at his lips.

Holding hands, kissing, hugging...

"Then all that's left now is a kiss..."

"Correct."

As he spoke, Wu Changqing lowered his head and kissed Yun Yun's thin lips.

"Mmm~"

Yun Yun's eyes immediately widened, and her delicate body could not help tensing.

But slowly, her hands slid down to Wu Changqing's waist and wrapped around him.

Then she slowly closed her eyes, feeling her first kiss with Wu Changqing...