Sunrise

"Shen Yanlang!" Duan Xu shouted, punching him hard. His face flushed bright red with embarrassment.

Shen Yanlang's breathing grew heavier. Just as he was about to speak, Du Shen's voice came from outside the tent, muffled by the fabric. "Getting this intense so early in the morning?"

Duan Xu: "..."

Unable to help himself, Duan Xu punched Shen Yanlang again. "It's all your fault! Let go of me already!"

He had thought being asked about kissing last night was embarrassing enough, but taking the initiative to kiss Shen Yanlang during Truth or Dare had been even more humiliating. And now, the most embarrassing thing of all was everyone misunderstanding that he and Shen Yanlang were having a "passionate morning"!

When he was with Shen Yanlang, there was no such thing as maximum embarrassment—only greater embarrassment!

"Xuxu, don't move around." Not only did Shen Yanlang refuse to let go, he pulled him even closer, his voice lazy and slightly husky.

Duan Xu panted in anger. "Can't you be serious for once?"

"Xuxu, this is a normal morning reaction," Shen Yanlang said solemnly.

Duan Xu looked up at him, immediately hearing his thoughts.

[It's just a little hard to endure.]

[It'd be nice if I could kiss him.]

[I wanted to kiss him last night, but I ruined it myself.]

Duan Xu: "..."

"Xuxu, can I kiss you?" Shen Yanlang asked outright.

Seeing Duan Xu remain silent, he added, "I won't release pheromones this time."

"No!" Duan Xu snapped.

Shen Yanlang hummed thoughtfully and said in a discussing tone, "Didn't you tell me to wait last night? That means it's only a matter of time before we get together. I'm just kissing my boyfriend a little ahead of schedule. I don't think there's anything wrong with that."

That logic... actually made sense?

Duan Xu was still trying to figure out how to refute him when Shen Yanlang stopped acting like a human altogether. He lifted Duan Xu's chin and kissed him.

"Mm..." Startled, Duan Xu tried to push him away, but Shen Yanlang held the back of his head, and no matter how hard he pushed, he could not get free.

Shen Yanlang bit his lip. His movements were somewhat unrestrained, yet still carried a hint of restraint.

By the time he let him go, both of them were breathing heavily. Duan Xu's lips were even redder than his face, though in the pitch darkness, no one could see it.

"Shen Yanlang, you're being a hooligan again!" Duan Xu's voice was muffled, sounding somewhat aggrieved.

Shen Yanlang's heart softened until it nearly melted. He coaxed him softly, "My fault. I'm a hooligan. Go ahead and hit me—I won't fight back."

Duan Xu really did hit him once. Shen Yanlang took the opportunity to hold his hand. "Next time, I'll wait until you agree before kissing you, okay?"

Duan Xu instinctively retorted, "No."

"Hm?" Shen Yanlang raised his brows slightly. "You mean I can kiss you directly?"

Duan Xu: "!!!"

"No! What are you dreaming about? Hurry up and get up!" With his hand held, Duan Xu simply kicked him.

Shen Yanlang chuckled. "All right, we'll get up together."

[Once we're officially together, will I still need permission to kiss my boyfriend?]

Duan Xu: "..."

Seriously, he did not want this ability anymore!

By the time they got up, everyone else was awake too.

The moment Duan Xu stepped out of the tent, the icy wind made him shudder. It was fucking freezing!

He looked up at the sky. The deep blue heavens were dotted with twinkling stars, glittering brilliantly.

"Wow! There are so many stars in the sky!" Duan Xu exclaimed.

Shen Yanlang came out as well. Standing beside Duan Xu, he looked up at the sky and was stunned by the starry expanse before them. "It's beautiful."

There were barely any stars visible in the city's night sky. Even when there were, it was only a few. A sky filled entirely with stars like this was rare.

And since they were on the mountaintop, it felt as though the stars were much closer. The sky was crystal clear, making everything especially distinct.

Zhou Zhou and the others came out too. They looked up at the sky with them and could not help exclaiming in amazement.

"It's so beautiful!"

"This is my first time seeing such a gorgeous starry sky!"

"Can a phone capture this? I want to save it."

"A phone camera isn't good enough. You need a professional camera."

"Does anyone know the constellations? I only know the Big Dipper."

Shen Yanlang knew a few, but there were too many stars filling the sky, and he could not pick them out right away.

After looking for a while, Zhou Zhou hissed and wrapped his down jacket tighter around himself. "It really is cold!"

"Yeah, let's go wash up first so we don't miss the time," Ye Xinyu said, breathing warm air into her hands.

No one objected, and they headed together to the public restroom to wash up.

When they returned and saw it was still early, they each took down and packed away their tents, placing them in front of the unopened shops.

The other groups of campers also got up one after another, packing their things and preparing to watch the sunrise.

The sky gradually brightened, obscuring the starlight until it vanished completely.

The eight of them had already gone to the viewing platform and claimed their spots, waiting for the sunrise.

By the railing, Duan Xu lowered his head for a closer look, then tugged at Shen Yanlang beside him. "Look, the dew has turned to frost."

A layer of white frost coated the railing. Looking closely, it resembled snow in that it was made up of tiny grains, but their shapes were very different. Many of them were rectangular, though not very regular, more like trapezoidal prisms.

"Mm." Shen Yanlang answered, glanced at it, then turned to look at Duan Xu again.

[Xuxu really is a little angel. He's good at noticing these tiny beauties.]

Duan Xu felt embarrassed by Shen Yanlang's praise. He straightened up and stopped looking at the frost, instead gazing toward the horizon.

When the sky had fully brightened, clouds suddenly rose. Within a few breaths, they gathered into layers upon layers.

"It's a sea of clouds!" Duan Xu said excitedly.

He was not the only one excited. Everyone took out their phones to take pictures, while some people from the other groups had brought DSLRs and were recording the beautiful sight as well.

After taking pictures, Duan Xu stared unblinkingly at the sea of clouds. Wind blew through the air, stirring the clouds into rolling waves that slowly fell again, melting back into the sea.

It was too spectacular. After taking their photos, everyone watched in rapt fascination until a streak of dawn appeared on the horizon.

Someone shouted, "The sun's coming out!"

Everyone got ready. Sunrise lasted only a short time, so they had to capture it in time.

Some people started recording video right away. Duan Xu did not like filming; he preferred taking photos, freezing the most beautiful moment in a single frame.

As the dawn light grew brighter, the sun peeked over the horizon. Duan Xu raised his phone and got ready. When the sun had risen halfway, he pressed the shutter.

In the image, half the sun was beneath the sea of clouds and half above it. The rosy light dyed half the sky red, like a dazzling gemstone glowing brilliantly.

The moment Duan Xu finished taking the photo, he lowered his phone and watched the sun rise inch by inch, the corners of his lips lifting bit by bit as well.

Shen Yanlang thought the scene was beautiful, so he stepped back a few paces with his phone and captured Duan Xu, the sunrise, and the sea of clouds together, saving the picture on his phone.

At last, the sun rose fully and hung above the sea of clouds. Everyone took a few more photos before finally feeling satisfied.

"This trip was so worth it!" Du Shen exclaimed as he looked at the photos on his phone.

Ye Xinyu nodded. "Yeah. Even though we got up so early, it was really worth it."