Sunrise

"Shen Yanlang!" Duan Xu shouted, punching him hard. His face had turned 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. "Getting this intense so early in the morning?"

Duan Xu: "..."

Duan Xu couldn't help punching Shen Yanlang again. "It's all your fault! Let me go 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 him and Shen Yanlang as being "passionate" first thing in the morning!

Being around Shen Yanlang meant there was no such thing as most embarrassing—only more embarrassing!

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

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

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

Duan Xu looked up at him and immediately heard 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 screwed it up 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 deliberative 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 early. I don't think there's anything wrong with that."

That logic... actually made sense?

Duan Xu was still thinking of how to refute him when Shen Yanlang suddenly stopped acting like a human being. He lifted Duan Xu's chin and kissed him.

"Mmph..." Duan Xu was startled and tried to push him away, but Shen Yanlang held the back of his head. No matter how hard he pushed, he couldn't get free.

Shen Yanlang nipped at his lips, his movements somewhat unrestrained yet still carrying a trace 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, it wasn't visible.

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

Shen Yanlang's heart softened so much it was about to melt. 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 an eyebrow slightly. "Does that mean I can kiss you directly?"

Duan Xu: "!!!"

"No! What kind of dream are you having? Get up already!" With his hand held, Duan Xu simply kicked him.

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

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

Duan Xu: "..."

Seriously, he didn't 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 freezing wind made him shudder. It was fucking cold!

He looked up at the sky. The deep blue expanse was dotted with twinkling stars, dazzlingly brilliant.

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

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

You could barely see stars in the city at night. Even when you could, there were 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 as well. They looked up at the sky with them and couldn't help marveling.

"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 couldn't pick them out right away.

After watching for a while, Zhou Zhou hissed and wrapped his down jacket tighter around himself. "It's really 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 went together to the public restroom for a quick wash.

When they returned, they saw there was still time, so they each took down and packed up their tents, leaving 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, blotting out the stars' light until it vanished completely.

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

By the railing, Duan Xu lowered his head for a careful look, then tugged at Shen Yanlang beside him. "Look, the mist has frozen into frost."

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

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

Xuxu really is a little angel, so good at noticing these tiny beauties.

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

When the sky had fully brightened, clouds suddenly began to gather. Within a few breaths, they piled up in layers upon layers.

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

He wasn't the only one excited. Everyone took out their phones to snap pictures, while some people from the other groups had brought DSLR cameras and were recording the beautiful scene as well.

After taking photos, Duan Xu stared unblinkingly at the sea of clouds. Wind swept through the air, stirring the clouds into a wave that slowly sank back down and merged into the sea again.

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

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

Everyone got ready. Sunrise was brief, so they had to capture it in time.

Some people directly started recording videos. Duan Xu didn't like filming; he preferred taking pictures, freezing the most beautiful moment in a single frame.

As more dawn light spread across the sky, the sun poked out its head. Duan Xu raised his phone and got ready. When half the sun had risen, he pressed the shutter.

In the image, half the sun lay beneath the sea of clouds while the other half rose above it. The dawn light dyed half the sky red, like a dazzling jewel glowing brightly.

The moment Duan Xu finished taking the photo, he lowered his phone and watched as the sun rose bit by bit, the corners of his mouth 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 photo 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 sighed as he looked at the photos on his phone.

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