The rain grew heavier, bean-sized drops pattering against the window frames and shrouding the world outside in a hazy veil of mist. Beneath the eaves at the restaurant entrance, Tang Wulin opened a long-handled, deep blue umbrella and sheltered Gu Yue as they stepped into the rain.
The hand-holding and kiss on the back of his hand had already charged the air between them with intimacy. Now, squeezed beneath a single umbrella, their space suddenly felt narrow and close.
Gu Yue stood beside Tang Wulin, her shoulder pressed firmly against his arm. She remembered what she had read in a book: "Sharing an umbrella on a rainy day is the perfect opportunity for couples to grow closer. Physical contact becomes entirely natural when sheltering from the rain."
Since it was supposed to be "entirely natural," she could hardly let this opportunity go to waste.
Gu Yue plotted inwardly while maintaining her cool, haughty expression. She tilted her head slightly, and her silver hair slipped along her cheek, a few mischievous strands brushing Tang Wulin's face with a ticklish touch.
"The rain's getting heavy. Stay closer." Gu Yue spoke softly, her tone level, as though merely stating a fact.
Tang Wulin felt his heartbeat quicken, his nose filled with the faint, fresh fragrance unique to the silver dragon. He instinctively shifted his feet aside, trying to give Gu Yue more room. "Um... Gu Yue, move farther under the umbrella. Don't get wet."
"No need."
Instead, Gu Yue reached out and hooked her arm around his left arm, clamping it firmly against her side. Her movements were brisk and decisive, without a trace of hesitation, as though this were a habit she had practiced a thousand times.
"This is steadier," Gu Yue said, spouting nonsense with a perfectly straight face.
Tang Wulin