"10! 9! 8! 7!" The crowd shouted along with the countdown on the big screen. The electric atmosphere made Jiang Yumiao feel as though he were ringing in the New Year, and he couldn't help breaking into a radiant smile and joining in.
"3! 2! 1-"
Fireworks shot into the sky, bursting into dazzling blooms. Brilliant cascades of light dyed the pitch-black night a riot of colors and sent the cheering crowd into a frenzy.
Jiang Yumiao gazed up at the sky and couldn't help exclaiming, "President Ning, look! They're so beautiful!"
Ning Chunchi seemed entirely unaffected by the excitement around them. He merely gave a quiet "Mm," his piercing gaze still fixed on Jiang Yumiao's face, as though he were waiting for something.
Jiang Yumiao was admiring the fireworks excitedly, occasionally tugging at President Ning to get him to look at one burst or another, when he caught sight of several young couples kissing beside them. Very passionately, at that.
He hurriedly pretended not to have noticed and casually looked away, but the sudden pause in his movements gave him away.
Kissing in this atmosphere was perfectly normal, but there were so many couples doing it! Besides, this was the first time Jiang Yumiao had been so close to other people's intimate moments. His ears turned pink before he knew it.
Of course, Ning Chunchi had seen those couples too, and he hadn't missed Jiang Yumiao's reddening ears. He had been waiting for the omega to make a move, but the little thing was far too shy. All he dared to do was tug at him to watch the fireworks, never taking things any further.
President Ning even thought, rather conceitedly, Are these fireworks better-looking than I am?
He gave a low scoff. The omega liked him and even believed in some legend, wanting to be with him forever, but he lacked the nerve to act on it. It seemed Ning Chunchi would have to do it himself.
After a brief moment of embarrassment, Jiang Yumiao was drawn back to the sparks drifting like shooting stars, forgetting what he had just seen.
A large, clean hand with slender fingers suddenly caught Jiang Yumiao's chin. Veins rose on the back of the hand as it exerted a little pressure, turning his face away from the sky and toward its owner.
Forced to tilt his head back, Jiang Yumiao stared straight into Ning Chunchi's dark eyes.
What was the second male lead up to now?!
Jiang Yumiao's eyes filled with startled uncertainty. The fingers holding his chin also pressed against his cheeks, making his lips pucker slightly. He struggled once but couldn't break free. Ning Chunchi's grip looked gentle, but he was actually using enough force to keep him from escaping, leaving him no choice but to look at him.
"What are you-"
Before he could finish, a shadow fell over Jiang Yumiao's face, and his pupils widened abruptly.
The bursting fireworks, the noisy chatter, the cheerful music-all of it faded away in that instant. The world became a soundless sea.
It was as though Jiang Yumiao's soul had been pulled out of him. Unable to move, he could only watch as Ning Chunchi bent down and gently pressed his lips to the corner of his mouth.
They parted after the briefest touch.
It felt as though a long time had passed, yet also as though the moment had vanished without a trace.
Jiang Yumiao stood rooted to the spot, losing all sense of time. Even after Ning Chunchi released him, he remained motionless, as though that kiss had trapped him there.
The system erupted into screams inside his head. "Aaaaah, host! The second male lead kissed you first! The second male lead kissed you first! The second male lead kissed you first!"
The system was so loud that Jiang Yumiao's wandering soul came right back. "...You don't have to say it so many times. I have eyes."
The system said, "Oh, come on! Don't you humans say important things should be repeated three times? It's a shame he didn't kiss you right on the lips, but this is huge progress! It means the second male lead definitely likes you a lot too!"
Jiang Yumiao neither agreed nor disagreed. His mind was a tangled mess, and he couldn't understand why Ning Chunchi had suddenly kissed him. Did he share his feelings, or had he simply been swept up in the romantic atmosphere?
Reason told him that the second male lead wasn't someone who could easily be swept away, but emotionally, he found it hard to believe that Ning Chunchi could like him too. Jiang Yumiao lacked confidence in himself. He didn't think he had any particularly outstanding qualities compared with the other guests, and he couldn't imagine what Ning Chunchi might like about him.
Ning Chunchi thought he had shown considerable restraint. Merely brushing his lips against Jiang Yumiao's face was nowhere near enough to satisfy him, but he had been afraid of frightening the omega, so he had stopped after that small taste.
Yet it seemed Jiang Yumiao had still been frightened. All the color had drained from his face, leaving it deathly pale.
Ning Chunchi frowned slightly. This wasn't what he had imagined. In his mind, the omega should have been blushing furiously, gazing at him with a smile in those moist, affectionate eyes, or glaring at him with a mixture of indignation and shyness.
Not like this...his expression blank, yet concealing a deep unease.
He had already taken so much initiative. What was Jiang Yumiao still uneasy about?
Both of them sank into their own thoughts, and neither spoke for a while. Amid the noisy crowd, their silence stood out.
To the viewers posting live comments, however, the two were simply enveloped in a romantic atmosphere, both too shy to speak.
[Aaaaah, President Ning just bent down toward Yumiao! What exactly happened?!]
[That movement and angle looked like a kiss.]
[It was too quick to see clearly, and President Ning deliberately turned his back to the camera.]
[Their size difference is incredible. President Ning can completely hide Yumiao behind him. We can't see a thing!]
[I don't care, they kissed. Look, neither of them is talking. The atmosphere is so...you know.]
[This was exactly what it felt like when my first love and I kissed for the first time.]
That silence lasted until the fireworks ended.
Ning Chunchi said evenly, "It's over. Let's head back."
Jiang Yumiao nodded stiffly.
The other guests had left after watching the light show for a while. Only their pair had stayed until the end, and the production crew had kept a car there specifically to take them back.
Once he got into the car, away from the boisterous crowd and into a quiet space, Jiang Yumiao finally felt as though he had awakened from a long dream. What had just happened kept replaying in his mind.
The system's voice looped through his head like a recording: "The second male lead kissed you first!"
His face, which had been deathly pale moments earlier, suddenly flushed bright red under cover of the darkness.
Jiang Yumiao stole a glance at Ning Chunchi, who was propping his chin on one hand and looking out the window.
No, this won't do. Jiang Yumiao felt he needed something else to distract himself. His face was far too hot.
Jiang Yumiao took out his phone and opened Weibo, intending to browse the Trending Searches gossip. #Ning and Jade Together Fireworks Kiss# barged straight into his field of vision from its prime position at the top of the Trending Searches list, with a dark-red "Exploding" tag beside it.
Holy shit! He'd almost forgotten they were being livestreamed!
Livestreamed variety shows were rare in Jiang Yumiao's world; most were prerecorded and edited. As a result, he often forgot that his every move was being transmitted to the viewers in real time through the cameras.
With trembling fingers, he tapped the trending topic and played the first popular Weibo video on mute. It was a clip from the show's livestream. He realized that Ning Chunchi had deliberately chosen an angle that put his back to the camera when he kissed him. From the viewers' perspective, all they could really see was Ning Chunchi bending down.
Jiang Yumiao let out a small breath of relief and kept scrolling. Before he could even draw his next breath, however, the second Weibo post he came across startled him so badly that he nearly dropped his phone.
The second Weibo post was a high-resolution photo uploaded by a photography blogger. It was a medium shot taken from their side at some distance, yet it still captured their actions perfectly clearly.
In the photo, the tall alpha cupped the omega's chin, lowering his head and leaning down to kiss the slender omega gently. Even through a screen, people could sense how deeply the alpha cherished and adored him from the way he moved.
Only now, seeing it from a third party's perspective, did Jiang Yumiao realize that Ning Chunchi...had actually been so careful when he kissed him.
The caption read: "A romantic moment I happened to capture at the light show~ It reminded me of that legend about East Xia Island: people who kiss as the fireworks bloom at the end of the light show will stay together forever. I wonder whether this couple will make the legend come true?"
Jiang Yumiao's pupils trembled. So, was that why the second male lead had kissed him? Did Ning Chunchi want to be with him forever too?!
Before you continue