The two of them stopped and started along the way, hugging and holding each other, utterly inseparable. Only when firecrackers and fireworks began going off around them did Yu Nian realize it was almost midnight.
And they still hadn't reached the hotel.
As the old year gave way to the new, everything around them was bustling with noise.
The small county town wasn't as strict about banning fireworks as the big cities, and the smell of gunpowder hung thick in the air.
Yu Nian took the opportunity to shout into the empty street, venting all the unhappiness he'd accumulated over the past year.
He took out his phone to check the time. 23:59.
Yu Nian held up his phone and waved it, his pointed little canine teeth barely visible in the darkness. "I thought we'd be standing in front of the hotel's floor-to-ceiling windows together, waiting for midnight and watching the fireworks."
Instead, they were drifting through the streets like two homeless wanderers.
But they weren't lonely. They didn't even feel the slightest regret.
At that moment, having Qin Yuheng beside him was enough for Yu Nian.
Qin Yuheng clearly felt the same. He pulled him close and leaned toward his lips, his voice gentle as water. "It seems we still have some unfinished business today."
Blushing, Yu Nian draped the other end of his scarf around Qin Yuheng's neck, closed his eyes, and leaned in to kiss him.
Behind them, countless fireworks burst across the pitch-black sky, brilliant as rainbows.
The new year arrived quietly as they lingered in each other's embrace.
Just then, Yu Nian's phone began chiming furiously. It had to be Bian Yan, Fang Xu, and the others sending red packets in the group chat again and making video calls to exchange New Year's greetings.
Qin