He had been so focused that he hadn't noticed when Roman arrived.
Unable to speak, Lu Mi knelt before the stone tablet, turned, and tightly embraced Roman as he crouched down.
"You saw it."
Though they were holding each other tightly, Roman's voice seemed to come from somewhere very far away. "That's my secret."
Lu Mi suddenly said, "I'm sorry."
"Why are you apologizing again? ...Lu Mi, I've noticed you cry a lot."
Lu Mi didn't fire back at the teasing remark. He drew a deep breath, trying to steady his voice enough to speak:
"Roman, I like you."
Roman's hand stopped wiping away his tears.
Joy, shock, and sorrow could actually appear in one person's eyes at the same time.
"And Roman likes Lu Mi, too."
He continued, repeating it several times. "Lu Mi likes Roman, and Roman likes Lu Mi."
"You can't say how you feel, but I can."
He cupped Roman's masked face.
"So I'll confess your feelings along with mine. That's okay, right?"
Roman's eyes gradually reddened. He seemed to want to nod, but only sweat born of pain seeped from his temples.
"Don't violate the taboo." Lu Mi extended his thumb and wiped the tears from the corner of Roman's eye.
"I was so stupid, insisting that a verbal confirmation had to be part of how I decided whether you liked me..."
He regretted not realizing sooner that everything Roman did was an expression of his love for him.
"More importantly, that little bit of pride kept me waiting for you to be the first to reveal your feelings."
"But I never thought that even if you didn't like me, I could still confess. After all, I'm not under that curse."
Lu Mi earnestly explained himself at length, while Roman remained visibly restrained, unable to