May We Meet Again Someday

"Okay, then I'll wait for you to take your time collecting it, A-Yan~" Rather than being intimidated by Lu Yan's aggressive tone, Aemeath smiled until her eyes curved.

Unafraid, she met his deep gaze and playfully waved the candy cat she had bitten one ear off, a sly look of anticipation in her eyes.

Lu Yan looked at her playful, fearless expression and shook his head helplessly.

He held her hand tightly as they walked side by side against the bustling crowd toward the giant Ferris wheel.

As night fell completely, the temperature in the amusement park began to drop visibly.

There was a biting chill in the evening breeze that night, and it rustled the leaves on both sides of the path.

A long line had formed in the waiting area beneath the Ferris wheel. It consisted almost entirely of couples snuggled up against each other, waiting beneath the romantic landmark for their moment at the top.

A gust of cold wind blew past, and Aemeath drew her neck in. The hand holding the candy cat "trembled" slightly.

Just as Aemeath was about to continue pretending, a roomy coat carrying the warmth of a body was wrapped snugly around her shoulders.

Lu Yan had taken off his coat and draped it over Aemeath. He then gathered her and the coat into his arms from behind.

"Are you cold?" Lu Yan rested his chin gently on the top of her head and tightened his arms, using his body heat to build a wall against the wind for her.

He was wearing only a brown sweater now and looked a little underdressed in the wind, but the arms holding her were as steady as a rock.

"Not anymore." Aemeath nestled obediently against his broad chest, feeling the warmth that flowed from him. Her heart settled as though it were soaking in warm water.

She turned and looked at Lu Yan's hair, which the wind had tousled. Her heart ached for him, and she tried to pull the coat off and return it. "But A-Yan, you're wearing too little. You'll catch a cold."

"I'm a grown man. I'm not that delicate." Lu Yan held down her fidgeting hand, lowered his head, and kissed the rim of her ear. "Be good and hold still," he murmured. "If you catch a cold, my heart will ache."

Aemeath stopped moving. She snuggled into his coat without a trace of guilt, a sweet smile on her lips that she could not suppress.

Amid the envious looks from passing couples, she proudly lifted her chin.

Though the line was long, time seemed to fly as they nestled together in that intimate embrace.

At last, an attendant pulled aside the barrier and guided them into a transparent, circular gondola.

With a soft click.

The gondola door slowly closed behind them, shutting the amusement park's noisy music, the clamor of voices, and the cold spring-night wind outside the thick glass.

This was a private space belonging only to the two of them.

With a low rumble, the gondola began to sway gently, slowly lifting them off the ground and toward the deep night sky.

Aemeath pressed herself excitedly against the window, gazing outside with wide eyes.

As they rose higher, the once-towering carousel became a toy in a music box, and the bustling crowd gradually shrank into tiny black dots.

Farther away, the city lights spread out beneath their feet, distant neon signs and headlights weaving together into a dense web of light.

"A-Yan, look! We're so, so high up!" Aemeath pointed out the window, her voice full of wonder.

Lu Yan did not look at the scenery outside. From the moment they entered the gondola, his gaze had remained fixed on Aemeath.

The neon lights flowing past the window cast soft, dappled patterns of light and shadow across her profile.

The splendor of the entire city was reflected in her eyes.

"Yes, we're very high up." Lu Yan sat down beside her.

Aemeath turned to look at Lu Yan, who was right beside her. Their noses nearly touched, and their breaths mingled and warmed in the confined space.

"Legend has it that Ferris wheels exist so people can cross the sky with the ones they love." Lu Yan's voice sounded especially low in the quiet gondola. "Besides, didn't someone still owe me a little compensation down below?"

Aemeath's breathing grew a little hurried. She saw the currents surging in Lu Yan's eyes, filled with undisguised affection.

She did not pull away. Instead, she reached out and gently wrapped both arms around Lu Yan's neck, a tender, watery light shimmering in her eyes.

"Then... come and take it, A-Yan." She closed her eyes, her eyelashes trembling slightly.

Just as Lu Yan lowered his head, at the very instant their lips were about to meet.

"Boom!" A tremendous muffled bang suddenly came from the distant night sky.

Aemeath's eyes flew open.

The next second, pillars of colored light shot up from the center of the amusement park and burst with a roar against the ink-dark night sky.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Brilliant fireworks bloomed like giant canopies, instantly lighting up the entire sky and illuminating the Ferris wheel as if it were day. At that very moment, the gondola reached its highest point.

Aemeath was completely stunned. She released Lu Yan's neck and turned to stare blankly at the fireworks outside the window, which seemed close enough to touch.

Aemeath trembled slightly as she watched the fireworks overhead. A tear slipped from the corner of her eye without warning, reflecting the fireworks outside the window.

Lu Yan said nothing. He simply reached out and gently wiped the tear from the corner of her eye. Then he cupped her firework-lit face in both hands, making her turn her gaze from the window back to his face.

"Aemeath, look at me." At this point, the highest above the ground, with the fireworks as their witness, Lu Yan kissed her sweet, soft lips.

"Mm..." Aemeath let out a whimper, her body going limp.

Lu Yan's tongue insistently parted her lips and teeth and pressed deep inside, greedily claiming the lingering sweetness of malt sugar in her mouth.

The fireworks continued to burst outside the window, brilliant flashes dancing across their closed eyelids.

Aemeath could only clutch the sweater on Lu Yan's chest and let him carry her under. Their hearts beat fiercely in unison in the confined space, as though they were about to become one.

Only when he felt the air in his lungs was nearly exhausted did Lu Yan reluctantly pull back a little.

But his lips still rested against the corner of hers, their foreheads pressed tightly together and their warm breaths entwined.

"Aemeath." Lu Yan's voice rang out in the quiet gondola.

"I'm here..." Aemeath's voice was impossibly soft, thick with nasality and the lingering sweetness of their kiss. She obediently rubbed her cheek against his.

Lu Yan took a deep breath and made his vow. "From now on, I'll make you even happier. Forget everything you carried in the past."

"From today on, this is a new beginning."

Those two sentences were like a warm current, washing away the last dam in her heart.

"Forget the past..." Aemeath murmured, repeating the words.

"Wah~" Aemeath could no longer hold herself together. She threw herself into Lu Yan's arms, wrapped both arms tightly around his waist, and buried her face deep in the crook of his neck. Tears poured out like a breached dam, soaking the collar of his turtleneck sweater.

At last, all the pain she had suffered over the years could pour out.

"A-Yan, A-Yan..." Her voice thick with tears, she called his name again and again.

"I'm here. I'm right here." Lu Yan tightened his arms, drawing her whole body into his embrace, and stroked her slender back with his broad palm, soothing her again and again.

"Don't be afraid. Those things are all in the past now. From now on, you have me. You have me."

"Mm!" Aemeath nodded vigorously in his arms. She lifted her tear-streaked face and smiled through her tears. "I'm not sad anymore. Let the past stay in the past. As long as I have you, A-Yan, I'm the happiest person in the world!"

As her emotions settled, the gondola began its smooth descent. When the sensation of weightlessness beneath their feet disappeared completely and the doors slid open with a soft click, the outside world flooded their senses once more.

"Dear guests, the amusement park will be closing shortly. Please take your belongings with you and proceed to the exit in an orderly manner..." Soothing farewell music played over the loudspeakers, and attendants stood outside the door to guide them.

The two walked off the Ferris wheel hand in hand.