They Almost Kissed
Dania buried her face in her knees, her ears burning hot.
"Wait for me."
Ten minutes.
Zhou Yu's voice and silhouette kept playing in my mind.
The wind blew in through the gap in the observatory, carrying the smell of earth.
She touched her lips, then quickly withdrew her hand.
It was so close.
In the bushes.
Sigelica stared at the timer on the terminal. "Three minutes and twenty-one seconds. He went to charge the robot, did he take a rocket?"
"Shut up, don't ruin the mood," Aimis in a low voice.
"I spent five stars to rent camouflage netting," Sigelica said wearily, "And I have the right to know the return on investment."
"The rate of return is—" Aimis pointed to the observatory, "Hey, look at that."
Dania hugged her knees, tilting her head little by little to the side.
At the end of the path, Zhou Yu's figure reappeared.
He walked slowly, one hand in his pocket and the other holding something.
As she walked up the steps, Dania looked up, her eyes glistening with tears.
When she saw him, her eyes lit up for a moment, then looked away, pretending to look at the starless night sky.
Zhou Yu stopped, lowered his head, and picked out a small white flower with dew on it from his hand.
He tucked the flower behind her ear in her hair, his fingertips brushing against her strands.
"That charger port wasn't compatible." He sat down, his tone casual. "I put a scrap label on it and retired it early."
Dania carefully touched the petal with her fingers; it felt cool.
"Then... what about the cleaning KPI?"
"We'll talk about it tomorrow." Zhou Yu picked up the not-so-cold can of cola and handed it to her, his gaze fixed on her. "Tonight's KPI isn't done yet."
His gaze lingered on her lips.
Dania's cheeks instantly burned.
When she took the Coke, her fingertips touched his hand, and she recoiled as if she had been electrocuted, almost dropping the can.
The wind has stopped.
The air became thick.
"Xiao Yu." The voice was as soft as a mosquito's buzz.
"Um."
She put down the Coke can, moved closer, and leaned against his arm again.
This time, Zhou Yu didn't wait. He immediately put his arm around her waist and pulled her into his embrace.
Her face pressed against his chest, and she heard his steady, powerful heartbeat, thump, thump, thump.
"Look up." The voice was very soft.
She clutched the fabric of his shirt tightly, slowly raised her head, closed her eyes, and her eyelashes trembled.
In the bushes.
"I can't see!" Linnai pushed Sigelica. "You're blocking my way!"
"Don't push! My camouflage netting is caught on a tree!"
Chisaki stared at the tablet. "Target A's heart rate is 142, Target B's heart rate is 145. The distance between them is close to zero."
"Don't go into so much detail, okay?!" Aimis gritted her teeth.
"This is professional analysis."
"Keep your voice down!"
The volume has been reduced by forty percent.
Zhou Yu's lips are descending.
Three centimeters. Two centimeters.
Dania could sense his presence.
They're about to kiss.
Then--
"Thump."
A humanoid object wrapped in camouflage netting rolled out of the bushes and tumbled to the edge of the moisture-proof mat.
Chisaki Σ(°Д°υ) collapsed to the ground, the tablet screen's curves a jumbled mess.
A second figure rolled out immediately afterward.
"Auv!"
Linnai landed precisely on Chisaki's back.
Aimis struggled to support herself on her hands, one hand pressing on the back of Linnai's head and the other on Chisaki's waist.
A fourth person was dragged out as well.
Sigelica had two tree branches hanging from her face, her expression one of calm resignation.
Four figures dressed in optical camouflage and with their faces smeared with paint (already a mess), piled up in a disheveled human pyramid position in front of Zhou Yu and Dania.
At the top is Aimis, her expression stiff.
In the middle is Linnai, pretending to be dead with her face buried in Chisaki's hair.
Below is Chisaki; her tablet's readings are jumping wildly.
At the very bottom, only one of Sigelica's eyes, filled with despair, was visible.
The atmosphere instantly froze.
Zhou Yu kept his head down, his lips 0.5 centimeters away from Dania's lips.
His expression darkened inch by inch.
Dania's pupils are out of focus and cannot be focused.
Three seconds later.
"Ah!"
She screamed and pushed Zhou Yu away, burying her face in his chest, trembling all over.
She vowed never to look up again in her life.
Zhou Yu slowly straightened up.
He looked down at the pile of human-shaped trash on the ground.
"Cough." Linnai struggled to sit up, her smile stiff. "The moonlight is beautiful... We came out to admire the moon!"
There was no moon in the sky, and the clouds were very thick.
Aimis tore off the camouflage net and looked up at the sky. "The stars are so bright."
There are no stars, only clouds.
Chisaki got up, expressionless. "According to the data, the probability of a meteor shower in this area tonight is 0.13%. The probability of the moon appearing is 0.00%."
Linnai's smile shattered.
Sigelica reached out her hand from under the crowd, holding it up shakily.
"Help... help... my back... the bill... it's going to break..."
Zhou Yu remained silent.
He took off his coat and gently covered Dania with it, wrapping her up, leaving only her red and moist eyes exposed.
Then he stood up.
The night breeze lifted the hem of his clothes.
He looked down at the four lively characters on the ground, and the corners of his mouth slowly turned up.
Her smile is very beautiful.
If he wasn't smiling at four trembling girls.
He spoke slowly and deliberately, his voice squeezed out from between his teeth.
"I'm looking at you guys."
"I didn't come here to admire the moon."
"You want to experience the Logistics Department's winter artificial snowmaking project in advance, right?"
The night wind suddenly turned cold.
Sigelica stretched out her second hand from underneath, raised it higher, and shook it even more violently.
"I surrender..."
Her voice came from the very bottom, muffled.
"I'll pay for the camouflage netting myself..."