Chapter 29: Good Morning Kiss
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Luo Qinghan went on, "Tomorrow, let's go to the Valley of Blossoms together. If I'm right about this, then I'll also know how to bring down the wasp demon."
Zhe Huo chewed on her chopsticks, just staring at him wordlessly—at his deep blue eyes, mesmerizing and serene. They seemed to have an almost magical ability to draw her in. It wasn't the sort of trait you'd expect to find in a child his age. For a fleeting moment, she had the impression that instead of a little boy, the person sitting beside her was actually—
This train of thought was interrupted by Qinghan with the azure eyes suddenly coming up to her and sticking a finger in her face, causing her to flinch backward, and jolting her from her reverie. "What… what is it?" she murmured groggily.
"Saliva," he replied.
"Well, duh!" Zhe Huo snapped, agitated.
Qinghan gave him an adorable little smile. "Zhe Huo, you're blushing." Ah, so cute.
She hurriedly pushed a bowl of soup over to him. "Here, have this!"
"Alright." Obediently, the boy began to drink from the bowl in tiny little gulps.
Zhe Huo took a moment to calm herself down. Then she cleared her throat, and said in what she hoped was a calm voice, "I'm not sure I buy what you're saying. Tomorrow, we'll go into the valley together to see what's what."
"Sounds good."
On the morning of the next day, Zhe Huo was still dozing in bed when she vaguely noticed someone calling out to her. She awoke in a temper, and hurled a fist at the source of the noise while muttering, "Get lost."
There was silence for a moment. Then, Zhe Huo's eyes sprang open in urgent horror.
The exquisite portrait of Qinghan's face filled her vision, eyes like a star-strewn sapphire sky, drawing her in. She was lost in that gaze for the longest time, before coming back to her senses and hurriedly pushing him away. "Qinghan, you… you just…"
"Kissed you." Qinghan didn't even blink as he admitted this. It only made her remember the feeling again.
"How could you… how could you just kiss me without asking first?" Zhe Huo's face was on fire. She hadn't expected him to just confess so boldly.
In response, Qinghan blinked at her in bewilderment with his big, beautiful eyes. "Am I not allowed to kiss you? Why not?"
Zhe Huo felt like her tongue was tied up in knots. "Because… you…" Unable to come up with a good reason, she decided to change tack instead, "Why did you kiss me!"
"You wouldn't wake up when I called your name, so I had to kiss you instead," Qinghan explained innocently. "And look: you're up now, aren't you?"
"You… did it just to wake me up?"
"Of course. What other reason could there be?" Qinghan's ears flattened down to his head, then rose up again, as though he was deep in thought about this. Soft pink ears, with little tufts of fur, so tempting to just reach out and pinch them…
Zhe Huo caught herself again. The blush had spread to her ears, now.
What could she possibly say?
Faced with Qinghan's innocent purity, there was no way she could ask this out loud!
And yet, it was a difficult thing to come to terms with—that her first kiss could have been lost to her in such an uncertain fashion…
No, no… Luo Qinghan was only a little boy. Kids don't count!
-- Gift
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