บท 61: No Stars

Although there were fences leading to the summer house, the area behind the structure has wooden steps leading to the field. As he led her towards the back, he paused and said, "Stay here. I forgot something."

"Hmm? Okay." She nodded as she looked around the dark surrounding. With her eyes closed, she smelled the fresh air and felt the small breezes that caressed her hair. When he came back, he held a pair of slip on shoes.

Bringing her to a nearby swing chair, he had her sit as he kneeled down and removed her heels. "I can do it myself." She felt awkward having someone helping her change shoes.

"Be good and stay. I've already taken off your heels. Besides, it's a boyfriend's job to take care of his girlfriend." He said as he carefully slipped her feet into the new pair of shoes.

Completing his task, he looked up to meet her sweet smile. "Does it fit?" His fingers pressed down on the tip of the shoes to make sure there was enough room for her toes to fit.

"Mm. Perfectly my size. But would Mister Lin like to explain to me why I need to change into these shoes? How did you know my shoe size and when did you prepare the shoes for me?" She cupped her cheeks while her fingers tapped on her skin.

With his hands trapping her on the chair, he leaned forward. "Did you think the hospital questionnaires were all for register use? As your boyfriend, I need to take responsibility for chasing after you. There are too many rocks and grasses on the field. I don't want you to sprain your ankle or form blisters from wearing heels."

"Oh~ Someone noticed my efforts in wearing those heels. Not bad at all. Are you sure I'm your first girlfriend?" Her arms laid sloppily crossed around his nape.

"You're my first for everything. You'll be my first and last girlfriend as well. Any other questions before I give you the surprise?" He purposely whispered into her ears, making her neck curl from embarrassment.

After shaking her head in response, he wrapped his arms around her body and pulled her up from the chair. "Good. Let's go." Holding her hands once again, he led her down some steps and through a trail of stones before stopping at the center of the field.

"What do you see?" He turned around and held both her hands.

Given a chance to observe again, she started squinting at the darkness around them. A crease formed between her brows as she felt more confused. "Is there something I'm supposed to be seeing? Everything is dark around us."

"Didn't you say you like stars?" He remembered her flipping through a magazine and marking pages with starry night pictures on it. From his memory, she mentioned wanting to have a romantic date under millions of stars.

"I do, but the clouds are blocking the moon. There's nothing in the sky. Unless you have a cloud sucking device, or else we won't be seeing any stars tonight." She replied as she lifted her head to look at the deep colored sky with no traces of stars anywhere.

"Wait here." After his low chuckle, he released her hands and started running around the field. As he ran around, her eyes continued following him in circles.

"What are you doing? I'm getting dizz-" Her sentence was left dangling as she spun around in slow motion. Small fireflies floated in air and kept multiplying as he ran around following the stone track. Her palms covered the lower portion of her face as she gasped. With her eyes widened and body still rotating slowly, she released a loud, "Wow!!!!"

After three rounds of running in big circles, he went back to his original spot. "I'm giving you galaxy of stars that you can touch. Happy?"

"Very happy! So many fireflies!! So beautiful!" She cheered as she released the palms from her face. As she spun around with her arms spread, he saw the smile on her face grow. At this moment, she looked like a baby seeing the world for the first time. The excitement and fascination in her eyes twinkled brighter than the fireflies.

He smiled and said, "Of all the jewelries and luxury items anyone could have bought you, I think something simple like this suit you the best. Although I can't give you a starry night view, I will do whatever within my abilities to make you happy."

With one hand, he spread her palms next to each other. In his other hand, he unbent his fingers and released a few fireflies in front of her. "I love it! You must have spent a lot of time for this night. Thank you!" She was smiling so much that her muscles felt sore. Still, she couldn't help her smiles.

"Mmm, then as a prize for my hard work..." He straightened his back, bowed slightly, and held out his hand. "May I?"

Biting her lips while looking at him with her love-struck smile, she placed her hand on top of his. Putting her other hand on his shoulder, she felt his arm securing around her waist. They started off slowly to adapt to each other's footsteps. As they grew more comfortable with each other's pace, they fastened up the dance.

Once in a while, he would have her spin to pull her into his embrace. They laughed, giggled and enjoyed each second of the dance. "You're inventing a whole new dance." She teased as she went with his flow and movements. Even though the dance moves were unpredictable, it was fun for both of them.

"Oh? I told you I learned dancing before, but I never said I followed their steps. The professors gave me nearly full marks for my creativity." He raised his arm for her to do another spin and trapped her in his arms once again. This time, he didn't let her go from his embrace.

"Hahahaha, are you sure the professor didn't give you an A for creativity and another grade for not following the rules?" Since he was hugging her waist from behind, her hands held his as their bodies swayed sideways. Eventually, they finished dancing and started enjoying the scenery of fireflies again.

"I'll leave that to your imagination." He chuckled and rested his head on her shoulder. Once in a while, they would share some childhood stories with each other. Her head would bend back slightly onto his chest as they laughed at their experiences.