ABOES 87: Want To Kiss You

Beautiful moments always pass too quickly. At the end of the light show, only the Secret Crush production poster remained on the naked-eye 4D wall.

The audience and fans seemed to sense the ending approaching and began shouting at the top of their lungs.

“Chi Yunxing, you have to walk a flower-strewn path in the future!!!”
“Duan Zhiyan, we’ll always support you!!!”
“Thank you! I love Secret Crush!”
“…”

Each shout made Chi Yunxing’s eyes sting.

He couldn’t help glancing sideways at Duan Zhiyan and was caught off guard. One look and he froze.

The city lights outside the window were bright, but the room inside was dim. Duan Zhiyan stood beside Chi Yunxing at the floor-to-ceiling window. Half of his body was bathed in dazzling light, while the other half faded into shadow. His side profile was sharply defined, and his long lashes cast soft shadows beneath his eyes.

From Chi Yunxing’s angle, he could just make out the expression in Duan Zhiyan’s eyes, it was a kind of warmth that could melt through winter. Like sunlight on a cold day, or a spring breeze in March.

Chi Yunxing’s heart began thumping uncontrollably.

Just as the lights were about to go out, he stepped back slightly, raised his phone, and captured the moment.

The sound of the shutter made Duan Zhiyan instinctively turn toward him.

“What are you taking?” he asked with a soft smile.

Chi Yunxing stared at the photo on his phone for a long while, then looked up and smiled. “Taking a picture of you.”

Duan Zhiyan raised an eyebrow.

Chi Yunxing didn’t notice his expression because he was still absorbed in the nearly perfect candid shot.

He liked it so much that he immediately set it as his wallpaper, then handed the phone to Duan Zhiyan.

Duan Zhiyan glanced at the home screen and paused for two seconds before smiling. “Send that to me.”

Chi Yunxing looked puzzled. “Hm? What for?”

Duan Zhiyan held up his phone and said, “I’m posting it on Weibo.”

Chi Yunxing laughed and sent him the photo without hesitation.

Outside, the lights and music had ended, but the fans didn’t want to leave.

They stood there, gazing ahead, hoping the lights of Secret Crush would light up once more.

Chi Yunxing couldn’t help but open the official livestream.

The stream was still running, showing the same familiar street view with the lights turned off. But this time, there were many fans still standing quietly in place.

【Wuuu wuuu wuuu thank you to everyone on the Secret Crush team! I loved this Christmas gift so much!】
【This gift was amazing!】
【I’ve been crying ever since it started. The team put so much heart into this!】
【Out of all the dramas I’ve followed, this is the first one where I truly felt warmth. They really cared about us fans!】
【Thank you all!】
【Thank you!】

…

Looking at the flood of “thank you” messages in the comments, Chi Yunxing typed out four words: Thank you, everyone.

He had entered the livestream using his main account. Staff and sharp-eyed fans immediately spotted him. As soon as they saw his message, the chat exploded.

【It’s Yunxing!】
【Wuuu wuuu Yunxing, you’re watching the livestream too?!】
【Yunxing, my baby, you have to take good care of yourself from now on!】
【We’ll keep supporting you forever!】
【Youth is fleeting, but Secret Crush has me!】

…

Just then, a message flashed across the screen.

【GIRLS! THE MALE GOD POSTED ON WEIBO! IT’S CANDY! GO!!!】

At the same time, Chi Yunxing got a special notification from Duan Zhiyan’s account.

“So fast?” he muttered.

Duan Zhiyan nodded with a smile. “Yeah.”

Fans in the livestream were lightning fast. Some had already seen the Weibo post and come back.

【I’M DEAD FROM SWEETNESS!】
【It’s really candy!】
【Wuuuu I don’t care! The show may be over but the CP is real! I’m telling you—it’s real!】
【They’re real! They’re really real!】
【Forget it—I’m losing it tonight! No more solo-stanning Duan Zhiyan, I’m becoming a CP fan now!】

…

Chi Yunxing was baffled. He looked up at Duan Zhiyan and asked, “Zhiyan Ge, what exactly did you post?”

Duan Zhiyan put away his phone and said playfully, “See for yourself.”

Curious, Chi Yunxing exited the livestream and opened Duan Zhiyan’s Weibo.

@DuanZhiyan: Yunxing’s photo of me, P1. My photo of Yunxing, P2. #photo#photo#

The first photo was the one Chi Yunxing had just sent him. The second was of Chi Yunxing sitting on the sofa playing with his phone. It was a candid shot Duan Zhiyan had taken of him.

Sweetness surged through Chi Yunxing’s chest, like his heart had been dipped in honey.

By now, Duan Zhiyan’s comment section was completely overrun by CP fans.

【MOM!!! IT’S CANDYYYY!!!】
【Wuuuu thank you male god, and thank you Yunxing! You two made everything feel complete!】
【You’re way too sweet!!!】
【I just got fed by the official account, now I’m being fed by the real deal—I can’t take it!】
【This is the best Christmas gift I’ve ever received!】
【+1】
【Absolutely agree!】
【Tsk, you two are totally like a couple. So sweet it hurts! (Solo stans can scold me if they want—I don’t care!)】
【Yes! And sneaking photos of each other too, kswl!】
【This view is amazing—can anyone tell where this was taken?】

…

Chi Yunxing long-pressed on the second photo, saved it to his phone, and then reposted Duan Zhiyan’s Weibo with a caption.

@ChiYunxing: Not a candid shot—took it fair and square OVO

He didn’t even need to check the comments. He could already imagine the CP fans screaming in excitement. Sure enough, once Chi Yunxing’s repost went up, CP fans went wild like it was Chinese New Year.

In just a short while, tags like #LiChu and #DuanZhiyanChiYunxing were trending on Weibo.

Chi Yunxing saw their names on the hot search, couldn’t resist taking a screenshot, and asked Duan Zhiyan, “Zhiyan Ge… this trending post… do you think my mom’s gonna overthink it?”

Duan Zhiyan suddenly remembered the way Auntie Tan had looked at him when they left the Chi family that day. He decided to keep it from Yunxing for now. “She won’t.”

Chi Yunxing let out a breath of relief. “That’s good.”

Duan Zhiyan reached out and tousled his hair. “Don’t worry. I’m here,” Then he added, “Alright, we should get going. If we wait any longer, our eagle-eyed fans will figure out where we are.”

Chi Yunxing laughed. True.

He looked at the hand Duan Zhiyan held out and instinctively laced their fingers together. He couldn’t help but ask, “Where are we going?”

Though it was dark outside, it wasn’t that late. Chi Yunxing had napped all afternoon and wasn’t tired at all.He still wanted to wander around a bit.

Duan Zhiyan had originally planned the same but when they got downstairs, they realized the snow was falling even more heavily, with no sign of letting up. A thin layer had already built up on the ground.

Snow like this was rare in the south. The streets were filled with cheers and laughter.

People excitedly pulled out their phones to snap photos or record videos, exclaiming:
“It’s snowing!”
“Wow, look how heavy it is!”

Some kids sat down on the sidewalk and started making snowmen out of the thin snow layer.

A few mischievous ones had already formed snowballs and begun chasing each other.

Chi Yunxing watched all this with a smile that lit up his eyes like falling stars. He reached out and caught a snowflake in his palm.

It melted quickly, leaving a chilly wetness on his skin.

“If we go home after dinner, the roads will probably be covered in snow,” Chi Yunxing said. “Driving will be hard. Maybe we should head back now?”

Duan Zhiyan frowned. He hadn’t expected the snow to get this heavy.

After a moment of thought, he said, “How about we don’t go back tonight? I’ll ask the restaurant to deliver dinner to my apartment, and we can just stay there tonight?”

Chi Yunxing was surprised. “Apartment?”

Duan Zhiyan nodded. “I have a place nearby. When I have shoots around here, I stay there. It has everything we need.”

Chi Yunxing barely hesitated before nodding. “Sure.”

A gentle light flashed in Duan Zhiyan’s eyes. Smiling, he took Chi Yunxing’s hand and started walking toward the apartment. He pulled out his phone and called the restaurant manager to have their meal delivered.

The cold wind blew snowflakes across their faces, sharp like little cuts.

It was a familiar feeling. Chi Yunxing tilted his head up to watch the falling snow.

He had always hated this kind of bitter, beautiful weather. As a kid, it meant frostbite on his ears and hands. Every winter is like clockwork, only fading away at the tail end of spring.

He had thought it was snow itself he hated but now he realized, what he hated wasn’t the snow, it was the bone-deep chill of walking to school in thin shoes through the snow.

Now, his hand was wrapped tightly in Duan Zhiyan’s warm grip. Every few steps, the man would glance over to make sure his hat and scarf were properly in place, not letting any cold wind sneak in. Only then would he continue walking.

Eventually, their side-by-side steps turned into Duan Zhiyan walking ahead slightly, shielding him from the wind with his body.

Chi Yunxing looked at the strong, straight figure in front of him and suddenly let out a soft laugh.

He thought—from now on, I think I might actually like snowy days.

“Zhiyan Ge,” he called softly.

Duan Zhiyan stopped. Under the brim of his hat, his eyes shimmered in the warm glow. “What is it? Are your hands cold?”

Since Duan Zhiyan had to walk in front, Chi Yunxing couldn’t tuck his hands into his coat pocket anymore. So, Duan Zhiyan had bought a pair of fuzzy gloves from a nearby vendor, one for each of them.

Chi Yunxing’s mouth curved up under his mask. He shook his head, then, while Duan Zhiyan was distracted, suddenly leaned in and gave him a warm, affectionate kiss through their masks.

“Not cold,” he whispered. “I just wanted to kiss you.”