The soft lips touched the wing, warm and gentle.
In that instant, the place where they touched seemed to burst with tiny sparks—or rather, tiny electric currents that traveled along the wing bone all the way into Lu Qiao’s heart!
Lu Qiao froze for a second, then abruptly pulled back. All his feathers exploded outward!
His face flushed bright red, his body trembled, and even his voice trembled as he shouted with very little confidence, “W-What are you doing?!”
Yan Qiu also quickly came back to his senses, a fleeting look of astonishment and hesitation appearing in his eyes. Yet after those emotions faded, his gaze calmed, and something deeper began to swirl within his eyes.
Not good.
Lu Qiao stared blankly at Yan Qiu. His heart was pounding rapidly, and the feeling he had experienced when the dream startled him awake earlier came rushing back.
Embarrassment, shame, and inexplicable excitement—the whole person was about to explode!
What was Yan Qiu doing just now? K-Kissing his wing?
And what did that look in his eyes mean now??
At this moment, Lu Qiao desperately wanted to turn around and rub his wings a couple of times. They felt tingling all over. But it seemed that it was not only his wings that were tingling. His entire body seemed numb, leaving him completely unable to move.
Yan Qiu stared steadily at him. When he spoke, his voice was low and gentle.
“Lu Qiao.”
He took another step closer.
Lu Qiao was startled and backed away again, but he stepped into empty air, causing his entire body to topple backward.
Yan Qiu’s pupils suddenly contracted. He reached out, wanting to grab Lu Qiao, but he forgot that Lu Qiao had wings now and could fly.
In the end, he saw Lu Qiao flip in midair and land steadily on the ground. Then he looked up at him in panic, his face flushed, folded his wings away, and ran straight into the villa.
After his astonishment passed, Yan Qiu’s expression became amused.
He sighed softly and reached back to run a hand through his hair. When he lowered his eyes, he saw a feather floating down onto the ground.
After a pause, he bent down and picked it up, playing with the feather between his fingers.
A moment later, once his thoughts settled, he closed his hand around the feather and turned back toward the room.
When Yan Qiu changed clothes and went downstairs, he ran into his mother.
Yan Mu pursed her lips and gestured toward the living room, lowering her voice with a laugh.
“What did you do to little Lu Qiao just now? Look at how red his face is.”
When Lu Qiao had run into her earlier, he had even seemed to want to complain to her.
But after only getting two words out, he seemed to realize that something was wrong. He had closed his mouth in both panic and embarrassment, keeping silent and letting his face turn as red as if blood could drip from it. He even looked a little aggrieved.
Yan Qiu glanced toward the living room and met the gaze of the uneasy person sitting at the dining table.
The other person immediately looked away with a “whoosh.”
Yan Qiu smiled.
“What happened? Hurry up and tell me!” Yan Mu was dying of curiosity.
Then she heard her normally reserved son say in a deep voice, “I kissed him.”
Yan Mu sucked in a breath and looked him up and down in shock.
“On the mouth?!”
Yan Qiu glanced at her.
All right, Yan Mu knew it had not been on the mouth.
However—
Yan Mu raised an eyebrow.
“You’re not planning to hold back anymore? Lu Qiao looks like you’ve already scared him.”
Yan Qiu merely said softly, “I can’t hold back anymore.”
With that, he brushed past her and walked into the living room.
Yan Mu watched her son’s back, somewhat moved.
He couldn’t hold back anymore.
Just how much did Lu Qiao make Yan Qiu like him for him to say something like that?
Yan Qiu was not someone who made mistakes. He had his own plans for how to accomplish something, and once he had a plan, he would never make a mistake.
Yet Yan Mu could be certain that Yan Qiu had made a mistake this time.
At least this “kiss” that morning definitely had not been part of his original plan.
Lu Qiao had not completely figured things out yet. If Yan Qiu tore through that layer of paper now, it would inevitably frighten him, and it was difficult to predict what the final outcome would be—
But Yan Qiu could not hold himself back.
Yan Mu smiled, her eyes sparkling with interest.
At this moment, Yan Fu was pushed in by a servant. Seeing his wife wearing a strange smile as she stared toward the living room, he was startled and cautiously asked, “What happened?”
Yan Mu leisurely replied, “Love has always been capable of completely destroying a person’s rationality.”
She winked at her husband.
“We’ve got a show to watch.”
At the dining table, Lu Qiao’s mind was in a complete daze.
He even wondered whether he should not have run back into the villa at all. Maybe he should have simply flown away and escaped!
At this moment, the man walked over step by step and sat down directly across from him.
Lu Qiao tensed his body and lowered his head, yet he could clearly feel the other’s gaze resting on him.
He was restless and at a complete loss. The panic in his heart had reached its peak since the day he was born.
G-Generally speaking, did friends kiss each other’s wings?
Was Yan Qiu simply envious because he had wings? Or perhaps he was messing with him…
Lu Qiao furtively raised his eyes and glanced at the person across from him.
The man was resting his chin on one hand, simply watching him.
Lu Qiao: “!!”
No. Yan Qiu wasn’t the type of person who would mess with others at all! And there was no way he could possibly be envious of his wings!!!
When all was said and done, Yan Qiu absolutely could not just casually kiss someone!!!
Lu Qiao’s mind was practically in chaos!
Just then, Lu Qiao heard the butler hurry over and say to Yan Qiu, “Young Master, the box you requested.”
Yan Qiu answered, “Mm.”
Lu Qiao raised his eyes again and secretly peeked over.
He saw the butler holding an exquisite box in his hands.
Yan Qiu first said calmly to the butler, “Pick up all the feathers that have fallen outside.”
Lu Qiao: “…”
Did he dislike him shedding feathers??
Immediately afterward, he saw the butler open the box.
Inside—
Inside were already three feathers?
Lu Qiao froze once again.
W-Wait. Three?!
Could these be the three feathers he had shed at the military training grounds last time?
Hadn’t Yan Qiu said he was going to make them into a quill pen?
He simply stared blankly as Yan Qiu placed the fourth feather in his palm into the box. He carefully and solemnly closed the box, then said to the butler, “Clean the feathers you pick up and put all of them into the box.”
The butler replied, “Yes.”
Then the butler winked at Lu Qiao and strode out of the villa with great enthusiasm.
Once outside, he clapped his hands and called out to the servants, “Everyone, pick up all the feathers Young Master Lu has shed! Clean them and bring them to me. Remember to be careful—don’t damage a single feather!”
The butler’s voice was so bright and clear, as if he had finally been given permission to do something he had wanted to do for a long time. He was so delighted that he practically wanted the whole world to know about it.
Lu Qiao turned his head and stared blankly at the doorway, then turned back to look at Yan Qiu.
Yan Qiu had already picked up his knife and fork. Noticing Lu Qiao’s gaze, he smiled and asked, “Not eating?”
“…” Lu Qiao calmly said, “W-Why are you collecting so many of my feathers? You aren’t making quill pens anymore and decided to make shuttlecocks instead?”
Yan Qiu lowered his eyes, then raised them again and asked, “What do you think?”
Lu Qiao shut his mouth and ate his breakfast.
His heart was in complete turmoil.
Oh no.
He had heard his own heart.
Lu Qiao could not taste a single thing during breakfast.
All his attention was focused on the man sitting across from him.
Distracted and lost in his thoughts, he finally finished breakfast. Lu Qiao prepared to leave for the training center.
If he continued staying with Yan Qiu, he was going to suffocate!
Although Ye Lan had already initially mastered the method of repairing a consciousness body, this was of course still far from enough. However, because there was no longer any urgency, Lu Qiao could rest for a day before continuing.
And once he truly resumed teaching Ye Lan, Lu Qiao could no longer stay at the training center. He would have to live at the Yan residence instead.
After all, the training center on a third-class star was simply too far from the military headquarters.
Actually, Lu Qiao could have moved directly into the military headquarters, but Yan Fu and Yan Mu both felt that he had not yet reached the day when he would officially enter the military. There was no need to move into the military headquarters ahead of time. It would be too boring.
Besides, wouldn’t he still have to lock in with Yan Qiu every night?
So yesterday, after his elders enthusiastically asked him to stay, Lu Qiao ultimately accepted their kindness.
Therefore, Lu Qiao would return to the training center today, and starting tomorrow, he would have to move into the Yan residence completely.
Come to think of it, it was also because Yan Qiu had stood in front of him that he was able to have this day off. Otherwise, given Luo Ye’s style, Lu Qiao might have been sent directly to the military headquarters yesterday.
Lu Qiao was very grateful to Yan Qiu, but…
The two of them were silent in a very strange way throughout the entire journey.
When Lu Qiao stiffly sat inside the aircraft, the man stood by the door, bracing one hand against it, and asked, “Want to go out for dinner tonight?”
Lu Qiao shrank his neck, not daring to look directly at the man. He lowered his head and stammered, “G-Go out to eat for what? Isn’t eating at home fine?”
Hearing this, Yan Qiu said meaningfully, “Mom and Dad are going to the palace today. Even if we eat at home, it’ll just be the two of us.”
So they were going to be alone together tonight?!
Lu Qiao picked at his fingers, his voice as soft as a mosquito’s.
“Th-Then… whatever you want…”
Yan Qiu chuckled softly.
“Okay. Be careful on the way, and send me a message when you arrive.”
With that, he closed the cabin door for Lu Qiao.
As the cabin door closed, Lu Qiao covered his face and rested both elbows on his knees.
—What was he avoiding?!
When night came, wouldn’t the two of them still have to stick together and sleep?!
Lu Qiao felt as though even the air had become thin. He panted, his eyes filled with panic.
What was wrong with Yan Qiu…
Although he had occasionally felt that the atmosphere between him and Yan Qiu was somewhat strange before, as if they had somehow taken a wrong turn, he had not really understood it at the time.
Not until Yan Qiu kissed him…
In that instant, it was as though a hazy, translucent sheet of paper with light shining through it had suddenly been pierced open by Yan Qiu.
No matter how slow Lu Qiao was to catch on, once he saw the scenery on the other side of that hole, he should have understood what was going on.
But he had truly never thought about it in that way.
He had only ever regarded Yan Qiu as his rival.
But Yan Qiu did not regard him that way alone?
Lu Qiao stared blankly and suddenly remembered many things.
For example, the extremely natural way Yan Qiu held his hand, the countless ways he had cared for him over the past five years, and all the things he had done for him…
Lu Qiao covered his face again, his face burning red.
He also remembered Yan Qiu saying that he was family, saying that he wanted him, and saying that he wanted him to become his adjutant…
Lu Qiao collapsed onto the back seat and began bouncing around like a stranded fish.
And there was more, more—
Lu Qiao suddenly sat upright and angrily opened his terminal account to check.
Sure enough, Yan Qiu had never canceled the account linkage between the two of them!!!
This guy!
Every time he had promised he would do it, yet so much time had passed and he still had not done such a simple thing!
This guy had never intended to cancel the linkage at all, had he?!
Th-Then what was this supposed to mean?
Was this like a husband handing his salary card over to his wife?!
Lu Qiao trembled for a moment before fiercely sending Yan Qiu a message:
“Cancel the account linkage right now, or I’m ignoring you!!”
Yan Qiu’s reply came quickly.
Yan Qiu: “Would you really ignore me?”
Lu Qiao was stunned.
Was this a clear declaration that he had no intention of canceling the linkage?
Was this man really that confident that he had nothing to fear?
He really wasn’t planning to hide it anymore!!