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"Ow, ouch! That stings! 😖"
Lily winced and groaned as Adam cleaned her bee-sting wounds.
"Adam, go easy on her," Matthew, her fiancé, pleaded from the sidelines. He looked so worried, you'd think he wanted to shove Adam aside and do it himself.
"Oh, co on, Lily, quit faking it," Adam teased. "It's not that bad. Don't just make up stuff so you can bask in Matthew's puppy-dog eyes."
"Lily?" Matthew turned to her, totally thrown.
"Sorry, babe! 😘" Lily fluttered her lashes at him, all flirty and cute.
"Okay, forgiven," Matthew said, lting as he looked into her eyes. The gloom and distraction from a few weeks ago were gone—suddenly, it felt like the early days when they first t, all sparks and longing glances. They were clearly still crazy about each other.
That vibe? It was back, and it felt good!
"Alright, once I finish cleaning this up and get you so ds, you two can head out," Adam said. He could see the lovey-dovey vibes and was happy for them, but still rolled his eyes. "Just don't ss with the wounds, and you can do whatever you want—just spare the PDA here, okay?"
"Heh heh," Matthew chuckled, grinning like an idiot.
"What are you even saying?!" Lily gasped, putting on an exaggerated show of girly modesty and shyness.
Too bad she's Lily. That act was way too fake to sell.
"Matthew, looks like you've got those bees to thank," Adam said with a smirk. He could tell Lily had finally learned to let go of her wild, unrealistic dreams and focus on what's real—after hitting a few walls, of course.
"We really do," Matthew agreed, nodding thoughtfully.
A while back, he'd been so stressed and sad watching Lily waver and fidget with不安. Now, the clouds had parted, and the moon was shining through.
He was genuinely grateful to those bees.
Without them giving Lily a sharp wake-up sting, who knows how long it would've taken her to snap out of it?
Their wedding was just a month away!
Everything was set—invitations sent months ago, friends and family clearing schedules and booking flights just to be there.
If it got delayed, it'd look bad for Lily in front of his crew.
Yup, at this point, his biggest worry was Lily's rep. He wanted her to shine in front of his loved ones—perfectly—so she could fit right into the Erickson family.
A happy ho makes everything better, right?
"Oh, co on, Adam!" Lily pouted, playfully scolding him. "They stung this bad, and we're supposed to thank them?"
"Why not?" Adam grinned. "There's this East Country novel, The Legend of the Condor Heroes. The love story in it? All thanks to bees."
"What?!" Lily's eyes lit up, instantly hooked. "Tell more!"
As Adam kept cleaning her wounds, he gave the couple a quick rundown of the story.
"See, the heroine grew up with a deep bond with bees. Sixteen years later, she reunited with the hero by stitching words onto their wings. Shouldn't they thank those bees?"
"Wow! What a gorgeous love story! 😍" Lily gushed, staring at the red marks on her hand. Suddenly, they didn't seem painful or ugly—they felt like a sweet blessing.
"Hold up, don't get carried away!" Adam cut in, guessing her thoughts. "That's a legendary tale with mystical vibes. The heroine raised bees from childhood to pull that off. You? Don't go dreaming up nonsense, or you'll just get stung again. Plus, what, you wanna split from Matthew for sixteen years?"
"No way!"
"Never!"
Matthew and Lily shouted in unison.
"Exactly," Adam said with a laugh. "They reunited with bee-wing embroidery and tied the knot. You two? Lily got stung, woke up, and now you're about to tie the knot. Different paths, sa happy ending—no need to envy anyone."
"Totally," Matthew said, grabbing Lily's hand.
"Mhm," Lily gazed back at him, all lovestruck. "This story—I want to share it at the wedding. It'll be so perfect…"
She turned to Adam. "Wait, what's it called? I'll buy it!"
" too," Matthew chid in. "I'm hooked on this romance."
"Uh…" Adam froze, unsure what to say.
The Legend of the Condor Heroes was romantic… if you ignored the Dragon Knight bit.
Would Matthew handle that part?
He rembered how Guangu Magic freaked out when Lin Wanyu spoiled it for him—total ltdown.
Matthew's an open-minded Arican, sure, but his love ideals leaned toward the East Country's "one true love forever" vibe. That twist might wreck him.
Adam recalled how Matthew was a total jealousy monster—like those East Country first-love couples—super proud that every "first" belonged to each other.
But then Robin's sister Kelly visited, and when they all toured New York, they'd debated this stuff.
Turns out, Lily's take on so things didn't match Matthew's.
It sparked a huge fight back then.
If that threw him off, the Dragon Knight part? No chance.
"What's up?" Matthew and Lily asked, eyeing Adam curiously.
"Nothing," Adam said, thinking fast. No way he'd stir up trouble right before their wedding. "It's an East Country novel—no translation. You wouldn't get it. But if you want, hit the bar tonight, and I'll tell you the whole thing."
Emmm. He'd just skip the heart-wrenching parts in his retelling. Easy fix!
"Works for us," Matthew and Lily said, shrugging.
What could they do? They didn't speak East Country—not like Howard or Sheldon.
And even those two? Their Chinese was shaky at best—barely passing a Level 4, mute-and-stumble version.
"OMG! Lily!"
A familiar voice cut through the room.
"Robin!" Lily smiled at the newcor, then couldn't help sneaking a glance at Adam.
"Robin…" Adam turned too, giving an awkward little grin.
"Lily, what happened to you?"
It was Robin, alright. She didn't even glance at Adam—just zeroed in on Lily's sting marks, scolding her. "Don't tell you're still chasing those wacky dream experints?"
"Yup, but this was the last ti! And get this—getting stung actually made happy…"
Lily grabbed Robin and started chattering away, the two of them giggling like kids when they hit the fun parts.
Matthew shot Adam a goofy eyebrow wiggle.
Adam smirked, stayed quiet, and kept working on Lily's wounds—silence is golden, right?
(Chapter End)
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