The rain pattered lightly, drumming on the umbrella and raincoat, scattering tiny droplets.
The hood of the raincoat slipped off, and the rain fell on my head, soaking the fluffy hair, running down in streams, tracing my forehead, cheeks, chin, neck, and mingling with the water at the hair’s end, soaking into my collar, the cold water tingling my skin.
Lost, delirious, and wild.
The song enveloping my ears was "Beautiful Now."
"But baby, tonight, we’re beautiful now.
we’re beautiful now
we’re beautiful now
..."
All around were screams and echoes.
"Ahhhh——"
"bababababa——"
The night was serene, the venue noisy, everything drowned in the crowd and screams.
*
The two-hour music festival ca to an end, yet the participants remained exhilarated, unable to contain their excitent even as they left the venue.
The infectious power of electronic music.
The rain in the night grew heavier, yet the crowd dispersed in an orderly fashion.
From start to finish, Pedro Langley held onto Nora Scott, never letting go.
"Hungry?" Pedro Langley asked.
Nora reached out her fingers and squeezed his coat, applying a little force, managing to wring out so water.
Looking again at Pedro’s hair, it was wet, flopping down limply.
Frowning lightly, Nora said, "Let’s go back first."
Pedro smirked, leaned in, pressing his head close so that it touched her hair through the thin plastic of the raincoat. His voice was slightly husky, "Hotel, or your apartnt complex?"
It sounded like a normal question, but Nora instantly grasped his underlying implication.
She tilted her head, putting so distance between them, narrowed her eyes, and threatened, "Haven’t I hit you for three days, huh?"
Pedro took advantage, poking through her pretense, "Three months, not a hit."
"..."
Indeed, he deserved a beating.
Misty rain blew in her face, a coolness, Nora seed to recall sothing. She suddenly stared at Pedro, suspiciously furrowing her brow, "Pedro, have you ever properly pursued ?"
Pedro was taken aback, reflected briefly, and then asked, "Wasn’t it proper before?"
"Did that even count?" Nora was dissatisfied, "You dug one pit after another, and I didn’t have the heart to expose you."
Pedro curved his lips.
If he didn’t dig pits for her, would she have jumped in?
If he didn’t persistently pursue, would she have nodded?
"Last ti too..." Nora squinted slightly, starting to recount old grievances, "You only chased for three days."
After a light cough, Pedro grabbed her, turned sideways to face her, and leisurely said, "To be fair, last ti it was you who chased ."
"?"
"It was you who let chase you."
"..."
"A Heavenly Immortal like you descending to earth, I was prepared to chase for three years, but couldn’t withstand your straightforwardness, you agreed after three days."
"..."
One after another, Pedro’s words made Nora’s expression change continuously. "I advise you, if you don’t want to be——"
"I was wrong."
Before Nora could finish, Pedro quickly interrupted her, admitting his fault in a very efficient way.
"..."
Step by step, Nora was completely speechless by him.
After a mont, she unwillingly asked, "Wait, wasn’t it you who secretly liked first?"
"Yes," Pedro admitted candidly.
"..."
Nora raised her eyebrows and felt relieved.
Six years ago, Nora sensed Pedro secretly liked her, but back then Pedro was very reserved, showing his kindness quietly, unwilling to confess to her.
Nora even worried for him.
After all, there were many who pursued her, and if she was not careful, she might be snatched away.
Later, Nora had a sudden urge to see the snow. Although it was already spring, there was still snow on the northern border, and she had her trip planned. She had a sudden inspiration, thinking of giving Pedro a chance, and disclosed this trip to him.
Sure enough, they "coincidentally" t at the airport.
It was a small village where snow could be seen in three seasons of the year, a rare sight of birds flying and grass growing.
Nora was quite mischievous back then. On the second day after arriving, she provoked so local thugs. They resolved the issue but managed to get lost as night fell unexpectedly, finding a solitary household.
A pair of elderly couples were living there and kindly offered them shelter for the night.
Northern rural hos used heated kangs, which needed firewood burned in the stove next door. The room given to them was often left vacant, mostly in a frozen state. Sleeping directly would be fatal, so they spent half the night by the stove, warming up the kang next door.
They chatted about everything under the sun for a long ti, but in retrospect, it seems they didn’t discuss much of significance.
By midnight, unable to bear it anymore, they went next door to sleep.
The old couple assud they were a couple, giving them only one quilt.
The two looked at each other in dismay.
Pedro Langley: "You take it."
Nora Scott: "Let’s share it."
After a long mont of eye contact, they both spoke simultaneously.
The room had no electricity, and the silent forest had no lights, only a crescent moon overhead casting a faint glow.
At that mont, Pedro Langley’s face was probably red, though it was hard to tell; the atmosphere was certainly awkward.
In the end, for the sake of their health, they couldn’t avoid sharing the bed and a blanket, though just in case, they both kept their clothes on.
—Nora Scott didn’t really mind, because with her combat skills, if Pedro Langley dared to "make a move," she could easily make him regret it.
But the truth was, after lying for over half an hour, both of them were tense and unmoving, and neither felt sleepy.
"Are you asleep?"
Tornted by the silence, awkwardness, and tranquility, Nora Scott couldn’t hold back any longer and spoke up.
"No."
Pedro Langley responded quickly, his voice clear but slightly hoarse and very soft.
Nora Scott turned over, facing Pedro Langley.
She was more relaxed, but Pedro Langley was the opposite, so stiff that only his eyeballs could move.
Propping her elbow on the pillow, Nora Scott rested her head on her hand, her gaze swept over Pedro’s face in the dim light — his eyes, nose, lips, all were faint contours, yet this blurriness changed everything.
He was very handso.
But in the hazy night, his handsoness could make one’s heart burst with joy at a glance.
Nora Scott felt happy just looking at him.
Thus, her tone carried so lightness, "Let’s chat for a bit?"
"About what?"
Pedro Langley’s dark eyes finally shifted towards Nora Scott.
His pupils seed washed by water, dark and bright, incredibly clear, and his gaze pierced straight into the heart, making it burn.
—Talk about how you like .
Nora Scott wanted to say that, but then held back.
She simply lay on her side, cupping her face with her hands, a lock of her waterfall-like long hair slipped over her shoulder and fell to her front. With her head slightly tilted, her slender phoenix eyes squinted, looking much like a cunning, lively fox.
"Have you ever had a girlfriend?" she asked.
His Adam’s apple bobbed twice, and Pedro Langley answered hoarsely, "No."
"Oh."
Nora Scott nodded slightly and quickly asked again, "Do you have any criteria for a partner?"
His gaze fell on her flawless profile; it was a pleasing sight to behold, and he didn’t move his eyes, just stared.
After a long while, Pedro Langley finally said, "Good-looking."
"You..." Look at , how about that?
Lightly poking her cheek with her index finger, Nora Scott pondered for a mont and still felt she should be subtle.
So, Nora Scott changed her words and said, "A bit superficial."
"It is a bit."
Caught in the spell of her face, Pedro Langley agreed without thinking.
As if hearing an amusing answer, Nora Scott giggled. She lowered her head, put her hands on the pillow, rested her chin on them, and lay there laughing with her eyes curved, looking even more like a fox.
The kind that could steal soone’s soul.
"Let’s talk about sothing else," Nora Scott happily changed the topic, "like your drone or sothing..."
Between them, it seed like there was always endless conversation.
The long night stretched on, and as one topic followed another, Nora Scott unknowingly closed her eyes, her voice getting softer and softer until there was no more sound.
However, Pedro Langley remained wide awake.
He turned his head to stare at the peacefully sleeping Nora Scott, wild thoughts occupying his mind.
After a long and torturous deliberation, all his propriety and restraint went to hell, and in the end, he couldn’t hold back—
He kissed her.
Nineteen-year-old Nora Scott still had a bit of straightforwardness in her bones.
Twenty-three-year-old Pedro Langley was genuinely clueless.
...
Nora Scott woke up once in the middle of the night.
Not seeing Pedro Langley, she assud he had gotten up in the night, initially not giving it much thought, but later, in a state of half sleep, she realized he hadn’t returned for a while, and suddenly awake, she flipped off the covers and got out of bed.
She thought sothing had happened to Pedro Langley outside, but unexpectedly, Pedro was next door, by the stove, adding firewood with a sooty face.
The fire burned brightly, the flas licking out of the furnace, illuminating his handso features.
His clothes were dusted with ash, and his face had black charcoal marks, looking different from his usually well-grood appearance, sowhat ssy, yet inexplicably down-to-earth.
"Why are you awake?"
Hearing footsteps, Pedro Langley suddenly looked up, and upon seeing Nora Scott, due to a guilty conscience, his gaze lingered on her for only a brief second.
Nora Scott said nothing, walked over to him, and stood by his side, her head slightly lowered, examining him closely.
Pedro Langley was so nervous he didn’t know where to put his hands.
Until——
Nora Scott suddenly bent down, placing her hands on her knees, her long hair cascading down, tilting her head slightly, looking like a celestial being under the firelight.
She hooked her lips into a smile and earnestly asked him, "Pedro Langley, I’m so good-looking, would you like to chase ?"
...
User Comments
0 comments from readers