NOVEL NEXT 107: A Little Lip-Touching Never Hurt Anyone
Lin Songmei couldn’t stop smiling. She was on a date, with Yan Mingqing of all people! Things had been going well too. They held hands, admired a fountain, held hands, walked around, continued to hold each other’s hands, and just now, bought some jewelry at a shop called “Qingqing’s Jewelry Market.”
Well, in all honesty, Songmei had actually rotated between holding hands with Mingqing and just doing the classic wrap-yourself-around-one-arm technique.
She’d seen other people do it before, so why not try it? Plus, she wasn’t doing it in school and shoving it in everyone else’s faces so it should’ve been fine—she even had an excuse, she was wearing a dress and was cold!
Squeezing Mingqing’s hand, Songmei couldn’t help but ask, “Where are we going now?”
Mingqing was just walking while trying to swallow back bout after bout of laughter. Songmei knew it wasn’t anything bad, but a quick glance at the twitching at the corner of Mingqing’s lips made it clear that Mingqing was plotting something.
“You’ll see, I just wanted to go to one of the hanging terraces connected to the sky-pathways.” Mingqing nodded, her grin making it clear that Songmei wasn’t going to pry anymore information out of her.
Sighing and shaking her head, Songmei decided to just wait and talk about some other things as they walked. She was Mingqing’s girlfriend! Songmei could talk about anything she wanted and Mingqing would listen—Liu Xueli, dinner ideas, or shopping places to go to next—the topics were endless.
Deciding to just make some idle conversation about Xueli and her bureaucratic escapades for the foreseeable future, Songmei asked, “Do you think we’ll run into her sometime?”
“Maybe...” Mingqing pondered, stroking her chin, “It’s not likely unless she reaches out to us. “Of course, there’s always a chance that we run into her around here or something as she buys like... koi food or something.”
“True, true,” Songmei assented, squeezing Mingqing’s arm that she was wrapped around (thank the heavens there weren’t other people around to judge her). “It’d be awkward to run into her today though. Finding out that your two dearest students are dating after running into them while they’re in the middle of a date would be... rough.”
Snorting, Mingqing replied with a “Yeah that’d be rough” before peeking into the terrace. Seeing that it was unoccupied, she nodded towards Songmei, “Ready to find out what jewelry I bought?”
Raising an eyebrow in confusion as Mingqing dragged her into the terrace overlooking a small park outside of the central plaza, Songmei let out a sigh, admiring the view from the terrace. Behind her was the central plaza, shopping center, and the bustling crowds of people.
On this side though, was just a small, unoccupied park far below them.
Leaning against the railing, Songmei was glad that she wasn’t afraid of heights. Turning to grab Mingqing’s hand who was beside her, Songmei squinted with a laugh, “So what’s this surprise you’ve been plotting?”
“Nothing at all,” Mingqing laughed, pulling the Qingqing’s Jewelry Market bag out of her spatial storage ring. “I just bought something I thought you might like.”
Taking a small box out of the bag, Mingqing threw the bag back into her ring before getting down onto one knee.
“Wa... wait wait wait!” Songmei sputtered, trying to lift Mingqing back onto her feet “I’m not ready to get married yet! It’s only our first date!”
Doubling over laughing, Mingqing got back up before giving Songmei a hug. “I know, I know, I just wanted to play a little prank. Here’s what I actually got you, a necklace!”
With Mingqing opening the box, Songmei saw a delicate necklace lying inside. The necklace itself was also simple, a thin golden chain was connected to a small, golden heart-shaped outline. In the outline sat a small heart-shaped ruby, twinkling under the warm lights that illuminated the terrace.
Laughing as Songmei’s jaw dropped, Mingqing explained, “I saw you already had some gold jewelry on, so I bought this, just for you. I also saw you didn’t have a necklace, sooo... might as well, you know? It matches my eyes that have just a few red flecks in them.”
“I... I’m honored,” Songmei stammered, fidgeting and unsure what to do. “I’ll buy you something... sometime... Well, later today then!”
“I’ll look forward to it then,” Mingqing chuckled, beckoning Songmei closer, “Here, let me put it on for you.”
Brushing her hair out of the way, Songmei stepped forward, a blush climbing her face as Mingqing wrapped her arms back behind her neck to connect the two ends of the necklace.
Apologetic because of her cold hands, Mingqing leaned forward to make sure that she didn’t clip any hair into the necklace’s clasp as well before murmuring, “Wow... you have really nice collarbones...”
With Songmei reaching out to grab Mingqing’s shoulders to support herself while laughing, Mingqing apologized with an awkward cough, “Ahh, sorry it just kinda... slipped out. You’re good to go though, you look absolutely stunning as always.”
Looping her arms over Mingqing’s neck, Songmei murmured a quiet “thank you,” before grinning as Mingqing blushed and looked away. “What, am I too close to the Ice Princess now?”
“Yes, yes you are,” Mingqing confessed while wrapping her arms around Songmei, “The Ice Princess was melted away by your warmth and your smile.”
Freezing up for a second, Songmei laughed, “Well, then all that’s left is a princess, am I right? All for me too!”
“I-...” Mingqing trailed off, “Well, if you say so...”
“Well, I do!” Songmei cheered with a smile, “Anyway, sorry to ask in the most unappealing way ever, but... wanna kiss?”
“Why even ask?” Mingqing teased, “It hasn’t stopped either of us before. And it’s not like either of us are opposed to the idea either. In fact, it’s quite the opposite I’d bet.”
“Well... yeah,” Songmei agreed after a second of trying to think of a retort, “I just thought, you know... consent, yeah!”
With her hands around Songmei’s waist, Mingqing pulled her another half-step closer, “You can kiss me whenever you want, no need to ask, okay?”
“Okay...” Songmei mused, trying her best to sear Mingqing’s words into every part of her memory. “M-Me too though... you can kiss me whenever you want too!”
Looking around to make sure there wasn’t anyone around while whispering a “good to know," Mingqing turned back to Songmei who, confused at why Mingqing was looking around, asked “Are you planning a grand escape now that you have my consent to kiss me?”
“No, no, not at all,” Mingqing laughed, turning back to look at Songmei before grinning and winking, “I was just gonna say, try not to smear my lipstick too much, okay?”
Ignoring Songmei’s sputtering, Mingqing pulled Songmei that one last step closer and into an embrace and a kiss by the terrace’s edge.
