As soon as winter set in, the weather turned cold.
A heavy snowfall marked the beginning of the holiday season. After finishing their exams, Zhong Yirou gathered everyone together and organized a big group outing to the amusement park.
Since no one wanted to wake up early, they agreed to meet in the evening. An Wujiu and Shen Ti were the first to arrive, standing at the entrance, waiting.
An Wujiu checked over the food he had brought from home for everyone, then took out a lollipop and handed it to Shen Ti.
“Here, eat this.” He wore a white beanie, a white down jacket, a blue scarf, and knitted gloves, looking much cuter than usual.
Shen Ti reached out, but instead of taking the lollipop directly, he adjusted An Wujiu’s bangs that were pressed down, touched his face, then took the candy and put it in his mouth, asking if An Wujiu was cold.
An Wujiu shook his head. “What about you?”
Shen Ti smiled, “Of course not; I’m someone who never gets cold, and today I’m even wearing the down jacket that auntie gave me.”
His proud demeanor made An Wujiu want to laugh. “You’re really something.”
It wasn’t long before the others arrived one by one, gathering together to wait for Zhong Yirou.
“But you were the one who called us here, yet you’re the last to arrive,” Shen Ti said, holding the candy in his mouth and leaning against a pillar, laughing lazily.
“Sorry,” Zhong Yirou said, panting, her nose red from the cold. “I was changing clothes and couldn’t decide, so I was late.”
Toudou Sakura started to flatter her, saying, “You look good in anything.”
Matsubara also nodded.
“It was me who didn’t let her wear a short skirt,” Yang Erci said. “I told her it would freeze her legs.”
“You’re really strict,” Zhou Yijue teased, glancing at Viktor beside him, who immediately gave a [I definitely won’t control you] look.
Smiling Nan Shan extended his hand, which had been tucked in his sleeve, and gave Yang Erci a thumbs-up.
“Is everyone here?” An Wujiu asked.
“Yes!” Toudou Sakura nodded, “But Gabriel said he couldn’t make it; he’s a busy businessman.”
An Wujiu smiled.
“Let’s get our tickets checked and go in,” Wu You said.
“Sure!”
“Here we come, amusement park!”
“Wait for me!”
An Wujiu and Shen Ti walked at the back, watching their friends running ahead. The amusement park was crowded, with many couples around.
Casually, An Wujiu glanced at Shen Ti. He was still the same as before, eating his candy with a nonchalant expression, his clear eyes gazing into the distance.
“Hey.”
Hearing An Wujiu’s voice, Shen Ti turned his head and said, “Hmm?”
An Wujiu smiled, a white mist curling around his face. He extended his hand, using his teeth to pull off the tip of his glove, then looked at Shen Ti, raising his eyebrow.
“Want to hold hands?” Shen Ti asked instinctively, taking off his left leather glove and holding An Wujiu’s extended hand.
This action made An Wujiu find him adorable, like a small animal obediently holding hands when its owner asked.
He released his teeth, letting the glove fall, catching it, and stuffing it into his pocket. With his right hand tightly holding Shen Ti’s, he swayed their joined hands, “You’re still not used to it, are you? The feeling of dating in the real world.”
This sentence hit Shen Ti’s heart directly.
They had known each other in the 98th space of the altar, being both rival players and comrades. They had almost always been in chaos, rarely having any peaceful days, let alone time for romance.
Moreover, Shen Ti wasn’t originally human and had never experienced real love.
“Now that we’re at the amusement park…” An Wujiu’s voice softened, his eyes looking elsewhere, making it unclear if he was shy, “Let’s just hold hands.”
Shen Ti smiled and said, “Alright.”
Almost all the couples here were holding hands.
He pulled An Wujiu’s hand into his pocket. The cold wind blew, ruffling his hair, “This way is warmer.”
At the amusement park, An Wujiu realized that Wu You really loved high-altitude rides; the more thrilling, the better. He had already played the giant swing, roller coaster, and family coaster.
While An Wujiu was in line, Wu You and Nan Shan had just come down from the coaster. Wu You’s face hadn’t changed at all, but Nan Shan was pale, wobbling as he walked, and immediately held onto a bench to retch as soon as he got off.
“What kind of family coaster is this… It’s so fast…” Nan Shan coughed, Wu You squatting down to pat his back, “I think it wants to break families apart…”
Shen Ti couldn’t stop laughing, “So Nan Shan is this afraid of heights, yet he still fights demons.”
An Wujiu, seeing him laugh at others, couldn’t help but ask, “Isn’t there anything you’re afraid of?”
Shen Ti stood behind An Wujiu, spreading his arms and hugging him from behind, thinking seriously for a moment, “I used to be, but not anymore.”
An Wujiu easily understood his meaning, so he grabbed Shen Ti’s hand around him and kissed the back of it.
“Don’t be afraid.”
It seemed from the beginning, they had said things like “don’t leave me” to each other countless times, even without knowing how much they had sacrificed to keep each other.
This kind of attachment had almost become subconscious.
“Mm.” Shen Ti kissed the top of his head, then leaned against him, resting his chin on An Wujiu’s shoulder.
After waiting in line for a long time, they finally reached the haunted house. It was one of the most famous attractions in the entire amusement park, known for its terrifying Chinese horror.
The five pairs entered together in a grand procession. As soon as they stepped inside, they heard a series of screams from within, all from frightened visitors.
It was very dark inside, and the music was eerie and creepy.
After walking a few steps, something suddenly fell from the ceiling, hitting the tallest person in the group, Shen Ti, on the head. “What is this…?”
When he looked up, it was a blood-soaked, dangling human head.
The other tourists following them screamed in fright, but the ten of them remained incredibly calm, even with the ceiling raining down heads.
“It looks quite realistic.” Shen Ti reached out and twisted the head that had hit him, smiling as he showed it to An Wujiu. “It even has white eyes.”
“Stop messing around, be careful not to break the props,” An Wujiu reminded him.
They continued forward, passing through a place that looked like a rock cave, with yellow talismans plastered all over the stone walls on both sides. A gust of cold wind blew through, lifting the talismans to reveal the blood handprints hidden underneath.
“This…” Nan Shan stopped, commenting on the talismans on the wall, “This writing is not very professional…”
“Is that the point?” Wu You dragged him away to keep moving forward.
After passing through the tunnel and rounding a corner, they were confronted by a woman in a full set of red wedding clothes, with her exposed hands being a ghastly pale green.
“Now this is a bit creepy.” Zhou Yijue pouted. “But those shoes don’t fit the scene.”
An Wujiu glanced at the NPC’s shoes, which were plain red cloth shoes.
Viktor, not very familiar with Chinese horror, asked, “What’s wrong with them?”
“They should have some embroidered flowers and a few drops of blood, which would make them look scarier.”
The NPC in the wedding dress, suddenly critiqued, was momentarily unsure whether she should step forward to scare them.
Some of the tourists behind them didn’t dare to look up, huddled in fear, wondering why these people were so fearless.
“This outfit would look good on me, wouldn’t it?” Zhong Yirou turned to ask Yang Erci, “For a wedding.”
Yang Erci gave a faint smile, “This isn’t the right time to discuss weddings.”
They continued forward, encountering more NPCs dressed as zombies and others who lay quietly on the ground, suddenly reaching out to grab visitors’ ankles.
The scenes and decorations in the haunted house were very elaborate, with barely flickering white candles, a traditional Chinese wooden bed in a mourning hall, ghostly shadows behind red gauze curtains, and numerous scriptures and talismans.
An Wujiu instinctively focused on the surrounding details, paying very close attention.
Shen Ti noticed his excessive concentration almost at the same time, reached out, and pinched An Wujiu’s face between his thumb and forefinger. “An’an, this isn’t the altar.”
An Wujiu came back to his senses and smiled helplessly, “I can’t help it, it’s an occupational habit.”
Everyone laughed, making the atmosphere unprecedentedly joyful, causing the NPCs in the haunted house to be puzzled. It was their first time encountering such a group of visitors.
“Hey, do you remember that cult ritual we encountered last time? The one with the heart extraction?”
“That was really creepy.”
“The heart was still beating. Just thinking about it is chilling.”
An Wujiu saw that some NPCs were already scared by their conversation and quickly explained, “Uh… it’s a game we played.”
“Yeah, yeah, it’s a game, hahaha.”
They laughed and chatted as they exited the haunted house. It was almost dark outside, the sun had set, leaving only the last bit of light floating in the half-dark sky.
Zhong Yirou shook her head, “It wasn’t that scary.”
“It wasn’t scary at all,” Wu You whispered.
“But the atmosphere was there, right?” Nan Shan said with a smile, “It makes me want to give them some talismans.”
“Hey, let’s go play that!” Zhong Yirou pulled Yang Erci’s arm, pointing to the shooting gallery, “You can win a doll if you win.”
Shen Ti wasn’t originally interested, but after a glance, he suddenly grabbed An Wujiu. “I want to play too.”
“Huh?” An Wujiu was a bit surprised.
But Shen Ti kept nodding at him.
“Alright.”
Seeing the guns was enough for Wu You, and Zhou Yijue wasn’t interested in shooting either, so they formed a group with Matsubara to go on the sky flyer.
Zhong Yirou walked over and patted the head of the rabbit robot in front of the shooting gallery.
The gallery was much warmer than outside, with many tourists busy shooting.
“How do you play this?” Yang Erci asked the staff.
“Like this,” the staff member explained, “We have several difficulty levels here. You see the projection on the wall; the lowest level is fixed-point shooting, where the balloons are fixed on the wall. The highest level has moving targets with obstacles like smoke. Each hit accumulates points, with different difficulties earning different points, and you can exchange a prize after reaching a certain number of points.”
“Sounds interesting.” Zhong Yirou pulled Yang Erci’s hand, “Win that rabbit for me.” She pointed to the electronic rabbit on the second shelf of the prize display cabinet.
“I’ll give it a try.” Yang Erci took off her coat.
An Wujiu was studying the rules when his wrist was suddenly grabbed. He turned around to see Shen Ti acting very out of character, being coquettish.
“Wujiu, win a prize for me too.”
An Wujiu was amused, “Aren’t you really good at this? Why do you want me to do it?”
Shen Ti pouted, “Because I want you to win it for me.”
Zhong Zhong almost rolled her eyes. “Can you not be so fake, Shen Ti?”
Shen Ti genuinely felt he wasn’t being fake.
“Alright, I’ll go.”
Others might not buy it, but An Wujiu did, and he thought Shen Ti was very cute.
He chose the highest difficulty level, picked up a gun placed nearby, and raised his arm straight, his stance very professional.
Seeing this pose, the staff nearby felt uneasy.
This could be someone here to cause trouble.
Sure enough, even with smoke and obstacles, An Wujiu still managed to hit the targets within a short time.
Seeing this, the backstage staff immediately increased the difficulty, added more obstacles and targets, and accelerated the target’s movement. The scene became dazzlingly chaotic.
To their surprise, even with the highest difficulty, the challenging visitor remained calm and composed, his facial expression unchanged, swiftly and steadily shooting at the targets.
He never missed.
Shen Ti didn’t even need to cheer him on.
After An Wujiu finished a whole round of bullets, just as he was about to switch guns, a staff member quickly approached. “Sir, your points are already enough to redeem all our prizes.”
Initially thinking this handsome visitor might be trouble, the staff felt uneasy but found him exceptionally friendly.
“Really?” An Wujiu smiled kindly, handing back the gun. “Thank you. Where should I go to redeem my prize?”
“I’ll take you there, this way.”
An Wujiu put his down jacket back on, glanced at the equally steady Yang Ercui, told her to keep it up, then held Shen Ti’s hand and followed the staff to redeem the prize.
“What would you like…”
“That one.” Shen Ti immediately answered, pointing to a cotton doll on the top shelf of the glass cabinet.
“This one?” The staff smiled. “With your points, you can redeem more than just this.”
An Wujiu turned to Shen Ti.
“No need, just this one.” Shen Ti smiled.
When they left the shooting gallery, it was completely dark. The amusement park at night was brilliantly lit, filled with laughter and warmth. An Wujiu lowered his head, held Shen Ti’s hand, and asked why he wanted this.
“I noticed it just now, even through the wall.” Shen Ti pinched the doll in his hand. “Don’t you think it looks like you?” He said, showing it to An Wujiu.
An Wujiu was taken aback.
Was that the reason?
Shen Ti smiled, comparing the small doll to An Wujiu’s face, then showing a satisfied smile.
“It really looks like you, exactly like you when you had long hair.”
An Wujiu took the doll from him, tilting his head. “But this is a girl…”
“It means you’re pretty.” Shen Ti responded immediately. “Anyway, I like this gift.”
An Wujiu looked at him, unable to suppress a smile. “I can give you many more gifts.”
“No need, it’s not a special day.” Shen Ti held the doll behind his back. “Last time, you gave Wu You so many gifts for his birthday.”
“I can give you gifts too.” An Wujiu sensed his jealousy. “But I don’t even know your birthday.”
“Birthday…” Shen Ti thought for a moment and smiled. “Let’s make it June 30th.”
An Wujiu laughed. “That sounds quite casual. Is it really your birthday?”
Shen Ti shrugged. “I don’t have a real birthday because time doesn’t affect me. I chose June 30th because that’s the day I matched with you.”
He spoke simply and directly, but it made An Wujiu’s heart skip a beat.
“Are you talking about the first game we participated in together?”
Shen Ti nodded. “Yes, that’s also when you crossed into Space 98, right? I like that day.”
Two isolated lines intersected at that moment.
“June 30th.” An Wujiu smiled. “I’ll remember it.”
He lifted Shen Ti’s hand and kissed the back of it. “I’ll give you many, many gifts.”
Shen Ti tilted his head, nudging his head against his. “Alright.”
An Wujiu chuckled helplessly. “What should we do next?”
“Hmm…” Shen Ti looked around. “Do you want to ride the Ferris wheel?”
“Ferris wheel?” An Wujiu thought he wanted to ride it, so he agreed without hesitation. “Sure.”
Almost everyone in line for the Ferris wheel was couples. They stood in a square-shaped queue, inching forward. Shen Ti and An Wujiu stood out because of their height and appearance, attracting many onlookers. Some even secretly took photos of Shen Ti kissing An Wujiu’s cheek and uploaded them to social media.
“It’s almost our turn.” An Wujiu put the doll back in his backpack, holding Shen Ti’s hand as they walked in.
“Welcome to the Ferris wheel.” The AI voice in the small cabin was pleasant, soon playing very romantic music for them.
An Wujiu and Shen Ti sat close together, leaning on each other like any ordinary couple.
The Ferris wheel started to rotate, gradually rising. Through the glass, the entire city’s neon lights lay beneath them.
An Wujiu quietly watched the beautiful lights getting smaller, feeling happy, as if his whole chest was filled with light clouds, content and warm.
Suddenly, he heard Shen Ti’s voice, but not through his ears.
The feeling was all too familiar.
[This place is perfect for kissing.]
“What did you say?” An Wujiu turned his head, raising his eyebrows.
“Huh?” Shen Ti smiled awkwardly. “I didn’t say anything.”
An Wujiu blinked slowly. “I heard it.”
Damn.
Shen Ti thought in frustration. He couldn’t control it and everything he thought was heard.
He should have known better than to share half of his heart with him.
But how could he have survived otherwise?
Maybe he should have shared a little less.
“I heard it all.” An Wujiu squinted, as if to blame.
Shen Ti couldn’t argue, so he admitted directly. “Yes, I just thought this place is perfect for kissing. Only the two of us are here, the night view outside is beautiful, there’s music, and this is…”
An Wujiu interrupted him with a very casual tone.
“Then why don’t you kiss me?”
Shen Ti was stunned for a moment, unable to react.
In that brief moment of hesitation, An Wujiu’s arm hooked around his neck, he chuckled softly, and then kissed him.
His smile was truly beautiful, with a naturally innocent face. His kindness suppressed the cunning of a smart person, and the seductive, fantasy-inducing side occasionally emerged, visible in his pretty eyes.
Rather than saying the kiss on Shen Ti’s lips was tentative, it was more of a temptation.
Shen Ti hoped that this side of An Wujiu would never be seen by others. He didn’t want to see such a smile given to anyone else, didn’t want him to hold anyone else’s hand, didn’t want him to look like he was waiting to be kissed.
He wrapped his arms around An Wujiu’s waist, pressing him against the glass and kissing him, a kiss deeper and more intense than temptation, like two fish urgently needing to mate, stranded in a milky-white fog of heat.
An Wujiu could taste the raspberry sweetness and fragrance left by the candy, a pure and lovely taste. But in contrast, what he received more was a forceful attack, his breath gradually taken away.
The contrast was stark.
His hand traveled up the back of Shen Ti’s neck, searching for his hair, holding him tightly, as if they had never been apart.
With his eyes closed, he could hear the sound of his earring swaying, making everything feel safe and beautiful.
The Ferris wheel gradually ascended and then descended, but their kiss didn’t end.
Until An Wujiu vaguely heard someone cheering, perhaps due to having Shen Ti’s heart, his hearing was exceptionally sharp.
“A meteor shower!”
“Really, I saw it too!”
A meteor shower?
His hand slid down, pushing against Shen Ti’s chest. With great effort, he pushed Shen Ti away, “Wait, wait…”
An Wujiu’s cheeks and ears were red, panting heavily. “Did you hear that… someone said there’s a meteor shower…”
“A meteor shower?” Shen Ti didn’t believe it at all. He pressed over and kissed him again, mumbling, “I didn’t hear anything… we’re not done yet…”
At that moment, An Wujiu vaguely noticed that his jacket was already half off.
“Your gloves are so cold…” He struggled to push Shen Ti away, pulling his hands out. “I really heard it, someone said there was a meteor shower just now.”
“Really?” Shen Ti didn’t continue, tilting his head, leaning on An Wujiu’s shoulder, his breath warm against An Wujiu’s neck.
“A meteor shower…”
After the kiss, Shen Ti’s voice became much lazier, with a hint of laughter.
“Do you want to see it?”
He kissed An Wujiu’s neck.
“It’s too late.” An Wujiu hugged him, stroking his back, leaning on his shoulder, with a slight tone of regret. “We were too busy kissing, it’s already passed.”
He had never seen a meteor shower.
He didn’t know if it was too late to make a wish now.
“It’s not too late.” Shen Ti smiled as he got up, kissed An Wujiu’s forehead, then his eyes, then cleared his throat. “I say it’s not too late.”
As soon as he finished speaking, their Ferris wheel stopped.
An Wujiu was startled, then looked out the window.
Everyone outside was frozen, like a still image.
“Did you forget what I am?” Shen Ti smiled. “Don’t you like to say that I’m not human?”
An Wujiu turned his head, staring at him for a while. “Won’t this cause any problems?”
Shen Ti shook his head. “It won’t change the future. When the pause ends, everyone will still make the same decisions as before.”
“But…,” he raised an eyebrow, “we still can’t see the meteor shower like this.”
In his cute tone, An Wujiu noticed that the descending Ferris wheel started to reverse.
Shen Ti was rewinding time.
He clearly saw a meteor return to the night sky, frozen in the beautiful night.
“Make a wish.” Shen Ti smiled at An Wujiu.
An Wujiu was stunned. “I was just thinking…”
“I know, but I can do it, so why not?” Shen Ti pointed to the bright star in the sky. “Hurry up, I’m going to let it slide by.”
An Wujiu closed his eyes and quickly made a simple wish.
He wanted to be with Shen Ti forever.
As he opened his eyes, the meteor streaked across the sky, and the Ferris wheel started moving, time flowing again.
“Actually, you should have made a wish to me.” Shen Ti belatedly complained, “That’s just a meteorite.”
An Wujiu smiled. “I just wanted to see a meteor shower with you on the Ferris wheel.”
Shen Ti kissed his lips, touched his red ears, and pinched his nose. “Why didn’t you get a nosebleed today?”
“Do you think this alone can excite me?” An Wujiu raised the corners of his mouth, seemingly provoking him.
Shen Ti chuckled, about to say something, but saw An Wujiu pointing outside the window.
“We’re almost to the ground.”
Shen Ti smiled. “Don’t you want to land? I can pause it. If we pause, we can do anything we want, and keep doing it…”
An Wujiu pinched his cheek. “It’s too cold here, I don’t want to.”
“This place is so nice. I can rewind it back to when we were at the top…”
The Ferris wheel stopped, and the door automatically opened.
An Wujiu kissed his cheek, stood up holding his hand. “Didn’t you buy a big apartment with floor-to-ceiling windows and a bathtub?”
Shen Ti was instantly at a loss for words.
An Wujiu leaned close to his ear. “Let’s go there tonight.”
“You said it.”
Shen Ti was overjoyed, wanting him to promise, but An Wujiu just smiled without agreeing.
When they walked out, An Wujiu saw a large group of friends waiting for them.
“You’re so slow,” Zhong Yirou shouted with a smile.
Wu You asked with a cold face, “Wujiu, did he do something to you?”
Nan Shan bumped him with his arm. “Hey, kids shouldn’t ask too many questions.”
“Of course, he did something. Do you even need to ask?” Zhou Yijue teased.
Shen Ti wrapped his arm around An Wujiu’s shoulder, asserting his claim to Wu You. “He’s my boyfriend, do I need your approval for what I do?”
“Stop bickering.” An Wujiu laughed, pushing him forward with both hands.
The neon lights and starlight illuminated this ordinary night.
He knew there would be countless more in the future.
“Let’s go home.”
