/
A short while later, Lin Qin can’t help but start chatting with XĂŒ Beijin already.
He asks, “how long until we’re there?”
“Maybe a quarter of an hour?” XĂŒ Beijin estimates in his mind, “or possibly longer. What’s wrong? Are you bored?”
“I’m not,” Lin Qin says, and immediately adds, “but maybe we can talk along the way?”
XĂŒ Beijin is a bit amused by how easy to read Lin Qin really is. Not giving away any comment on that, he asks, “what do you want to talk about?”
“If we left the Tower, what would you want to do?” Lin Qin thinks, then asks.
XĂŒ Beijin thinks about the question and then replies, “nothing much, really.”
Lin Qin is a little anxious, but he’s still trying to maintain his poker face and asking, “nothing
 nothing you’d feel like doing with someone else?”
XĂŒ Beijin glances at him.
The shortcut is too narrow for them to walk closely without their limbs touching. XĂŒ Beijin can see that Lin Qin’s eyebrows are twitching a little from anxiety.
So XĂŒ Beijin smiles and asks, “you mean, with you?”
Lin Qin can’t stop himself from nodding and just spilling everything, “yes, with me. Isn’t there something you’d like to do with me?”
No longer keeping the veil of decency up has instead made his tone genuine. Lin Qin has never been a good liar, as he’s straightforward and his emotions show up too much whenever he’s anxious.
His whole self is bare in front of XĂŒ Beijin for him to see clearly; XĂŒ Beijin can even colour and change it as he likes.
Lin Qin’s eyes look like shining stars in this dark, empty space.
He says, “only
 with me,” then he mumbles and scratches his hair, and seems to remember something, and adds, “never mind. Like you said, important things first.”
XĂŒ Beijin doesn’t reply, and only looks at him quietly.
Lin Qin surely has no way of realising that he looks almost like a pitiful, drenched puppy that is panting under the roof and tilting its head to look at its master.
Meanwhile, Lin Qin is still mumbling, looking a little cross but also not being able to do anything about it, “I’ll let you keep up the serious act for a while longer
 Just a while, and no longer. Or I’ll be angry.”
XĂŒ Beijin finds this hilarious, and asks, “do you actually ever get angry?”
Lin Qin has to take a deep breath. How is it that someone like XĂŒ Beijin can exist? How did he even fall in love with him in the first place?
But when he stops and turns to look at him, he sees XĂŒ Beijin’s pale face and colourless lips, slightly sunken cheeks, and also, a pair of eyes that are threateningly teasing. He sees himself reflected in them, and widens his own eyes in response.
Then he gives up, and just says, “no. Never. I will never be angry at you.”
He seems to fall into thought, before reasserting, “never in eternity. I will only love you, always.”
That is the moment when XĂŒ Beijin can feel his own heart jumping in response.
Does Lin Qin really know, what it truly meant to him, to hear ‘eternity’ right now?
So he tells Lin Qin,
“I’ve told you, I might never be able to leave the Tower. Forever.”
“I’ll be with you
”
“But if I really
”
“I’ll be there. Forever
” interrupts Lin Qin, “how many times do I have to repeat it for you to believe me? I’ve already told you; you don’t have to overthink it
”
XĂŒ Beijin has nothing he can say, so he pulls Lin Qin towards him.
Lin Qin unexpectedly bumps right onto XĂŒ Beijin. A warm guff of air passes by his cheeks. Then, he hears XĂŒ Beijin’s voice gently ringing next to his ears.
“As you wish.”
Then, a soft, dry pair of lips cover up his own.
In a daze, Lin Qin thinks that his Beijin’s lips are so parched they might crack at any time
 He should tell him to drink more water.
The rather unrelated thought only crosses his mind for a brief second before his thoughts go blank completely; he is completely taken by the joy of physical closeness.
When XĂŒ Beijin’s breathing is slightly heavier and he’s retreating, Lin Qin suddenly widens his eyes and hugs XĂŒ Beijin closely, whispering, “let’s keep kissing
”
XĂŒ Beijin “
”
Fine. Have your kisses.
They just stand there, kissing in this dark space with only the occasional bits of jumbled code as their witness. A suggestive aura threatens to spread out, and XĂŒ Beijin lets it. Everything is quiet, and they only have themselves.
A while later, XĂŒ Beijin puts an end to the ‘unserious stuff’ Lin Qin is trying to keep up.
Lin Qin licks his lips and then comments, “it’s sweet. Maybe the taste data on drinks have made its way into your lips and tongue?
Earlier, XĂŒ Beijin told him that this darkness had mojibake of immense danger, and he took it to heart.
Well, taking it to his tongue in this case, possibly.
He’s wondering if XĂŒ Beijin drank the drinks in the Tower too much, making the sweetness permeate through his entire physical self.
XĂŒ Beijin “
”
He bites his lips, and doesn’t say a word.
Oddly enough, the kiss has made him look better, with his lips regaining some red colour. And his earlobes, too, which Lin Qin is happy with, as he observes his handiwork.
XĂŒ Beijin doesn’t know why Lin Qin is looking a little
 mischievous, right now.
Nor does he want to.
He says, “let’s
 kuhum, let’s keep going.”
His voice was unexpected hoarse, so he cleared his throat.
Lin Qin immediately looks closely at XĂŒ Beijin, to confirm that he isn’t feeling ill, before continuing.
As he does, he mumbles,
“so, are we dating right now?”
“What do you think?”
“Beijin, I just realised you really don’t like speaking your mind. It’s a bad habit.”
“We are dating right now.”
And Lin Qin appears happy.
XĂŒ Beijin sighs, then can’t help but smile.
Oh, Lin Qin, the little apple
 so easily cheered up by a simple affirmation.
Though shadows still lie ahead of them, and perhaps they will only ever be able to live in this fake, artificially created world forever, but

Nothing could stop XĂŒ Beijin from feeling happy right now.
He looks at Lin Qin, and he can’t stop himself from smiling.
While Lin Qin tilts his head to look at XĂŒ Beijin every so often, and finally stops to plant a kiss on XĂŒ Beijin’s mouth.
XĂŒ Beijin is stunned, asking,
“What’s wrong?”
“I just wanted to kiss.”
“Pervert
”
“You said we’re dating.”
“You didn’t tell me you’re going to kiss.”
“Then I’m going to kiss you now, what say you?”
“You do you
”
So Lin Qin happily plants another kiss and whispers to XĂŒ Beijin, “so this is finally the moment I’ve been waiting for, where I should, and you would let me do it, right?”
XĂŒ Beijin doesn’t answer for a moment, merely nodding at first. Then he exhales and chuckles, telling Lin Qin, “now, it’s your prerogative.”
Lin Qin looks very proud indeed, his steps having a spring in them.
Then a bit later, he asks, “so, when can we
 go further?”
“We can’t.”
Lin Qin “
”
That’s why he said XĂŒ Beijin is really such a pain in the arse for a guy!
They continue walking along, stopping a few times, and time passes, when finally, they are at the end of the shortcut.
It’s a screen of light, approximately a person tall, slightly glowing white, which makes it painfully obvious in the darkness. This is the exit of the boundary of the Tower.
They walk over.
XĂŒ Beijin tells Lin Qin, “slowly, extend your hand forward, and then turn to step through it sideways
”
They extend their hands at the same time.
XĂŒ Beijin’s hand passes without issue, but Lin Qin’s hand is blocked off.