They ate in the back room, sitting on overturned crates with paper plates balanced on their knees.
It was technically stir-fry. But it tasted like more than that.. its warm, slightly spicy, and way too comforting for something eaten on an upside-down produce box.
Yin Yue chewed slowly, watching Liang Yu out of the corner of his eye. The other man ate with quiet precision, movements measured, posture straight, like he'd been trained to look unbothered in all situations, even during emotionally compromised mealtimes.
"So," Yin Yue said, poking at a piece of chicken with his chopsticks. "Is this just your version of team-building? Or is this the start of a cult?"
Liang Yu didn't look up. "You talk more when you're nervous."
"I'm always nervous. That's just my brand."
Liang Yu finally glanced over. "So what is it you're nervous about now?"
Yin Yue blinked.
"Excuse me?"
"You've been fidgeting for ten minutes."
"I'm trying to digest!"
"You're trying not to ask something."
> 💻 SYSTEM 520:
🧠 ML has detected hesitation. Emotional receptiveness: High.
💬 Prompt Suggestion: "Why are you doing this for me?"
💘 Projected Affection Spike: +6
⚠️ WARNING: Sincerity Ahead
Yin Yue exhaled slowly.
Then asked, voice quieter than before:
"…Why are you doing this?"
Liang Yu didn't respond immediately.
Not with words.
Instead, he stood, walked to the tiny staff fridge, and pulled out two drinks—glass bottles of that weird barley tea Yin Yue had mentioned offhandedly, once, a week ago.
He opened one. Handed it over.
Sat back down.
And finally said, "You looked like you needed it."
Yin Yue stared at the drink in his hand.
The condensation slid down his fingers.
"That's not an answer."
Liang Yu took a sip from his bottle. "It's not a lie either."
Yin Yue looked at him for a long moment.
Studied the sharp line of his jaw, the quiet steadiness in his eyes, the subtle shift in the way he always watched without making it obvious.
"You're weird," he said.
"You're exhausting."
"But you're nice."
"No, I'm not."
"Then why are you being nice to me?"
Liang Yu was quiet.
Then, without looking over, he said, "You don't lie when you're loud."
Yin Yue blinked. "That's… not an answer either."
"It's not a lie."
And somehow, that felt like the most honest thing anyone had said to him all day.
> 💻 SYSTEM 520:
💘 AFFECTION +6
🫶 Trust Level Raised
📈 Bond Progress: 42/100
🎯 Emotional Threshold Approaching
Yin Yue took a long sip of barley tea and said nothing else for a while.
And neither did Liang Yu.
But the silence between them no longer felt unfinished.
It felt earned.
The dishes were done and the leftovers packed. The tiny café kitchen smelled like dish soap and lingering garlic.
Yin Yue stood at the sink, drying the last plate with a rag that was more lint than fabric. His apron was askew, tied in a half-knot that has unraveled somewhere between washing rice and panicking internally.
He didn't notice when Liang Yu stepped behind him.
But he did notice when two quiet hands reached for his apron strings.
He flinched.
Then froze.
"You tied it wrong," Liang Yu said quietly.
Yin Yue didn't turn around.
Liang Yu's fingers worked quickly pulling the apron strings loose, then cinching them tighter, tying them back with a careful knot.
But his hands lingered.
One rested at Yin Yue's lower back. The other, lightly on his hip, thumb brushing against cotton fabric like it had the right to stay there.
Yin Yue's breath hitched.
"…You didn't have to fix it."
"I didn't like how it looked."
"You don't like lots of things."
"I tolerate you."
> 💻 SYSTEM 520:
💘 Critical Proximity Reached
❤️ Affection Spike +6
💬 Internal Reaction: 'Why is he so gentle, it's physically painful'
🎯 Suggested Action: Turn Around and Panic Elegantly
Yin Yue turned slowly, cautiously just enough to meet Liang Yu's eyes.
They were close. Closer than they'd been since the closet incident. And that had involved actual chest contact.
Now?
Now there was stillness between them. Tension that didn't need movement to thrum like a live wire. Liang Yu was looking at him—really looking, like he was trying to remember something he hadn't been told yet.
"You're staring again," Yin Yue whispered.
"You're not running."
"I should."
Liang Yu's gaze dropped to his lips. Just for a second.
Just long enough.
> 💥 SYSTEM 520:
KISS WINDOW OPEN: 2.3 SECONDS
💋 Emotional Environment: Ripe
😱 Host Heart Rate: 131 BPM
🧠 ML Status: Deeply Considering Terrible Decisions
Then the moment passed.
Liang Yu let go of the apron and stepped back, like nothing had happened.
Yin Yue exhaled like he'd been holding in a tidal wave.
"You're terrifying," he muttered.
Liang Yu turned toward the back door. "I know."
"You're not even trying to be subtle."
"I thought you didn't like subtle."
"I don't! But I also didn't ask to be emotionally manhandled by a guy who ties knots better than my therapist."
Liang Yu smirked.
Yin Yue pointed at him. "That was a smile. I saw it."
"You imagined it."
"You're a menace."
"You stayed."
Yin Yue's mouth shut.
His heart did not.
Yin Yue was wiping down the café's front counter with the seriousness of someone performing surgery on a national monument.
It was mostly clean. There is no customers around. The sunlight hit just right through the windows. It would've been peaceful, if not for the intense gravitational pull of Liang Yu's eyes.
They were across the room.
And they were on his mouth.
Again.
Yin Yue froze mid wipe.
> 💻 SYSTEM 520:
🔎 Eyeline analysis in progress…
👁️ CONFIRMED: ML's gaze has hovered at host's lips for 2.3 seconds
💘 Affection spike: +4
💬 Suggestion: Ask him if he wants a taste or a punch
Yin Yue nearly choked on his own breath.
He turned very slowly.
Liang Yu was still watching him with that same unreadable calm, hands resting on the counter like he hadn't just committed emotional assault with his pupils.
"You're staring," Yin Yue said, voice uneven.
"You're talking," Liang Yu replied.
"I wasn't."
"You were about to."
Yin Yue's mouth opened, then closed. "That's not.. okay, well now I won't."
Jiang Mei wandered in from the back, took one look at them, and immediately said, "Okay, I just walked into a murder or a kiss. Which is it?"
Yin Yue stepped back. "Neither!"
Liang Yu didn't move. He just returned to prepping cold brew, as if the air between them hadn't just gone from zero to 100 on the "am I being seduced or hunted" scale.
"He looked at my mouth," Yin Yue hissed at Jiang Mei.
"You have a mouth," she said helpfully.
"Yeah, but he keeps looking at it."
"Maybe he's wondering how much trouble it would be if he kissed it."
Yin Yue shrieked internally.
> 💻 SYSTEM 520:
💡 Host now entering 'Spiral Mode.' Estimated duration: 2–6 business days.
❤️ ML Affection: 52/100
⚠️ Romantic tension: Stupid high
💬 Warning: Prolonged eye contact may result in emotional combustion.
Yin Yue turned back to the counter, aggressively polishing an already clean surface.
"Do not look at me like that," he muttered without turning around.
"I'm not looking at you," Liang Yu said calmly.
"Yes, you are."
A pause.
Then, softly: "You make it difficult not to."
Yin Yue dropped the spray bottle.
Jiang Mei made a noise like a ship sinking.
> 💻 SYSTEM 520:
❗️Quote logged under "Flirt Level: Fatal"
🫠 Host Core Temperature: RISING
💘 Emotional Fragility Status: Jiggly
"I'm going to... go... stand in the fridge," Yin Yue said, grabbing a tray and fleeing to the back.
"Take some water," Jiang Mei called after him. "You're steaming."
Liang Yu's mouth twitched.
Just barely.
Yin Yue didn't see it.
But he felt it in his soul.
The café was quiet.
Post-closing, the lights was dimmed and the was floor clean. Only the low hum of the fridge and the click of utensils being sorted. Yin Yue was balancing precariously on tiptoe, reaching up to the top shelf in the back to grab a stack of takeaway cup lids.
He could just feel the edge of the box with his fingertips.
Behind him: footsteps.
"Need help?" Liang Yu's voice. Low. Amused.
"No, I've got—" Yin Yue grabbed harder, box tilting—
Liang Yu reached up behind him at the same time.
Their hands met.
Briefly.
And then Liang Yu stepped in very close.
Chest brushing shoulder. Warm breath by his cheek. One hand sliding up next to his, the other steadying the box from underneath.
Yin Yue froze.
The air shifted.
The temperature didn't rise, but somehow it felt like it did.
He turned his head slightly.
Liang Yu was right there.
Close enough to count his lashes.
Close enough that their noses almost brushed.
And then—
Liang Yu leaned in. Slight. Intentional.
Yin Yue's heart stopped.
Is this—?
Is he going to—?
Do I tilt my head??
Am I dreaming?
> 💻 SYSTEM 520:
💘 ML LEANING IN: 74% CERTAINTY
💬 KISS WINDOW OPEN: 1.6 seconds
⚠️ WARNING: Host approaching meltdown
And then... CRASH!
Something fell off the back prep table. A metal bowl hit the floor with an echoing clang.
They jolted apart.
Yin Yue tripped backward two steps.
Liang Yu caught the box of lids, unbothered.
Yin Yue's heart did not unbother. It continued to break the sound barrier.
"I'm..uh..gonna go… clean the espresso machine," he said, voice a little higher than usual.
Liang Yu blinked once, look calm.
"You're trembling."
"I'm naturally skittish!"
"You leaned in."
Yin Yue made a strangled noise. "YOU leaned in!"
> 💻 SYSTEM 520:
🧪 Conflicting Reports
🫠 Emotional Chaos: Optimal
💥 Affection +5
📈 ML Score: 57/100
💬 Status: Not a kiss. But not not a kiss.
Yin Yue fled back toward the front, grabbing a towel he didn't need.
Liang Yu stayed behind, still holding the box.
He didn't smile.
But he looked like he wanted to.