Jiang Jian Yue ignored his stiffness and took the ends of the necklace from his hands.
Her cool fingertips brushed against Yuki Asahi’s nape by accident, sending a shiver through him.
“Don’t move.”
Yuki Asahi instantly froze, feeling his heart race.
With a soft “click,” the clasp fastened.
The small Moon Pendant dangled outside the collar of his hoodie.
Jiang Jian Yue stepped back half a pace and scrutinized him with those cold eyes, as if evaluating her own work.
Not bad.
“Thank you, senpai! I really like it!”
Yuki Asahi touched the Pendant on his chest, a bright smile on his face.
Jiang Jian Yue glanced at his silly expression and said casually, “Call me ‘Yue’!”
She turned around.
“How much was the movie ticket?”
“No… no need!”
Yuki Asahi waved his hands frantically.
“I told you, it’s my treat for–
–for Yue!”
“I don’t want to owe you.”
“That’s not owing!”
Yuki Asahi mustered his courage.
“This is… this is a date!”
Jiang Jian Yue paused.
She looked back at the boy’s earnest and hopeful face, and was silent for a few seconds.
“…Dinner’s on me.”
“Okay!”
“Let’s go.”
Jiang Jian Yue said no more and took the lead toward the cinema elevator.
“Oh! Coming!”
Yuki Asahi hurried after her, walking by her side, his fingers secretly touching the “moon” that now belonged to him.
***
So why is it the couple’s theater again!
Well… honestly, it’s not something I really care about.
Jiang Jian Yue stuffed popcorn into her mouth, using the not-so-tasty puffed snack to fill her stomach.
She’d only grabbed a quick lunch from the Convenience Store at noon, and even then felt cheated.
The meat in the sandwich was just a thin strip pressed against the transparent packaging—only upon opening did she realize there was just a single tiny piece—
She was so mad she laughed.
The movie was the most popular pure love film at the moment.
Jiang Jian Yue never cared for this stuff—she’d seen too many tropes in her past life: car accidents, amnesia, leukemia, misunderstandings, breakups and reunions.
On the screen, the male and female leads kissed in the rain to the BGM.
Romantic?
Expressionless, Jiang Jian Yue grabbed another handful of popcorn and chewed.
Crunchy and too sweet.
Cloying.
She’d rather go back and watch her own OVA, to see if she missed any details in her excitement.
However, in the dim couple’s theater, a sound even clearer than the BGM and impossible to ignore began to echo from all sides.
“Mm… chuu…”
“Nn…”
Tiny, sticky, suppressed laughs and watery noises.
Jiang Jian Yue’s popcorn-chewing halted.
Again?!
She stiffly turned her neck, and in the flickering light from the screen, could vaguely make out a couple in the front right who’d completely forgotten the movie, tangled like two octopuses.
The back left was no better, with rustling and soft chair movements.
Young people sure are energetic.
She felt her cheeks heat up, and it was definitely not from the heater but pure embarrassment.
She instinctively glanced at Yuki Asahi beside her.
The boy sat ramrod straight, like a statue, hands gripping his knees, staring unblinking at the big screen as if watching an epic about the fate of humanity.
But his reddened ear tips were painfully obvious in the dark.
Jiang Jian Yue quickly shoved more popcorn into her mouth to hide her own awkwardness and panic.
Act. Just keep acting.
“Mm… nn…”
The noises from the front right grew louder, even tinged with a sense of proud display.
Jiang Jian Yue felt like she was sitting on needles.
The air… was getting sticky.
She felt like she was breathing someone else’s hormones rather than air.
She cleared her throat, trying to break the weird atmosphere with her voice.
Yuki Asahi visibly shuddered, turning sharply to look at her, his eyes gleaming in the dark.
“Yue?”
“……….”
Jiang Jian Yue looked at his face, tense and almost smoking, then listened to the rising “BGM” around them, and the heat she’d barely suppressed surged up again.
“It’s gone.”
She shook the empty popcorn bucket.
Yuki Asahi immediately placed his own popcorn between them.
A few minutes later, it was empty again—
Sorry, really hungry!
And… why were there no cinema staff stopping all the noise?
Was it just because it was a romance movie?
Maybe noticing Jiang Jian Yue’s discomfort and hunger, Yuki Asahi whispered,
“Yue, this movie’s a little boring…”
“Mm.”
Jiang Jian Yue nodded.
“Should we… just go?”
She nodded again, then naturally grabbed Yuki Asahi’s hand, and the two almost fled from the theater full of decadent sounds.
***
Outside the cinema, the shopping mall’s lights were dazzling, and the noise instantly washed away the previous awkwardness.
Both unconsciously breathed a sigh of relief.
“Let’s… go eat something? Treat it as an early dinner?”
Yuki Asahi suggested cautiously.
Jiang Jian Yue glanced at the time—it was only after four in the afternoon—not her usual time for foraging.
But… she was too hungry.
“My treat.”
Jiang Jian Yue replied simply.
Since it was agreed on earlier, Yuki Asahi had no objections.
They finally found a quiet family restaurant downstairs in the mall.
At this hour, there weren’t many people, so they picked a booth by the window.
After ordering, silence fell between them.
A server brought two glasses of ice water.
Yuki Asahi nervously took a big gulp.
“Yue.”
He set the glass down, finally gathering his courage.
“You’re really beautiful today.”
Jiang Jian Yue’s hand, which was looking through the menu, paused.
“I’m not saying you’re not beautiful normally!”
Yuki Asahi hurried to explain.
“It’s just, today… you’re especially… uh, especially…”
He seemed to search for the right word.
“Especially… grown-up.”
Jiang Jian Yue raised her eyes—
So you finally realized I’m an adult?
“Adult?”
The girl asked, somewhat pleased, though pretending not to know.
“Yeah.”
Yuki Asahi nodded seriously.
“Your makeup, your clothes… It’s a completely different feeling from usual.”
“It’s like… like you suddenly became a bit more distant.”
His intuition was surprisingly sharp.
Is it different?
Maybe.
Yesterday’s Missy, and today’s Runaway Girl, really were people from two different worlds.
“Is that so.”
She replied noncommittally.
Actually, I’ve gotten closer!
A Runaway Girl is much easier to approach than a Missy, you know~
Yuki Asahi seemed to notice her low mood.
He bit his lip, those clear golden eyes staring at her.
“Yue, did something happen to you?”
Jiang Jian Yue’s heart jumped.
“Why do you ask?”
“Just a feeling.”
Jiang Jian Yue’s fingers tightened slightly around the glass.
When did his intuition get so sharp?
“And—”
Yuki Asahi continued, as if piecing together clues.
“You bought new clothes today, put on makeup, and even bought me a gift. But you were so hungry you seemed like you didn’t have lunch… Isn’t that weird?”
Wait—how did he know these were new clothes?
Her red eyes flashed with doubt.
Yuki Asahi caught the look and pointed to his own neck.
“The tag’s still on.”
Jiang Jian Yue’s cheeks reddened slightly, and she quickly pulled the tag from between her clothes—
Damn, I haven’t bought clothes in so long I forgot!
I tried so hard to use makeup to hide how tired I looked, and yet I got exposed so easily…
“Yue.”
Yuki Asahi’s voice softened, a hint of guilt in it.
“Is it… because of me?”
“Did uncle say something to you?”
He naturally thought of the Engagement, recalling some scenes from the movie they’d just watched—where the female lead was forced to break up because she had a fiancé.
This movie… isn’t so boring after all.
Looking at his anxious and guilty face, Jiang Jian Yue felt a crack appear in the icy shell she’d been clinging to.
“It has nothing to do with you.”
Jiang Jian Yue turned her face away, speaking flatly.
“But—”
“I said! It’s not your fault!”
Jiang Jian Yue’s tone grew sharper, as if trying to convince herself.
“This is… my own… choice.”
“What… choice?”
Jiang Jian Yue took a deep breath.
Forget it.
There’s no point hiding it from him.
It’ll just create more distance.
“I ran away from home.”
She took a sip of ice water, the chill calming her.
Then she pulled out her phone and typed in her memo.
“Father told me to get along with that Nine-Tails Seiji, or he’d take away my privileged life. He also said… to let me experience social reality.”
“And he said things like ‘Yuki Asahi is just a passing stranger in your life.’ Last night I got so mad I quit the Jiang Family.”
Yuki Asahi’s face instantly went pale.
“So right now, theoretically, I’m a penniless homeless person.”
Japanese pop music played cheerfully in the restaurant, but the air between the two felt frozen.
Yuki Asahi lowered his head, shoulders trembling.
“I’m sorry…”
“I’m sorry! Yue! It’s all because of me… If it wasn’t for me—”
“Apologies are forbidden.”
Jiang Jian Yue interrupted him.
“It’s not your fault… and definitely not ‘because of you.’”
As she spoke, her fingers flew across her phone, typing in the memo.
When she finished, she flipped her phone around.
“This is my own will. I hate being used as a tool, I hate being threatened. You’re just a catalyst, understand? Even without you, this would’ve happened sooner or later.”
“I—”
Yuki Asahi tried to speak, but Jiang Jian Yue cut him off again.
“Put away your guilt. I don’t need it.”
“….Then last night…”
Yuki Asahi’s voice still trembled.
“Where did you sleep?”
“Net Café.”
“Net Café? A place like that, for a girl… it’s too dangerous!”
Me?
Are you serious?
Yuki Asahi, before you get all romantic, maybe check whether the other person is actually defenseless!
Setting aside Yuki Asahi’s stereotypes about Net Cafés.
If someone really had bad intentions… who knows which side would be in danger.
Yuki Asahi fell silent.
He lowered his head, clenched fists on the table.
Jiang Jian Yue thought he was still stuck in his own thoughts and was about to mock him to snap out of it.
Suddenly, Yuki Asahi lifted his head.
Though his eyes were still red, his gaze was remarkably firm.
“Yue.”
His voice was unusually steady.
“I… was actually planning to move out too.”
This time, it was Jiang Jian Yue’s turn to be stunned.
She knew Yuki Asahi intended to move out, but to bring it up now—could it be…