The Celestial Veil Sect grew quiet as night fell, its lanterns flickering like gentle stars caught beneath the eaves. The moon hung high above the courtyard, full and bright, casting soft silver light over the stone paths leading toward the lotus pond. Shen Yu had been restless all evening, his thoughts tangled somewhere between the memory of Ling Wei's hands catching him earlier and the warmth of those brief, almost-accidental moments of closeness.
He wandered aimlessly until he found himself at the pond's edge. The water shimmered like polished glass, reflecting the moonlight in rippling circles. Shen Yu let out a small sigh, hugging his knees. "Why do I act like such an idiot around him…?"
"You're loud again."
The calm voice cut through the night, and Shen Yu's heart jolted. Ling Wei stepped from the shadows of the willow trees, his robes flowing like mist, his expression unreadable. The moonlight framed him in soft white edges, making him seem almost unreal. Shen Yu scrambled to his feet far too fast, stumbling over his own step.
"I–I wasn't being loud!" he protested, cheeks hot.
Ling Wei approached slowly, eyes softened with something far gentler than Shen Yu expected. "You're always loud. Especially inside your own mind."
Shen Yu blinked. "You… can tell?"
"Of course," Ling Wei replied quietly, stepping close enough that their reflections merged on the pond's surface. "I watch you more carefully than you realize."
Shen Yu's breath caught. The words shouldn't have felt so intimate… but they did.
He swallowed nervously. "Ling Wei… earlier today, during training… I didn't mean to cause trouble. I always make things harder for you."
Ling Wei reached out, lifting Shen Yu's chin with a single knuckle. "Then let me ask you something, Shen Yu. If you truly made things harder for me… why do I keep catching you?"
Shen Yu froze. The moonlight painted Ling Wei's eyes with silver warmth, and for the first time, Shen Yu saw something vulnerable within them — something waiting, something wanting.
"Because…" Shen Yu whispered. "…you care?"
A soft breath escaped Ling Wei, almost a sigh, almost a laugh. "I do," he admitted. "More than a teacher should. More than a senior should." His fingers brushed Shen Yu's cheek, sending shivers down his spine. "More than I tried to ignore."
Shen Yu's heart raced, fast and bright like a sparrow trapped against his ribs.
"Ling Wei… I like you," he confessed, voice trembling. "Maybe too much. You're calm, perfect, steady… and I'm not. But I still—"
Ling Wei didn't let him finish.
He leaned in and kissed him.
It was not rushed or forceful. It was slow, careful, as though testing the shape of something precious. Shen Yu's eyes widened before fluttering shut, the world blurring into warmth and moonlight. Ling Wei's hand cupped the back of his neck, pulling him gently closer, deepening the kiss. Shen Yu's fingers clutched the front of Ling Wei's robes, holding onto him like he might disappear if he let go.
The warmth settled into something tender, something aching, something that made Shen Yu feel like he was breathing for the first time.
When they finally broke apart, Ling Wei rested his forehead against Shen Yu's, breath soft against his lips. "I've fallen for you," he murmured — the rarest, sincerest confession. "Reckless as you are."
Shen Yu laughed breathlessly, cheeks glowing. "Reckless enough to fall for you first."
Ling Wei smiled — a real, unguarded smile that Shen Yu had only imagined. And he kissed him again, softer this time, sealing the truth between them.
Not too far away, Xiao Rong dragged Yu Zhen toward the quiet end of the training terrace, unaware they were walking into their own fate.
"Why do you always disappear at night?" Xiao Rong asked, pouting dramatically. "Are you avoiding me?"
Yu Zhen stiffened slightly. "No. You are simply… loud."
"So is Shen Yu," Xiao Rong replied smugly. "But Ling Wei likes him anyway."
The tips of Yu Zhen's ears went pink. "T-That's different."
"Is it?" Xiao Rong leaned in, grinning. "Because you look at me the same way Ling Wei looks at Shen Yu."
Yu Zhen's composure cracked instantly. "I—I do not—!"
"You do," Xiao Rong said, softer now. "You always catch me when I slip. You always keep an eye on me. You always pretend you don't care but help me every time."
Yu Zhen's jaw tightened, and for once, he didn't look away. "You are reckless," he said quietly. "You jump into danger without thinking. You provoke everyone. You laugh too loudly. You irritate me endlessly." His voice softened. "And yet… every time you fall, my heart moves before my body does."
Xiao Rong's breath hitched.
Yu Zhen finally exhaled, as though releasing a secret he had held too tightly for too long. "Yes. I care for you. Deeper than I intended. Deeper than I should."
Xiao Rong's grin faded into something warmer, something softer. Without hesitation, he took Yu Zhen's hand — the disciplined, composed, infamously serious Yu Zhen — and pulled him to sit beside him on the quiet terrace wall.
"Yu Zhen," he whispered, fingers brushing his knuckles, "I like you too. Not because you're always serious. Not because you're strong." He leaned closer, voice dropping. "But because you always understand me… even when I don't understand myself."
Yu Zhen's eyes softened in a way only Xiao Rong ever witnessed. "Then… stay by my side," he said quietly. "Reckless as you are."
Xiao Rong grinned and leaned his forehead against Yu Zhen's, the same way Shen Yu and Ling Wei had moments earlier without knowing it.
"No," Xiao Rong murmured. "Stay by my side."
Yu Zhen's lips twitched — the faintest, shyest smile — before he allowed Xiao Rong to pull him into a gentle, brief kiss on the cheek. Yu Zhen froze, stunned, while Xiao Rong laughed softly, savoring the moment.
"Flustered?" Xiao Rong teased.
Yu Zhen attempted to compose himself, but the blush across his cheeks betrayed him completely. "Y-You… are impossible."
"And you," Xiao Rong said, leaning against his shoulder, "are mine."
Across the quiet sect, two pairs of hearts beat in new rhythms — reckless boys wrapped in the arms of the disciplined ones who loved them quietly, deeply, fiercely.
Under the moonlight, two confessions shimmered into existence, marking the beginning of something irreversible, something beautiful.
The night held its breath around them, as though even the stars wished not to interrupt.