Sang Lu stepped out of the convenience store.
The automatic door sensed her movement and chimed with a robotic "Welcome—"
Feng Yan turned his head to look at her.
Sang Lu placed her snacks on the outdoor table and had just picked up her cup of oden when her attention was suddenly captured by the flickering lights of a nearby vending machine.
The sodas inside, illuminated by the colorful glow, looked ten times more enticing than those sitting on the convenience store shelves.
"Want one?"
Noticing how her eyes suddenly brightened, Feng Yan asked calmly.
"Absolutely~"
Sang Lu nodded, carrying her oden as she walked over.
The two stood in front of the vending machine.
A ring of colorful bulbs on the machine pulsed and shifted hues.
The dazzling, intricate light reflected on their faces.
Feng Yan pulled out his phone.
He was about to ask what she wanted so he could scan the code.
Sang Lu reached out and lightly blocked his phone with her hand, her clear eyes sparkling with fragmented light.
"No scanning—I’ll get coins instead."
With that, she dashed back into the convenience store.
When she returned, her hands were full of coins.
"Vending machines just feel right when you use coins~" she said, her eyes curving into crescents.
Feng Yan paused.
He didn’t quite understand what "feel right" meant in this context.
All he knew was that she was utterly delighted, her eyes brimming with warmth.
A few soft clinks sounded as the coins dropped into the machine.
"What do you want?"
Sang Lu turned to ask him, the dazzling lights dancing in her eyes.
Feng Yan glanced at the vending machine, his gaze sweeping over the array of brightly colored, flavor-packed drinks.
His brows gradually furrowed.
None of them appealed to him.
"Too many options, right? They all look good, so it’s hard to decide—"
Sang Lu chuckled,
"—Want me to choose for you?"
Feng Yan was silent for a few seconds.
He didn’t refuse.
Giving a faint nod of his chin.
The next moment, her cup of oden was shoved into his hands.
"Hold this for me," Sang Lu said.
Feng Yan tightened his grip, the heat from the oden broth seeping through the paper cup into his palm.
He watched as Sang Lu fed more coins into the machine.
Then, with slender, pale fingers, she tapped a few times beneath a pink soda.
She crouched down, waiting eagerly for the drink to drop.
His gaze lowered, landing on the top of her head.
Her naturally wavy hair curled at the ends.
Her earlobes glowed orange-red under the vending machine’s light, then shifted to a cool blue.
The machine rumbled for a moment before thunk-thunk—two sodas dropped.
Sang Lu retrieved them, stood up, and flashed him a bright smile.
Just then, the fluorescent lights flickered to a peachy pink.
The oden was plucked from his grasp, and Feng Yan looked down at the peach-flavored sweet tea soda now in his hand as her sweet voice reached his ears:
"This one’s really good—highly recommend. Try it~"
Beads of condensation slid down the can, cool against his defined knuckles.
It was strange.
Even though the steaming oden was no longer in his hands, the warmth in his palm refused to fade.
With a psht, Feng Yan pulled the tab and took a sip, his Adam’s apple bobbing slightly.
The icy soda slid down his throat.
Yet the heat lingered stubbornly.
Sang Lu—never one to stay quiet—chatted between bites of oden.
Remembering the two oddball brothers she’d seen earlier that day, she mused:
"Sometimes I feel like Feng Yi and Feng Bai aren’t really your brothers. They’re nothing like you—their thought processes are… not exactly normal."
Feng Yan tilted his head, expression questioning: "?"
"Feng Yi’s a lost cause. The way his eyebrows have a mind of their own says it all—special case, parentheses, not an insult, end parentheses," Sang Lu said, biting into a piece of tempura.
"…" Feng Yan paused at her peculiar phrasing yet again.
Sang Lu continued, "As for Feng Bai… his lyrics say everything. His thought process is… unique."
Noticing Feng Yan’s puzzled look—apparently unfamiliar with Feng Bai’s music—she recited a couple of lines from memory:
"Stuff like… ‘a ghost abandoned by the world,’ ‘dancing on graves but never tired’…"
The moment the words left her mouth, Feng Yan’s eyes crinkled with amusement, a low chuckle escaping his chest.
A few seconds later, he replied:
"Yeah. He’s always been like that. Not normal."
With his gray-blue hair and perpetually exhausted demeanor, even as his older brother, Feng Yan couldn’t defend him.
Sang Lu’s eyes widened.
She hadn’t expected Feng Yan to say that.
Maybe because his tone wasn’t as icy as usual, her courage grew.
Curving her lips, she teased lightly:
"Well, you know what they say—the pot calling the kettle black. You’re cut from the same cloth, aren’t you?"
Feng Yan looked at her, brow lifting slightly in question: "?"
"Feng Bai told me you’ve been in ‘cold, domineering CEO mode’ since elementary school," Sang Lu said, then put on a stern face. "Hmm? Does that sound reasonable, President Feng?"
Suddenly addressed so formally, Feng Yan was momentarily speechless: "…"
After a beat, as if finding it amusing, the warmth in his dark eyes deepened.
Sang Lu nibbled on a seaweed knot.
Chew chew chew.
Above the vending machine stretched a sheet-metal awning, enclosing the space in a small, radiant world of shifting colors.
They stood side by side, looking at each other.
The man was tall and straight-backed, nearly as tall as the machine itself.
A few casual exchanges had loosened the atmosphere, making it relaxed and unhurried.
The evening breeze drifted by, tousling Sang Lu’s hair.
Feng Yan’s gaze sharpened.
He suddenly noticed a strand of hair had coiled around her neck and onto her cheek, sticking up.
One wisp clung to the corner of her lips, swaying slightly.
His hand, resting at his side, curled abruptly.
An inexplicable itch prickled his palm, as if her hair had brushed against it.
He stared.
Then, after a few seconds, leaned down slightly.
His calloused fingertips grazed her cheek, sweeping the stray strand away.
Startled by the sudden touch, Sang Lu blinked up at Feng Yan in confusion.
His face was closer now, his handsome features even more striking up close.
His deep voice, laced with amusement, reached her through the breeze:
"You had hair on your face," he said.
The vending machine’s lights flickered, casting a kaleidoscope of colors over his pale complexion. His dark eyes shimmered with scattered reflections.
Sang Lu froze.
Just then—
The convenience store’s automatic door chimed again with a cheerful "Welcome—"
A young clerk rushed out, gripping her phone excitedly.
"Miss! Miss! I just remembered—"
She thrust her phone between them, pointing at the screen.
"Miss, this is you, right? I knew you looked familiar!"
Sang Lu glanced down: "?"
Feng Yan’s eyes flicked to the screen—
And instantly darkened.
The photo showed Xie Sinan surrounded by fans at the airport, Sang Lu accidentally caught in the frame as he grabbed her arm.
