The bandaged boy felt her gaze was terrifying—like a flame scorching hot enough to burn everything, yet also like the murky sludge in stagnant water, creeping over with a damp, suffocating grip, threatening to swallow him whole.
He had never encountered anything so horrifying before. She must possess some strange magic!
But soon, he reminded himself that he couldn’t possibly be intimidated by a mere human girl. So he straightened his back, lifted his chin, and bluffed with a hollow threat, "If you keep looking at me with those disgusting eyes, I’ll eat you!"
He thought it was a fearsome warning. After all, in the past, whenever he threatened to devour someone, the escapees would flee in terror. But then, he remembered how Xia Miao had cried earlier. If she started weeping again, wouldn’t he be the one forced to comfort her?
Ugh! So troublesome!
Just as he debated whether to tone down his menacing demeanor, Xia Miao suddenly grabbed his collar, yanking him down to her level. At the same time, she rose onto her tiptoes and pressed her lips against his—through the white bandages covering his mouth.
The bandages were cold, the rough texture of the gauze starkly noticeable between them. Despite being long accustomed to the feel of the wrappings, for the first time, he found them unbearably foreign.
When he finally processed what had happened, his eyes widened, pupils shrinking like a startled cat’s. With a soft thud, the flowers in his hand fell to the ground.
After a long moment, Xia Miao lowered her heels and turned her face away, muttering, "Eating me is way too soon for our relationship. But since you came to see me today, I’ll let you have a kiss first."
She had been the one to initiate it, yet he noticed her ears turning red. There must be traces of her strange magic lingering in the air, because his face burned hot—thankfully hidden beneath the bandages. His chest heaved violently, heart pounding uncontrollably.
Clutching his chest as if to force his heart back into place, he stumbled three steps backward, bristling like a spooked animal. "You kissed me!?"
Xia Miao pressed her lips together and glared at him. "Don’t forget, our current dynamic is that I have feelings for you, and you’re the one pursuing me. You haven’t even succeeded yet! Letting you kiss me is already generous. If you want to do anything more… that’ll have to wait until we’re officially together!"
More?
His eyes froze, his mind blanking. But the next second, whatever wild thoughts flashed through his head sent his body temperature skyrocketing. Thin wisps of black smoke curled from his white bandages, glowing cracks revealing molten-red embers beneath, as if he were about to combust.
He was literally on the verge of bursting into flames!
Xia Miao picked up the fallen flowers and studied them for a long moment before pointing at the bouquet. "What’s this?"
After a pause, the boy finally found his voice, dry and stiff. "Flowers."
Xia Miao plucked one out and fell silent. "Why does this 'flower' look like it has five fingers? Almost like… a hand bone?"
His gaze darted around but kept drifting back to her lips. "The old gardener said girls like unique gifts. I made these flowers myself. No one else has them." His voice grew quieter, his eyes inevitably lingering on her mouth.
Her lips were a vivid red—like she’d just feasted on a child—inexplicably captivating.
Hearing that he had crafted the "flowers" himself, Xia Miao’s expression softened slightly. Sure, they were bizarre, resembling skeletal claws, but at least he’d put in the effort.
She shot him a glance, then hmphed, cradling the bundle of white "flowers" as she sauntered off.
He hurried after her, his dead-fish eyes glued to her back. But the moment she turned around, he quickly schooled his expression, straightening up with hands in pockets, exuding an air of arrogance and indifference.
Once she looked away again, he immediately resumed trailing her, quickening his steps to keep up.
After a while, Xia Miao suddenly spun around. "Why are you following me?"
"Who’s following you?" He tilted his chin up, looking down at her with sheer audacity. "This road doesn’t belong to you. I can go wherever I want."
Xia Miao: "There are so many paths here, yet you just happen to take the same one as me!"
"So what? Does it have your name on it? Can’t I walk here?" Like a petulant child, he lifted his nose and grumbled, "You’re so full of yourself. Me, following you? Ridiculous! As if I’d tail you just because I want you to kiss me again! It was just one kiss—I’m a grown man, I don’t even care!"
Xia Miao stared at him, stunned.
Soon, he noticed mist gathering in her fragile eyes. His entire body tensed, goosebumps rising.
Sure enough, Xia Miao demanded, "What do you mean, just one kiss? That was my first kiss!"
She stomped her foot in fury and shoved the bouquet back into his arms. "I don’t want to talk to you anymore!"
With that, she turned and ran.
He stood frozen for two seconds before instinctively chasing after her. "Hey! Why are you crying!?"
"None of your business! Leave me alone!" As the pampered young lady of the Xia family, her temper was formidable. When she was in a good mood, she might kiss him—but when upset, she wouldn’t hesitate to snap, "Get lost!"
His eyes widened, pupils sharpening with shock before igniting with rage. "No one’s ever dared to tell me to get lost!"
"Get lost!"
He sped up, keeping pace beside her. "Apologize! Do it, and I’ll consider not eating you!"
"Get lost, get lost, get lost!"
Gritting his teeth, he leaned in closer. "I’m serious! I’ll give you three seconds to apologize. Three… two… two-point-five."
Hunched slightly to meet her eye level, he huffed, "Two-point-four… two-point-three… two-point-two… I’m counting down to one, you know!"
Xia Miao: "Go away!"
His throat tightened. In a burst of frustration, he grabbed her arm, refusing to let go no matter how hard she struggled. Amid her stream of curses, he fumed, hopping mad—so much so that several bony "fingers" from his handmade bouquet tumbled out.
"Don’t think I won’t actually hurt you! Let me tell you, my killing methods are—"
A fist slammed into his eye, followed by the familiar crack in his neck. When his vision cleared, he saw the girl’s eyes red with anger, her fair skin flushed, fierce yet vibrantly alive.
"Treating a girl’s first kiss so lightly—you’re the worst! I don’t like you anymore!"
He stared at her in a daze for a few seconds, and just as Xia Miao was about to lash out at him with fists and kicks, he let out a faint, mosquito-like whisper, "That was my first kiss too."
Xia Miao’s flailing abruptly stopped. She lifted her face, her gaze colliding with his.
The oddly dressed boy lowered his head, seemingly embarrassed. Two seconds later, he peeked up at her again, his voice awkward and hesitant, "If you're upset… you can always take back the first kiss you gave me by kissing me again."
Xia Miao’s temple twitched. "How am I supposed to take back a first kiss that’s already been given away?!"
"It… can’t be taken back?" The boy blinked in confusion. Then, as if realizing he now possessed something no one else could ever have, a brilliant light burst forth from his lifeless, dead-fish eyes.
His body trembled faintly, as if overflowing with an excitement too explosive to contain. Yet, unwilling to let anyone witness such an embarrassing sight, he buried his face behind the messy bouquet of hand-picked flowers, only his stark black-and-white eyes peeking through the gaps between his fingers.
His sticky, lingering gaze spread through the air, clinging to Xia Miao’s face before settling on her rosy lips. Inside him, the sound of bubbling magma seemed to rumble, until finally, he crouched down, clutching the bouquet and burying his face in the "flowers."
Whether from bashfulness or exhilaration, his figure quivered—like a wriggling worm.
