Jiang Nuan had overslept.
The alarm had gone off so many times that she’d lost count before she finally struggled out from under the covers.
She had danced by the frozen lake last night, then battled a surge of anomalous energy until both her stamina and her abilities were completely drained. The heat was turned up high on the way back, and she’d already started nodding off in the car. The moment she got into bed, she was out like a light—not even a dream to show for it.
Today was the first official day of dance practice. They were rehearsing the prayer-for-a-bountiful-year dance.
After washing up, she grabbed a dress at random from the closet. She hadn’t bought a formal gown yet, so this would have to do for now.
The scent of fried eggs drifted from the kitchen as she headed downstairs.
A tall, slender figure stood in front of the stove, flipping a pan one-handed.
“Qinian.” Jiang Nuan rubbed her eyes as she walked over and sat down. “Should we find an empty room and practice after we eat?”
The man turned around, curved his lips into a smile, and nodded.
Qinian slid the fried eggs and toast in front of her, poured her a glass of warm milk, and finally brought over a plate of sliced strawberries.
Every berry had been hulled, and they were arranged in neat rows.
Jiang Nuan bit into a strawberry, her gaze lingering on the plate for a moment longer.
Qinian cuts fruit…and knows how to arrange it?
But she was still too sleepy for her brain to be fully online. The thought flickered through her mind, then vanished.
*
The unused room was spacious, and morning light spilled through the floor-to-ceiling windows across the endless white snow outside.
A waltz played through the speakers, its rhythm slow and gentle.
Jiang Nuan walked in and asked Qinian, who had just selected the music, “Shall we start now?”
Qinian smiled warmly and shook his head. His long fingers pointed toward her stomach.
Jiang Nuan lowered her eyes to look at her own stomach, then looked back up at him.
Did he want her to let her food settle before they danced?
She stared at him blankly for two seconds, then eyed him suspiciously.
Since when had Qinian become so health-conscious?
He lazily lifted his chin, gesturing for her to go sit down.
There was nothing wrong with the gesture. Nothing wrong with his expression, either.
It simply made her want to obey for some inexplicable reason.
Jiang Nuan said, “Oh,” and, almost as if possessed, sat down on the sofa nearby.
The morning light was lovely, softening one side of his face far more than usual.
He lowered his head to look at his terminal, a faint smile playing at the corners of his lips. Quiet and content, he looked like a cat basking in the sun.
He was good-looking, certainly.
But she couldn’t shake the feeling that this cat had put away its claws today.
After a while, Jiang Nuan decided that enough time had passed. She got up and walked over to him.
“Is that enough, Teacher Qi Nian? I’ve finished digesting.”
Qinian checked the time, then raised his eyes and nodded.
His eyes curved slightly as he extended his right hand toward her, palm up.
Jiang Nuan placed her hand in his.
When their palms met, his hand was a little cold.
The heating in this room really was inadequate.
The opening steps went far more smoothly than she had expected.
After training with Lu Shiyan yesterday, Jiang Nuan had built a solid foundation in the basic steps. Following his lead took little effort.
But that wasn’t the only reason things went so well. Qinian was simply an excellent guide.
Every step landed precisely on the beat, and he left her plenty of room whenever they turned.
There was no need to resist or guess where he would lead her. He had already laid out every path; all she had to do was step onto it.
This wasn’t right.
The Qinian she knew wasn’t like this.
Normally, he liked to lean in half a step when he spoke, his gaze full of reckless flirtation.
Have him dance a proper waltz?
Jiang Nuan’s expectation had been that he would start acting up by the third beat—either deliberately speeding up by half a beat so she would stumble into his arms, or tightening his hold during a turn and leaning close to whisper something suggestive in her ear.
But none of that happened today.
He was looking down at her with a gentle smile.
…Gentle?
When had Qinian ever smiled like that?
Then she suddenly remembered something else. From breakfast until now, Qinian hadn’t said a single word.
Jiang Nuan was fully awake now.
“…You’re Qi Sui.”
The moment she said it, the look in those eyes changed.
Qi Sui-style delight surfaced in them—warm and gentle, yet somehow dangerous.
He didn’t deny it.
When he spoke, his voice was like thin snow melting into warm water. “You figured it out a little sooner than I expected.”
Jiang Nuan took half a step back.
Qi Sui obediently released her hand, but only for two seconds. Then he covered it again, folding her hand into his palm.
“Don’t rush off,” he said. “The song isn’t over yet.”
He guided Jiang Nuan onward, keeping her moving with the rhythm. “Where’s Qinian? Does he know you came to take his place?”
Qi Sui smiled and shook his head. “I sent him out to buy something.”
“And besides,” he continued unhurriedly, “you looked at my face, called me Qinian, and invited me to stand here with you.”
His tone was gentle.
“I was claimed by a beautiful girl. It would’ve been rude to refuse.”
“…That counts as deception.” Jiang Nuan ground her teeth.
“It counts as flirting.” Qi Sui’s voice was full of laughter.
“And besides…” His voice was almost a sigh. “You know how shared senses work.”
He looked at her. “Every touch Qinian has felt from you—the temperature, the texture, the rhythm of your heartbeat—I remember it more clearly than he does.”
“But what I want to know even more,” Qi Sui continued, tightening his hand at her waist, “is how it feels to experience it myself…instead of through him.”
He wore an exceptionally gentle smile as he said it.
But the meaning behind his words trampled straight over every boundary of ambiguity.
Jiang Nuan’s ears burned.
She couldn’t say she disliked it.
After the life-or-death ordeal aboard the White Whale, Qi Sui and Qinian had long since ceased to be mere teammates in her heart.
They were like family, like older and younger brothers, but not entirely.
…Perhaps there was something more.
“Bang!”
“Nuannuan!” A familiar, fiery voice rang out from the doorway.
The real Qinian stood there, snow that hadn’t yet melted clinging to his bangs. His chest rose and fell slightly, and there was a spark of anger in his eyes.
“Weren’t we supposed to practice together today?”
He strode inside in two steps, his gaze pausing for a moment on the hand Qi Sui had placed around Jiang Nuan’s waist.
Then he looked at his brother.
Qi Sui was still smiling. “You weren’t here.”
“You’re the one who sent me out to buy things!” Qinian snapped, his brows shooting up. “You! You planned this from the beginning, didn’t you?”
“Planned what?” Qi Sui blinked innocently. “I suddenly wanted something to drink, and you happened to be closest to the door.”
“You sent me all the way across to the shopping district for limited-edition sparkling water! It took an hour there and back, including the line!”
“Mm. It’s the best-tasting brand.”
“Qi Sui!” Qinian’s chest heaved several times as he forced the words through clenched teeth. “You’re! So! Dead!”
Qi Sui continued smiling sweetly as he led Jiang Nuan through another turn. “All right. I’ll wait.”
“I’m the one who’s supposed to be her practice partner today!” Qinian’s voice turned aggrieved.
Two nearly identical gazes met above Jiang Nuan’s head.
“Um…” She tried to slip out of Qi Sui’s arms.
She wanted to go sit to the side and watch the two of them argue.
But she didn’t get the chance.
Qinian had already pressed up behind her.
His chest settled against her back, and one scorching arm wrapped around her waist, coming to rest beneath the hand Qi Sui had placed there.
His body heat burned through the fabric of her dress, enclosing her from behind like a mass of flames. It was completely different from Qi Sui’s cool touch in front of her.
But he didn’t simply pull Qi Sui away.
Instead, he chose a much cleverer approach.
She suddenly remembered that he had once said, “I won’t lose control again.”
It seemed she really was learning.
Though she appeared to be learning in a somewhat… misguided direction.
The music changed to a slower-tempo piece.
Behind her, Qinian moved along with her and Qi Sui, following their motions like a flame flowing along her path.
The three of them found their rhythm during the first four-count, and after that, their steps fell smoothly into place.
Qi Sui led from the front, his cool palm holding her hand, leaving her just enough room with every step.
Qinian followed from behind, moving in waltz steps, his burning chest and palm pressed against her without getting in the way.
He didn’t steal the spotlight, but his presence was impossible to ignore.
Their reflections in the floor-to-ceiling window danced the waltz in perfect time with the music.
As they turned, Qi Sui’s fingers slipped from her palm.
In the very next instant, Qinian’s hand filled the gap. His scorching palm closed around hers and spun her into his arms.
Her back collided with Qinian’s chest.
She hadn’t even steadied herself when Qi Sui had already caught up, his hand coming to rest on her shoulder.
“Don’t be afraid.”
Qi Sui leaned close to her ear.
“We’re moving to the same rhythm.”
Jiang Nuan felt like the last taut string in her head was about to snap.
“You two…” Her voice was a little hoarse. “Did you plan this together?”
The person in front of her let out a laugh. “Plan it?”
The person behind her spoke in a voice so gentle it was almost unfair. “That’s called being in sync.”
