Chapter 43: Confession

  "...if there must be some bitterness?"

  Why don't you cut it yourself?

  Until Qin Ke Yi and I slowly repeated the last sentence of this song one by one, everyone seemed to be intoxicated in the beautiful singing we offered, and it was a long time before someone started applauding. Perhaps due to the frequent activities on the T-stage, Qin Ke Yi faced everyone's applause very naturally, forming a sharp contrast with my slight shyness.

  "Thank you! Thank you, Kang Jian! Thank you, Ke Yi!" Just as I was indulging in the beauty of Qin Ke Yi's smile and feeling a sense of happiness, Guo Cheng's provocative words brought me back to reality. After exchanging smiles with me, Qin Ke Yi returned to her seat. The game continued under Guo Cheng's direction, during which many people went up to sing for the "fated ones", while I sat below, staring at Qin Ke Yi in a daze.

  "Alright! I think everyone has rested enough! Next, we'll continue dancing, and the boys should take the initiative to invite their ideal dance partners!" As soon as Guo Cheng's voice fell, a soft ballroom music started playing, and at this time, the boys around me stood up one after another to invite the girls they had been admiring for a long time to dance together.

  Before long, there were very few people sitting below, and only I and Mark were left among the boys.

  "Why don't you go dance!?" Mark asked me while smoking beside me.

  Didn't you jump too?

  "I'm waiting for someone else to invite me! What status do I have, can I just take action casually?"

  "Really! Who doesn't know that you're Guo Cheng's boyfriend now?! You don't even dare to dance with other girls, do you?!"

  "Yes! Yes! I don't dare! It doesn't matter! But the problem now is where is Qin Da Mei sitting?! You can also bear to watch!" Ma Ke said while pointing at Qin Ke, who was quietly sitting with two girls, occasionally smiling and whispering a few words to the girl next to her, forming a stark contrast with her image from earlier when she was dancing.

  "You little scoundrel, I haven't settled the score with you for what you did earlier! You think you can make fun of me in good conscience?" I suddenly recalled Marco's ugly behavior from earlier.

  "Isn't all this for your own good?! Creating public opinion for you!!" Marco said with a hint of grievance.

  "What opinion!? I don't need it! Just mind your own business!"

  "Go! Go! You think I'm bothered with your nonsense?! Aren't you going to invite me to dance at all?"

  "I... why should I ask her to dance!" I said to Mark, but in fact, from the moment the music started, I had an urge to get up and walk to Qin Ke's side to invite him to dance. Every time I was about to stand up, I chickened out, so although I seemed calm on the surface, my heart was racing wildly as I sat there.

  "Everyone else has already refused several! This explains the problem! Look! Another refusal!" At this time, under Marco's prompt, I saw Qin Ke Yi shaking her head and smiling as she said something to a boy standing in front of her. From the disappointed expression on the boy's face as he walked away, it could be seen that Qin Ke Yi had refused him.

  "Go quickly! They're waiting for you!" Under Marco's encouragement and push, I hastily stood up, tidied my hair and clothes, took a deep breath with a large amplitude, and then walked stiffly towards Qin Ke Yi. When I was halfway there, Qin Ke Yi seemed to have sensed my intention, pretended not to see me, turned his head and looked elsewhere.

  "Want to dance?" I stood in front of Qin Keyi, extending an invitation with my hand, but Qin Keyi still pretended not to have heard and continued looking elsewhere. At this time, a girl next to her smiled and nudged Qin Keyi, who turned around with a very surprised expression and looked at me.

  "What... do you want to do?" I, who have always been striving to be a man with inner qualities, faced Qin Ke's puzzled and deliberately questioning behavior with great demeanor, without arguing with her.

  "May I have the pleasure of this dance?" I mustered up my courage and repeated the words loudly to Qin Ke Yi. This time, after hearing it, her expression quickly turned into a deep blush, and after hesitating for two or three seconds, she stretched out her hand with a red face, accepting my invitation.

  I pulled Qin Ke Yi's hand and slowly walked into the crowd of people dancing, then turned around with one hand resting on her slender waist, starting to sway gently to the rhythm of the music, slowly beginning to dance. We looked at each other, Qin Ke Yi always gazing at me with scorching eyes, her intense gaze making me unable to avoid her eyes sometimes.

  "Kang Jian! You're not allowed to say anything to me?" Qin Ke Yi finally asked the question that made me feel tense but was within my expectations.

  "What... was that?" I replied tensely.

  "Don't you want to explain the meaning of 'Till death us do part, with you I will share a life, holding your hand, and growing old together'?"

  ”?

  “……”?

  "My language skills may not be great, but am I really stupid enough to not understand the meaning of this sentence at this moment?" Qin Ke saw that I didn't respond and continued speaking.

  ...and I was like a walking corpse, numbly following Qin Ke's lead in the dance, unsure of how to face the current situation.

  "Now that you know, why ask me?" I calmed down and said to Qin Ke with a guilty conscience.

  "Sometimes... girls live just to wait for one sentence, you know?" Qin Ke said seriously to me, and I could feel the deep emotions in her eyes.

  "...At this time, I only have the courage left. Qin Ke's words seem to make sense when carefully pieced together, but aren't many boys struggling to find someone to express these words to?"

  "Alright! You only have one chance!" Qin Ke Yi seemed to be issuing me a final ultimatum, making me even more tense.

  "Uh... 'Till death do us part, with you I will grow old, holding your hand, and together we'll grow old' is a sentence from the Book of Songs, specifically from the section 'Bei Feng - Striking the Drum', which means..."

  "Alright! After this dance is over... you won't have another chance. Time seems to be running out?" Qin Ke suddenly saw through my trick and timely interrupted me, forcing me to get straight to the point. Emotions are often blind, no matter how rational you are, when encountering such a strange thing, you will often become flustered. At this moment, I had completely put aside the many worries that were still lingering in my mind just a few minutes ago.

  "I... I like you, I really like you. I don't know when it started, but I've slowly gotten used to having you in my life. When you're happy, I'm happy too. When you're sad, I feel bad too... " I finally said under Qin Ke Yi's guidance, the feelings that had been buried deep within me for a long time, which I hadn't noticed and had been avoiding before. And just as I was about to fully express these feelings, Qin Ke Yi already wrapped his arms around my neck, holding me tightly...

  So we held each other tightly, silently feeling each other's heartbeat and body temperature, until we finished the rest of the dance. Meanwhile, I kept asking myself, "Is this the result I wanted?"

  "Already, the dance has ended?" After the dance ended, everyone had returned to their seats, but Qin Ke Yi seemed still immersed in the sweet atmosphere of dancing with me, still tightly hugging me and walking in step with me, so I had to remind her.

  "Let's go for a walk." As soon as Qin Ke heard my words, he slowly lifted his head and looked at me. Then we held hands and walked slowly towards the door, which seemed to be our first time holding hands in public.

  "Kang Jian! Can... can you give me some time to think about it?" Qin Ke said with a gentle tone as we reached the door.

  "Consider? Why consider?"

  "I really hope to hear you confess to me, I also like you very much... but... I'm not ready yet... can I think about it for a while?" Qin Keyi's fidgeting hands revealed her nervousness at this moment.

  "How long will you consider?" I asked with a bit of trepidation.

  "I don't know! Maybe a week, maybe a month! Anyway, it won't be too long!" Qin Ke still said tensely.

  "Really! Do you like me?" I walked up to Qin Ke Yi, grasped her shoulders with both hands, and asked seriously. Qin Ke Yi looked at me for a moment, then blushed and lowered her head, nodding slightly.

  "Alright! Qin Ke Yi! I'll give you time to think it over thoroughly! During this period, we're still friends like before, okay?" Qin Ke Yi nodded his head lightly again after listening to my words.