Chapter 31: Our Date

Jin looked curiously at the piece of chocolate in his hand, smiled, and popped it into his mouth.

It tasted sweet, but carried a lingering, subtle bitterness at the very end, while being dominated by a rich fragrance that seemed to stretch all the way from his taste buds deep down into his throat.

S changed her posture, leaning her back against the railing. She shifted her gaze away from the star-filled sky above and looked at Jin. "How is it? What does it feel like?"

Jin was somewhat at a loss for how to describe it, but if he really had to use a metaphor...

"This is a special edition chocolate. Eating it gives you a feeling... much like the taste of being in love."

Not daring to meet Jin's eyes, S gazed back up at the starry sky and spoke with a hint of hopeful anticipation.

At that exact moment, across the deep expanse of the cosmos, a shooting star flashed swiftly past, leaving behind a graceful trail of stardust.

Acting like a pure, earnest maiden, S hurriedly pressed her palms together and gently closed her eyes.

The shooting star was fleeting. Seeing S open her eyes, Jin asked with an amused smile, "What wish did you make?"

S's beautiful eyes rolled slightly as she offered a playful, probing tease: "If I tell you my wish, will you help me make it come true?"

Jin was momentarily startled, then smiled and replied, "If it's within my power..."

"Well..."

S lowered her gaze slightly, mustered her courage, and said, "My wish is—"

"Warning! Unidentified flying object detected infiltrating the area!"

However, immediately cutting her off was the voice of Commander Deus:

"The location is sector B, grid JQ13! Jin, K, and S are to investigate the incident together!"

The sudden intrusion by Commander Deus completely disrupted the rhythm and ruined the entire atmosphere. S cried out in frustration, "Oh, seriously... How could this happen? Damn it!!!"

Watching S throw a tantrum like a little girl, Jin felt a sense of calm and reassurance in his heart, though amusement predominated.

"So, are you still going to say it?"

"Agh!" S's face flushed crimson as she stamped her foot and exclaimed,

"Say what, for goodness' sake... Damn that commander..."

Jin shrugged, cast one final glance at the starry night sky, and said, "Well, I should be heading back."

"Huh?" S froze, her tone hesitant and reluctant to let him go as she twisted her hands in a shy, girlish manner. "S... so early..."

Shaking his head with an amused smile, Jin replied, "My younger sister is still waiting for me at home..."

Taking a slight step back, Jin waved his hand and prepared to leave.

"Ah..." S stepped forward, calling out to him with a trace of shyness.

Seeing him turn his head back around, S felt a bit embarrassed and waved her hand awkwardly. "Well... goodbye then..."

Watching her hesitant expression, Jin finally couldn't help but laugh. He walked back and stood right in front of her.

S was among the taller class of women, but standing before Jin, she only reached up to his shoulder.

With the two of them standing so close together, S felt a slight sense of unease, her eyes darting away, not daring to meet his gaze.

"I have a feeling... you seem to have something you want to tell me?"

S was startled, still hesitating over whether she should say it. Her tall figure leaned against the railing, and her heartbeat involuntarily quickened.

"If you're not going to say it, I'm leaving." Jin paused in front of her, and seeing that she seemed to have no intention of speaking, he decided to gently provoke her.

Jin was not made of wood; he was naturally aware of S's feelings.

He couldn't help but feel a rising sense of expectation within himself. Sometimes, romance was a strange and elusive thing, and perhaps S's image had already quietly etched itself into his heart.

Then, he heard S say:

"L... let's go on a date!"

She offered no reason, or perhaps no special reason was needed at all.

Having spoken the words aloud, S hesitated no longer, her beautiful eyes fixed intently on Jin.

"Let's go on a date!"

Jin suddenly smiled. He placed his hand gently on her head, stroked her hair softly, and whispered, "Very well... I shall grant your wish."

With those words, Jin pulled S into his embrace, resting her head against his chest.

S was completely stunned.

Leaning against Su Chen's chest, her heart thumped wildly, and the world seemed to spin before her eyes.

Perhaps due to her racing heart, flustered and at a loss for what to do, S could only think in a dazed, blissful daze that the starlight tonight seemed extraordinarily beautiful...

***

"Ah, ah, ah..."

"Those two jerks... Those two jerks are late!"

Repeatedly checking his wristwatch, K waited in dry boredom, pacing aimlessly around the area.

"So slow..."

Sitting on a stone bench, K was just about to complain a bit more when he heard S's voice from behind.

"K."

The tone was cloyingly sweet, making the hairs on K's arms stand on end.

"You guys are late!"

Jin smiled without speaking, while S clung tightly to Jin's arm, looking over at K as she said:

"Sorry... The two of us went on a date."

"Huh?"

K turned around in utter shock, his face a mask of disbelief.

Jin asked, "What about that fallen object?"

"What? No way! You two went on a date?" K hurriedly jumped to his feet and shouted.

"They said it's around here, let's hurry..." Lively as a little bird, S looked even more radiant in her elevated mood. She took Jin's hand and began walking off to the side.

"Hey? Are you guys pulling my leg?" K still wailed mournfully behind them.

"Hey, hey, hey... Wait a second..."

The landing site of the glowing object from the previous night was on a patch of grass in a park. By the time the three of them arrived, deep gouges had been carved into the ground, though it remained a mystery how they were caused.

"There are weak radioactive readings..." Jin confirmed, nodding as he checked the display on his wristwatch.

"Ah... It definitely moved underground..." K pulled an instrument from his jacket, spat viciously onto it—as if venting all the depression he had accumulated that day—and then drove it down into one of the trenches.

"This UFO is utterly shameless! We agreed to stick together, so how can you abandon me to bachelorhood? If I catch it, I'll skin it alive and pull its tendons..."

S raised her head, looked at K with a helpless expression, and asked, "What on earth are you babbling about?"

K's mouth twitched. He clapped his hands together and said, "I was talking about... that flying object..."

Jin smiled, patted K on the shoulder, and said, "Let's split up to investigate..."

All three nodded and parted ways.

However, they hadn't even walked two steps when K shouted indignantly, "Hey, weren't we supposed to split up and investigate? Why are you two going together?!"

S waved a hand and teased playfully, "That's right, Jin and I are in a group, which means we're splitting up from you..."

"Agh... You bastards!" K stomped his foot in fury. "What is the meaning of this? Is this outright bullying against single guys?!"

S leaned closer to Jin and smiled secretively. "Yes, you guessed it right."

"No way, no way..." K shook his head back and forth like a rattling drum and yelled, "If we're going to investigate, we all investigate together, otherwise everyone splits up individually!"

Faced with the thick-skinned and shameless K, S felt a tickle of exasperation and playfully brandished her fist in a threatening gesture.