Chapter 96

Chapter 96

In Li Yanchuan's frank tone there was a mix of nervousness, wariness, and tentativeness, as he kept sneaking glances at Song Nian's expression from the corner of his eye.

This demeanor showed he genuinely didn't know, not that he was playing dumb.

Looking at the empty venue before him—so deserted it felt like it had gone out of business, a far cry from the lively scene he had imagined—Song Nian hesitated, wanting to say something but stopping.

"Sorry, I've never been to a place like this before. I thought booking the whole place would give you a better experience."

Realizing belatedly that his good intentions had backfired, Li Yanchuan pressed his lips together in frustration, lowered his head, and said apologetically.

He had already messed up their first date. He felt he was failing as a partner, and worried that Song Nian might be upset.

At that moment, Song Nian's face showed little expression. Upon hearing this, he turned to look. After seeing the man's dejected expression, he didn't say a word.

Instead, he stood on his tiptoes.

Then, with a mix of helplessness and amusement, he cupped the man's face and rubbed it vigorously, like petting a large dog.

"How can you be this adorable?"

He comforted the man, both helpless and amused.

"It's okay. Let's just treat it as a private time for just the two of us. I'm happy just being with you."

"Just don't copy whatever weird things you see on TV, alright?"

Because that would be way too awkward—even he would cringe so hard his toes would curl.

Unexpectedly, the moment the words left his mouth, Li Yanchuan's body stiffened, like an underperforming student who was called out by the teacher in class.

"You didn't actually...?"

Seeing this, Song Nian narrowed his eyes and gave him a scrutinizing look.

"Of course not, I just..." Pausing, Li Yanchuan composed himself and explained.

"I was just worried that if there were too few people, you might not have fun?"

"How could that be? With fewer people, we don't have to stand in line."

Without letting him argue, Song Nian grabbed Li Yanchuan's arm and dragged him into the park, to start their date for the day.

When no one was looking, Li Yanchuan secretly sent a message to his assistant.

The content was simple, just four words: Cancel everything.

The assistant, who had been preparing to create a grand surprise, was filled with romantic scenes from novels. But just as he was making the final confirmation, he received his boss's latest order.

All his pink bubbles burst. He immediately burst into tears and regretfully disbanded all the performance teams.

Such a shame—these were all prepared according to the popular online guides the boss had followed!

Even though the amusement park wasn't as crowded as usual, there was still a unique kind of fun. No waiting in lines at all, and they enjoyed VIP one-on-one service.

Moreover, Li Yanchuan was a partner who never spoils the fun. Whether it was the thrilling roller coasters and pirate ships, or the more relaxing bumper cars and merry-go-rounds, as long as Song Nian wanted to play, he was always up for it.

Even at the gift shop, when Song Nian, eyes sparkling, held up a bear-ear headband and looked over at him, he didn't immediately refuse.

He just pressed his lips together, hesitating.

"I don't think it'd really look good on me."

Meeting his lover's bright, expectant gaze and glancing at the mismatched headband, he tactfully hinted.

"Just try it on! You'll only know if it fits after you try it on."

But Song Nian wouldn't give up, clinging to his arm, rubbing against him and hugging, shaking him nonstop, his instinctively pleading tone made his heart melt.

Li Yanchuan, unable to resist, felt his forehead veins twitch, and after a moment's hesitation, he relented with a nod.

Seeing this, Song Nian's eyes suddenly lit up, as excited as a squirrel finding a stash of pine nuts, and he hurriedly placed the headband on Li Yanchuan's head.

He had broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and a sturdy build, with sharp, expressionless features and a cold, hard demeanor—yet on top of his head was a fluffy beast ear; the contrast couldn't be more striking.

It was so cute that Song Nian immediately pulled his own phone out of Li Yanchuan's pocket, wanting to take a souvenir photo.

As he lowered his head to scroll through his phone, something tightened around his head, and something else was placed on top.

He stopped and turned to look in the mirror, finding a dog-ear headband.

The brown dog ears drooped down, perfectly matched his moist, slightly droopy eyes—a perfect fit.

"Cute."

He heard the man comment.

After saying that, Li Yanchuan suddenly leaned in close to his ear and added in a low voice:

"We can try these out sometime."

An out-of-the-blue comment, but Song Nian instantly knew what he meant.

That was exactly the kind of role-play with animal ears and tails!

He thought to himself, 'This is why you shouldn't find someone too smart. Learning too fast isn't always a good thing. Before, he didn't know any tricks and just charged ahead, but now he's figured it all out on his own.'

Daring to say such things in broad daylight, angry and embarrassed, Song Nian indignantly pinched his arm.

Feeling no pain at all, only finding this look unbearably adorable, Li Yanchuan amusedly wrapped an arm around Song Nian's shoulders and went to the register to pay.

Although one looked mismatched and the other was blushing furiously, neither took off the headbands—the fluffy matching headbands stayed on until the end of the day when they left.

"I had so much fun today!"

Sitting on a bench in the rest area, Song Nian stretched his arms wide, chattering happily nonstop.

Seeing his excited look, without needing to ask, Li Yanchuan knew the date was a success. He picked up Song Nian's unfinished drink and brought it to his lips, urging him to take another sip.

"Actually, I rarely come to amusement parks. This is only my second time."

Song Nian leaned back against the man's shoulder, his expression unreadable, as he sighed softly in the evening breeze.

"When I was little, my parents were always busy and never took me. Later, when they took my younger brother to the amusement park, I didn't want to go either."

Melancholy seeped through his calm words. Li Yanchuan's heart ached, and he squeezed his hand tightly.

His fingers forcefully threaded through his, interlocking their fingers completely, bringing a feeling of total security.

"There's still a long time ahead. No matter how many times, I can come with you."

Li Yanchuan promised solemnly.

"Yeah, there are so many places I want to go and things I want to do. You have to come with me for all of them."

A smile returned to his face. Song Nian nodded firmly and squeezed his hand in return.

The two leaned tightly together, the sunset and wind witnessing their promise.

Just as Song Nian was about to doze off in contentment, he suddenly heard a soft question from above:

"Then when you were little, who went to the amusement park with you?"

"I don't really remember. I think some older guy took me. He heard it was my birthday and took me that weekend."

Answering automatically, Song Nian suddenly realized something and opened his eyes warily.

Huh? Is he jealous?

Sure enough, as he said that, Li Yanchuan's face darkened like a thundercloud.

He stubbornly refused to show it, restraining himself, but his tightening grip gave away his jealousy.

"You're hurting me."

Song Nian pouted, faking it.

Sure enough, Li Yanchuan panicked at that. Forgetting his jealousy, he quickly let go and examined his hand.

"Just kidding. You jealous? Why are you still being so careful even when you're jealous?"

Song Nian couldn't help but laugh, gently patting his cheek.

"I never saw that brother again after that, and we never kept in touch. Besides, he was much older than me."

"Mm."

Hearing this, Li Yanchuan's expression eased slightly.

Perhaps embarrassed at being caught, he kept planting light kisses on him:

"I'm a little jealous."

"But right now, it's you who's by my side."

Suddenly remembering that they'd failed to take a picture at the gift shop, Song Nian blinked and changed the subject:

"Hubby, let's take a picture."

He pulled out his phone, leaned his head against Li Yanchuan's shoulder, raised the camera, and snapped a few selfies.

Looking at their photo, he was extremely satisfied and set it as his lock screen.

Then, thinking of Li Yanchuan's phone, as a couple they should have matching lock screens, he reached into the man's coat pocket to fish out his phone.

Li Yanchuan allowed the little hamster-like rooting around until the phone lit up—then he suddenly remembered something.

But too late. Song Nian had already seen the photo on the lock screen.

It was the same one that went viral online—the photo of them taken at the company.

Song Nian's eyes widened:

"How do you have this photo saved too?"

Picking up on the key word, Li Yanchuan countered:

"You saved it too?"

They exchanged a look, understanding what it meant, and both laughed.

Only later did Song Nian realize that he only saw this photo when netizens exposed their relationship.

Supposedly, it leaked from the internal company forum. So, as the boss, shouldn't Li Yanchuan have seen it a lot earlier?

Sure enough, when he asked, Li Yanchuan's eyes darted away, and his stammering was practically a confession.

"You don't happen to have more photos of me saved, do you?"

A sudden thought hit Song Nian: a new suspicion.

Well, Li Yanchuan's silence was another confession.

"I want to see your photo album!"

He made the announcement dramatically, but didn't act right away. Seeing no one stop him, he opened the album.

As soon as he opened it, countless photos of himself filled the screen.

There were official promo shots, as well as candids taken when he visited the set.

And then there were screenshots from videos, saved as individual photos.

This was just like that time he himself got caught saving photos of that "male mother" idol.

Song Nian froze, startled, and quickly flipped the phone screen-down on his thigh.

Having been caught with so many hidden photos, Li Yanchuan grew anxious, afraid Song Nian would be disgusted or freaked out.

His fists clenched, veins bulging, and cold sweat forming on his palms. He reached out to hold Song Nian's hand, trying to make up.

But Song Nian smacked his hand away.

His heart lurched. Li Yanchuan's breath stopped, his mind buzzing.

Then Song Nian looked at him seriously, parting his lips.

But what came out was:

"Why did you make me look so ugly?"

There was no fear or disgust at being secretly photographed—only pure idol image obsession.

Now it was Li Yanchuan's turn to be stunned. He never expected this reaction.

"Next time you want to take pictures of me, just ask me directly! And make sure you make me look good!"

Saying that, Song Nian picked up his phone again, leaned in and slyly tilted his head back, so that Li Yanchuan was front and center in the shot.

The shutter clicked, and a perfect photo was frozen on the screen.

"See? That's how it's done."

He flashed a bright smile and set the photo as his phone wallpaper.

Staring at the new picture on the screen, Li Yanchuan was stunned for a long time.

His eyes glistened, reflecting his beloved's gentle face, and his heart swelled with a wave of warmth.

"Mm."

He turned his head and captured those soft lips with his own.

The setting sun was like molten gold, and they shared a tender kiss in the glow.

In the warm evening breeze, Song Nian heard Li Yanchuan murmur "I love you" countless times in his ear.

————

Not long after, Song Nian received a new assignment: he had to travel to another province to shoot a film for a month.

The journey was long, and it wouldn't be easy for them to meet up, so this time they would truly be apart for a long time.

Thus, Li Yanchuan had been in a bad mood for two weeks already, making his subordinates at the company walk on eggshells.

To better ease his partner's separation anxiety, Song Nian's eyes lit up with an idea, and before leaving, he left him a special surprise.

A real treasure, the kind that could ease the ache of missing someone.