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“Ah, thank you again for coming again, Shēnshen!” Xiǎoxī smiled at her friend, voice slightly louder than normal, as she leaned heavily on her fiancé for support.
“Of course, Xiǎoxī,” Qín Shēn managed to keep his voice even despite his amusement at her drunken state. He turned his attention to Jiāng Chén. “Congratulations, again, on your paper, Jiāng-yīshēng.”
The young doctor rolled his eyes at Qín Shēn, though the smile on his face betrayed his amusement at the teasing. “It was nice to meet you, Yìrán,” he said, readjusting his arm so Xiǎoxī could fit better. “I’ve heard a lot about you,” Jiāng Chén’s eyes darted to Qín Shēn quickly, a shine in his eye that the other man didn’t care for. “From several colleagues who have seen you perform,” he finished, sparing Qín Shēn. “Xiǎoxī and I will have to watch a performance soon.”
“Ah, thank you,” Yìrán bowed slightly, her hair hiding her blush. Straightening, she said, “If you tell Qín Shēn when you plan on attending, I can have tickets set aside in the box office for you.”
At the beginnings of a protest from the young doctor, she insisted. “Please,” she gestured behind the couple, “it’s the least I could do after this lovely dinner.”
“That’s really kind of you,” Xiǎoxī said, tuning back into the conversation. “I’ll be sure to let Shēnshen know when Jiāng Chén and I will go!”
“I look forward to it,” Yìrán said, keeping her laugh from showing in her voice too much, spurred by the shorter and drunker woman’s voice.
The two couples exchanged one more round of goodbyes, and soon enough, Yìrán was driving herself and Qín Shēn to his apartment. The car ride wasn’t spent in conversation, both of them more than content to let the mix of English, Korean, and Mandarin fill the car as they listened to the radio. The only time Qín Shēn spoke was to give Yìrán directions, his voice quieting again after.
He didn’t live near the part of the city that Jiāng Chén’s boss did, but the drive wasn’t exceedingly long either, thankfully. He lived within walking distance of the art studio he rented, but Yìrán was closer to the theatre than he was. This did mean, though, that she would drive past her apartment complex while on the way to his. If she were braver, perhaps… Maybe…
Ah, but those are thoughts for another night.
When Yìrán pulled into the small curved road in front of his apartment complex, she parked the car and put her hazard lights on. Turning to face him, she smiled softly and said, “I did have fun tonight, even though I really only knew you and Xiǎoxī.”
Qín Shēn winced, and brought his left hand to the back of his neck as he shifted to face her, too. “Yeah,” he said, avoiding her eyes, “that wasn’t the greatest idea of a first date, was it?”
She placed her left hand on his right, still resting on his knee. “It was unusual, but,” she linked her fingers with his, “I think that it was a good way to get to know you.”
“How?” His gaze snapped to hers, a frown dancing around the edges of his mouth.
“By getting to know the people around you, your friends and who they are.” With her free hand, she tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “They’re a reflection of you, and,” her cheeks turned pink in the partially blocked awning lighting that was shining into the car. “And if those are who you surround yourself with, then I think that it’s a good sign.”
His ears turned red as he avoided looking at her while he got his nerves under control. Yìrán couldn’t help but be utterly charmed by such a small thing. “It’s normally a good thing when the person you’re interested in says something like this,” she teased gently, ducking her head slightly to catch his eye.
“It is!” Qín Shēn rushed to assure her, his hand coming up to cup her cheek unconsciously. “I’m just… Not used to it.”
Yìrán couldn’t stop herself. Despite how shy the two of them had been with each other this entire time, she kissed him boldly. Qín Shēn made a surprised noise, muffled by her lips, and his eyes were wide open in surprise. It only took him a moment to understand what was happening, though, and soon enough, both of their eyes were fluttering closed, the kiss becoming more of a push-and-pull, an activity that both of them were undertaking. Her hand over top his on his knee tightened, drawing his hand just that much closer to her. The hand pressed against the right side of her face moved further up and back, into her hair. Qín Shēn’s hand was large enough that she could feel him rubbing the upper edge of her cheekbone, gently repositioning her for a better angle. She shivered at the heat, the feeling of her hair slipping through his fingers. If she hadn’t been using her free hand to keep herself balanced over the console, she would have gladly returned the favor.
Yìrán regretted the fact that they both had to breathe, pulling away from him slowly. His fingers twitched against her skin, as if he wanted to draw her back to him, but he let her move away. Their foreheads pressed together, noses brushing every so often, as they simply stared at each other, not speaking. The radio continued on in the background, a traffic update for the late night drivers, but neither of them paid any mind. Molten brown stared into molten brown, and Yìrán took a moment to savor the image of Qín Shēn across from her, half-shaded in shadow and half-lit in warm yellow-orange, his lips curled up in a small smile that he didn’t seem to realize was there. She was sure that, the artist he was, he was doing something similar.
“I’ll see you tomorrow at rehearsal?” She asked softly, even though she knew the answer.
“I’ll be the one with his hands in a piano,” he joked back, voice equally quiet.
They leaned into each other again, and exchanged a few more kisses before Qín Shēn forced himself to pull away and leave the car. He stood in the doorway to the apartment building, watching Yìrán as she drove away, and she felt a warm joy settle into her bones. Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow…