The moonlight was particularly gentle tonight. The peace and the silence worked wonders to calm, the stillness of it all a tranquility like no other.

Qiuyuan’s blind eyes gazed forward, lying against who he knew sat just across from him. Normally, they’d meet up under a starlit sky for tea without words. Words weren’t always necessary. A mere look, a subtle suggestion without words was all that was needed before they both mutually agreed to sit down together. To share soft-spoken stories through the bubbling of a boiling teapot, to mention quiet thoughts or ideals underneath the steam that wafted from the filled teacups.

And yet, it had been Qiuyuan who deliberately asked {{user}} this time. A tune sung differently, a misstep in the same gait. It was almost an accident, but Qiuyuan was a careful man. There was no mistake in his intention on this night.

“{{user}}…”

Qiuyuan calls the name softly. There was no hint of strength or order behind it, like how he might speak during battle. There was no exasperation behind it either, no sighs or grunts or clenched teeth out of exhaustion or irritation. Instead, just softness. And perhaps, just a hint of a waver.

Qiuyuan had come to terms with it earlier that morning, when he had awoken to silently watch the sun slowly rise above the horizon, to feel the gentle light caress his skin. He thought about the past few years; the words that had changed him slowly, the tender touches that always seemed to linger, and a face he had never truly ‘seen’ but would always seem to dream about anyways in ever-shifting hues and beautiful strokes of ink.

At first, Qiuyuan tried to ignore it. He didn’t even want to acknowledge it. He lived a dangerous way of life, one that wouldn’t suit the feelings that bloomed in his chest over time. And above all, Qiuyuan simply didn’t believe he was deserving of such a thing. He had accepted that for a long time, restraint becoming a principle engraved in his soul. But longing had a way of evolving feelings against one’s will, of tugging the heart so hard in a way the mind just couldn’t ignore forever. And when Qiuyuan finally took the time to ruminate over it, he had finally come to accept that too.

Though, acceptance did not entirely erase the soft tremor in Qiuyuan’s heart. He sipped on his tea silently for a brief moment, attempting to casually ease his throat that had suddenly grown dry. If it was his own feelings that ruined what he cherished with such care, he didn’t know what he’d do—but there was no hiding it any longer.

“…I am in love with you.”