Chapter 86: A Confession Under the Moonlight

Yu Liang’s breath caught. He knew what she was asking about and after months of avoiding the subject, he could no longer pretend he didn’t understand.

"No." He paused, suddenly finding it harder to speak than he expected. "N-not just the restaurant."

Meihua gathered all of her courage, her face turning red as she slowly reached for his hand then her fingers slipped between and intertwined with his. "I-I didn’t think I would care this much. When we started this partnership, it was purely business relationship. A way to prove myself to my father, to show I could also support them." Her thumb traced circles on his palm. "But then you kept surprising me again and again. With the way you treated me, the way you treated everyone, and the way you always seemed to have a plan."

"Meihua—"

"I’m going to miss you," She continued, but her voice became shaky. "These past months, working alongside you, building this dream together, they’ve been one of the happiest part of my life and the thought of not seeing you every day, not having our casual morning tea reviews, not watching you interact with staff members as well as those terrible jokes of your..." She tried to keep her voice calm, but it still came out a little shaky. "I-I don’t want you to go."

"I don’t want to go either." The words came out before Yu Liang could even think.

"These past few months with you, Meihua... I’ve gotten used to having you around. Talking to you, arguing with you, even dealing with you when you’re being unreasonable." He smiled a little. "And honestly... I don’t think I want that to change... somewhere along the way, you became more important to me than I realized."

Yu Liang took her hand and gently pulled her up. When she was standing, neither of them moved away. Facing each other in the moonlight, leaving their wine cups forgotten on the bench.

"I don’t want you as a business partner," Yu Liang said, his heart hammering. "I mean, I do, but that’s not — what I’m trying to say is—"

"I love you—"

"I love you—"

They bought blurted it out simultaneously.

Then both stopped at the same time and stared at each other.

"Y-you.. mee.. I mean you love me?" Yu Liang’s voice cracked.

"Y-you also love me?" Meihua also looked equally stunned.

They both liked each other, and both had already suspected that the feeling was mutual. But knowing it in their heads and actually hearing it from the other person were two completely different things. Now that they had finally said it, instead of feeling the overwhelming happiness they had imagined, they just stood there awkwardly, neither knowing what they were supposed to say next.

They had just confessed their feelings, yet the first thing they both did was stare at each other and ask, almost at the same time, "You really love me?" Maybe that was what first love was like, a little clumsy, confusing and a little ridiculous.

Then they both started laughing, a helpless laughter that came from relief, joy and the absurdity of confessing simultaneously after months of carefully dancing around feelings neither had been brave enough to name.

"We’re ridiculous," Meihua gasped between laughs.

"Yeah, completely ridiculous," Yu Liang agreed.

Their laughter faded slowly but their smiles remained. Yu Liang reached up slowly, giving her every opportunity to pull away and cupped her face gently with both hands.

"Lin Meihua," he said softly. "I love you. Not as a business partner. Not as a friend, though you’re the best friend I have ever had. But as someone I want beside me for the rest of my life. Someone who makes me want to be better. Someone whose smile matters more than anything in the world."

Tears welled up in Meihua’s eyes but she couldn’t stop smiling. "Yu Liang, I love you. I love you too. I want to be there with you when you’re happy, when you’re angry, and even when you’re being unreasonable. I want to share the good days with you as well stand beside you through the bad ones. Just know one thing, I can’t imagine my life without you."

He leaned in slowly, once again giving her time to change her mind, to pull away, to laugh and say this was madness. But she didn’t. Instead, she rose on her toes to meet him halfway.

Their lips met softly. Then Meihua’s hands slid up to tangle in his hair and Yu Liang’s arms wrapped around her waist and the kiss deepened, neither of them wanting to pull away.

She tasted like sweet wine. Yu Liang held her close, kissing her with a tenderness he had never known he could feel. For this moment, It felt like there was nothing else in the world but the two of them.

All he could focus on was the warmth of her body against his and the soft sound she made when he pulled her even closer.

When they finally broke apart, both breathing hard, neither moved far. Yu Liang rested his forehead against hers, their arms still wrapped around each other like letting go was unthinkable.

Meihua felt her heart racing as she held onto him. She had imagined this moment more times than she could count but nothing had prepared her for how happy it would make her feel.

"I still have to leave," he murmured regretfully.

"I know." Meihua’s fingers traced lazy patterns along the back of his neck before she looked at him with a teasing smile. "But you will eventually come back, right, Young Master?"

"Of course I will." Yu Liang chuckled, gently squeezing her hand. "I’ll come back, My Young Lady. You won’t get rid of me that easily."

Meihua smiled at that, though there was a hint of reluctance in her eyes. "I’ll hold you to that."

"You better."

"Partners?" she asked softly.

"Partners," he confirmed, smiling softly against her lips.

She kissed him again, more slowly this time, wishing she could make time stop, even for a moment.