During the second half of the car ride, Li Rui and Ye Xi both dozed off. Bai Yue drove steadily, and the car was warm and cozy. Even the milk tea couldn’t fend off their sleepiness; their heads ended up leaning against each other.
Bai Yue saw it in the rearview mirror and curved his lips into a smile, saying to Zheng Yang, “Ye Xi and his friend are asleep. Keep your voice down so you don’t wake them.”
Zheng Yang was playing a game with one side of his Bluetooth earphone in. He occasionally chatted with Bai Yue to keep him from getting sleepy behind the wheel.
Hearing this, he turned his head. Sure enough, Ye Xi wasn’t completely asleep yet—his head bobbed like a drowsy bird.
The classmate next to him, Li Rui, wasn’t faring much better, slumped to the side.
Zheng Yang snorted lightly. He knew Ye Xi well: “Bet he stayed up all night gaming again.”
But after that, the car did grow quieter.
Bai Yue and Zheng Yang didn’t talk much more.
When they passed a rest stop, Bai Yue pulled over, walked to the backseat, and gently patted Ye Xi. “Want some water? Or want to stretch your legs a bit?”
Zheng Yang watched with cold eyes but got out of the car too. Sitting for over two hours makes anyone want to move around a little.
He saw Ye Xi blink his eyes open drowsily, clearly still not fully awake—his hair even stuck up in places.
Bai Yue leaned in slightly and said something to Ye Xi. Ye Xi nodded, and Bai Yue handed him a thermos, helping him take two sips of water.
Ye Xi must’ve still been too groggy to feel embarrassed. He drank straight from Bai Yue’s hand, then wrapped the blanket back around himself and fell asleep again.
Bai Yue smiled helplessly, adjusted the blanket for him, and closed the door.
He and Zheng Yang stood by the railing to get some fresh air. Bai Yue bought a coffee from a nearby stand.
Zheng Yang popped a plum candy into his mouth. The tangy sweetness hit his tongue and refreshed him.
Looking down at the ground, he suddenly said, “You really like Ye Xi, huh?”
At least, he’d never seen Bai Yue be this gentle and patient with anyone else.
Bai Yue sipped his iced coffee, calm and composed. “What else?”
If he didn’t love Ye Xi this much, would he be so cautious, so painstakingly careful?
Zheng Yang raised an eyebrow, seeming to recall something, then let out a faint, mocking laugh.
…
A few minutes later, Bai Yue and Zheng Yang returned to the car.
At 4 p.m., they arrived at their destination.
It was a newly developed snow mountain town—not too many tourists yet, but all the supporting amenities were already in place. Hotel staff came to greet them as soon as they arrived.
Bai Yue had booked a hot spring hotel with just 27 rooms, scattered up the mountainside. Open the door, and you’re met with a stretch of snowy landscape—the whole concept was serene and elegant.
He had booked three adjacent rooms, all connected so they could visit one another. Outside was a shared semi-open garden with two private hot spring pools—ensuring both privacy and a space for friends to hang out.
Zheng Yang was quite satisfied. They had discussed room arrangements beforehand anyway.
With Zheng Yang being such a massive third wheel, Ye Xi had no hope of sharing a room with Bai Yue. Naturally, he chose to room with Li Rui.
Bai Yue and Zheng Yang each had their own rooms, keeping things peaceful.
After resting a bit, Ye Xi and Li Rui went to check out the swings in the garden. Then the group headed out.
The hotel had signposts everywhere, and even provided a scroll-style map. Bai Yue spread it out for Ye Xi. “We’re currently midway up the mountain. Nearby, there’s a cluster of ancient buildings, a newly opened art museum and historical museum—though they’re probably closed now. A little further down is the town center with a ski resort, market, amusement park, a pottery workshop, a distillery, and the mountain top has some scenic spots too—including a location used as inspiration in a famous novel.”
“Where do you want to go first?” he asked Ye Xi.
But Ye Xi’s eyes were still fixed on Bai Yue’s lips.
Ever since he accidentally touched them yesterday, he’d been sneaking glances at them—those soft, rosy lips.
The memory of that light kiss kept replaying in his mind like a movie in slow motion, complete with background music. It messed with his focus so much he didn’t even hear what Bai Yue said.
Only when Bai Yue asked again did he snap out of it.
“Uh…” Ye Xi racked his brain, trying to recall the options. “Let’s go to the town. It’ll be time for dinner soon anyway.”
“Okay.”
Bai Yue smiled and turned to ask Li Rui, “What about you? Want to go to the town?”
Li Rui didn’t mind. He smiled, eyes crinkling. “Sure, I’m good with anything.”
Was he here to have fun? No. He was here to be a love bodyguard.
Bai Yue nodded. “Alright, let’s take the sightseeing cable car down.”
As he spoke, he naturally took Ye Xi’s hand and told Zheng Yang, “We’ll walk east about 300 to 400 meters and we’ll be there.”
Zheng Yang rolled his eyes hard.
Hello?
Are Ye Xi and Li Rui the only ones who matter here? Anyone care what he thinks?
He wanted to kick Bai Yue again—but truthfully, he also preferred to visit the town first. So he just grumbled internally and went along.
Walking behind Ye Xi and Bai Yue, he saw them holding hands.
Not that strange, really—it was cold up here. Both were wearing gloves, and the mountain path was a bit slippery. Supporting each other made sense.
But knowing Bai Yue’s intentions, seeing them walk closely and whisper to each other felt way too intimate.
Still, he pursed his lips and said nothing in the end.
As expected, after about 300 meters, they spotted the sign for the sightseeing cable car.
There weren’t many tourists. The group ahead had six people who got on one car, so the four of them ended up with a car to themselves.
As soon as they boarded, Li Rui sprang into action, grabbing Zheng Yang’s hand with lightning speed. “Come on, let’s sit together! I think the view’s better on the left side.”
Zheng Yang’s eyes widened.
Wait, he barely knew this guy! Wasn’t this their first time meeting? Why was he acting like they were lifelong friends?
But Li Rui, looking fair and delicate—the kind of guy who couldn’t even open a jar and always needed Ye Xi’s help—suddenly gripped his hand with all his might, dragging him to his side with an innocent smile: “Hey, what’s that over there? Looks like a dog!”
Zheng Yang: “…”
That’s just your poor eyesight.
It was clearly a panda-shaped trash can.
But with Li Rui holding him tightly and bombarding him with one question after another, he had no way of escaping. He couldn’t exactly be rude, either—so he reluctantly answered everything.
Ye Xi gave Li Rui a silent thumbs-up in his heart.
Good bro. For life.
The vibe on his side with Bai Yue was much warmer and sweeter. Bai Yue stood beside him by the window. The cable car had a transparent glass floor, offering views in all directions.
Outside, the sky was already darkening, and the mountain paths were lit with soft glowing lights. From above, it looked like a golden river meandering through the dense forest.
Bai Yue pointed out a spot. “That’s one of the filming locations from Snow Trace—the mountain bookstore where the leads meet. It’s under renovation now, so it’s closed to the public, but we can pass by if you’re interested.”
Snow Trace was a movie that came out two years ago. Bai Yue, Ye Xi, and Zheng Yang had seen it together.
It had been the box office champion that year, and half its scenes were filmed nearby. The entire town was developed thanks to the movie’s popularity.
Bai Yue remembered that Ye Xi had really liked Snow Trace—he’d even bought tickets to see the actress at a fan meet.
Ye Xi’s eyes widened. From this spot, the bookstore looked truly tiny. Although the lights were on, there were no other buildings nearby—likely to preserve the scenic view—making it appear very isolated.
But he wasn’t actually that interested in the bookstore.
Because the male and female leads broke up there later in the movie—it was too heartbreaking. As a fan of their ship, he couldn’t take it.
He turned to look at Bai Yue, his face still pressed to the glass, and whispered, “Actually, I’d rather go eat the sesame ice cream from the movie—you know, the one shaped like a capybara.”
He felt a little ashamed after saying that. Out of the entire movie, all he could think about was the ice cream.
But Bai Yue found his cuteness irresistible, his eyes crinkling with amusement.
“Okay.”
So the first thing they did after getting off the cable car was head to buy ice cream.
Because it was a hit item from the movie, there was a long line in front of the ice cream shop.
Standing in the freezing cold, Zheng Yang felt like he was about to get blown into an idiot.
“It’s just ice cream. Is it really that good?” he muttered to Ye Xi. “Don’t we have chefs at home? If you say you want it, he can make you a whole bucket of it, enough for you to puke.”
Ye Xi and Li Rui both rolled their eyes.
What a waste of breath.
Neither of them bothered to respond to Zheng Yang. Luckily, it was finally their turn, and they happily ran up.
Ye Xi ordered the exact same capybara-shaped ice cream as in the movie, a blend of sesame and cream flavors, coated with a crunchy shell.
He immediately pulled out his phone to take a picture.
This was the whole reason he came.
Li Rui hesitated more. He didn’t like sesame, so after some indecision, he chose vanilla and cream. It wasn’t exactly like the movie version, but it was still cute.
Zheng Yang and Bai Yue were more casual about it.
Bai Yue got the same one as Ye Xi, while Zheng Yang chose the simplest plain flavor.
After one bite, he even gave a commentary: “Not even that good. Total scam.”
But no one paid him any attention.
Ye Xi and Li Rui had already rushed off to another photo spot.
Right next to the ice cream shop was another filming location from Snow Trace: a rickety wooden bridge spanning a stream—the very scene from the movie’s ending. It was a real crowd-pleaser.
There were quite a few tourists around, but everyone was orderly and waited patiently for their turn to take photos.
“Ah, if only I’d brought my instant camera,” Li Rui smacked his forehead. “Then we could have physical photos right away.”
Ye Xi agreed, “Right?”
Just as they were both lamenting it, a slender hand reached over.
“I brought one.”
Bai Yue smiled as he spoke.
Ye Xi and Li Rui turned their heads in unison, and saw Bai Yue holding up a black instant camera, waving it at them.
“Wow,” Li Rui gasped, “So thoughtful—are you Doraemon or something?”
But then his eyes gleamed. Seeing that the tourists ahead had finished their photos, he snatched the instant camera from Bai Yue and shoved Ye Xi and Bai Yue together.
“You two go take one first. I want to test how it comes out,” he said, unbothered, and handed his ice cream to Zheng Yang. “Sorry, help me hold this.”
Then he held up the camera like a pro and directed them, “Go stand on the bridge. Quickly! Get closer. Move toward the lights—the lighting is better.”
Ye Xi was shoved so hard he almost stumbled, but Bai Yue caught him in time.
The last time they’d taken a photo together was during last year’s cultural festival.
Now, surrounded by so many people, Ye Xi felt awkward and didn’t know what pose to strike. But Bai Yue took his hand and gently pulled him into his arms.
Bai Yue leaned against the bridge rope. The lights shone on both their faces.
“Take it,” he told Li Rui, placing a hand on Ye Xi’s shoulder.
Ten seconds later, the photo popped out.
But Li Rui didn’t even get a chance to look at it—he quickly pulled Ye Xi over to take one with him too. Standing on tiptoe, he smiled brightly and made a peace sign next to Ye Xi’s ear.
After they finished, he ran down from the bridge to reclaim his melting ice cream from Zheng Yang.
“Thanks, thanks,” Li Rui pressed his palms together in gratitude. “Sorry for the trouble.”
Zheng Yang shrugged like it was nothing.
Seeing that everyone had finished taking photos, he turned to leave—but before he could take a step, Bai Yue grabbed him.
“What?” he turned back.
Bai Yue waved the instant camera. “Want to take a photo with Ye Xi?”
The moment he said this, even Ye Xi, who was fanning the photo with Li Rui, froze.
He and Zheng Yang exchanged a glance.
Even though they were the only two here related by blood, they were the least close of anyone.
Apart from the obligatory family group photo during New Year, they had almost never taken a photo together.
Both looked a little dazed.
Zheng Yang frowned. He noticed Ye Xi’s surprise and knew Bai Yue meant well.
He muttered, “Forget it…”
But his voice was too soft, and before he could finish, he heard Ye Xi quietly speak.
“Okay.”
Ye Xi’s voice was also soft.
But at that moment, for some reason, everything around them seemed to go quiet for a beat—his words stood out starkly.
Right after speaking, he bit his tongue, clearly regretting his impulsive reply.
But it was too late. Bai Yue had already heard him. He let out a light laugh and patted Zheng Yang on the shoulder. “Then go on. You’re the big brother—listen to your younger brother.”
Zheng Yang awkwardly walked over.
Because new tourists were already taking pictures on the bridge, they had to take theirs off to the side, near a fir tree.
They didn’t stand close—one had his hands in his pockets, the other wore a neutral expression. It looked like they’d wandered into the same frame by accident.
Then click—the moment was captured.
The photos were soon passed out to everyone.
At dinner, Li Rui finally had time to appreciate them properly.
They were lucky—there was no wait at the restaurant, and they got a window seat with a view of the mountains.
Li Rui told Ye Xi, “When I get back, I’m going to put the photo in my journal. My cousin made it for me—she said every time I have a photo, I should stick it in.”
He turned to Ye Xi again. “Let me see the one of you and Bai Yue.”
Ye Xi handed it over.
Even though Li Rui was the one who took the photo, this was his first time seeing the final result.
But the moment he saw it, he couldn’t help but freeze.
In the shot, Bai Yue wasn’t looking at the camera—instead, he was gazing down at Ye Xi.
Beside the moonlit river, a band was playing music across the way. Golden reflections shimmered on the water, like scattered stars.
Though the place was bustling and wrapped in a snowy winter scene—
His gaze was so focused that everything else dimmed in comparison. Only Ye Xi seemed alive, radiant.
Li Rui stared, then blinked, and suddenly looked up at Bai Yue across the table.
