Holding the popcorn and drinks that Gu Qingfeng swooped in and paid for while flexing his wealth, the four made their way to their seats in the theatre.

“You go in first,” Wen Xi whispered as he nudged Gu Qingfeng to enter the row. If Gu Qingfeng sat at the end, it would ensure that the girls would be seated a seat away from his boyfriend.

“No, you go in first,” Gu Qingfeng rejected, pushing Wen Xi forward as he glanced at the suspicious Miao Yixian who was whispering excitedly with her friend behind. If Wen Xi sat at the end, it would be further away from that girl’s grubby paws.

“You, ugh,” Wen Xi groaned as he clutched his weak back. “Fine,” he grumbled as he slid in to the end seat.

“Sorry, I’ll give you a massage later, okay?” Gu Qingfeng whispered coaxingly as he followed behind Wen Xi to take his seat.

Upon seeing the seating arrangement, Ye Xiaosi happily took her seat next to Gu Qingfeng while Miao Yixian disappointedly sat down next to her. Ha, take that, you. Gu Qingfeng smiled smugly as he offered the drink in his hand to Wen Xi, “Xiao Xi, thirsty?”

“No, I’m fine,” Wen Xi answered distractedly as he prepared himself mentally for the movie ahead, while casting surrepititious glances at Ye Xiaosi next to Gu Qingfeng. She better not try anything funny on Gu Qingfeng during the movie.

The movie started on the big screen as they took their seats, with excited murmurs from the almost full movie theatre. With their last minute purchase, they were only able to get seats in the front row for the popular weekend screening. Calming his rapidly beating heart as the ominous music started playing, Wen Xi nervously rubbed his chest as he prayed internally, no jump scares please, god, no jump scares and I can survive through this.

“So, Qingfeng, are you the same age as Wen Xi? Do you like these kinds of movies?” Ye Xiaosi said quietly, trying to start a conversation.

“Mm, yes,” Gu Qingfeng replied her dismissively, before discreetly reaching over to hold Wen Xi’s cold hand. “It’s dark, no one will see,” he leaned in and promised Wen Xi in a low voice, firmly holding onto the hand that tried to escape, giving a reassuring squeeze.

Giving in, Wen Xi squeezed back, his eyes fixed on screen as the group of youths entered the obviously haunted looking forest.

“Actually, I get quite scared when I watch these kinds of shows,” Ye Xiaosi whispered to Gu Qingfeng.

“Sorry, do you mind? I’m trying to watch the show,” Gu Qingfeng gently but firmly apologized.

“Oh, okay, no problem,” Ye Xiaosi replied cheerfully.

Wen Xi subconsciously noted their interaction and satisfiedly squeezed Gu Qingfeng’s hand as they continued watching the movie in silence.

Twenty minutes in, the main lead with tear streaks on her face was running through the forest, her friends having disappeared one by one. She hid behind the tree, looking out cautiously amidst the mist. Don’t jump out from behind the tree, don’t jump out from behind the tree, Wen Xi mentally chanted as he braced himself.

As expected, in the next moment, the bloody grotesque monster jumped out from the tree, causing Wen Xi to grip Gu Qingfeng’s hand hard, stifling a scream in his throat.

“Ahh!” Ye Xiaosi also gave a short scream as she covered her eyes and automatically leaned in to Gu Qingfeng.

Wen Xi noticed her getting close and pulled Gu Qingfeng away, with the girl hovering comically in mid-air before awkwardly reverting back to her original position.

Gu Qingfeng covered his laugh with a cough, saying unapologetically, “Sorry, I got a shock and slipped. Are you alright?”

Embarrassed, Ye Xiaosi laughed it off. “No worries, I’m fine. I got a shock too.”

Wen Xi gave a muffled snort, which he covered up with taking a sip from the drink as he gained some confidence to interlock his fingers with Gu Qingfeng’s in the dark theatre.

Happy with the secret display of affection, Gu Qingfeng grinned and used his thumb to gently stroke the back of Wen Xi’s hand.

On screen, as the main character made some harrowing escapes and multiple close shaves with death, Wen Xi’s sense of unease grew as the movie slowly built up to the climactic finale—he was certain there would definitely be a jump scare coming up anytime now.

His frustration with the real life situation next to him also grew, with every innocent gesture from Ye Xiaosi amplified through his green-tinted sour haze. With every imagined inch this pretty girl got closer to his boyfriend, Wen Xi wanted so much to tuck him away from her reach.

“Don’t watch,” Gu Qingfeng whispered to Wen Xi as the movie reached an obvious climax.

Taking his advice, Wen Xi gave in and turned away from the screen to hear a large booming sound and screams from throughout the theatre as the previously defeated monster jumped towards the girl on screen.

Almost as if in slow motion, he watched as Ye Xiaosi shouted in fright and reached out subconsciously to hold Gu Qingfeng’s arm for comfort.

No way in hell!

In the heat of the moment, Wen Xi stood up, thoughtlessly pulling up Gu Qingfeng with their interlocked hands to stand next to him as he declared loudly, “Gu Qingfeng is my boyfriend!” Before punctuating his announcement with a swift kiss on Gu Qingfeng’s lips.

On screen, the monster had been blown to smithereens with a shotgun as it jumped out, with the surviving characters sitting in stunned silence at the final ending—mirroring the silence in the movie theatre, allowing even the person in last row to hear Wen Xi’s passionate declaration and see the two young men kissing in the front row.

Gu Qingfeng could not stop the wide grin from spreading across his face as he slid his arm around Wen Xi’s waist. “Yes, I’m attached to this adorable young man here.”

Wen Xi stood speechlessly as the credits started rolling, his face bright red as he belatedly realized what he had just done in front of a theatre full of people.

The two girls sat there with their mouths gaping open in shock as some of the theatre-goers burst into catcalls and whistles, with some calling out, “Kiss again! Kiss again!”

Gu Qingfeng looked at his tomato-red boyfriend and decided to take pity on him. Nodding to the two girls, he thanked them for the movie before hurriedly pulling the limp shell-shocked Wen Xi along out of the theatre.

Thanks for the comments (づ ￣ ³￣)づ