Chapter 118

The sky was filled with confetti, and the crowd shouted “Asperatus” in unison.

The host loudly announced the vote count and then invited the mentors on stage to present the championship trophy to the Asperatus band.

When it was time for the band to express their gratitude for winning, as usual, Jiang Ji, as the core figure of the band, took the lead in speaking.

The entire venue quieted down, waiting for this nineteen-year-old lead singer to open the band’s bright future with his award-winning speech.

However, Jiang Ji appeared quite calm. He took the microphone and said, “There’s actually not much to say. I said everything during the last elimination. I should have saved it for now.”

The whole place erupted into laughter, and Qin Qingzhuo also laughed, recalling the time when the Asperatus Band was eliminated by the black curtain. He sat in the mentor seat below the stage, and Jiang Ji on stage looked at him and said, “You stopped the bad weather.”

“Everything I wanted to say is in the songs. Thank you all for liking our music,” Jiang Ji looked at the audience below and said, “And thanks to everyone who has helped us since the show started. Finally, special thanks to our guest singer today, Qin Qingzhuo…”

Before he could finish his sentence, as soon as the name “Qin Qingzhuo” was heard, screams and applause erupted from the audience below.

“I have a question for Teacher Qin,” Jiang Ji turned back to Qin Qingzhuo and asked, “Has your bad weather been stopped?”

Qin Qingzhuo’s slightly curved eyes looked very gentle, and he nodded with a smile.

There was an even louder scream from the audience below. Then Jiang Ji said, “Thank you everyone,” put the microphone back, and ended his award-winning speech.

As they walked towards the backstage where there were no cameras, the screams and applause from the audience didn’t stop. When they reached a secluded area, a few people took off their earpieces and audio equipment and handed them to the staff.

As they walked, Zhong Yang raised his hand to brush off the confetti on his hair and casually commented, “With so much confetti, it’s like a wedding scene…”

With this unintentional remark, Qin Qingzhuo subconsciously twirled the ring on his middle finger with his thumb again.

Then his hand was suddenly held by Jiang Ji, and Jiang Ji used his fingertips to lightly touch the ring on his finger.

When Qin Qingzhuo came in, he felt like this dimly lit, narrow corridor was endless. But as Jiang Ji held his hand and led him forward from the stage, he suddenly realized how short it was.

No one said a word, but their steps all unconsciously slowed down. Walking in front, Zhong Yang and Peng Keshi chatted while walking. They had already turned the corner and reached the brightly lit office area ahead.

At the end of the corridor was the lounge where the musicians rested before recording. When they passed by, Jiang Ji’s steps changed direction, and he pulled Qin Qingzhuo towards the lounge.

The lounge was empty at the moment, with all the camera positions removed, and the lights were off.

“What’s wrong?” Qin Qingzhuo followed Jiang Ji into the room. “Did you forget something?”

Jiang Ji didn’t say anything. He closed the door behind him and, in the darkness, leaned in to kiss Qin Qingzhuo.

As the warm lips pressed down, Qin Qingzhuo knew what Jiang Ji had brought him to the lounge for—it wasn’t about forgetting something; Jiang Ji had come to kiss him.

He quickly responded to the kiss. In fact, from the moment the performance ended, he wanted to hug and kiss Jiang Ji. However, standing on the stage facing the audience below and countless online viewers, he had to restrain himself from making these thoughts too obvious.

However, every time their eyes met, they could clearly read the same desire from each other’s eyes.

So obvious to the point of being blatant, even a thought crossed their minds—would anyone be able to decipher what the unmasked, almost naked gaze meant if someone intercepted and magnified the frames of their eye contact?

It wasn’t until their lips were both moist, and the kiss was about to escalate, that Jiang Ji stopped to answer Qin Qingzhuo’s earlier question: “It was too rushed before going on stage, and there was something unfinished.”

Qin Qingzhuo leaned in again and pecked him on the lips. “Hmm?”

Jiang Ji took his hand and looked at the plain ring on his middle finger in the dim light.

“Do you like it?” After looking at the ring, Jiang Ji looked into his eyes.

“I do.” Qin Qingzhuo nodded.

“With the ring and the wedding scene, does this count as getting married?” Jiang Ji’s eyes curved even more, and he continued, “You decide.”

“In that case, help me put it on too.” Jiang Ji took out another ring—a pair with the plain ring on Qin Qingzhuo’s hand.

Qin Qingzhuo took it and gently held Jiang Ji’s hand, slowly pushing the ring onto the base of his middle finger.

On the clearly defined knuckles, the platinum plain ring emitted a faint light. Although it wasn’t a real wedding scene, when Qin Qingzhuo helped Jiang Ji put on the ring, he couldn’t help but feel an indescribable sense of commitment.

“We’ll have a formal ceremony later,” Jiang Ji looked at the ring on his hand and said, “Today, consider this an engagement.”

“Sounds good.” Qin Qingzhuo chuckled.

They drew closer to each other and resumed kissing. Jiang Ji held Qin Qingzhuo’s face, kissing his lips one by one, speaking so softly it was almost a whisper, “Qin Qingzhuo, how can I like you so much…”

There was even a hint of confusion in his voice—Jiang Ji indeed felt at this moment that he liked Qin Qingzhuo to a bewildering extent. He didn’t understand how one person could like another person so much, as if even the word “like” couldn’t fully express this feeling, so he could only convey it through the action of kissing.

Close together, Qin Qingzhuo could see the adoration in Jiang Ji’s eyes, and he believed that his own eyes must also be filled with the same emotions.

It felt like they had never experienced such intense and overwhelming affection before, so intense that it even felt somewhat unfamiliar.

“I love you.” He suddenly said.

When these words came out, even he was momentarily stunned, as if they hadn’t gone through his brain but had been said out of strong and instinctive emotion.

Then he saw Jiang Ji also pause for a moment, and even the action of kissing him stopped. He just stared at him with a slightly dazed look, the adoration suddenly exploding to a nearly grand extent, making both of them in it feel incredulous.

At that moment, Jiang Ji suddenly had a feeling of enlightenment—no wonder why saying “like” just now felt insufficient. It was because the word “like” couldn’t carry such a heavy, intense-to-the-point-of-being-overwhelming feeling anymore. Only by saying “love” could he feel that all of his emotions could be contained.

“I love you.” He repeated these three words, and somehow he felt a little choked up.

For the first time in his life, when he said these words, Jiang Ji was amazed at how accurately they expressed his feelings.

More precise than any lyrics he had written before.

Their burning breaths intertwined, and the sensations between their lips and tongues were magnified to the point where they were both engulfed by each other, and the fingertips that touched their bodies seemed to spark, igniting a fierce desire along the way.

Suddenly, there was a sound of hurried footsteps outside the door, followed by the sound of the door lock being turned.

Through the door, which made both of them temporarily stop kissing and moving, they sobered up from that intense emotion and desire.

Qin Qingzhuo’s back was against the door, and he could even feel that the sound of the lock being opened was transmitted through his body.

“Oh? Is the door locked?” The person outside the door spoke up, “My phone is still inside…”

“No way, how did the door get locked so quickly…”

The voice sounded somewhat familiar, belonging to one of the musicians who had just competed with them.

As the people outside conversed, the two inside the room both toned down their movements.

At this moment, if they were to open the door and walk out, it would definitely become headline news, a sensational topic.

Qin Qingzhuo even thought of the headline the media might use—”On the night of Asperatus’s victory, lead singer Jiang Ji locks himself in the room with Qin Qingzhuo.”

He had to admit that the timing of these two people outside the door was quite opportune. Perhaps if they had come a little later, he and Jiang Ji would really have started “messing around” in the room.

It was only now that he realized, when emotions reached a certain intensity, words spoken out loud, no matter how passionate, and embraces and kisses, no matter how intimate, still left one feeling unsatisfied. It was only when it descended to the most primitive instinct, when bodies entangled like beasts to vent their desires for each other, that it felt sufficient.

While Qin Qingzhuo listened nervously to the sounds behind the door, Jiang Ji boldly began kissing him again, even mischievously sliding his hand under his clothes to knead the sensitive areas around his waist. Leaning in close to his ear, he whispered, “Relax, Teacher Qin.”

With the conversation just a door away, and the clear sound of lips and tongues kissing, Qin Qingzhuo’s nerves were stretched to the limit. He was afraid the door behind him wasn’t properly locked, and the two of them would burst in with a strong push.

“Is this for real?” The person outside continued, even knocking on the door, “Could it be someone doing… that inside?”

“Forget it, maybe I misheard. Let’s go find someone to unlock it.”

“Who has the key here?”

“How about we find Sister Jia? Sister Jia must know…”

The voices outside grew fainter and fainter, and Qin Qingzhuo’s body finally relaxed.

It felt like they were having an affair, with the risk of being caught in the act.

Only when the footsteps were completely out of earshot did Qin Qingzhuo whisper, “Let’s go out. Someone will come to unlock the door soon.”

“Aren’t you afraid someone’s waiting outside now?” Jiang Ji touched his waist again.

“What if…?” As he said this, Qin Qingzhuo realized there was indeed a possibility. Going out now might lead to being seen by someone, but staying here would definitely result in being caught. It was a real dilemma.

While he was pondering, Jiang Ji suddenly chuckled softly and reassured him, “Don’t worry, no one’s outside now.”

“How do you know?” Qin Qingzhuo asked.

“I just feel it,” Jiang Ji said. Growing up in this kind of environment, he was quite sensitive to such things.

“Well… should we go out?” Qin Qingzhuo said, moving away from the door and reaching out to unlock it.

“Wait a moment.” Jiang Ji grabbed his hand. “Say that sentence again.”

“Hmm?” Qin Qingzhuo immediately understood which sentence he was referring to, but he pretended not to and asked, “Which sentence?”

“Which one did you say?” Jiang Ji squeezed his hand.

Qin Qingzhuo lowered his eyes and smiled, then took a deep breath and looked up at Jiang Ji. With a more solemn tone than before, he said, “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Jiang Ji leaned down to peck his lips and looked into his eyes with the same seriousness. “Qin Qingzhuo, I love you very much.”