"A-Qiu, I feel like you've invented a totally new way of dating."
Su Jiuyue's seductive eyes twitched slightly, utterly shocked by what he had just said.
So when a man and a woman went to the movies together, they could actually split up to watch two different films to maximize efficiency?
Well, live and learn.
"Wait, is this considered a date?"
Gu Qiu looked up in even greater shock, his eyes filled with utter bewilderment.
Clearly, he had been coerced and lured into this cinema all by himself, and yet now he was being told this was a date?
"How come I had no idea?"
"A-Qiu, are you allergic to ambiguity or something?" Su Jiuyue asked helplessly with a counter-question.
Seeing her look of utter exasperation, Gu Qiu suddenly found it rather amusing, though he couldn't exactly tell her that he was simply allergic to *her*, given that her motives were entirely unclear and shrouded in mystery.
As far as he was concerned, any girl who took the initiative to get to know him was either selling tea or serving as an avatar for one of those three roommates back at the dorm.
Commonly known as smurfs.
"Forget it. I'll just watch the same movie as you."
After standing in a stalemate for some three or four minutes, Gu Qiu finally caved in.
What choice did he have? Who asked him to be truly incapable of hardening his heart and turning down the request of an attractive older sister?
Besides, it wasn't too much to ask.
He cast a quick glance at the movie Su Jiuyue was pointing at, noticing that the mature beauty had chosen what looked like a rather interesting romance film.
No action elements included, which was a real pity.
At first glance, it was clearly a youth campus drama, the kind usually only paid for by couples deeply in love.
Oh well. If she wanted to watch it, he'd just go along with it.
After all, he was only here for that max-constellation, max-refinement Night-dwelling Queen anyway.
Gu Qiu let out a slight breath, built up enough mental defenses, and—thinking that you can't catch a tiger without entering its den—promptly went to select their seats.
Since they didn't have any special relationship, he very righteously chose the seats right in the dead center of the theater, where the view was the absolute best.
The spot was brilliantly tricky, meaning Gu Qiu didn't have to worry about her taking advantage of him.
Just as he was about to pull out his phone to pay first, Su Jiuyue beat him to it, shoving her phone—with the payment code already open—straight against the scanner.
With a crisp beep, the payment went through successfully.
"I'm the one who asked A-Qiu out, so I can't possibly let A-Qiu spend his money~"
She flashed a crafty smile, watching Gu Qiu freeze in place with his phone still in hand. Feeling that the kid looked a little daze-headed and rather cute, she reached out with a slender finger to tap the tip of his nose, then happily skipped off to pick out the snacks and drinks needed for the movie.
"Oh right, A-Qiu, don't forget to get the movie tickets~"
Halfway there, she turned her head and shot Gu Qiu a look that was innocent yet alluring, before giving her instructions.
Tch.
Faced with that sudden wink, Gu Qiu merely raised an eyebrow with calm composure. Watching Su Jiuyue cheerfully pick out a popcorn combo, he ultimately didn't say anything, simply retrieving the two movie tickets from the ticket dispenser and following after her.
The warmth and softness of her finger seemed to linger on the tip of his nose.
Without realizing it, he reached up to gently touch the spot she had just brushed against, completely unaware that a slight smile was tugging at the corners of his mouth.
After collecting the tickets and waiting for Su Jiuyue to finish buying her popcorn and drinks, about five or six minutes later they had their tickets checked and entered the auditorium.
A movie without a major IP or widespread promotion naturally didn't draw much of a crowd, and since it wasn't peak hour either, including the two of them, there were only eight people in the entire hall.
An auditorium that could comfortably seat around fifty people held only a sparse handful of heads, making it look rather desolate.
The other six people appeared to be three couples, their seats scattered across various corners in the back row.
By contrast, the two of them sitting brazenly right in the center of the auditorium looked somewhat out of place.
After sitting down, Su Jiuyue began retying her waterfall of dark hair while looking around.
"I feel like we might have picked the wrong seats."
Gu Qiu had just adjusted his seat, sitting down with his popcorn and cola, and looked over in mild confusion upon hearing that remark.
"Huh?"
"You don't understand, A-Qiu~ It feels like we're sitting right in the middle of a stage with spotlights trained entirely on us. Real couples hide away in little corners, doing all sorts of unseen little things when the movie reaches its emotional climax..."
She wore an expression of miscalculation, followed by casting a sideways, ambiguous glance at Gu Qiu.
"Shouldn't we have sat in a little corner too, A-Qiu?"
"We aren't a couple, so that sort of thing has nothing to do with us. I think it's entirely unnecessary."
Gu Qiu tossed a piece of popcorn into his mouth, ignoring Su Jiuyue's pitiful, "I want some too" expression, and continued, "Besides, cinemas like this usually have security cameras to prevent safety hazards, thefts, and people recording bootlegs. Forget about 4K resolution for a second—that night-vision effect is clearer than the shop-review videos on certain domestic number-crunching websites."
With that, he intentionally or unintentionally glanced back at the young couple in the rear.
Furthermore, he hadn't spoken particularly quietly, and since the movie hadn't started yet, his voice carried with striking clarity in the enclosed space. Upon hearing this, the young couple in the back row—who had previously been all over each other—instantly snapped apart at lightning speed while looking left and right to locate the cameras.
Hearing Gu Qiu's words, Su Jiuyue's eyes swept across four different directions.
If Gu Qiu had known where those cameras actually were, he would have been astonished to find that the directions the woman looked pointed with absolute precision straight to the locations of the surveillance devices.
"A-Qiu, you know so much~"
The fox-like woman withdrew her gaze with a soft smile, then leaned close to his ear and whispered, "But... big sister's technique is very good. We won't get caught~"
Her sudden approach instantly made Gu Qiu tense up, and the warm breath she exhaled only served to stroke his taut, sensitive nerves.
"St-Stop joking around..."
Gu Qiu swallowed hard, mustering every ounce of his professional-grade skill.
"Besides..."
Su Jiuyue changed the subject, her tone growing increasingly provocative.
"In a place with surveillance like this... don't you think it's even more thrilling?"
Too close.
Her voice was too seductive.
And then there was that lingering, faint fragrance, along with the warm breath puffing against the side of his ear...
Gu Qiu's reason had reached the very brink of collapse.
He looked at her alluring face, so close to his own. The lights really were shining right down on them; he could even make out the fine, downy fuzz on her skin, and her pretty, curled eyelashes batting back and forth until his heart was itching all over.
Finally, his gaze settled on her scarlet, soft lips, which parted and closed as she spoke.
He desperately wanted to take Su Jiuyue at her word and just do it once...
Just to experience it once...
Gu Qiu parted his lips slightly, but because his throat was a bit dry, his trembling lips failed to produce a request in time.
Right at that moment, the lights in the auditorium suddenly went out, and a golden dragon soared across the screen.
The familiar opening soundtrack struck his mind like a Buddhist chant, and Gu Qiu snapped back to reality with a sharp shudder.
What the hell... what just happened to me?
Did I get hit by Ahri's charm?