Yifeng kept glancing at her, then looking away quickly whenever she noticed. He picked up his teacup, set it down, picked it up again without drinking.
"Did you..." He cleared his throat for what felt like the hundredth time. "Did you like it?"
Soyeon nearly choked on her lotus root. "What?"
"The kiss. I mean—" His ears were bright red now. "Was I too rough? I didn't mean to be so.…..forceful. I just..." He trailed off, looking utterly miserable.
"No! No, no." Soyeon shook her head quickly, then had to turn her face away because she couldn't bear to look at him while saying this. "You weren't.….it was... it was nice."
"Nice?"
"Very nice," she amended, her voice barely above a whisper.
She could feel him watching her. When she finally dared to glance back, he was smiling, that soft, genuine smile that made her heart do strange flips.
