Before long, a stainless steel platter was brought over, piled high with sizzling meat skewers.
The beef belly was a perfect mix of fat and lean, grilled until the edges were slightly charred, its grease shimmering with a tempting luster under the light.
The chicken wings had golden-brown skin, sprinkled with cumin and chili powder.
Su Yu picked up a perfectly grilled slice of beef belly and placed it on the plate in front of Kiana.
Kiana didn't stand on ceremony. Her chopsticks precisely picked up the slice of meat and brought it to her mouth.
She didn't chew quickly, but you could tell she was very serious about it—as if savoring something precious.
Su Yu flipped the chicken wings on the grill again, and only after confirming both sides were evenly colored did he speak.
"That little girl said you look better when you smile. What do you think?"
Kiana's chopsticks paused for a moment.
She didn't look up, her gaze falling on the dipping sauce dish in front of her.
The surface of the sauce reflected the dim yellow light, shimmering slightly.
"...What do you mean, what do I think?"
"Literally what I said." Su Yu placed a chicken wing on Kiana's plate. "Griseo said your colors are warmer when you smile. I was wondering what you think about that yourself."
Kiana was silent for a few seconds.
She picked up the chicken wing and took a bite.
The skin was grilled to a crisp, and juices overflowed the moment she bit into it.
"...There's nothing good-looking or not good-looking about it."
She mumbled while chewing the chicken wing.
"A smile is just a smile."
"Oh?" Su Yu raised his eyebrows. "So you admit you smiled?"
Kiana's chewing stopped for a beat.
She looked up and met Su Yu's face, which was practically screaming, "I caught you."
"..."
She put down the chicken bone, wiped the grease from the corner of her mouth with a napkin, her expression unchanging.
"I didn't smile."
"You just said a smile is a smile."
"I was speaking hypothetically."
"Who hypothesizes about whether they smiled or not?"
"...You're so annoying."
Kiana turned her face away, her gaze landing on the world outside the window.
The glass reflected the lights of the shop and her own side profile, as well as the smug-looking man sitting opposite her.
The barbecue shop was noisy. At the next table, a few young people were playing drinking games, their boisterous shouts heating the air.
The exhaust fan whirred, pulling the greasy smoke and hot air outside.
This sort of clamor was unexpectedly reassuring.
At least, it was for Kiana.
In the world she came from, such a lively night had already become an extravagant hope.
There were no alarms, no roars of Honkai Beasts, no ruins and no blood.
There was only the aroma of grilled meat, the laughing and cursing of strangers, and the light above her head that wasn't bright but was warm enough.
"..."
She pulled her gaze back.
"That kid."
"Hm?"
"Griseo." Kiana's voice was very soft. "She's... very strange."
"How so?"
"The way she looks at people." Kiana paused. "Describing people with colors, what's that about?"
Su Yu placed a bacon-wrapped roll on her plate.
"It's probably her unique way of perceiving things. Some people's understanding of the world is a little different from the average person's."
"..."
Kiana picked up the bacon roll, looked at it, and put it in her mouth.
The savory flavor of the bacon mixed with the crisp tenderness of the enoki mushrooms. It tasted surprisingly good.
"She said my colors aren't warm enough." She chewed, her voice a little muffled. "Is that supposed to be a criticism?"
"I think it's encouragement." Su Yu smiled. "She hopes you'll smile more."
"...I have nothing to smile about."
"Who says?" Su Yu picked up another slice of beef belly. "Back at the milk tea shop, when you saw Griseo scolding me and calling me a 'big meanie', you clearly snickered."
"I did not."
"You did." Su Yu nodded with a straight face. "The corners of your mouth tilted up by 0.5 centimeters. As the unlucky anchor who's forced to observe you twenty-four hours a day, my judgment is absolutely accurate."
Kiana's cheeks grew slightly warm.
It wasn't shyness, but more like the embarrassment of having a small action exposed in public.
"...Why are you observing things like that?"
"Can't be helped, what with the distance restriction." Su Yu spread his hands. "I can only be within a meter of you every day. It's hard not to notice."
Kiana didn't reply.
She lowered her head and continued to eat the grilled meat on her plate, her movements a little faster than before, as if trying to block some emotion with food.
But Su Yu noticed that the faint blush on the tips of her ears hadn't completely faded.
He tactfully dropped the subject, simply continuing to silently place grilled meat onto her plate.
Beef belly, chicken wings, bacon-wrapped enoki mushrooms... they piled up one by one until her plate was about to overflow.
"That's enough." Kiana's voice was tinged with helplessness. "I can't eat this much."
"Then eat slowly." Su Yu took a few slices of meat for himself. "Since when does the word 'full' exist in a Kaslana's dictionary?"
Kiana looked at the mountain of barbecue in front of her and was silent for a few seconds.
Then, she picked up her chopsticks and began to eat in earnest.
One slice after another.
She didn't speak, nor did she look up. She just focused wholeheartedly on her food, like a small animal that had finally found a safe den where it could eat in peace.
Su Yu watched her cheeks, slightly flushed from the steam. He watched her jaws puff out gently as she chewed. He watched the tip of her tongue flash out occasionally to lick away the grease at the corner of her mouth.
The neon signs outside the window flickered in the night, and the streetlights stretched the shadows of pedestrians long.
The barbecue shop was filled with the lively atmosphere of smoke and fire. The smell of grease and the sound of laughter intertwined, forming the most ordinary night in this city.
No Honkai.
No Herrschers.
No world that needed to be protected with one's life.
There was only a white-haired girl seriously eating barbecue, and a man secretly watching her from the side.
"...Hey."
Kiana spoke, breaking Su Yu's train of thought.
"What is it?"
"You keep staring at me."
Su Yu was taken aback for a moment, then he smiled. He didn't deny it, nor did he look away.
"Mhm, I'm still looking," he said. "Watching you eat with such relish makes me feel like this meal was worth treating you to."
Kiana's hand, holding a piece of meat, paused for a moment. She didn't say anything.
But Su Yu saw that her fingers, gripping the chopsticks, had tightened for a split second.
"Su Yu."
"Hm?"
"What that kid said," Kiana's voice was very soft, as if talking to herself, "I'll... remember it."
Su Yu looked at her for several seconds.
Then, he picked up his beer can and gently tapped it against the untouched glass of iced tea in front of her, making a crisp sound.
"Then remember to give her a smile the next time you see her."
"..."
Kiana didn't respond.
But Su Yu saw that as she picked up the next slice of beef belly, her movement was a little lighter than before.
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