Hong Kong: Happy New Year

"Three! Two! One! Happy New Yeeeear!"

The crowd burst out on a cheer and the heavens lit up as a hundred fireworks—red, orange, green, blue, and gold—scattered like glitters in the dark moonless sky.

For a stolen second, Stellar closed her eyes and her lips moved as if chanting a silent prayer.

"Were you making a wish?" Holden asked when Stellar opened her eyes. He zeroed in on her and steadied his gaze.

The serenity in her face erased the worry lines she had been wearing since they met two days ago.

Nodding her head, Stellar spoke, "I made a promise to myself that… I will love myself more this year." She then took a sip of her ginger ale and let the sweet bubbles tickle her throat.

Holden agreed, nodding his head as well. As if on autopilot, his hand landed on top of her bun, squeezing it because he can't shuffle her hair like he always did.

"Hey! Don't mess with my hair," she said and playfully slapped his hand, to which Holden raised both of his hands in surrender.

Watching the fireworks display, Stellar was in high spirits and was looking on the brighter side of things.

She could feel in her gut that if she as much as take a step forward towards change, everything in her life would fall into place like a domino effect.

Looking back at her life decisions in the past, she realized that she let people push her around and influence her, which ended up with her following their whims at the expense of her comfort and sanity.

Doing so never did her anything good. She would constantly regret her choices, and in the end, it affected her mood. Her self-confidence was low, thinking she couldn't make a sound and wise decision for herself.

The dark, heavy cloud of regret and what-ifs would always follow her around wherever she went that she felt drained even when she just woke up in the morning.

"Always remember to love yourself," she whispered to herself, gently patting her chest with her fingertips as if the gesture would embed the words in her heart. She certainly hoped so.

Shifting her gaze from the fireworks, her eyes landed on Holden who was staring at the sky with his hand dipped inside his pocket.

"Are you making your wish too, Holden?"

"Not really, but you can consider it as such."

"Care to explain more?" Stellar angled her head, completely intrigued with Holden's answer.

On normal occasions, Stellar would often hesitate to ask for more details, although most of the time, she was itching to do so. One reason was, she didn't want people to judge her for overstepping their imaginary boundaries.

Most of the time, she would study the other's body language and thought processes, hindering Stellar from speaking more than what she really wanted to do.

Maybe she was overthinking. Maybe she wasn't. But she wouldn't place her bets with people thinking that she was nosy just because she added an in-depth question to what the other had just said.

Holden, however, was an entire league of his own. He never showed Stellar anything that would make her feel uncomfortable to a point that she could freely speak her mind with him as if they were bound by blood.

"I got this idea from you, actually. I was always curious what it would be like to live a life beyond my comfort zone," he trailed off, taking a sip of his champagne. "Then I saw how you just took the plunge. It inspired me to do the same."

"Oooh. So, uhh. What do you mean do the same? Like?" Stellar angled her head, thinking of saying the worst thing that popped in her head, for example, Holden leaving the seminary, but she held her tongue back. Her eyes darted to Holden, and she saw him break into a smile.

"I was thinking of going on a trip once a month, every month, before my rite of ordination," Holden trailed off. "I never got to experience the outside world that much, so maybe I can connect more to others if I can go places."

Stellar's knees buckled, and the can in her hand almost slipped. Before she knew it, before she could think about it thoroughly, as if her mouth has a mind of its own, she blurted with much eagerness, "Can I come with you? Well… if you don't mind me tagging along."

Her eyebrows twitched. There was no way she could take back what she just said. She felt the color on her face drain at the thought of Holden turning down her idea.

What's worse was, she knew in her heart that Holden wouldn't decline Stellar's self invitation.

"I don't mind. That's not a bad idea. I mean, that'll make the trip more fun when you're with a companion."

Relief flooded Stellar, and she squealed like a teenage girl who was asked on a date by her crush. She wanted to give Holden a hug, but she knew how to respect his personal bubble, so she just held out her pinky finger.

"Pinky promise?" her smile, brighter than the burst of fireworks behind her.

Holden, a head taller than her, peered at her hand and mirrored her smile. Hooking his pinky finger with Stellar, he sealed the deal. "Pinky promise."

A blush painted Stellar's face when Holden brought their linked fingers to his chest as he swore his oath.

Was it his heartbeat? Or maybe it was hers. Stellar wasn't sure whose heart she was hearing in her ears.

It was until she felt her heart take a giant leap from her chest to her throat, blocking her air channels. Suddenly, she wanted to back out on the deal she made herself.

The way things were going between her and Holden, she was afraid that she would fall for him faster than a meteorite. And in the end, just like the meteorite, her heart would smash into smithereens the instant it landed on impact.

"Your eyebrows are twitching again," Holden mused, smoothening Stellar's thick brow.

"Oh… that." She yanked her pinky from Holden's grasp, tracing it on her eyebrow. "I was… just thinking that we should invite more people to join us. The more, the merrier. Ha ha!"

"Sure. We can invite Aki and Cassiopeia."

"Yeah. We really should. Ha ha." Stellar forced a smile. Now that Holden mentioned it, she wasn't sure if she would invite her siblings.

Something about this trip with Holden told her that what made it a bit special was she was away from her family.

Bowing her head slightly, Stellar trained her gaze on her boots. "Or maybe… we could be travel buddies," Stellar easily retracted. "This will be our soul-searching trip. Just the two of us."

Her eyes drifted up and caught something. Blinking twice, Stellar wasn't sure if she saw it correctly. Did he just...?

Was she overthinking again and her imagination was painting images in her head?

For sure she didn't see what she saw, right? And why would her eyes wander that way? That's so wicked.

As if the devil on her shoulder won, her eyes went back to Holden's Adam's apple.

She watched it angrily bob as he swallowed. Suddenly, she felt like Eve, hungrily reaching out for the forbidden fruit.

However, before she could do so, the boat swayed, and Stellar lost her balance. Lucky for her, Holden caught her in his arms and steadied her with his strong and firm grip.

For a second, Holden's cologne invaded her senses, and she couldn't help but sniff him a little more. The cozy and warm woodsy scent felt as if she was sitting near a fireplace.

To top it all, Stellar swore she felt his chest flex in their awkward position. Before her thoughts would go wayward, she thanked Holden and peeled herself from his safe embrace.

Why? Why do humans like to fantasize about people they were forbidden to touch? Was it embedded in our genes to always rise to the challenge of conquering mountains?

Whatever was going on in her head, Stellar shook it off. She reminded herself that Holden was off-limits. Girl? Remember that, okay?

Brushing off the need to ask him for his answer, Stellar just let the night play on itself with her doing little talking than needed.

…

In the wee hours of the morning, mother Earth cleansed the skies filled with smoke and dust with pouring rain.

Stellar and Holden were deep in slumber when lightning forked the sky, followed by an explosive thunder.

Subconsciously, Stellar found solace in the closest thing to her, holding it to her chest and biting the material that covered it, to keep herself from screaming.

Waking up from Stellar's constant stirring because of the thunder, Holden found his arm hostage and Stellar biting his white short sleeve.

When another thunder roared in the sky, Holden stayed still. He felt Stellar press her body to him, his elbow dangerously pressed against her breast. And her legs… Jesus… why?

Holden fought the urge of getting a hard-on from Stellar's leg resting on top of his balls, but he felt it getting heavier and painful the longer she kept rubbing into it every time a thunder clapped outside.

Was this his punishment for enjoying the normal things that free people do? But why did it feel as if it was not a punishment at all?

He saw another flash of lightning illuminate the world, and he closed his eyes in silent prayer that Stellar would stop squirming so he could stop his immoral thoughts.

To his shock, when the skies bellowed, Stellar stiffened like a rock, her pinky finger hooking with Holden.

"Don't leave me, please," she pleaded in her sleep.

Peering down on her, Holden lifted their linked pinkies, and pressed them to his chest. "Never."