Am I In Love With Her? (V)

He was falling,

Like how fast he was sleeping,

It was after a while then he realized,

That everything was in time to be.

***

THE YEAR 1904, 100 centuries away from the present time.

"I am wrong with everything I think of you, Wang Qing Long, I think... it was this time I realized I must have been prohibiting myself to believe what I do not see," Althea said as she pursed her lips. Qing Long was completely falling in love with her, and he doesn't know why.

"Even just for a day, I know you are a good person, Wang Qing Long," Althea concluded while tilting the corners of her lips. She sighed as she clicked her tongue and glanced at the trees on her side. She was wrong with her instincts earlier, and what made her say that? She was in the same atmosphere as him.

Wang Qing Long didn't even make any harassment or nibble her down into pieces after he had seen her. He cared for her even just for that few hours, something in their pupils aligned in symmetric motions, making the butterflies in her stomach growl even after a minute. She knew her heart was beating louder than usual, and she never felt that before.

Is it her first time to fall in love with someone?

Wang Qing Long smiled as he turned his heel around and said, "I know it's wrong for us to be here, but I knew I never wanted to leave this island until I get my answer."

He walked near the shore, the waves crashing through his legs, and he smiled as he felt the hotness in his cheeks. He was going to admit it, he was falling in love with Althea. His heart was pumping so much that he didn't even know how he could explain it. Whereas Althea was breathing a sigh of relief there, her clothes were tattered and soaked in all places.

She was waiting for Qing Long to turn back around. She wanted that touch once again, but she doesn't want the Crown Prince's kiss. She wanted Qing Long's lips on hers.

"Can I ask a question, Althea?" Qing Long asked as he turned to her once again and smiled, showing his front teeth. Althea was lost in her desire to hug him, and she was knuckling her fists. She nodded sweetly while Qing Long was mesmerized by her dazzling beauty at that part.

They were a distance apart, but he knew he wanted to claim those lips once again.

"Do you still find me as the one who inhabits cursed fortunes everywhere whenever my name had been stated?" Qing Long asked that meaningful question. He wanted a genuine answer, and he knew he needed it from Althea. She hitched her breath and thought again. She had been unfortunate in the past days since she used her legend, but she knew that it has a reason.

She pursed her lips. After a moment of silence, she bit it. She was hesitating to give an answer earlier, but she knew it had changed her mind after what happened through that Lunar New Year. The fight they had with the Nian Beast earlier will be forever encrypted on her mind. Althea smiled as she said, "I'm not sure if this will enlighten your mood a little bit, but I think everyone who reads your legend is wrong from what they are thought of you, as a person and as a legend."

Qing Long was stunned at his place as his eyes were beginning to soften at every second that had passed. Althea continued to indicate, "I am not the one who could make my mind changed for the better sometimes. I always did rush decisions, and do things in haste. But for now, I think, I am starting to convince my mind that... everything will change after this Lunar New Year."

Qing Long asked, "Did I ever change your mind about me?"

Althea widened her eyes when she doesn't expect that kind of question. She swallowed constantly as her cheeks were starting to flush and the color of beet red was evident. Althea smiled a little bit and nodded at the same time.

Qing Long felt the tears rimmed in his eyelids as he slowly stepped up that distance. Althea waited for him to reach her. She smiled in a brilliant way while he placed his hands around her waist that time and Althea closed her eyes as she felt something soft on her lips. She was not surprised by that, in fact, she was longing for his touch.

Qing Long claimed her lips, as hungry as he were, but soft and intimate on the execution. He gradually moves along the corners of her mouth, their lips molding each other like they were made for each other. Althea placed her hands on the back of his neck as she was screaming inside. Her soul was in love with this man.

True love came at the corner, and Althea never knew that even for just a day, she would fall in love with someone she just met.

They both kissed passionately underneath that moonlight, with the lanterns floating high upon the clouds, the waters of the Yangtze River were roaring a little. Their clothes were soaked, but they both didn't care. Qing Long moved his lips hungrily as Althea took a step back and fell on the sand.

They didn't break the kiss at all.

She tripped, her head first on the mushy sand, and she felt her back on the shore. Qing Long was on top of her, and they were both gasping for air. He swallowed and leaned his forehead to Althea's while whispering, "Can I love you now?"

Althea opened her eyes wide while Qing Long did the same. She felt her heart skipped a bit. She knew she was falling in love, but she denied it.

"Even if it was the moment of truth, the day we met, was also the day I fell in love with you."