** Beneath the Heart of Ice**

chapter unspoken confessions

Li Yin sat at the head of the table, the quiet hum of conversations and laughter surrounding her as the company’s celebration dinner was in full swing. It had been a year since she had started as an intern, and now, with hard work and determination, she had climbed her way to the position of Vice President. She should have felt on top of the world tonight, but the nervous flutter in her chest wouldn’t let her relax.

The restaurant was beautifully decorated, dimly lit with elegant chandeliers casting a soft glow over the tables. The celebration was in her honor, but Li Yin couldn’t help but feel a weight pressing on her shoulders—a weight that had little to do with her job.

As the evening wore on, drinks flowed, and the mood grew more relaxed. Someone, probably Xu Wei, suggested playing a party game to liven things up. It was a silly game involving passing a piece of tissue from one person to another using only their mouths.

At first, Li Yin had been hesitant, but her colleagues' infectious enthusiasm had a way of dragging everyone into the fun. Laughter filled the air as people passed the tissue along, each exchange drawing teasing remarks and bursts of giggles.

Li Yin participated reluctantly, the tissue coming her way with increasing frequency. It was harmless enough until the tissue came from a female colleague and was supposed to be passed on to Lu Zhen, who was sitting right next to her. Her breath hitched as the group’s energy shifted, and a chorus of teasing and cheers rose around them.

“Kiss! Kiss!” someone shouted from across the table.

Li Yin’s eyes met Lu Zhen’s, and for a split second, time seemed to freeze. His expression was unreadable, as always, but there was something in his gaze that made her pulse race. Her heart pounded in her chest as the pressure from the room built. Her hands fidgeted under the table, fingers clutching her dress as if to ground herself.

It wasn’t just the game anymore. It was everything that had been bubbling beneath the surface for months—the looks, the fleeting touches, the unspoken tension that had been growing between them. Lu Zhen had been her boss, her mentor, and… something more, though neither of them had fully acknowledged it. Tonight, the air between them felt charged with an intensity that had nothing to do with the party.

Lu Zhen’s face remained calm, but his dark eyes flickered with something she couldn’t quite place. He leaned slightly forward, and so did she, their breaths mingling as they closed the distance. The cheering from their colleagues faded into the background, drowned out by the rapid thumping of her heart. Her lips hovered a breath away from his.

Then, almost instinctively, she pulled back at the last second, the tissue dropping between them. Laughter erupted from the group, their voices teasing but harmless.

“Oh, come on!” Xu Wei said, grinning. “You were this close!”

Li Yin forced a smile, trying to hide the swirl of emotions that had just washed over her. She glanced at Lu Zhen, who had sat back in his chair, looking amused but composed. Yet she couldn’t shake the feeling that something had changed between them in that moment.

The game resumed, and the evening continued, but for Li Yin, the celebratory mood had shifted. Every laugh, every glance from her colleagues felt distant. Her mind kept replaying the almost-kiss with Lu Zhen, the moment they had been close enough to feel the heat of each other’s skin.

Later, after the dinner had wrapped up and everyone began to trickle out of the restaurant, Li Yin found herself lingering outside, the cool night air a welcome relief from the warmth of the restaurant. She stood alone for a moment, letting the tension of the evening ebb away.

She heard footsteps behind her and turned to see Lu Zhen walking toward her, his hands casually in his pockets, his expression unreadable as usual. He stopped a few feet away, and they stood in silence for a moment, the sounds of the city buzzing softly around them.

“Congratulations,” he said, his voice low and calm, though there was a hint of something deeper there. “You’ve earned this.”

“Thank you,” Li Yin replied, her voice softer than she intended. She looked down, unsure of what to say next, the weight of the almost-kiss still heavy between them.

Lu Zhen stepped closer, his eyes searching hers. “You’ve worked hard for this, Li Yin. Don’t let tonight’s… game cloud that.”

She met his gaze, her heart racing again. “It’s not just the game,” she admitted quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. “It’s… everything.”

For a moment, Lu Zhen didn’t respond, but his expression softened, and the unreadable mask he usually wore seemed to slip just slightly. He took another step forward, closing the gap between them.

“I know,” he said, his voice low but filled with something that made her breath catch. “We’ve been avoiding this for a long time.”

Li Yin’s heart pounded in her chest as she looked up at him. She wanted to say something, to tell him how she felt, but the words seemed trapped in her throat. The vulnerability of the moment felt like standing on the edge of a cliff, unsure if she was ready to jump.

“Lu Zhen…” she began, but before she could continue, he gently cupped her chin, tilting her face up toward his.

“This doesn’t have to be complicated,” he said softly, his eyes locking onto hers. “We’ll figure it out. Together.”

Before she could reply, his lips brushed hers—this time not in a game, not under the teasing gaze of their colleagues, but in a moment that was entirely theirs. The kiss was slow, tentative at first, but filled with all the emotions they had kept hidden for so long.

When they finally pulled apart, Li Yin’s heart was racing, her mind spinning. She searched his face, but this time there was no unreadable mask. There was only honesty, and something deeper that she had been afraid to acknowledge until now.

“Let’s not avoid this anymore,” Lu Zhen whispered, his thumb brushing her cheek.

Li Yin nodded, a soft smile tugging at her lips. “No more avoiding,” she agreed.

And with that, the unspoken tension between them dissolved, replaced by the beginnings of something real, something they had both been waiting for—something worth every moment of uncertainty that had brought them here.