In his 20 years of life, Kun never did anything against his parents’ will, always trailing to be a good son in their eyes, always following their words and advices. Kun’s never felt like rebelling against his parents as they always let him do what he wanted. As any noble man born into a powerful household it’s needed by default to learn how to fight, how to handle different weapons, or equitation. So when Kun wanted to learn how to play guzheng his parents brought the best teacher for him, as well he is allowed to spend enough time doing calligraphy or writing poems.

But tonight Kun walks to the street that is filled with people, all gathered for the same purpose, to assist to one of the biggest festivals of Beijing "The Festival Of The Dragon" accompanied only by his friends Yuzhi and Yukhei. Ever since he was a kid he wished to attend this festival, to taste the food, to buy souvenirs, to play games and to watch the show prepared for the homage of the Dragon without having the feeling of a guard breathing on the back of his neck.

As Kun is part of a family of nobles he is rarely left outside alone, this time Kun sneaked out of the house without anyone's notice and ran to the festival to enjoy himself and his friends, which pretty much did the same thing. Just like every year he is here for the Dragon Dance, he will not lose it for anything in this world.  

While Yuzhi and Yukhei are out for finding the fireworks stand, which they were never allowed close to since it was too dangerous for them, or at least so considered their parents.

The drum sound thrum in his ears, there's so much noise you can't hear the one next to you if not screaming into your ear, but when he turns his head left-right there’s no trace of his friends, probably they spotted somehow the fireworks stand and headed that direction already, and Kun decides not to deflect form his purpose eyeing the place where the performance will take place by the amount of people gathered along a circle.

He walks through the crowd, making his way to the front, the drums’ beat is slow and with some pauses in between to let people know that soon it will start and Kun tries his best to pass through the crowd and reach the front row.

On the street there's a round empty space that's placed at the middle of a corridor, the performers will come from the East side, do the performance in the middle and then retreat through the West side. Round the circle are the musicians with their instruments waiting the conductor’s sign. Kun feels bad for the conductor, always having to witness such an amazing festival with your back, and moreover focus to conduct the entire orchestra so that they won't miss a note, to be careful so that they keep the rhythm for the performers not to miss a beat.

He looks around the crowd but there's no sign of his friends, not a single familiar face, shouting out their names will be pointless since there's too much noise, no one will hear him. So he will just focus on the show for now following to search for his friends later on after the performance will be over and people will spread again.

The drum beats become quicker and they suddenly stop, only hitting the gong from time to time as the musicians holding the guzheng start playing first. The sweet music invades Kun's ears, his favorite instrument, but he never managed to play at such intensity. He is drown to close his eyes and listen the music as other instruments join in harmony.

Once again they stop and three gongs announce the start of the real show before they play again, when Kun opens his eyes the first performers have already made their way into the circle, dancing in sync, boys and girls matching moves to the background music, pleasing the eye as much as the ear.

The performance runs slow and peaceful until out of nowhere 5 masked performers jump into the view making the before performing ones to spread and leave the stage at some point through the West side, the current performance combines with martial arts, Kun's pulse starts beating erratically due to adrenaline.

From the East side there's a huge dragon doll carried by multiple people that create the illusion of a flying dragon. The crowd applauses and shouts at the sight of the Dragon. So far the show is the same as every year but Kun thinks he will never stop falling in love over and over again with this show. The dragon stops in front of the masked performers that are not going anywhere and one of them jumps in front of the Dragon while the others stop.  

The dancer starts dancing for the dragon, lean, gracious movements as if wanting to hypnotize the beast. Kun never saw such a skilled dancer, even though he cannot tell if it is a girl or a boy he watches frozen as if instead of hypnotizing the dragon the dancer hypnotizes him.

Soon the Dragon's head starts moving the way the dancer leads and in the next second he performs a forward flip without putting his hands on the ground and the crowd goes crazy. The performer basically flied doing the flip and he landed graciously on his own two feet. Kun's jaw literarily dropped at the sight of such a movement, only a person without spine could do.

The Dragon is spun in the air as well and flied towards the West gate while the dancer doesn't follow, but makes his way towards Kun. Kun's eyes widen in surprise when the dancer is right next to him, but cuts through the crowd passing right by Kun.

Now that the crowd starts to spread to other places Kun decides it's time to search for his friends so he randomly walks around the square the image of the Dragon Dance performer still playing in his head, especially the forward flip. He scans the surroundings, looking for Yukhei since he is taller than him and Yuzhi, easier to notice in a crowd. He reaches out the part where the street meets with various other alleys he looks through each one that he passes by.

During festival all these alleys are filled with ambulatory booths with various purposes, somewhere around must be the fireworks booth where he thinks his friends might be since Yuzhi has sort of an obsession with fireworks he wouldn’t leave so fast that booth.

Kun must've ran in circles too much as he isn't able to find the fireworks booth nor his friends and somehow he doesn't recognize the place he is in now, fireworks were shot because the alleys are all filled with smoke, so he thinks of tracing back his steps towards the square center where the performance took place when a familiar figure grabs his attention.

Kun follows the masked Dragon dancer which probably has already caught on Kun's presence. The dancer turns around looking through the almost vanishing smoke straight at Kun, and the latter still can't say if it's a boy or a girl, but he knows this is the dancer, he studied their costumes and he was the only one with red details on his costume.

The boy is really curious to know what face is behind that mask, there are people passing by, but none stops to look at the dancer, maybe Kun is hallucinating, but then the dancer pulls a bit his mask just enough to reveal and stuck his tongue out to Kun. Perplexed but somehow intrigued in a positive way Kun runs towards the dancer which once again runs away from Kun. He chases the dancer, both bumping into people, to whom Kun apologizes but fastly moving not to lose the other.

The chase ends into a dead end street Kun smirks towards the masked dancer "Wait! I don't want to do anything bad to you, I just want to see your face" Kun offers but the dancer has other opinion shaking slowly his head "You don't have where to go, and I am blocking the only exit" Kun speaks again and this time the masked dancer approaches him.

Kun realizes the other is taller than him as he approaches Kun, Kun freezes not knowing what move the other will do so he just stays with his hands spread as if not wanting to let the other escape. When the masked dancer is few inches away from Kun's face he puts his hands on Kun's shoulder pressing him to the wall, leaning in, rising again his mask just enough not to be seen and presses a kiss into the corner of Kun's mouth instantly making the latter to drop his hands next to his body, limply.  

The masked dancer left and it took Kun few seconds to react and chase but when he got back into the main street again a hand cups his shoulder "Kun ge, we found you" Yukhei excitedly relating to the elder what he and Yuzhi found and tried at the festival.

Both Yuzhi and Yukhei thought Kun eat something bad as he kept behaving as if he was ill, so they just dropped him home and Kun carefully sneaked back into the household.

There's candle light showing from his room and he supposes he's got caught. He steps into his room a crazy thought crossing his mind, wishing for the masked dancer to be there, wishing for the masked dancer to know him.

"So, you sneaked out without anyone's consent and no guard accompanying you" a more than familiar voice reaches Kun's ears, clicking his tongue he moves faster to the owner of it "And I guess it is way past your bed time Chenle, now, if you're not sleepy ge is, and he is going to sleep" he says pushing the younger out of the room sliding the door into his face, locking it "I am so going to tell mom and dad, just wait."

The next day finds Kun in detention and not thanks to his little brother, but he doesn’t complain too much, after hearing his mother’s plea he realized it wasn’t good to sneak out, and he could’ve just asked for permission, he’s 20 now, but there was a part of the deal that doesn’t have him happy.

“You have to take Chenle to his Tea Ceremony lesson, Sicheng finally found time for his brother Renjun, and since you know, Chenle is his best friend he accepted him as well, and you will take him there” his mother said sternly.

“Ma, I also have to improve myself with guzheng, calligraphy and others” Kun protests in vain as his mother turns around hitting his head with her fan.

“You know Sicheng was thought by the legendary master Geng himself, which never took disciples under his wing.”

Kun is still focusing on his calligraphy, trying his best not to shake his hand or squeeze the brush too much, but his mother’s speech of Sicheng makes his head spin. Every time his mother pronounces the name ‘Sicheng’ it comes with the entire story of how he lost his way when he was only 10 years old in the mountains while his parents transited back from business visit to Mongolia.

Everyone suspects Sicheng was found by the greatest tea master China ever knew, Han Geng, and thought him not only the Tea Ceremony but many other things.

He knows Shiceng from when he was 15, his mother took him to learn how to handle a sword, Sicheng was back for a few time and he wasn’t speaking too much.

Sicheng is loved by every piece of person in the whole kingdom for his innocence, for his skills, but Kun is just sure that behind that innocent look lays some sort of beast that waits to be unleashed.

What he feels for Sicheng is not enviousness, but he also can't name the feeling. Everyone in his family likes Sicheng, even Chenle prefers Sicheng over Kun.

"Chenle you came, oh Kun ge brought you," Sicheng beams from ear to ear, signaling them to enter the house.

Compared to Kun parents' household, Sicheng's is much smaller, but Kun likes here better because it feels warmer than theirs, warmer because their rooms are closer to one another and every room is lived, while in the other's household there are a lot of empty rooms and their rooms are far one from one another.

Behind Sicheng peeks an eye his younger brother, Renjun, Kun knows a lot about him because Chenle can't keep quiet about him. Renjun is someone that takes really good care of Chenle and Kun as a brother it's very grateful towards. Renjun politely greets Kun then rushes towards Chenle, and his shyness long gone. Now this is what Kun finds strange at these brothers, they are all cutesy and shy, but their mood switches 180 degrees in a second.

Sicheng lets Kun assist the teaching, and Kun remembers his mother saying 'peek a good eye Kun, maybe you will learn something as well, in the end you will take Chenle there for the entire time of the study' underline, for the entire time of the study. When they enter the room there are three tiny tea tables one for Sicheng and one for each of the two pupils, they are all equipped with the needed instruments, neatly ordered, most of them unfamiliar to Kun.

He watches Sicheng starting the ritual but it amazes him how different it is from what he's seen before, acknowledging in the back of his head that he was indeed taught of a great master. The younger puts a show into this ceremony, the way his hands move across the bowls, the way he handles the instruments, Kun thinks of the masked dancer again and even if his eyes are looking at Sicheng his mind is with the dancer, with the half kiss. Why did the dancer kiss him, does he know him, he thinks of getting out of this house and reaching for Yukhei and Yuzhi to ask for help in searching for the dancer.

A hand is waving in front of his eyes then a finger pokes his forehead and he snaps out of the trance “Why is everybody hitting my head today?” Kun complains and the younger chuckles offering him tea, the tea he just made. For the time being Sicheng lets Renjun and Chenle repeat what he just taught, Kun realizes he had been off for some good time. He nods in acceptance for the tea and Sicheng moves towards him clumsily stumbling in his steps and dropping a bit of warm tea on Kun's hand. He grabs a towel and pats the elder’s hand, expression changing from a smile into a frown.

Kun pushes his hand away and assures him he's just fine, forcing a smile back since Renjun and Chenle look petrified at their direction. Sicheng, the one everyone finds perfect, the one that is good at everything, Kun doesn't understand how people don't see his clumsiness at all. When they learned together how to handle swords Kun remembers Sicheng almost cut his own neck off, and one day in a demonstration against the latter's older brother Yixing, he saw a totally different Sicheng, if Yixing wouldn't just be the most skilled among them, Sicheng would have really had a chance to defeat him, Yixing kept praising him as if he went to war and won by himself.

"Oh, what a pleasure Kun! You must stay for dinner, I won't take a no for an answer" Sicheng's mother says, well, at least someone in the other's family likes Kun. Sicheng and Renjun's mom always treated Kun special, always wanted them to bond and be friends, and it's not like Kun wouldn’t have considered it, but his schedule always overlaps Sicheng's.

Kun takes the offer, he wouldn't offend Sicheng's mother for anything in the world, she is the calmest person he ever saw, the kind of the person that if you have an open wound you would put them there and it will heal, just like that, and he does understand where the cute part of her three sons came from. For the dinner Chenle sat next to Kun and across Renjun, while the elder faced Sicheng, his father at the top of the table and as Yixing is out of the town his mother sat across an empty seat.

"I heard your father wants Chenle to master the tea ceremony, wouldn't it be better for you to take up on it, since you are the second born?" Kun nods, he isn't even the least interested in this type of learning but he doesn't want to be disrespectful towards Sicheng's father. "Your father is requesting Sicheng for the meeting with the prime minister next month, I hope you receive him well into your household" he continues.

"Sir, you and all the members of this family are always welcome into our household, we will do our best to treat him like one of ours" Kun learned through many others how to be polite, with etiquette. He is sure he doesn't want to be home when Sicheng is there and maybe for 2 months after, just thinking of the headache his mother will give to him after she'll see how skilled Sicheng is. He would lie to say the tea Sicheng did today was bad, even for a demonstration for the young pupils the tea tested heavenly. Kun is grateful he could taste it, but will never admit it out loud, because when Sicheng asked him if he likes it he said that it's bit bitter, feeling ashamed of the lie he told.

Sicheng looked down his plate the entire time, only rising his head from time to time to smile at Kun. Kun felt incredibly uncomfortable throughout the dinner, Sicheng’s parents kept asking him about his latest poems, about calligraphy and guzheng. He would’ve liked to have a sort of other discussion, one in which everyone would be involved instead of him just being questioned. Chenle on the other side enjoyed the dinner the most, fighting Renjun with food, and being all loud, something his mother would never allow while sitting at the table.

He tried to get in touch with his friends, but his mother reminded him he was grounded and the only reason he can leave the house is to take Chenle to Sicheng's house. The more Kun thinks of the Dragon dancer the more scenes he creates into his head, he is so determined to find him or her that he asks his mother to take him to do traditional dance.

"Kun, you, dance? Are you sick qinai, do you have a fever?" His mother starts laughing at the ridiculousness of her son's idea "As a matter of fact, I do think I feel weird ma, and I will not be able to take Chenle to his 'master' today" Kun turns to rub the ink in the water for his calligraphy, and soon there are sounds of giggles and chuckles coming from outside the room. The doors open and Renjun is dragged in by Chenle, followed from behind by Sicheng. Kun rolls his eyes in the back of his head, he's seeing Sicheng more than he sees his friends.

"You are really skilled in calligraphy ge, I almost forgot how beautiful you write" Sicheng says in the break he takes to let his pupils redo what he just explained by themselves. Kun is taken aback as he stared at the younger the entire time he taught the two pupils and his face shades a color of pink thinking Sicheng must've caught him staring. "I heard by mistake about you taking dance classes, are you interested in dance?" Kun chokes he can't tell Sicheng why he is interested in dance, because he isn't, he just wants to find someone. He nods not wanting to give any details, instead he would want to ask if he's going to be served tea as always, because internally Kun always looks forward drinking Sicheng's tea.

After the teaching Sicheng went to Kun's father to discuss the details about the prime minister's visit, Kun doesn't await at all, political issues and how power flows within the dynasty is way out of his interest. His soul is an artistic one, he wasn't born for war, war is pain, hunger and death, he wants to be peace, people to paint, dance, and sing.

Yukhei and Yuzhi visit Kun's house two weeks after the festival, the host takes them into his room, making sure he secures the area "Thanks guys, I could be dead by this time" Kun flicks the younger boys’ heads. They apologize for not checking earlier with the elder and they blame it on how scary his mother is. While the youngers can't stop talking about how awesome the fireworks were, fireworks the elder had no chance, nor interest in seeing being way too preoccupied with chasing some fantasy.

He is conscious he needs help from his friends to find the one he is looking for so he breaks to his friends about the dancer that bewitched him so bad without even showing a face. Kun drags a piece of paper and lays in the few information he has, the dancer is taller than Kun, has gracious movements and very flexible, witty personality. "What if it is a boy?" the shocked Yuzhi finally speaks not being able to tell anything after Kun confessed about having been kissed by a complete stranger that night, maybe not full on the lips but it still counts as a kiss.

Kun glares at him "Come on, try to remember, the dancer left just before you arrived, did you see anyone passing by, wearing a mask, or a navy colored costume with red details on it?" It was too smoky and the boys were probably too caught up in one another and still seeing fireworks. They both shake their heads not seeming to remember any person passing by but they both insist the dancer must be a guy.

Kun’s mother decided for Sicheng to keep the teaching into their house as it is larger, the next time he comes Kun exercises his archery skills, hair pulled back so it won’t bother him. Sicheng and Renjun bow to him as always and Kun returns the bow and they walk past him entering the house. After a while of consecutively hitting the middle of the target he enters the house requesting for the court ladies to prepare the bath for him as he is all sweaty.

He takes his top off wiping the sweat with it when he notices in one of the rooms a panicked Sicheng and he stops entering the house, no matter how not close he is with Sicheng, as a host he needs to treat good any guest, moreover someone that came to teach Chenle “Did you lose something?” Kun asks and Sicheng rises his head, eyes almost teary “I-I can’t find it, the tea pick from my master” the younger’s voice almost cracks, looking through the entire room for a tea pick, Kun grabs his wrist for attention and Sicheng looks right into his eyes “You know that saying, it’s right under your nose?” Kun points towards where the tool is located and Sicheng wipes his eyes grabbing the tool and jumping onto Kun’s neck “That’s what I am saying ge, thank you.” Kun is tak