Wagons and carts of all kinds were lined side by side peddling all kinds of merchandise, most of which sold lanterns. Cries and shouts from merchants flooded their senses as they competed to sell their lanterns which came in different shapes and sizes. The town was further bursting with colours of Qi’An and littered with bright lights which threatened to overload their senses.

This particular street they were strolling along was filled with people, mostly couples, but in both Joohyun and Seulgi’s eyes, none of whom were as fine-looking as themselves. Now that they were out and away from the camp, they were free, unbothered by watchful glances thrown at them. Seulgi grinned widely as they held hands proudly for the first time in public, edging through the crowd. The Young Master Kang walked at the front, shielding and being protective of her Joohyun the entire time.

Joohyun swore the protective side of Seulgi was so attractive, it had the ability to make so many girls swoon which was why the Strategist was taking extra precautions to ward off the stares from other girls on her Colonel. Joohyun had made sure to stick her body as close to Seulgi’s one whenever possible. Yet even so, she still felt gazes from those young, impressionable girls. The audacity of them! Pangs of jealousy began to roil within Joohyun as she stared fiercely back at them.

Annoyance was not something Joohyun had expected to feel during the festival but how could she not when Seulgi was attracting so much attention.

“Do you want to row out to the river? Setting off sky lanterns there will be the most beautiful.” Seulgi finally suggested as she sensed the irritation from Joohyun who was scowling at a girl whom Seulgi noticed, was throwing flirtatious glances at her.

The Colonel knew that Joohyun had been looking displeased with all the females that have been showering them with unwanted attention. This was jealousy and Seulgi knew how deadly a woman’s jealousy could be after being warned by her band of brothers, especially by Chanyeol whom have had slightly more experience than the rest. Yet, what Joohyun did not know was that Seulgi was also struggling to fend off other sleazy men’s attention on her lady.

Distracted, Joohyun just followed Seulgi’s lead and did not realise that her Colonel had bought several things. All of which were things that the Colonel bought with the Strategist in her mind. Purple handheld lanterns and those Night Sky Lanterns which Seulgi had wanted to set off with the Strategist since a very long time ago but did not manage to. It was all because of her cowardice back then. Now as she looked back at her relationship with Joohyun, there was just this bit of regret that she had not managed to woo the Strategist during the celebration night after the competition.  

“River?” Joohyun asked, slightly confused. 

Then she followed Seulgi’s line of vision downslope and saw the river that was lined with lights by its river banks. Several rowboats were moored to the river banks with more already rowed out to the river. A couple had just rented a rowboat. Before she gave her reply, she felt her Colonel guide her down along carefully so she would not slip on the slope.

“We will take a boat, we don’t need a boat master, I can row us out.” Seulgi told the boatmaster.

Seulgi then took out a silver ingot and stuffed it into the man’s hands before taking the largest, sturdiest-looking boat and unloaded her shopping load into it. With an outstretched arm, Seulgi grinned back at Joohyun, a smile that managed to lure her into the boat even without herself realising. To be truthful, Joohyun was not very fond of water and the reason was because she had nearly drowned in one when she was younger. Yet, this Colonel had managed to cajole her into the boat with just an extremely charming smile.

The Colonel’s hand was so warm. It was only after Joohyun had settled down that she took notice of the numerous things that the Colonel had bought. For a moment, the Strategist could only stare dumbfoundedly at them. Later, like an excited child, she began looking through each article and found her top two favourites which were the lanterns and the set of calligraphy brushes. Her heart lurched when the boat began to rock, inching away from the river bank. The expression of shock on her face must have been funny enough to elicit laughter from the Colonel and the Strategist hit the Colonel’s head with a brush.

“You shared with me a story about you almost drowning in a lake, sorry, I did not know you are still affected by it.” Seulgi said apologetically and began rowing the boat with more care.

“Glad, you remembered,” Joohyun replied sarcastically and saw the pout on the Colonel’s face as well, making her heart flounder even more. Who knew my Colonel could be so adorable?

Joohyun then leaned forward and pinched the Colonel’s cheeks. “Stop pouting, I don’t like my lover to be cuter than I am.”

Seulgi then gave the usual silly grin again, all these time, rowing them. They passed by many couples, almost all of whom had a boat master with them and most of whom were carrying lantern