Yixing hums melodically to himself as he bustles around the kitchen, lips curling into a bashful beam as he eyes the delicacies sprawled out over the island counter; the kitchen is wafted with various aromas ranging from roasted barbeque chicken to garlic sauteed spinach. As his hands dance gracefully over the stove tops, waltzing swiftly from one pot to the next pan, his ears catch the whimsical sound of the front door clicking open. His eyebrows fly to his hairline with panic, evident anxiety paralyzing him. Yixing remains rooted to his spot in front of the stove, waist turned halfway so his eyes could properly meet his wife's questioning – and rather amused – glance. She cranes her neck playfully, only to have Yixing move, with practiced synchronization, to block her view of the food aligned neatly along the dirtied countertops.

Lihua a probing brow, a breathless chuckle falling from her lips as her hips rest snugly against the doorway. "Don't you have some sort of meeting or conference to attend to?" she giggles capriciously, strolling casually to Yixing, who by now is melting with uninhibited embarrassment. She picks a spinach leaf off of the ladle dangling from his fingers and hums with appreciative delight as the garlic simmers smoothly across the expanse of her tongue. She breathes a light breath of mirthful surprise before glancing up curiously at Yixing. "Seriously, what's the occasion?" She her lips, meticulously eyeing the various dishes Yixing had previously – and actually still is in the process of making – prepared. "Are the boys coming over?" Her eyes lift with dawned realization, "Congrats on the promotion by the way!" 

Yixing smiles, surreptitiously turning off the stove as Lihua pecks him; though he doesn't really get away with it, for he has her entrapped in his embrace within moments. His lips are met with another kiss, though he finds it rather a ravishing surprise to find that she is just as eager as he. "Not my occasion," he tells her vaguely in a hushed whisper, "but yours." His grin leers down at her playfully, hands brushing away the frazzled strands of hair from her glowing visage. "Don't act like you forgot already," Yixing coaxes with a teasing grin. "You passed your exams this afternoon!"

"And that's something worth celebrating over your new position in the firm?" Lihua gapes incredulously. She laughs brightly before rollin her eyes at the cheeky grin cascading across Yixing's handsome features. She can feel the dancing vibrations of his fingers drumming against her hipbones, and she braces her heart because she can just feel one of his cheesy remarks coming, and —

"Anything about you is worth celebrating," he coos.

— and there goes her heart. 

The rest of the night is spent jubilantly talking amidst the warm air; candles light the scene with smooth ease, filling the atmosphere with a fresh flowery scent. Twilight falls with much expectation, and stars blanket the violet sky with incessant beauty; the glow of the moon is exceptionally beautiful this particular night, and Yixing finds that it only adds more to Lihua's natural glow. As they lounge casually on their balcony, with Lihua perched gracefully on Yixing's lap as he sprawls himself comfortably atop a lawn chair, they just talk. Sly kisses end up stealing their way in mid-sentence, and coy grabs result in flushed giggles; they wonder if it's the wine, but then they figure that it doesn't matter. What could go wrong when it's just the two of them?

Yixing gazes at the sky wistfully, the night surrounding the yellow moon accentuating the glow gloriously; Lihua hums as she settles her back against Yixing's broad chest, her eyes shifting to her husband's handsome side profile. Her bleary optics trail down the defined contours of his jaw line, scaling back up to study his supple lips; the fall back down to his bobbing Adam's apple, his muttered sweet nothings going into deaf ears. "Babe?" And it is only then that Lihua snaps out of her shameless reverie. As she looks at him, she immediately notices the pink waltzing across his sharp features, the picturesque visage streaking heavily with buzzed contentment; but he is no less handsome than he normally is. "Yeah?" she whispers softly.

Yixing smirks pompously, knocking his head playfully against Lihua's before yawning into the crook of her neck. Hot air emerges, scattering down the stairwell of her spine as Yixing curls sweetly into his wife's side. The heat radiating from his open chest if undeniable and Lihua can feel the coolness of the night diminish along with all her worries (not that she had any to begin with). "Don't you want to go back inside to sleep?" she questions warmly, gingerly running a finger down Yixing's cheekbone. Her voice is nothing but a mere whisper, but Yixing still can't but help to shiver in response. Everything about her gives him chills; everything about her makes him tingle.

He loves it.

With a bright chortle, he kisses a prominent vein on her neck and simply sighs; it sounds almost surreal. Any previous inquiries end up being forgotten as Lihua finds herself laughing along with Yixing for now particular reason. But as the rush of wine and adrenaline slowly seeps into the recesses of her brain, she realizes that she's not laughing for no reason at all — she's actually laughing at numerous reasons. It could be one of countless things, she tells herself in a daze. It could be the cute way Yixing scrunches up his nose when he's drunk; it could be the way his hair tickles the back of her neck; it could be how drunk Yixing is right now, despite the fact that the alcohol level in the wine they just downed had been very low. It could be anything, but Lihua is about 100% sure that it has to do with Yixing.

Wait, she thinks to herself, what has to do with Yixing again? 

She giggles to herself in a drunk manner, head lolling gently onto Yixing's shoulder. "Night, babe," falls from her lips, decorating the accompaniment of crickets in the background with the slightest tinkle. 

Nevertheless, the couple fell asleep out on the terrace with arms entwined and chests lulling; with the last thing entering Lihua's ears being Yixing's sleepy chuckling, though she's sure she remembers him saying something else too. And if you listen close enough, throughout the night, you will find that every now and then there will be uninhibited bouts of sleepy giggles; and it's only a feat you will be able to observe with a truly happy couple.

"Goodnight, baby. Love you."

Level Four review:

→ one pint of Laughter

→ sprinkle abundantly with Laughter