The ribbon fluttered in the breeze as Tianxin stood nervously in front of her new shop.
Behind her was a pastel-colored sign that read "SweetTide Scoops", designed by none other than Jiasheng (with heavy editing from Yuki and Mei after he sneakily added a flying cow mascot). Today was the grand opening of Tianxin's ice cream shop — a dream she'd carried since childhood.
Lan, Yuki, and Mei had shown up early in coordinated aprons, dragging in balloons, giant spoons, and handmade bunting that said "Scoop Happens!" in glitter. Jiasheng was somewhere inside adjusting the LED menu — or more likely, finishing the secret tech setup he didn't let her peek at.
Zhou Rui and Junxi had also flown in after their beach engagement to help. Zhou Rui immediately organized a photo booth with goofy props, while Junxi… attempted to fix the air conditioner and ended up breaking it. Twice.
"Don't worry," Tianxin whispered to herself. "You've survived broken ovens, flying batter, and Jiasheng's debugging rants. You got this."
Then Jiasheng stepped out beside her.
He handed her the giant scissors for the ribbon-cutting and said, "You look like a nervous mochi ball."
Tianxin glared. "You look like someone who eats seven scoops and calls it quality testing."
"I am quality testing," he smirked.
With one snip, the ribbon was cut. The shop was officially open.
And in the first five minutes, three kids ran into a chocolate fountain, a couple took seventy selfies in the booth, and Lan accidentally spilled rainbow sprinkles into a customer's tote bag.
It was perfect chaos.
☁️ Later That Evening…
Tianxin sat on the back steps, legs stretched out, still wearing her "Scoop Boss" apron. Her bangs stuck slightly to her forehead from the heat, but she was grinning.
Jiasheng sat beside her, sipping soda.
"Not bad," he said casually. "Nobody got a sugar coma."
"I saw you almost drown in strawberry syrup."
"That's called testing flavor intensity."
She laughed, leaning her head back against the wall. "It really opened… my shop."
Jiasheng was silent for a beat.
Then he said, "You really did it, Tianxin. I'm proud of you."
That made her glance at him. She hadn't heard him say it so sincerely before.
But before she could respond, a light gust of wind blew in — and a paper banner from earlier came loose and flew straight into Tianxin's face. She yelped, stumbled back, and tripped over a small stool.
Jiasheng instinctively reached out and caught her again — their second ridiculous fall in two weeks.
She landed awkwardly against him, elbow on his chest, and her face flushed bright red when she realized how close they were.
Neither moved for a second.
The world slowed.
Their eyes met — a moment too long, too loaded, too quiet.
"…Ugh," Tianxin finally muttered, grabbing the paper banner to hide her face. "Why do I always fall around you?"
"Maybe gravity likes me better," Jiasheng said, his voice low, teasing — but not pulling away.
She pushed off him quickly, brushing herself down in a hurry.
He just smirked.
💐 End Scene…
As night fell, the shop lights glowed warmly. Inside, Zhou Rui and Junxi helped lock up. Tianxin looked at her little shop, hand on the door.
Jiasheng stood beside her, eyes fixed on her.
"I have something planned for next week," he said.
"What?"
"You'll see," he said with a glint in his eye. "Better wear that red dress you never let me see."
She blinked. "Excuse me?"
He walked off before she could throw a sprinkle bucket at him.