It was late at night, and after a long day of filming, Yuffie dragged her exhausted body back to her home in Nanjing.
She'd just gotten accepted into the Beijing Film Academy. Aside from some last-minute acting classes before the entrance exam, she was a complete newbie when it came to performing.
With no experience and her acting skills still rough, she had to put in extra effort on set.
Today, she'd flubbed her lines multiple times, and when she caught the director's annoyed look, the guilt hit her hard.
Why could someone just be a natural at this?
He hadn't even done many films, yet he was already at an Oscar-worthy level—no, beyond that.
Yuffie knew that several of Luke's performances had been added to the Beijing Film Academy's acting curriculum as examples for students to study and emulate.
She desperately wanted to grow into a great actress herself.
But mastering voice, physicality, and expression took years of grinding practice to refine.
And that was assuming you had talent. Without it, you could act your whole life and still get criticized.
Yuffie was starting to worry that her acting talent might be… average at best.
When she pushed open her bedroom door, she noticed the window was open, the curtains fluttering in the breeze like a handkerchief waving to welcome someone.
"I know I closed the window before I left. Oh!"
A dark figure behind the door startled her, and she let out a yelp.
"Sissi, what's wrong?" her mom called from downstairs, hearing the scream.
"Nothing! I just stubbed my toe on the doorframe," Yuffie replied.
"You're a grown woman—how are you still so clumsy? But why do you sound so happy about stubbing your toe?" her mom asked.
She was picking up on the excitement and joy Yuffie couldn't quite hide in her voice.
And why wouldn't she be thrilled?
When Yuffie saw that the shadowy figure was the man she'd been thinking about day and night, her heart practically burst with happiness.
"How'd you get here? And how'd you get in?" she asked, keeping her voice low.
"I missed you, so I came. Climbed up to your window. It's not that high—you know it's a piece of cake for me," Luke said with a grin.
Yuffie's three-story villa was no challenge for someone with Luke's master-level parkour and gymnastics skills. Sneaking in was child's play.
"Shh! Keep it down—don't let my mom hear you!"
Yuffie hit the play button on her desk's music player to mask their conversation, then pulled Luke over to sit by her desk.
A light, upbeat song started playing, but when Luke recognized it, he froze.
"And he said our song is…"
And he said our song is…
"Sneakin' out late, tapping on my window"
When you sneak over late at night and tap on my window.
"When we're on the phone and you talk real slow"
When we're whispering on the phone.
"Cause it's late and your mama don't know"
Late at night, sneaking around, and my mom has no clue.
It was Taylor Swift's Our Song.
The same song from when Luke and Taylor had their date on that forest trail, with the lyrics about regretting not kissing her after their first date: "Man, I should've kissed her!"
How on earth was Yuffie listening to this song?
The lyrics were just… too perfect for this moment.
It was like déjà vu, only with a weird, almost eerie vibe—especially since it was Taylor's song playing during this sneaky rendezvous. It felt like a mix of thrilling and awkward.
"This is by a new country singer from North America I really like," Yuffie said. "She's gorgeous, tall, and a total genius—writes and composes her own stuff."
"It's pretty catchy," Luke said, playing it off.
He had a stake in that album's profits—how could he not know the song?
"By the way, who told you to climb through my window? Couldn't you just knock on the door like a normal person?" Yuffie asked.
"It's super late. Showing up at your door didn't feel right," Luke said. "But I was dying to see you, so this was my only option."
"What's wrong with coming to the door? You can come over anytime, no matter how late. If you explain, my mom won't stop you."
"Well, I'd need a proper title first, right? Otherwise, it's kinda awkward," Luke said.
"A title? Like what?" Yuffie asked, playing dumb.
Luke just grinned, staring at her.
"Good friend? Childhood buddy?" she teased, pretending not to get it.
"You're not trying to dodge responsibility, are you?"
"Then you tell me what you want—I can't say it!" Yuffie's ears turned pink.
"You're my girlfriend. Always have been," Luke said, laying it all bare.
"Fine, if you say so. When did I ever deny it…?" Her voice trailed off, barely a whisper.
"Then tomorrow, I'm visiting your set as your boyfriend!" Luke said, seizing the moment.
"Alright, come if you want," she agreed.
"Don't tell the crew I'm coming. I don't want a swarm of reporters showing up," he added.
"Got it," Yuffie nodded.
Then she noticed Luke staring at her, his eyes carrying a hint of danger.
"Why're you looking at me like that?"
"You're just so beautiful."
"You don't need permission to look," she said.
"But I don't want to just look anymore."
"Huh?"
Luke leaned in, his warm breath tickling her face.
"You want to kiss me?" she asked.
He didn't answer, just nodded with a smile.
Yuffie closed her eyes.
Luke leaned closer.
Knock, knock, knock!
A sudden knock at the door.
"Sissi, I brought you a late-night snack," her mom called.
"What do we do?" Luke whispered.
"Wait a sec, I'm changing!" Yuffie called out loudly.
She couldn't exactly keep her mom out—that'd only buy a few seconds at best.
No way could she let her mom catch a guy sneaking into her daughter's room through the window in the middle of the night.
Talk about a terrible first impression. How would they ever get along after that?
Luke glanced around. There was nowhere to hide in the room, and climbing back out the window now would make too much noise. If he got mistaken for a burglar, it'd be even worse.
In a panic, Yuffie yanked him toward her desk and shoved him underneath.
Luckily, her desk was big enough to fit someone as tall as Luke.
It had a solid panel on the outside, so no one could see him from the room.
To be extra safe, Yuffie sat at the desk, stretching her legs under it to block any view of him.
Once everything was set, she called out, "Come in!"
And there was Luke, hiding under a desk for the first time since his rebirth, caught between heaven and hell.
Yuffie's long, pale legs were right in front of his face, practically brushing against him.