Sweat the size of peas formed on Kai’s forehead. He didn’t even bother wiping it away anymore—what was the point? It would just come back in seconds.

  He glanced toward Eliana, who had sweat dripping from her chin, her damp hair sticking slightly to her neck. She must have felt his gaze because she turned to look at him.

  Kai blushed.

  Not because he was embarrassed about getting caught staring—she was his girlfriend, after all. But because of the thoughts that had slipped into his mind while watching her.

  Eliana caught on immediately. A mischievous smile spread across her face as she crawled closer, her eyes glinting with amusement.

  “Looks like the heat’s getting to someone’s mind,” she teased. “It’s cute how red your face is right now.”

  Kai huffed. “Yours is equally red!” he shot back. “The heat is making everyone’s face look like this.”

  “Yeah, that’s true,” Eliana sighed, pulling at the front of her uniform. “Feels like my face is going to melt off.” She leaned back against the wall, letting her head rest. “When is this going to be over?”

  Kai shrugged. “Until the fuel tank is full, I suppose.”

  They both turned to look outside the viewport.

  The sun stared back at them, massive, blinding, and relentlessly hot. Its golden light bathed the Black Swan as the ship hovered dangerously close, absorbing the energy needed to refuel.

  This was their first time fuel scooping, and Kai hadn’t expected it to be this brutal.

  The fuel scoop worked by collecting raw plasma from the star’s corona, drawing it in through electromagnetic fields before funneling it into intake vents. From there, the ship’s reactors compressed it, stabilized it, and refined it into usable energy. As long as they had a suitable star, they could refuel anywhere.

  It was free, infinite energy. They had no need to dock, no need for expensive fuel transfer, but there was also a downside.

  They needed to stay pretty close to the star.

  The longer they stayed, the hotter the ship became. The process itself generated extreme heat, and with a star this close, it was just something inevitable.

  Right now, the interior temperature had climbed past 32°C. It didn’t sound terrible, but it was only going to get worse. Kai could already feel it in the air, the thick, humid air pressing against his skin. And the outside hull was probably sitting somewhere in the hundreds of degrees already.

  Eliana sighed, pouring water on top of her head. Kai tired to stop her, but I'm truth he wanted to do the same too.

  “There has to be someplace on this ship that isn’t a damn oven,” she groaned, "or maybe we should just take all our cloth off."

  Kai eyed her warily as she reached for the zipper of his uniform, her fingers teasingly tugging it down.

  He stopped her hand before she could go any further. "The last thing I need right now is for this moment to get even hotter," he muttered.

  Eliana smirked but relented, leaning back on her hands. "Alright, alright. So, what’s the plan then? Because if we stay here much longer, I will start stripping."

  Kai sighed, running a hand through his damp hair. "Let’s see… The simulation room can probably generate a cold environment, but using that would put more strain on the cooling systems. Commander Grayson specifically told us not to use any extra power while we’re refueling."

  Eliana snapped her fingers. "What about Isaac’s place? Doesn’t he need to keep his servers cool at all time?"

  Kai shook his head. "He does, but Robert and Ivan already took over that spot. And with all the equipment in there, I doubt there’s enough space left for us."

  Eliana groaned, tipping her nearly empty water bottle against her head, letting the last drops trickle down her scalp. "Alright, looks like the only option left is going full-on naked."

  Kai snorted. "As good as that sounds, Eliana, I don’t think it’s gonna do much against this heat." Then, an idea clicked in his head. "Actually… there might be a place cooler than the rest of the ship."

  -----------------------

  Eliana followed Kai through the corridors, both of them walking with sluggish steps. The heat wasn’t just bond to their room—the entire hallway felt like an oven.

  By the time they reached the rear of the ship, beads of sweat was running down Kai’s back.

  Finally, they entered the cargo bay.

  Kai led them down a side stairwell, avoiding the lift to conserve power, and stopped in front of a small yet heavy door with single snowflake sticker. He opened it.

  The instant blast of cold air was heavenly.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  Rows and rows of metal shelves stretched before them, stacked high with vacuum-sealed frozen goods—packs of preserved meats, fruits, and even frozen desserts. The air inside was at least 40 degrees cooler than the rest of the ship.

  Kai and Eliana grinned at each other.

  Of course. If anywhere on the ship was cold, it was the freezer.

  Eliana stepped inside first, holding her arms out, letting the cool air wash over her. She turned to Kai and gave him a thumbs-up.

  "Good call," she said, already feeling refreshed.

  "Plus, there are a lot of frozen desserts here to chill our insides as well," Kai said, grinning. After what he had to endure for the past hour, he wanted nothing more than a cold ice cream to fight back the heat.

  Eliana stopped him before he could grab anything. "Aren’t all the inventory logged by Lily? Don’t you need to tell her before taking something?"

  "Oh, you’re right," Kai admitted, withdrawing his hand. "The heat must have gotten to me." He paused, glancing toward the entrance. "Speaking of that, where did Lily go? I don’t think we saw her when we passed the galley."

  Eliana tapped a finger against her chin, thinking. "Hmm, I don’t know actually. I would’ve assumed she’d be here, considering how hot it is outside."

  A small chuckle echoed from somewhere deeper in the freezer. It was quiet, but unmistakably was a girl’s laugh.

  Kai and Eliana looked at each other.

  "It might be Lily," Kai whispered. "Let me ask her if we can have some ice cream."

  "Shh," Eliana interrupted. She pressed a finger to his lips, her smile turning mischievous. "Let’s give her a surprise."

  She crept forward, pulling Kai along with her. She stepped carefully, making sure not to bump into any of the shelves or boxes.

  They reached a corner where the sound had come from. Eliana stopped just before peeking, turning back to Kai with an excited gleam in her eyes. She silently mouthed the words: Let’s take a look.

  Kai leaned forward, peeking around the corner with her.

  He saw Lily first. She stood straight, leaning slightly forward, her head raised as she looked at something taller than her. Even from where he stood, Kai could tell she was smiling, though he couldn’t see the full expression from this angle.

  Curious, he peeked a little more.

  That’s when he saw who she was talking to.

  Kai immediately felt Eliana’s grip on his wrist tighten in excitement.

  Baiyan stood across from Lily, facing her.

  They spoke in low, quiet voices, their tones relaxed, their body language natural. There were smiles on both their faces.

  Lily tucked a few loose strands of hair behind her ear, her cheeks slightly flushed.

  Kai noticed another thing. They were both wearing coats designed for cold environments. They had been here for a while, for decided to stay for long.

  Kai felt invested now. He focused his hearing, wanting to catch more of what they were saying.

  But before he could make out their words...

  "Achoo!"

  The loud sneeze broke the silence.

  Kai stiffened. That definitely didn’t come from Lily or Baiyan. He looked down and saw Eliana, sniffling as she gazed up at him apologetically.

  "Who's there?" Baiyan’s voice rang out, suddenly alert.

  Kai and Eliana had no choice but to come clean. They stepped out from behind the shelves, revealing themselves to Lily and Baiyan.

  "I'm sorry," Eliana said, lowering her head slightly. "We didn't do this on purpose."

  "Didn't do what on purpose?" Lily asked, crossing her arms. "The sneezing?"

  Kai sighed. "It was just too hot outside, so we figured we’d come here where it was more comfortable. We didn’t mean to interrupt you two. Sorry about that."

  Lily looked between them, her serious expression lingering for a moment before breaking into a teasing smile. "Haha, I was just giving you two a hard time for peeking."

  She turned toward Baiyan, slipping her arm around his, pulling herself a little closer. She tilted her head up and met his gaze with an amused glint in her eyes. "I guess our secret just got found out."

  Baiyan looked a little flustered at her sudden closeness, scratching the back of his head with a sheepish smile.

  Lily turned back to Eliana. "Eliana, you must be freezing. Let me find you something warm."

  Eliana sniffled and nodded. "Thanks. I didn’t expect it to be this cold. I just thought it’d be a nice place to escape the heat."

  Lily chuckled. "You know, we do have a walk-in fridge on the other side of the cargo bay, right?"

  —

  Lily eventually managed to find another coat for Eliana. It was black with bright green reflective strips running down the arms and back.

  "Sorry, this was the only thing I could find here," Lily said as she handed it over. "So you’ll have to wear what I use when I’m working."

  Eliana took the coat gratefully, slipping it on as Lily passed her a steaming cup of something hot.

  "Here, drink this," Lily said.

  Eliana wrapped her hands around the cup, letting its warmth seep into her fingers. "Thanks. This is actually really nice."

  Lily sat down, then glanced at Kai before shifting her gaze toward the cup in Eliana’s hands. Kai shook his head. He wasn’t thirsty.

  The four of them sat face to face inside the walk-in fridge, where Lily had set up a folding table and four chairs. The cold air was enough to keep the best outside while nothing making Kai feeling like he was about to freeze to death.

  "You know..." Lily started, leaning back in her chair. "We picked the freezer because we thought no one would walk in on us. Normal people would’ve picked the fridge first."

  Kai rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly feeling a little foolish. "I guess we were just looking for somewhere cold, and the first thing I thought of was the freezer..." He exhaled. "Because of the big snowflake icon on the door."

  Lily sighed dramatically. "Well, I guess it’s our fault for thinking we could avoid public attention by hiding in the there."

  Baiyan, who had been quiet for most of the exchange, finally spoke up. His face was lightly flushed as he met Kai’s gaze. "Please keep this a secret for us? Lily and I… haven’t really thought about going public yet."

  Kai nodded. "Your secrets are safe with me." He hesitated for a moment, then smirked. "But, if you don’t mind me asking—when did you two start dating?"

  Eliana perked up instantly despite her worsening sniffles. "Yeah!" she added eagerly. "When?"

  Lily and Baiyan exchanged glances.

  Lily spoke first. "Well, we haven’t officially started dating yet… but we’re almost there." She smiled. "Actually, that’s why we’re here today…"

  Kai and Eliana froze.

  "Wait...so..." Eliana's eyes widened as realization hit her. "Oh, no. Did we just..."

  "Yep," Baiyan muttered, rubbing his temples.

  "Woah, sorry!" Eliana said, shifting uncomfortably in her chair. She turned to Kai. "Look at what we’ve done."

  Kai chuckled, standing up. "Well, it’s still not too late. I think we should go and leave these two to their own."

  Eliana hesitated. "But the heat outside…"

  Lily waved her off. "That’s alright," she said smoothly. "I think Baiyan and I have talked enough to understand where we stand."

  And then, without warning, she grabbed Baiyan by the collar and pulled him in.

  Eliana gasped, slapping her hands over her eyes, though Kai definitely noticed the small gap in her fingers.

  Baiyan, meanwhile, looked completely blindsided. His wide eyes darted to Kai and Eliana.

  Lily, however, was fully committed, keeping Baiyan close and not letting him go. Slowly, Baiyan gave in too, kissing her back.

  Kai exhaled, shaking his head.

  The heat outside might be unbearable,but the heat Baiyan felt in that moment must been hotter than the star itself.