  We show that the exciton optical selection rule in gapped chiral fermion
systems is governed by their winding number $w$, a topological quantity of the
Bloch bands. Specifically, in a $C_N$-invariant chiral fermion system, the
angular momentum of bright exciton states is given by $w \pm 1 + nN$ with $n$
being an integer. We demonstrate our theory by proposing two chiral fermion
systems capable of hosting dark $s$-like excitons: gapped surface states of a
topological crystalline insulator with $C_4$ rotational symmetry and biased
$3R$-stacked MoS$_2$ bilayers. In the latter case, we show that gating can be
used to tune the $s$-like excitons from bright to dark by changing the winding
number. Our theory thus provides a pathway to electrical control of optical
transitions in two-dimensional material.
