Lin An sat in Xu Qinghuan’s room, chattering away as he told her everything about Su Yuejin’s situation and what he’d done the previous night. He held nothing back.

He’d expected Xu Qinghuan to be at least a little angry. He’d even prepared himself to apologize and repent. But after hearing him out, Xu Qinghuan merely wound a strand of hair around her pale fingertip and let out a helpless little sigh.

“What a troublesome person.”

She looked at Lin An, already knowing what he wanted to say. Since he was sitting right across from her, Xu Qinghuan raised her slender leg and lightly planted her bare, smooth foot on his shoulder.

“Then this is your punishment… Wait. How long were you two playing?”

“A few hours?”

“Oh.”

Xu Qinghuan pressed her foot down a little harder. It still didn’t hurt, so Lin An treated it as her way of venting. Her puffed-out cheeks were especially cute.

Then Xu Qinghuan turned her head and glanced at the sky outside the window.

“Let me think… Actually, you’ve probably already figured out everything I can think of, right, Lin An? She’s a typical adventurer, with a bit of a borderline tendency. But she doesn’t have any major psychological problems. Just treat her normally.”

“As for love… If you really want to take her feelings into consideration, just remind her from time to time. Given enough time, it’ll become a lasting psychological suggestion. She knows you’ll leave one day, so she won’t be too devastated when you do. You can also mix in some suggestions that she’ll get better. Once you’ve completely withdrawn, you won’t have to worry too much about her returning to the way she was.”

“Mm. I understand.”

Lin An lifted his head and breathed a slight sigh of relief.

“Then let’s leave it at that for now. Uh, go play first. I have a training match this afternoon. It’s so annoying. We can’t even play at home. They had to arrange for us to meet up.”

“Huh?”

“That girl I mentioned before. Tsk, she should’ve noticed by now, right? My attitude toward her. She’ll understand eventually. Anyway, it won’t be long.”

Xu Qinghuan muttered to herself.

Most of the time, she preferred staying at home. She wasn’t very fond of going out, and Lin An was the same.

Lin An returned to his room, turned on his computer, and logged into his account. To his surprise, he saw that Xiao Chacha was online too.

He created a room and invited Su Yuejin. A moment later, he heard Su Yuejin’s voice.

Her voice was actually very pleasant. It was clear and cool, without the soft sweetness of a young girl’s voice. But it suited Lin An’s tastes perfectly.

After all, he was used to Xu Qinghuan’s naturally sweet loli voice. She didn’t even need to force her tone higher.

“I see Xiao Chacha is online. Should I invite her?” Lin An asked.

“Hmm? Are you planning to charge her?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”

“Then invite her.”

Lin An pulled Xiao Chacha into the room as well. She seemed to have been waiting for a long time. The moment she entered, she cheerfully shouted, “Hohoho! I’m here!”

Lin An reminded her to remember the payment.

“…You don’t charge Su Yuejin.”

Xiao Chacha’s voice was full of resentment.

“If you don’t like it, leave.”

“An’an, you’ve changed! Sob, sob… How cruel.”

“Indeed.”

Su Yuejin seemed to let out a soft laugh. She sounded especially delighted.

The three of them queued together for a match. They were only playing casually. After all, with Lin An there, they were bound to have fun. Lin An was genuinely quite skilled. Support was his best position, though he could play the others well enough.

He and Su Yuejin took the bottom lane. Su Yuejin played AD, while Xiao Chacha went top.

Thankfully, Xiao Chacha wasn’t an Ignite abuser. She brought Teleport more often, so the three of them had a thoroughly enjoyable time. The atmosphere was harmonious, and they didn’t talk about anything else.

They simply played happily until the afternoon.

Before Xu Qinghuan left, she told Lin An about it and even ordered takeout for him. Lin An was flattered.

Of course, all of that happened while he was muted. He didn’t want either girl to know about his relationship with Xu Qinghuan.

It was almost the same as how hardly anyone knew that Xu Qinghuan was his younger sister in name.

At five that afternoon, Lin An received a message from Luo Shuishui, just as expected. He knew he was about to become a human tool.

Still, he thought that was pretty good. At least he wouldn’t owe Luo Shuishui a favor.

“We’re missing someone to play guitar. So, are you coming? Ziyue Plaza.”

“Aren’t you going with your friends…?”

“Huh? The plan changed at the last minute. My parents went to the beach, and I didn’t go with them. So here I am. Singing and playing alone is exhausting.”

“Sure. I’ll come over in a bit. You said you had someone else too?”

“Yep. And she’s an absolute beauty.”

Luo Shuishui’s voice was very gentle.

“I always thought you were an only child,” Lin An muttered casually.

Then he said goodbye to Su Yuejin and Xiao Chacha. The two girls were tired from playing as well, so they exchanged farewells.

* * *

“You seem to be in a pretty good mood lately.”

Xiao Chacha messaged Su Yuejin, making casual conversation.

“Because I actually met someone I like. Hehe.”

“Are you feeling better now? You’re not still the same as before, are you?”

Xiao Chacha asked the question. Su Yuejin knew exactly what she was referring to.

“Much better. At least, much better than before. But last night… I suddenly felt so irritated and miserable.”

Su Yuejin typed the line out on her keyboard. Xiao Chacha was probably about to offer some comforting words when another message from Su Yuejin appeared.

“Then I played four matches with him last night. Hehe.”

“…”

Xiao Chacha found that she could only reply with that.

Was this girl doing it on purpose, or was she completely oblivious?

Xiao Chacha was so angry her teeth hurt. But this matter…

Why had Lin An gone to play with her again?!

Xiao Chacha had clearly thought Lin An wouldn’t touch her again for a long time.

He was afraid of his possessiveness. He was afraid of stepping into Su Yuejin’s world. So he should’ve kept his distance.

But this guy… This guy…

He wouldn’t even play with me!

And yet the two of them had played for so long last night?!

“You… Don’t think I don’t know. Lin An doesn’t like you, does he?” Xiao Chacha typed, apparently trying to dampen Su Yuejin’s high spirits.

“So what? It’s enough that I like him. It’s not as if someone I like has to like me back… Besides, when he plays with me, he likes me. Hmph.”

“If you keep this up, things will end very badly.”

“I don’t care. Besides, how different is your view of love from mine?”

Su Yuejin continued typing.

She couldn’t sense the anger behind Xiao Chacha’s screen. She simply wanted to say it out loud. She wanted to tell Xiao Chacha that Lin An already belonged to her, and Xiao Chacha shouldn’t even think about touching him.

It was a smug declaration of victory.

Yet Xiao Chacha couldn’t find a single thing to say.

“How about we go shopping and grab dinner?” Xiao Chacha suggested.

“Mm, sure. You pick the place.”

“Later, then. I’m going to shower first. Let’s meet at Ziyue Plaza and eat stone-pot fish there. I’ve been craving it for ages.”

Xiao Chacha typed the message. Su Yuejin sent a “1” to show her agreement.

“What are you wearing? Should we wear JK uniforms?”

“Tsk. If you wear the same thing as me, can you really compete?”

Su Yuejin sounded as smug as ever. Xiao Chacha was grinding her teeth in frustration again.

“When are you going to rein in that awful attitude of yours?”

“Not when I’m talking to you.”

“Forget it. I’m ignoring you. I’m going to shower. I’ll message you when I leave.”

“Mm.”

Su Yuejin sent the reply and raised her head. She glanced at the sunset outside the window.

The distant clouds were especially beautiful, glowing like flames. Their pink color reflected in her eyes. She stared blankly for a few seconds, then gently curled up the corners of her lips.

She suddenly felt warm.

It was as if something had filled the loneliness and solitude that usually surrounded her. But she was only imagining it—imagining the things she would do with him next.

Then, all at once, she seemed to hear the words he’d said when he left:

“I have a date with someone I like this afternoon.”

Those words made her head buzz again.

She shook her head, desperately trying not to think about it. She looked like an ostrich burying its head in the sand, believing that would keep danger away.

Su Yuejin slowly extended her slender arm and raised it toward the fiery clouds in the distance. Her eyes shone brightly.

Even if she couldn’t grasp it, she could still gaze at it from afar.

* * *

Lin An didn’t change his clothes. He felt that he probably should, though.

If Luo Shuishui smelled Su Yuejin on him again, she’d probably tease him. But Lin An figured she was likely used to it by now.

He washed his hair and left.

After taking a cab to Ziyue Plaza, he quickly found Luo Shuishui at the entrance of the mall.

She stood beside a small speaker. One cable was connected to a microphone, and another was connected to an electric guitar.

There were also two tall chairs and a microphone stand.

She had clearly made a great deal of preparation. Anyone familiar with this equipment would’ve recognized that the setup alone had cost more than a hundred thousand yuan.

Today, she wore a white shirt and a moon-white plaid skirt, layered beneath a small blazer. Her hair fell obediently over her shoulders, stirring slightly in the breeze.

She lifted her head, her eyes seeming to shimmer with a gentle light as she gazed at the pale pink clouds on the horizon.

Lin An had already walked up beside her when she finally came back to herself. She glanced at him and asked softly, “Nothing happened last night, right?”

“That depends on what you mean by ‘something.’”

“Fine. I shouldn’t have asked.”

Luo Shuishui lightly twitched her cute little nose, apparently having gotten the answer she wanted.

Then she picked up the guitar resting nearby and handed it to Lin An.

Thankfully, all the songs she planned to sing were simple pieces. Many of them were old songs, too, and their playlists happened to overlap with Lin An’s.

He could play almost all of them.

The coincidence surprised him, and he felt a little delighted as well. He sat down on the long bench.

Luo Shuishui had clearly finished testing the equipment. She glanced at Lin An and murmured, “You really don’t get stage fright.”

“…I’m all right. But we’re performing outside someone else’s mall. Won’t they chase us away?”

“But this mall belongs to my family. Why would they chase me away?”

“…”

Even though Lin An had been prepared for anything, the corner of his mouth still twitched.

Luo Shuishui always managed to surprise him in the strangest ways.

What exactly did her family do, anyway?!