“Not necessarily!” Huo Qijun muttered the first part of his sentence in a voice only he could hear, but the latter part was purely through gritted teeth.
Regardless of how reckless it seemed, he had already taken this step; the face he had lost was gone. If he retreated now, he would just be a fool who was making a losing deal!
“I’m just…!” The momentum surged up, but after just two words, it fizzled out. Huo Qijun realized that his courage was still not thick enough, but if Lin Wei tricked him into complacency today, he would never accept it!
He was on the verge of directly implying to Lin Wei that he could confess to him, so why wouldn’t this person take a step toward him, insisting on pushing him back instead?
Was there an addiction to unrequited love?!
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, especially since the culprit sat there looking utterly calm, watching him twist in agony.
Huo Qijun could not stand this injustice. It was clear that Lin Wei liked him, so why was he the one struggling against his instincts?
“Do you really not want to date?” He adjusted his glasses, took a deep breath, and asked.
Lin Wei nodded, wanting to reassure Huo Qijun to put away his unnecessary possessiveness and just be his straight man.
But Huo Qijun didn’t appreciate it; after seeing that nod, his tongue involuntarily pressed against his cheek, and the pent-up frustration surged up, making him appear exceptionally calm instead.
Just as Lin Wei thought he had accepted this reasoning and was relaxing to wash the dishes in the kitchen, he was suddenly tugged back by Huo Qijun.
Huo Qijun held onto his hand tightly but did not pull back. He simply closed his eyes for a moment.
Lin Wei turned to look at him, his heart suddenly racing intensely. Sure enough, after only a few seconds, he heard Huo Qijun’s voice gently speaking.
He said…
“Even if I want to give it a try with you, don’t you want to?”
“Do you really know what you’re saying?”
“I do.”
……
[Ahhhhhhh!!!!!]
[Do you really know what you’re doing?!]
[Master!!!]
It had been almost an hour since Huo Qijun uttered that sentence, yet the system continued to beep sharply in Lin Wei’s mind, sounding like it had been infected by a virus.
[Have you suddenly gone crazy???]
[Why did you agree to him?!!!]
Lin Wei rubbed his temples, realizing that he had no time to fabricate a response; he could only be honest and sincere: “I never planned to agree, but just now, when he said that, I… couldn’t bring myself to say no. Can you understand the difference?”
[I understand! It’s you who doesn’t understand!!]
[If you can’t bear to refuse him now, you won’t want to break up in the future, and eventually, you won’t want to leave!]
The system recalled those days after completing the mission in the previous world and almost felt like it was about to generate gibberish.
[He’s no longer your pet; he’s a person now, a human! He can live for a long time!!!]
Listening to it babble endlessly, Lin Wei could only dryly comfort it: [Perhaps if you’re a bit more optimistic, you might not have to wait that long?]
[…… Hiss!]
The system misunderstood, suddenly producing an electronic sound of gasping, its tone becoming hesitant and stammering: [Well, that doesn’t mean you have to be so harsh… does it?]
After saying this, it seemed to realize the inauspiciousness of its words and hurriedly chanted: [Pfft! No taboos! Our little cat is going to live a long life!]
Lin Wei didn’t know whether to scold its lack of intelligence in understanding or to be puzzled as to why such a high-tech product would be so superstitious.
[What I mean is, he just wants to try things out now; after the trial period, I might not be able to go full-time, understand?]
[……]
He understood, but it didn’t stop the system from thinking this was pure fraud. Huo Qijun looked like he was about to fall head over heels for him! Oh, and judging by the current state of its master, he was definitely not very clear-headed either!
But with that said, it didn’t bother to ask what would happen if Huo Qijun became infatuated with him because it was evident that the current Lin Wei wouldn’t have a concrete answer.
Sometimes, emotions are unreasonable and untrustworthy. In the system’s analysis of numerous worlds, they seemed more like an irresistible force that could astonishingly compel humans to do things they would never do otherwise.
Sometimes, it could also drive the system to madness.
Quite terrifying!
Seeing that it finally calmed down, Lin Wei breathed a sigh of relief. He was indeed in a rare state of indecision. When Huo Qijun asked if he wanted to give it a try, his emotions became so complex in that moment that he could hardly define them. He knew he shouldn’t have agreed, yet the refusal remained lodged in his throat, unable to escape.
Before this, he hadn’t realized how protective he was of Huo Qijun, but reflecting on the more than ten years he spent with Ice Cream, it seemed somewhat understandable.
Lin Wei could only convince himself that no matter how this misunderstanding arose and how inexplicably Huo Qijun developed such an idea, he did initially lie about it. He should bear the consequences; it wasn’t unjust. Even if the root cause of his lie was somehow related to Huo Qijun.
As for the fact that him liking men was a lie, the truth was he had never liked women. At least last night, when Huo Qijun slept beside him and he was well aware of the other’s slight feelings for him, he didn’t feel uncomfortable at all.
And if he didn’t really want to refuse, perhaps it was his instincts making the choice for him; Lin Wei found himself unable to refuse and could only accept.
So let’s give it a try.
Maybe just as he said, after a trial period, he might not be full-time; after all, after Lin Wei agreed, Huo Qijun first froze, and when he came back to his senses, he found an excuse to slip away.
Lin Wei understood his discomfort with this abrupt change in their relationship but had no intention of helping him adjust. If Huo Qijun ultimately found that he still couldn’t accept it, it would simply be a situation of ‘it should be this way.’
He thought things through very well; unfortunately, this sense of ‘optimism’ came to a sudden halt when Huo Qijun called him late at night, asking him to help organize things for the move next door.