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墨書 Inktalez
As soon as my brother finished his game, I dragged him out.
He was hungry and wanted to eat, but I coerced and tempted him to accompany me shopping first.
Honestly, I had a little agenda of my own.
I wanted to casually run into Han Yin and see what he was up to with that girl.
Were they having dinner? Shopping together?
I was particularly curious.
Perhaps it was fate, or maybe I just had sharp eyes, but after dragging my brother around for a couple of rounds, I actually spotted them.
Han Yin was with that girl, looking at necklaces.
I froze; it seemed… even more intimate than I had imagined.
I stood outside the store for a while, and just before Han Yin looked over, I yanked my brother away and fled.
What a coward I was.
I didn’t get to eat, and I practically sprinted downstairs, hailed a cab, and rushed home.
My brother was confused; fortunately, he was pretty laid-back and only mumbled a few things without asking too many questions.
Once home, I curled up on the sofa with my pillow, feeling dejected.
I had initially thought my feelings for Han Yin were just a fleeting crush, merely a moment of hormonal excitement.
But now...
I feel much worse than I imagined.
Especially when I think back to the scene outside the Glass Window today—handsome men and beautiful women. Han Yin is good-looking, and that girl is both intelligent and pretty.
They look particularly well-matched.
My chest feels tight, almost suffocating, and my heart feels like it's soaked in a cup of lemon water, sour and bitter.
After being emo for so long, even my thick-skinned brother noticed something was off.
He tossed his phone aside and came over to pull me. "If I didn't know you were single, I'd almost suspect you were heartbroken."
I looked up and weakly spat out one word: "Go away."
He shoved his phone into my hands. "Look at you moping around. Come on, log in; let me show you the joy of ranking up."
I wanted to distract myself too, so I silently took the phone and logged in.
As soon as I got online, I received a friend request.
It was... the King.
Han Yin's buddy with that unique sense of humor.
I hesitated for a moment, feeling flustered and wanting to click reject. However, by some unfortunate twist of fate, my hand trembled and I clicked the wrong button.
I entered a team and found it was a five-man squad: Han Yin, the King, me, and a stranger girl. We were just one player short.
It was neither easy to retreat nor to stay, so I could only drag my brother into this mess as well.
However...
I had a strange premonition and clicked on the girl's profile picture, finally seeing her selfie.
It was the same girl from the mall today.
So... were they really together?
I felt increasingly frustrated, even contemplating leaving the team when the game started.
As soon as the match began, my brother walked over, turned off my voice chat, and winked at me.
"Want me to show off some love for you?"
I frowned. "Show what love?"
My brother controlled Zhao Yun and jumped into the jungle, laughing as he said, "Just provoke him. He was the one who invited you to team up last time. I played with him and he was on voice chat calling you his girlfriend, even jokingly saying to get ready for bed after your shower, haha..."
I froze.
Coming back to my senses, just as my brother let out a couple of laughs, I kicked him off the chair.
Meeting his innocent yet aggrieved gaze, I gritted my teeth and said, "He almost became your brother-in-law."
Now, the brother-in-law I had in hand had turned into a teammate.
After a game, I hurriedly exited and called Han Yin.
However...
When the call connected, I found myself at a loss for words.
"Um..." I hesitated before asking the most pressing question, "Is that girl your new girlfriend?"
To avoid revealing my intentions too clearly, I quickly added, "She's quite pretty and seems to match you well."
Silence fell on the other end.
After a moment, Han Yin's voice came through softly, "Do you really think she and I are a good match?"
I wasn't sure how to respond to that, but perhaps due to the atmosphere, I felt a surge of courage.
"Well, not exactly a perfect match..." I licked my lips and continued, "I think we might be a better fit."
After a couple of seconds, Han Yin suddenly laughed. "Yeah, I think so too."
My heart seemed to come back to life.
I nestled into my blanket, holding the phone as I listened to his breathing. After a brief pause, Han Yin explained who that girl was:
She was the older sister of the king and had grown up alongside him as their neighbor.
And she was married.
I let out a sigh of relief, but the words that came out were still tinged with bitterness.
"Even so, your sister is married now. You can't just go shopping alone with her..."
Han Yin paused for a moment. "Who said it was alone?"
In my moment of excitement, I accidentally blurted out, "I clearly saw you two looking at necklaces, and it was just the two of you."
A light laugh quickly reached my ears.
He patiently explained, his tone gentle.
"I saw you and your boyfriend outside the mall. She happened to step away first and came in with me. Your boyfriend arrived just a few minutes later, and we went to look at the necklaces together. However, your boyfriend was always over at the other counter looking at gold rings."
I thought back carefully...
At the counter on the other side, there seemed to be a guy there.
But from what I remembered, that guy was tall and thin. Could it really be him?
Hearing his rough voice all the time, I had always imagined him as a burly giant.
My heart finally settled down.
Just as I was about to relax completely, I suddenly caught onto the key point in his words.
"That's not my boyfriend," I hurriedly explained. "That's my brother—my real brother. He was the one who played games on my account before. He misunderstood and thought you were a male colleague who used to bother me in games, so he pretended to be my boyfriend."
I rushed through my explanation and then anxiously awaited his response.
One second, two seconds...
After counting a few seconds, I clearly heard Han Yin let out a sigh of relief from the other end.
He chuckled lightly, "Let's talk tomorrow."
I was taken aback, wanting to mention that tomorrow was my birthday, but Han Yin didn't give me a chance to speak. After softly confirming our meeting for tomorrow, he hung up the phone.
Listening to the busy tone in my ear, I found myself lost in thought, holding my phone tightly.
So... what did Han Yin really want to say tomorrow?
I couldn't help but share everything with my younger brother and made a bet with him.
We wagered all our savings; he bet that Han Yin would gently reject me in person, while I bet that Han Yin wanted to confess his feelings.
The next day.
I woke up early, washed my hair, took a shower, changed my clothes, and carefully applied my makeup.
Then I arrived at the meeting place right on time.
The agreed location was the same café from yesterday. I thought I had arrived quite early, but Han Yin was there even before me.
He was already sitting at the same window seat as yesterday, with two cups of coffee and two desserts on the table.
Out of curiosity, my younger brother followed along, keeping a distance behind me. I figured he would quietly find a seat for himself.
Sitting across from Han Yin, I felt a bit nervous and fidgety.
"Um..."
I managed to utter those two words but then fell silent.
In the end, it was Han Yin who broke the silence.
He smiled and placed an exquisite jewelry box on the table, sliding it toward me.
"What is this...?"
"Open it and see."
Han Yin leaned back slightly, watching me with a smile.
I had a vague idea of what it might be, yet I hesitated to believe it. Slowly, I lifted the lid of the box.
Inside was a necklace.
Suppressing the sudden acceleration of my heartbeat, I looked up at him. "Did you buy this yesterday?"
Han Yin nodded.
"I thought you really had a boyfriend. I wanted to buy you a birthday gift, as a way to put an end to my unrequited love."
I was completely stunned.
This revelation was quite overwhelming.
First, Han Yin likes me.
Second, he actually knows today is my birthday.
I stared at him in a daze, filled with two questions that I couldn't bring myself to ask.
It was Han Yin who took the initiative to explain, saying he had gone through my social media posts, carefully reading every single one and noting down my birthday.
Well, that clarified the birthday issue, but the most important thing remained unaddressed.
How did someone like Han Yin, who resembled a well-off version of Hu Ge, end up interested in someone like me, a knockoff of Lin Chi-ling?
I couldn't help but ask.
Han Yin shook his head and replied, "I don't know. I'm a late bloomer. While others were falling in love, I was playing games. While others were breaking up, I was still playing games."
"Until I met you, I realized that games didn't seem so interesting anymore. Or perhaps I should say, I discovered a soul more fascinating than games. Her Zhong Kui's Hook is always aimed at formidable foes, like the dancing Gao Jianli or the imposing Kai Wang. She's a bit silly and cute; privately, she sends her friends those ridiculous voice messages. God knows, when I received one of those messages, I nearly laughed myself to death."
His tone was gentle, and there was a bright smile in his eyes, but I felt somewhat uncomfortable listening to him.
I suddenly didn't want him to continue. This wasn't a confession; it felt more like an embarrassing record of social failure.
Yet Han Yin continued without missing a beat.
"Actually, that time in the small grove was truly an accident. I only realized what happened after getting lost. That guy intentionally gave us wrong directions; he probably thought we were a shy couple just starting out and wanted to tease us by directing us to the grove. But that night, I was genuinely nervous. Until I got home, my ears were burning."
Recalling that experience made my face flush a bit, and I quickly interrupted him before he could continue.
"Alright, you don't need to say anything more. It's just because I'm beautiful that you were tempted, right?"
Han Yin smiled.
He looked at me with a burning gaze. "That's true."
I ignored the "that's true" part, staring at him for a while before it finally dawned on me.
"So, does this mean we're in a relationship now?"
Han Yin shook his head. In response to my astonished expression, he picked up the necklace from the box. "You have to wear it for it to count."
I eagerly leaned forward, but realizing my posture might not be very graceful, I sat back down and playfully tossed my hair. "Come here."
Han Yin smiled and walked over.
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