"Whoosh!"
The rain in Linn was exceptionally heavy today. It was as if the heavens had moved the entire ocean into the sky, giving the people of Linn a taste of what it was like to be fish.
The Far Moon Academy bus heading toward the South Ward sailed against the current like a boat, pushing the water to the sides of the road and leaving tree-ring-like ripples on the asphalt.
"Sothing major seems to be happening over at the Golden Lion Group. I connected to Aruiya's room through the AI channels this noon, but I couldn't find her.
"It just so happens that the Golden Lion Group asked
to attend a eting at the Golden Lion Mansion tomorrow. I'll go and confirm what exactly is going on.
"Don't act rashly for now. Wait for my news."
Inside the school bus, Yan Huan, who was sitting by the window, looked at the ssage Yelena had sent on his mobile phone and could not help but frown.
Unable to contact Spencer, the first person Yan Huan thought of was the AI hidden within the campus, Yelena.
She used to be Spencer's mother's private doctor, and more importantly, she was currently Spencer's guardian on campus. Her status was quite high.
Yet, unexpectedly, even she had no idea what was happening over there.
Yan Huan did not believe that such a massive enterprise making a major move would be directly related to an idiotic young lady like Spencer dropping out of school. If it were her mother, there might be a slight possibility.
But after all, Yelena said Spencer was not at the Golden Lion Mansion right now. Who knew if her mother had soone pick her up to live sowhere else?
Looking at it now, what Spencer had said before about occasionally returning to Far Moon Academy even if she dropped out was nothing but a pipe dream.
The more likely scenario was that once she left, she would never return for the entirety of her university life.
"..."
For so reason, thinking of this, Yan Huan suddenly felt a bit irritable.
Perhaps it was because of today's terrible weather.
Perhaps it was because he was worried about how far her Modifier would develop behind his back in the future.
Perhaps it was because...
"Ding-dong~"
At this mont, the school bus had arrived at the stop near the public rental housing.
Yan Huan rubbed his lips, withdrew his gaze from the window, and stood up from his seat.
"President, see you tomorrow."
"Bye-bye, President."
"Yeah."
Yan Huan nodded, bidding farewell to the students sharing the ride.
Then, he opened his umbrella and stepped out into the curtain of rain.
"Patter patter~"
Bean-sized raindrops pounded against the umbrella's canopy, creating rapid dents that bounced right back, drumming out a rhythm that unsettled his mind.
Yan Huan exhaled a warm breath. Not wanting to linger in a rainy world that was already soaking over the soles of his shoes, he walked briskly toward the public rental housing building.
Originally, he had planned to visit Sister Tong today. After all, it had been a long ti since he last went, and she had kindly treated him and the entire Student Council to a good al.
But looking at this weather, she probably did not even want to open for business herself, right?
"Tap~"
Jogging quickly to the first floor of the public rental housing, Yan Huan folded his umbrella and shook off the water droplets. Along the way, he opened his mobile phone and glanced at the plane app.
Sure enough, the ssage from Tong Yingying at the top was quite eye-catching.
"It's raining. Calling it a day."
See, no one knew Sister Tong better than Yan Huan.
Yan Huan was absolutely crystal clear about Tong Yingying's temperant.
Shaking his head helplessly, Yan Huan reached into his pocket, planning to take out his keys to open the door.
Who would have expected that, just as he turned onto the steps leading to the second floor, a blonde girl sitting on the stairs, staring blankly into space, would enter his field of vision.
There was a suitcase placed right beside her, but no umbrella in sight.
So, unsurprisingly, her body still carried the dampness of having been drenched by the rain, not yet completely dried.
Her slightly curly golden hair clung wetly to her fair skin, and even her eyelashes still hung with fine water droplets.
From a distance, it made her eyes look exceptionally crystal clear.
"Clatter!"
The mont he saw the girl, Yan Huan's hand unconsciously loosened a little...
It turned out that his heart had skipped a beat.
Consequently, the keys he had pulled out fell to the ground, letting out a crisp clinking sound.
That clinking sound was like a ringing bell, awakening the dazed girl.
"Aw?"
She lifted her sky-blue eyes, spotting Yan Huan in an instant.
Then, visibly, her previously blank gaze gradually lit up with a beautiful glow, and even her expression grew joyful.
"Yan Huan, you're here!"
"...Spencer?"
Yan Huan froze slightly, recovering a bit from his shock as he hurriedly picked up the keys from the floor and asked.
"Heave-ho~"
Spencer patted her bottom to dust it off and stood up. Looking at Yan Huan, she assud he was wondering how she had found this place, so she spoke on her own accord,
"It's ! I dropped you off at ho before, so I know you live here. But I didn't know exactly which room you lived in, so I just waited here first..."
"I wasn't asking how you found your way to my door..."
Yan Huan walked up the steps, originally wanting to continue speaking, but as he approached her, the scent of her body wash mixed with the sll of rain suddenly invaded his nose, making him pause slightly.
A second later, he looked at the suitcase beside her and asked,
"Are you... running away from ho?"
"Yep."
"...You say that so calmly, making it seem like you're very experienced at this."
"I'm not. This is my first ti running away. I've never done it before."
Spencer stood with her hands on her hips, looking both proud and thrilled.
Then, recalling how she was ordered to leave by that teacher this morning, she curled her lips and complained,
"I originally planned to stay at Far Moon Academy. After all... didn't you say you hoped I would stay..."
As she said the last part, she even cast a secret glance at Yan Huan.
"But my mom didn't agree to let
stay, so I had a huge argunt with her. Now... I snuck out while they weren't paying attention."
"You snuck out?"
Yan Huan's expression stiffened for a mont. Imdiately after, he hurriedly shot a glance at the exceptionally quiet street outside in the rain.
The eldest miss of the Golden Lion Group's president going missing in the South Ward... He had absolutely no doubt that in a little while, a bunch of special forces holding riot shields would appear outside, shouting at the sixth floor:
"Kidnapper Yan Huan, you are surrounded!! Release the hostage imdiately and surrender with your hands up!! Otherwise, we will open fire!!"
"..."
Watching Yan Huan constantly looking outside, Spencer reached out and waved her hand in front of him, saying,
"Don't worry! I already took off the things they used to monitor . They don't know I'm here."
"..."
Spencer might genuinely believe that, but Yan Huan genuinely did not buy it.
So, he rubbed the space between the eyebrows and asked,
"Spencer... when did you get here?"
"Mmm, I left the house in the morning and arrived here at noon. I've been waiting here for a long ti..."
At the ntion of the morning, Spencer's expression could not help but turn slightly disappointed.
At that ti, she had first gone to the Luoqiao District to find An Le. She originally intended to explain everything clearly, and she did do exactly that, but the result...
She ended up completely ssing things up instead.
Yan Huan still did not know about the argunt between Spencer and An Le. He simply noticed a blind spot in Spencer's words.
Morning?
It's been that long?
aning, Spencer had been on the run for half a day, yet the entirety of Linn had shown absolutely no reaction at all?
Was that normal?
Yan Huan felt it was bizarre, a little unable to grasp what exactly was going on over at the Golden Lion Group.
If they were simply incompetent and truly did not know where Spencer went, shouldn't they have at least called the police?
Soone of Bai Yi's mother's caliber calling the police caused such a massive commotion. If the Golden Lion Group called the police, the entire city of Linn would probably be scoured upside down.
But the truth was, there had been no commotion whatsoever in Linn all day.
Gazing at the thick curtain of rain outside, with silence hidden beneath it, Yan Huan suddenly figured sothing out.
There were only two possibilities.
Either the Golden Lion Group simply did not care, so whatever happened to Spencer was fine by them.
Or, they cared a lot, but because everything was completely under their control, there was no need to take any superfluous actions.
"..."
Thinking of this, Yan Huan imdiately felt reassured.
At this mont, Yan Huan was contemplating these complex underlying issues, but Spencer certainly did not understand such convoluted matters.
She probably just felt that she was incredibly capable and had escaped effortlessly.
But seeing that Yan Huan remained silent, Spencer thought he didn't want to take her in.
So, feeling a little wronged, she pursed her lips.
Hesitating for a mont, she reached out and gently tugged at Yan Huan's sleeve.
Waiting until she had pulled Yan Huan out of his thoughts to look at her, she finally whispered,
"Yan Huan... I don't have anywhere else to go, and I don't want to go back... Please... don't drive
away."
"..."
'This idiot...'
His heart uncontrollably skipped another beat. Yan Huan unnaturally shifted his gaze away, before hesitantly saying,
"...Let's go. But let
make this clear first, my place is a bit cramped for two people."
After saying that, he cast another glance outside.
Outside, there was still only the sound of rain. Everything else was perfectly quiet.
"Yay!"
Spencer did not mind in the slightest. She simply picked up her suitcase with one hand and happily followed behind Yan Huan, trailing him up the stairs.
It had been many years since he started renting this place. Day after day, Yan Huan would return ho with his keys like this.
It was just that today, there was a little tagalong behind him.
Aside from Ye Lan and Ye Shiyu, this was also the first ti soone else had co to Yan Huan's ho as a guest.
"Click~"
Yan Huan opened the door. Spencer hid behind him and poked her head out, peering inside through the narrow gap.
"ow~"
Welcoming her was a black cat, stretching its back and yawning.
"Yan Huan! There's... a cat snuck inside!"
Seeing Myau-chan, Spencer imdiately pointed a finger at it vigilantly and warned him.
"...That's my pet."
Yan Huan smiled helplessly, walked into the room, and turned on the lights.
While changing his shoes, he turned his head to say to Spencer,
"Wait here for a mont. I'll go get you so slipp... Stop right there! Don't co in without taking off your shoes!"
"Huh?"
Spencer looked at Yan Huan with a face full of innocence, completely clueless as to why she needed to take her shoes off to enter the house.
It was no wonder. Back in her ho country of Ying, they had no such custom at all. They didn't distinguish between indoor and outdoor shoes, and it was the sa for her living by herself.
Back in her ho country, they would even lie in bed wearing outdoor shoes...
Yes, it was to the extent that parents in the Eastern Continent would collectively let out piercing screams if they saw it.
With a dark face, Yan Huan briskly walked back holding a pair of guest slippers, making her take off her wet shoes outside.
She reluctantly took off her shoes, revealing that the white socks inside were already partially wet.
No wonder she hadn't wanted to take off her shoes.
"Take off your socks too. I'll wash them and hang them up later." "..."
Spencer pouted as she looked at Yan Huan, finally lifting her toes and pulling her socks down.
When the socks were pulled down to reveal her fair, tender toes, Yan Huan averted his gaze, adhering to the principle of see no evil, and turned around to tidy up the room.
"What the heck did you pack in your suitcase? It's kind of heavy."
"Clothes! And my little pig toy."
"..."
"I need to hug my little pig toy to sleep at night. You can help
open the suitcase first and rescue the Golden Bomb Pig!"
"..."
Speechless, Yan Huan turned his head back. Seeing Spencer, who was sowhat unaccustod to wearing slippers, walking over happily while holding her socks, he did not know what to say.
Pointing to the location of the bathroom, he reminded her,
"The bathroom is over there. There are three bars of soap on the counter; use the one on the far right."
"...So troubleso."
Spencer humd a song, acting as if she were exploring an unlocked new map. For every new room she reached, she had to poke her head in first and look around.
Only after confirming there was no danger would she walk all the way in.
Yan Huan shook his head and turned around to open the suitcase.
Inside, all the clothes were crumpled together like rotten pickled vegetables.
This idiot definitely didn't know how to organize things; Yan Huan had long guessed as much.
A Golden Bomb Pig plushie was pitifully tilted its head, shoved into a corner, making Yan Huan unable to resist reaching out to save it.
Just as he reached out and pulled, a tangled pair of white panties was dragged out along with it, lightly swaying back and forth in front of Yan Huan.
"ow?"
Seeing this, Myau-chan on his shoulder tilted its head, then turned to look at Yan Huan beside it.
"..."
Yan Huan swallowed a mouthful of saliva and averted his gaze.
Imdiately after, he gently pinched a corner of the cool fabric and tossed it back into the suitcase.
Operation Rescue Golden Bomb Pig: Success!
"This is dinner. Just make do with it. It rained today so I didn't go grocery shopping, let's just eat noodles for now."
"Mmm, I want a fork. I don't know how to use these chopsticks."
"..."
Resigned, Yan Huan went to the kitchen to find a fork and brought it back to her. He watched her twirl the noodles in her bowl round and round on the fork like she was eating spaghetti, before stuffing it all into her mouth.
Yan Huan picked up his chopsticks and had just taken a single bite when he heard Spencer, who had just chewed a mouthful of noodles right in front of him, speak up.
"It tastes so bad! I want to eat a hamburger."
"..."
Yan Huan's face darkened, and he raised his eyes to look at Spencer, who was declaring this with such righteous conviction.
"Hey, black cat, why do you keep looking at ?"
"ow?"
"Do you want to fight or sothing?"
"ow?!"
Spencer lay on her stomach on the sofa, glaring like a tiger at Myau-chan, who was sitting elegantly on the floor, and she swung her fist pompously.
Myau-chan tilted its head. Harboring the thought of not wanting to entertain an idiot, it swished its tail, turned its head, and prepared to leave to find Yan Huan.
"Hup!"
As a result, the mont it turned its head, it was snatched up by Spencer, hugged tightly in her arms, and aggressively rubbed all over its body.
"Such a fat cat!"
"ow?!!"
Being held in her arms and squished back and forth by a brightly smiling Spencer caused Myau-chan to hurriedly look at Yan Huan with a pitiful expression, pleading for help.
anwhile, over there, Yan Huan, who was washing the dishes, was powerless to help.
He simply took off his apron, flicked the water droplets off his hands, and glanced at the ti.
"...It's almost ten o'clock. Is the Golden Lion Group really planning to let her stay overnight at my place?"
Yan Huan did his howork for a while, and along the way, he emailed the teacher at the nurse's office and busied himself with so Student Council matters.
Glancing at the ti that was fast approaching 10:00 PM, he turned his head and cast another glance at Spencer, who was sitting on the sofa, sniffing herself.
Her clothes had gotten wet today, so even though they were dry now, they still slled a little.
"...Do you want to take a shower and change your clothes?"
Seeing this, Yan Huan opened his mouth to ask.
"!!"
Spencer was startled. Looking at Yan Huan, her face flushed slightly. Then, she turned her head away and shook it, saying,
"I'm not taking a shower!"
"...You didn't bring an umbrella today and got all wet, it's better if you take a shower."
"Can't I just change my clothes!?"
"You say that as if your body didn't get wet!"
"Hmph!"
Yan Huan was just about to continue, but seeing her turning her head away with slightly red earlobes, he suddenly realized that this idiot was embarrassed.
Blinking, he then said helplessly,
"You go shower, and I'll go into the bedroom and close the door. Call
when you're done; I won't co out until you do."
"..."
Hearing this, Spencer finally turned her head slightly. Through her golden hair, her sky-blue eyes faintly peeked over.
"Deal?"
"...Mhm."
Hesitating for a mont, she finally gave an almost imperceptible nod.
Yan Huan also breathed a sigh of relief. He stood up and said,
"Co on, I'll show you how things work."
"..."
Spencer pouted, stood up, and followed Yan Huan, watching as he stood inside the bathroom to demonstrate for her.
"I got you a new towel. There are no more bath towels, so you'll have to make do with this."
"..."
"This is the heat lamp. Twist this way for hot water. And then... put your dirty clothes in the laundry basket, I'll wash them later. None of my clothes are in there..."
Yan Huan stood in front, pointing here and there. Afraid she was too foolish to know what to do, he practically demonstrated everything hands-on.
But in reality, the mont he finished speaking, Spencer had already retracted her gaze; she already knew what to do.
Thus, for the remaining ti, she quietly raised her eyes, fixing her gaze on the young man constantly speaking in front of her.
"Pitter... patter..."
In the bedroom, even with the door closed, the sound of Spencer showering in the bathroom was still clearly audible.
In the past, when he lived alone, he never felt this way. Only now, with another person here, did he suddenly realize that the soundproofing between the rooms was exceptionally poor.
That faint sound of running water was actually quiet, yet sohow, it managed to drown out the heavy rain pouring outside the window.
He sat on the edge of the bed and cast a glance at the Golden Bomb Pig plushie placed beside him.
"..."
Looking at the Golden Bomb Pig with its mischievous smile, he raised his finger and poked the toy pig.
It seed to trigger so sort of button, causing the bomb pig to let out the "oink oink" sound from the ga.
"Click~"
At that exact mont, the bedroom door behind him opened, revealing Spencer, who had changed into a loose white shirt.
Yan Huan awkwardly pulled his finger back and turned his head, just about to explain, but she excitedly said,
"Yan Huan, look, that plushie even makes sounds. Isn't it aweso?!"
"..."
Yan Huan raised an eyebrow. Looking at her soaking wet hair, he asked,
"No, why didn't you blow-dry your hair?"
"Oh, this place doesn't have the kind of drying machine I have at ho. It's... a hood. You stuff your hair into the hood, and it's all dry in no ti."
"...There's a hairdryer over there. Use that to dry it."
"I don't know how to use it. I'm not drying it."
"How are you going to sleep without drying it?!"
Yan Huan's face darkened as he stood up, grabbing her and dragging her out of the bedroom.
Making her sit properly on a chair, Yan Huan brought the hairdryer over and plugged it in.
"Whirrr!!"
The hot wind hit her still-damp hair, penetrating her thick, smooth golden locks. As the evaporating water carried away the heat, it caused her to feel a chill.
Because of the cold, her face scrunched up.
But the next second, as Yan Huan's fingers wove through her hair strands like a shuttle on a loom, the ticklish, massage-like sensation made her comfortably narrow her eyes.
"Yan Huan..."
"Hmm?"
"It's so bright..."
"What's so bright?"
"The light..."
Yan Huan paused slightly, stopping the movent of his hands.
At that mont, Spencer comfortably turned her head around.
Her sky-blue eyes gazed at Yan Huan, as if she were acting coy.
Looking at her sky-blue eyes, Yan Huan finally realized that she was different from Eastern Continent people like him, who had black eyes.
She was extrely sensitive to light.
Therefore, a light intensity that Yan Huan normally found just right was actually too bright for her.
"Alright, I'll turn the lights down a bit."
"Mhm..."
She rubbed her eyes and turned her head back, waiting for Yan Huan to turn down the lights and return.
He was just about to continue drying her hair when her body slowly leaned back, the back of her head coming to rest right against Yan Huan's lower abdon.
Feeling the contour of her head against his lower abdon caused the muscles there to unconsciously tighten a bit.
"Mmm..."
She leaned against Yan Huan, narrowed her eyes, and tilted her head back.
Yan Huan's movent holding the hairdryer slightly stiffened. He looked down at her upside-down face and asked hoarsely,
"What's wrong?"
"I'm sleepy, Yan Huan..."
"Go to sleep after we finish drying your hair."
"..."
Spencer gave an almost imperceptible nod. The next second, she straightened her posture, but suddenly turned completely around.
This ti, it was her face that pressed against Yan Huan's lower abdon.
At the sa ti, her muffled voice ca through,
"Okay, Yan Huan~"
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