"Uh..."
Stuck in place by Ye Shiyu's sudden question, Bai Yi opened her mouth, forced to put on a brave face and act tough.
"Hmph, it is none of your business anyway!"
"..."
'None of my business?'
Ye Shiyu narrowed her eyes, scanning the fully dressed-up Bai Yi from head to toe. Daggers seed to hide within her gaze.
Today, Bai Yi was wearing a chiffon, ruffle-trimd, cold-shoulder French shirt on her upper half, paired with a beautiful white lace skirt on the bottom.
Her fair skin stretched all the way from her knees down to her ribbon-tied, milky-white cotton socks, ending perfectly with a pair of glossy black Mary Janes.
She looked incredibly beautiful, so it was no wonder she drew so much attention.
It had to be said, Bai Yi's sense of fashion was truly second to none.
Among the several hosts, the only one whose aesthetic standards could barely compare to hers was likely Sakuramiya Hitomi.
Unfortunately, although Sakuramiya Hitomi deeply understood fashion principles, she did not possess Bai Yi's physical attributes to achieve a perfect harmony between subjective taste and objective reality.
In plain English:
Sakuramiya Hitomi was simply too petite and flat to pull off many types of outfits.
Unlike Bai Yi, who was born looking like a natural clothes hanger.
And now, compared to the gorgeously dressed Bai Yi, Ye Shiyu, who was wearing a pleated skirt and a schoolgirl uniform set today, appeared incredibly plain.
It gave off a strong illusion that Bai Yi was so overwhelmingly beautiful that Ye Shiyu could not possibly compare.
But the problem was, Ye Shiyu had no reason to flatter, fear, or seek favors from Bai Yi.
Seeing this, she only wanted to stab Bai Yi to death.
Moreover, did people really think Ye Shiyu was as naive and utterly ignorant of the world as Spencer?
As the saying goes, 'A woman dresses up for the one who delights her.'
Earlier in the apartnt, Ye Shiyu had already felt suspicious seeing Bai Yi dressed so gorgeously.
Even if she was going to Golden Lion Entertainnt to discuss work, she should have worn more formal makeup.
No matter how you looked at it, this makeup was designed to captivate a man.
It was just that Ye Shiyu had been in a good mood at the ti, thinking about how she would soon be spending so alone ti with Xiao Huan. Coupled with the fact that Bai Yi had taken care of her earlier, she had been too lazy to pry into it.
But now...
Running into her in Akihabara of all places, the naturally suspicious Ye Shiyu could not help but overthink the situation.
'Could it be...'
'She is also here to see Xiao Huan?'
The mont this thought surfaced, Ye Shiyu's mood plumted drastically.
The greater the expectation, the greater the disappointnt.
Especially since she had been looking forward to this for two days, dreaming of having Xiao Huan all to herself here.
And the result?
Ruined completely!
With this in mind, Ye Shiyu's eyes glinted with a faint, eerie purple light, and the way she looked at Bai Yi grew increasingly devoid of humanity.
Clearly, her primary target for venting her anger was Bai Yi.
'Bai Yi, it seems I really do need to control you properly.'
"What... what is with that look? It is super creepy," Bai Yi stamred.
Seeing this, Bai Yi could not help but shudder with fear, wrapping her arms around herself.
A few seconds passed before she belatedly realized that hugging herself was completely useless, so she hurriedly pulled out her pocket watch.
"I... I am warning you, do not try anything funny! I have no intention of fighting you. I... I have other important things to do today."
Ye Shiyu said nothing, simply staring at her in silence.
Stare—
Bai Yi felt her hair stand on end under that intense gaze. She swallowed a mouthful of saliva, already spinelessly plotting her escape in her heart.
'I cannot possibly win a fight against her. My only option is to activate Indifference and run.'
Bai Yi kept her eyes glued to Ye Shiyu's hands, planning to bolt the mont she saw her reach for her phone.
Little did she know, reaching for a phone was a thing of the past.
Right now, Ye Shiyu's eyes were the ultimate weapon.
"Not good! Sothing... sothing is about to go down over there! Was there a problem with our previous arrangents, ow? How... how did it end up like this?"
Not far away, Myau-chan, perched on Yan Huan's shoulder, was going off like a little alarm clock, making Yan Huan almost burst out laughing.
"Heh."
It could only be said that people genuinely laughed when they were completely speechless.
Myau-chan's words sounded exactly like:
"Now that a chaotic love triangle has appeared, why don't you look for your own faults? Is there a flaw in the plan you arranged?"
'Then let
ask you:'
'If you encountered a situation where all the hosts arrived early and started wandering randomly around Akihabara, would you bla yourself?!'
'If you ran into an overpowered freak like Ye Shiyu, who realized at a single glance that Bai Yi was also my date, would you bla yourself?!'
'If you t a Modifier Host who was ready to wage a bloody war over a single disagreent, would you bla yourself?!'
'Bla myself for everything, bla myself for everything...'
'Tell , how am I supposed to win?!'
'I am getting played to death by fate, manipulated until the bitter end!'
'And now look, the two of them have t, and everything is about to blow up!'
"..."
Looking at the two hosts who were on the verge of erupting in the distance, Yan Huan gritted his teeth but instantly equipped his Expression Managent mask.
Then, under Myau-chan's astonished gaze, he surprisingly walked straight toward the smoke-filled battlefield.
"ow?!"
'He actually...'
'He actually isn't running away, but walking right toward them, ow?!'
Myau-chan was horrified, completely speechless for a mont.
But Yan Huan's mind was made up.
He was here to get the Crab dicine and resolve the Modifiers!
He could only die fighting; he absolutely could not cower in the back waiting for death like a coward!
He...
...could still salvage this!!
"Yo, Sister Shiyu! Bai Yi!"
Over by the station, the two girls who had been locked in a fierce tit-for-tat confrontation simultaneously froze, turning their heads toward the source of the voice.
"Xiao Huan?"
"Yan... Yan Huan?"
Not far away, they saw Yan Huan smiling brightly, waving at the two of them as he walked over.
The smile on his face was radiant, though it looked a bit too stiff to belong to a living person.
He quickly walked between the two of them. First, he looked at Ye Shiyu and asked with genuine concern,
"Sister Shiyu, have you eaten yet? The traffic on the way here was not too bad, right?"
"..."
Ye Shiyu did not reply. She simply narrowed her eyes and looked at Bai Yi.
That dark, eerie gaze gave Bai Yi goosebumps all over her body.
"Wait... wait a second. Yan Huan, did you invite
and Ye Shiyu at the sa ti?"
"Ah, that is right."
Even while wearing his flawless Expression Managent mask, Yan Huan's forehead and back were already breaking out in an uncontrollable sweat.
"Bai Yi, you ca at the perfect ti."
"Huh?"
"I called you earlier but you did not answer, so I spent ages looking for you. I didn't expect you to et up with Sister Shiyu first."
Hearing this, Bai Yi, who was just about to demand why Yan Huan had invited both her and Ye Shiyu simultaneously, suddenly froze.
"A call? Yan Huan, you called ?"
"I did, but you never picked up."
Yan Huan nodded, looking at the princess-style handbag Bai Yi was holding. Inside his mind, he imdiately shouted,
'Myau-chan, hurry! Steal her phone! Whether we survive this situation or not depends entirely on you!!'
"ow!!"
Sensing the gravity of the task, Myau-chan imdiately got serious.
It vanished in an instant, and when it reappeared, its mouth was already clamping down on Bai Yi's ultra-thin smartphone, complete with its lace-trimd phone case.
"How could that be? I definitely had my ringer on, so how could I have missed your call..."
At the sa ti, Bai Yi looked down and rummaged through her bag, wanting to take out her phone and check.
But after searching back and forth several tis, she simply could not find her phone anywhere.
The bag was densely packed with a makeup mirror, lipstick for touch-ups, foundation, tissues...
Anyway, there were so many miscellaneous items inside that she had not noticed the subtle change in weight from the suddenly missing phone.
"Eh, eh, eh?! My... my phone is missing!"
'That is exactly right!'
On the surface, however, Yan Huan rely sighed and quickly suggested,
"How could that happen? I thought you just had it on silent. Look, we are unfamiliar with this place and the people. Let's go find the nearby police first."
"Ah... okay, okay."
Bai Yi swallowed a mouthful of saliva, subconsciously agreeing.
Ye Shiyu narrowed her eyes, quietly staring at Yan Huan's back, but she did not speak up to interrupt.
With this sudden interruption, the highly explosive atmosphere slightly simred down.
But it definitely was not entirely defused.
Anyone could tell that if this matter was not explained clearly, it was only a matter of ti before Yan Huan t his total demise and hit the Ga Over screen.
This rely delayed the explosion, creating a window of ti and an opportunity for Yan Huan to defuse the bomb!
And this opportunity was at...
The Akihabara Police Station.
Because there were so many people in Akihabara today, and a large portion of them were foreign tourists, incidents naturally occurred frequently.
Things like lost wallets, lost children, or missing friends and relatives...
Moreover, since it was mostly foreigners reporting these cases, the procedures were complicated and there were language barriers, completely jamming the entire police station.
Left with no choice, the police had to ask unrelated individuals to step outside, only allowing the person filing the report and their close relatives to enter the station.
For example, right now, it was Bai Yi, who had lost her phone, going inside to give her statent and describe the situation.
Yan Huan and Ye Shiyu stood waiting outside.
Stare—
Beside him, Ye Shiyu's eerie gaze probed toward him.
A suffocating sense of oppression imdiately surged upward.
"..."
'Fortunately, I have my Expression Managent mask, so at least I haven't shown any fear.'
'If I reveal even a single flaw, it's instant GG for .'
But fortunately, as long as the two girls were temporarily separated, even if it was not for very long, it still offered Yan Huan a glimr of hope.
"Xiao—"
"Sister Shiyu, I am going to go check on how her statent is going. I will be right back out."
"..."
The exact mont Ye Shiyu could not hold back anymore and was about to ask her questions, Yan Huan smiled, stood up, and walked straight into the police station.
He planned to defuse Bai Yi's bomb first.
Of course, having her words interrupted, and watching Yan Huan go inside to check on Bai Yi with "apparent concern," the expressionless face Ye Shiyu wore grew even heavier...
It was as if it had been welded onto her face.
Stare—
Feeling the practically tangible gaze piercing his back, Yan Huan hurriedly quickened his pace.
'Hurry up, you useless legs! Move faster!'
Click—
"Excuse , student. There are a lot of people inside the station right now. Unrelated personnel, please step outside for the ti being!"
Seeing Yan Huan push open the door and walk into the office area where statents and reports were being registered, a police officer on duty imdiately stood up to stop him.
Off to the side, Bai Yi was sitting and waiting. As soon as she heard the commotion, she spotted Yan Huan coming in.
Sensing her gaze on him, Yan Huan took a deep breath. He then pointed at Bai Yi nearby and smiled.
"I am not an unrelated person. A girl who is very important to
is right over there. I am here to accompany her."
"Eh? Eh?"
Hearing this, Bai Yi froze slightly, and her face imdiately flushed a faint red. However, because she was wearing makeup, it was completely unnoticeable.
Only her quivering pupils betrayed her shock.
"I see. You can go ahead then."
"Understood. Thank you."
After nodding his thanks, Yan Huan turned around and walked toward Bai Yi.
"How is it? Did you give your statent?"
"Mhm... I told the officers the places I walked through just now. They are currently checking the surveillance caras."
Feeling Yan Huan sit down beside her, Bai Yi could not help but feel a flutter of joy.
However, the mont she rembered that he had invited both her and Ye Shiyu at the sa ti, she could not help but feel a bit sulky.
'Hmph, what does he an by this?'
'I dressed up so beautifully full of anticipation, but in the end, he invited that Ye Shiyu too?!'
'Two girls? What kind of date is this supposed to be!?'
'Even if he relies on the fact that I like him, I will absolutely not forgive this!!'
"..."
With this in mind, Bai Yi, who was just about to smile, imdiately pursed her lips and said no more. She even pretended to act reserved, intentionally keeping a certain distance from Yan Huan.
"Are you wondering why I invited Sister Shiyu along?"
"...No. You can invite whoever you want. Anyway, you only ntioned hanging out with
earlier, so it isn't like I would overthink it."
Hearing his question, Bai Yi acted as if she did not care at all, simply tossing her black hair back as she spoke.
Yet she revealed her slightly puffed-out cheeks in an utterly conspicuous manner.
'She is totally thinking about it!!'
"I see..."
But Yan Huan pretended to be completely dense, acting as if he really could not read between the lines of her contradictory words.
From the corner of her eye, she secretly observed Yan Huan, who seed completely oblivious. Bai Yi maintained her indifferent facade...
Only her cheeks seed to puff out even more.
"Actually, it is because I heard that while I was away, you were the one constantly taking care of Sister Shiyu. So, I wanted to take this opportunity to properly thank you."
"Huh? That sort of thing does not matter. Besides, she herself already..."
"No, it matters a great deal, Bai Yi."
Bai Yi froze slightly, looking at Yan Huan who was staring straight into her eyes. She listened as he enunciated every word clearly.
"Because Sister Shiyu is one of my most important family mbers."
"Wait a second, why are you suddenly getting so serious... Eh? Family?"
Bai Yi blinked, but she instantly extracted the keyword.
"Mhm. As you probably know, I grew up without parents. It was Aunt Ye who gave
a ho and allowed
to experience the feeling of having a family for the very first ti."
'That is right...'
Only then did Bai Yi suddenly and belatedly realize a crucial detail.
Although she had always known that Ye Shiyu, his sadistic sworn older sister, harbored ulterior motives toward Yan Huan, and had even used Hypnosis on him ti and ti again...
She had only co to that conclusion from the standpoint of an overpowered bystander observing everything.
Yan Huan himself knew absolutely nothing about any of that.
In his eyes, Ye Shiyu and her mother were simply relatives who had given him a second ho. They were absolutely not potential prospects for a romantic relationship!
'So...'
'Actually, Yan Huan didn't invite both
and Ye Shiyu today because he wanted to two-ti us, but because he wanted to...'
'...introduce
to his family!!'
The mont she thought of this, Bai Yi's pupils violently quivered yet again.
Seeing the subtle shift in Bai Yi's expression, Yan Huan knew she had taken the bait.
'This is my escape route!!'
But outwardly, the Expression Managent mask Yan Huan wore did not leak a single flaw. Seeing her dazed expression, he just asked in a questioning tone,
"Bai Yi?"
"Eh? Sorry, I... I got a little distracted..."
"It is fine. It is just that seeing you and Sister Shiyu getting along so well sets my mind at ease. Sister Shiyu is a little inarticulate, but her true nature... is not bad."
"Hehe..."
Bai Yi forced a smile against her true feelings, completely unaware that Yan Huan was wearing the exact sa fake smile in his heart.
"When there is a chance later, I will introduce you to Aunt Ye. You briefly t her before at Golden Lion Group; she is a very gentle elder."
"O-okay, hahaha..."
The mont those two sentences ca out, Bai Yi instantly flushed completely red to the tips of her ears.
Because didn't this imply that Yan Huan was consecutively inviting her to et his sworn older sister and adoptive mother?
'Isn't this too fast?'
'We haven't even officially confird our relationship yet...'
'Ah well, Yan Huan is probably just like , experiencing his first ti in a romantic relationship, so it is understandable!'
'I heard online that young boys in their first relationship do tend to have these childish impulses of wanting to commit for life to the girl they like.'
'Hehehe, pure and innocent Yan Huan is just too cute~'
'Therefore...'
'This signal is already incredibly obvious, right?'
'Yan Huan definitely likes !!'
As she thought this, the starlight shining in Bai Yi's eyes grew even brighter, practically glowing.
She almost burst out laughing.
'No, I need to stay reserved.'
Pfft!
Bai Yi kept her head lowered, her black hair obscuring part of her face. One could only faintly tell how hard she was trying to hold back her laughter from the slight trembling of her shoulders.
"..."
Watching Bai Yi, who was entirely preoccupied with giggling like a fool with her head down, Yan Huan even began to doubt whether his strategy was the right one.
'I have this nagging feeling that I have accidentally opened Pandora's Box for Bai Yi again.'
'Whatever, staying alive and getting the Crab dicine is what's important right now!'
'Everything else can be discussed later. It can all be left to the future Yan Huan.'
"Then... Yan Huan... what is our relationship now?"
At this mont, Bai Yi, sitting beside him, lowered her head and pursed her lips, her fingers tightly clutching the hem of her skirt. Trembling unavoidably, she finally forced herself to ask.
Hearing her lodious voice overflowing with a young girl's shyness, Yan Huan could not help but feel a slight stir in his heart.
As he glanced sideways at her, he saw her, looking exquisitely beautiful, timidly gazing back at him.
Her starlit eyes were as adorable as a little deer's.
'A heaven-sent opportunity.'
"What relationship... Bai Yi, may I answer you with actions?"
"Eh, actions?"
"May I?"
"I-I guess you can, it's just... what kind of— Mmph!"
The mont Bai Yi opened her mouth, Yan Huan's face suddenly closed the distance between them.
The instant Yan Huan leaned in, Bai Yi instantly realized what he was about to do.
She nervously clutched her skirt so tightly that if the fabric could speak, it would probably be screaming in agony.
But looking at Yan Huan's face right in front of her, her throat bobbed slightly, and in the end, she didn't pull away.
'Is this...'
'...Yan Huan's answer?'
Smooch~
In the next second, Bai Yi felt her lips being captured.
Driven by pure instinct, the tingling sensation washed over her, making her eyelids heavy, unable to stay open as she wanted to close her eyes and take in the feeling completely.
'Is this...'
'...what a real kiss feels like?'
Previously, during a Ti Stop, she had forcefully kissed Yan Huan just to humiliate the frozen Spencer.
But looking back on it, she could not help but feel doubtful:
'Was that really a kiss?'
Now, feeling Yan Huan's active kiss, she could not help but ask herself what kind of miserable life she had been living up until now.
'Mmph?'
'Why...'
'Why is there tongue?'
'Is this right?'
Doubt blood in Bai Yi's heart for a mont, but she quickly rationalized it.
'Ah, I forgot, Yan Huan is utterly ignorant about all this stuff, he is super pure.'
'He probably watched so adult films or sothing and thinks all kisses are like this...'
'Whatever, whatever. He probably gathered a lot of courage to respond like this, so I shouldn't pour cold water on him~'
Bai 'the considerate and understanding' Yi thought to herself.
'B-but... Yan... Yan Huan... isn't this going on a little too long?'
'I... I am starting to run out of breath...'
Indeed, despite Bai Yi projecting an internal image of an "older sister senior" taking care of Yan Huan, in reality, she was completely clueless herself.
As the kiss went on, Bai Yi's small face flushed completely crimson.
However, even though the poor girl did not know how to breathe through her nose during a kiss, she was an idol trainee who spent hours practicing singing, so her lung capacity was excellent...
Unwilling to break the mood, Bai Yi forcibly held her breath for an entire minute!!
To steal a kiss, everyone was truly showing what they were made of.
First, there was Sakuramiya Hitomi, strong-willed despite her handicap, and now, there was Bai Yi, the master of holding her breath.
What's that? You're asking how hard it is for Spencer to get a kiss?
Smack.
Ultimately, after a long, drawn-out minute, Yan Huan finally let go of the dizzy and lightheaded Bai Yi.
The third mission condition had been secured!
Bai Yi clutched her chest, panting slightly, but a faint smile broke out on the corners of her mouth as she happily said,
"Is... is this your answer, Yan Huan...? I... I understand your good intentions..."
'Ah?'
'Bai Yi, how about you don't understand it quite so well?'
'Leave a sliver of hope for the future Yan Huan?'
Yan Huan blinked, thinking this in his heart, but he did not dare to voice any objections.
'Whatever. Even if there are bugs in the code, ignore them. As long as the program runs, it's fine.'
"Actually... sotis I really feel that fate is so unpredictable."
Before him, however, Bai Yi seed to have had her heart completely unlocked by that kiss. She revealed a beautiful smile, tilting her head as she looked at Yan Huan.
In her beautiful, faintly glowing eyes, only Yan Huan existed at this mont.
"Before, I really felt that my life would just be like that forever... Listening to my mother, relying on my looks to attract attention..."
"...Never having the chance to pursue music, never planning to love anyone, and never expecting anyone to truly love ..."
"After all, even I know that deep down, I am actually a girl with a very terrible personality..."
"But I have no idea what you were thinking back then, to... to do such a thing for soone like ..."
Listening to her words, Yan Huan could not help but freeze for a mont, but he still did not interrupt her. He simply gazed at his own reflection in Bai Yi's eyes.
"So, rather than thanking fate, I should be thanking you instead, right?"
"Now, not only do I get to make the music I love, but... for the first ti, I found soone I love, who loves
back..."
"Anyway, ever since I t you, absolutely everything has started getting better!"
Bai Yi pursed her lips, suddenly looking a bit nervous, and waved her hands in a fluster as she spoke,
"But I know, I still have a lot of flaws, but..."
"I believe that as long as you are by my side, I... I can beco even better!"
"A-anyway, what I an is, Yan Huan..."
In the very next second, her hands, which had been tightly clutching the hem of her skirt, finally could not hold back anymore. As if throwing caution to the wind, she reached out and actively grasped Yan Huan's hand.
The smooth, soft touch of her skin and the warm, radiating body heat transmitted into Yan Huan's palm in an instant.
As she grasped Yan Huan's palm, she nervously said,
"Please take good care of
from now on!"
"..."
Yan Huan stared straight at Bai Yi in front of him. For so unknown reason, his mind was filled with an indescribably complex emotion at this mont.
Because at this very mont, Bai Yi had interpreted the kiss Yan Huan only gave to complete his mission as so sort of signal...
And Yan Huan knew this perfectly well...
Although he still had not explicitly stated his feelings, she had already eagerly poured out every ounce of emotion from her heart.
Perhaps it truly was exactly as Bai Yi had said.
When Yan Huan tried to summarize Bai Yi's rits, the only thing he could barely manage to say was "she is beautiful."
But in reality, deep in his heart, he might have been completely indifferent to that very beauty.
It was just a superficial platitude he had forced himself to find.
Yet right now, Yan Huan genuinely felt, as if realizing it for the very first ti...
...that Bai Yi truly was incredibly beautiful.
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