Gu Luoxin’s mouth hung agape, his hand frozen mid-air in a waving pose. He could only watch, dumbfounded, as the man swiftly disappeared into the distance. It took a few soft chuckles from the people queuing behind him to jolt him out of his daze.
"What’s that? An obsessive fan?"
"Calling soone ’Great God’... seriously, who talks like that? I an, I adore my idol, but this is just sothing else!
"Did you see that guy’s face? I think he ran away out of fear hahaha!"
"By the way, did you notice how hot that student is..."
Gu Luoxin had no idea whether it was his hearing that had been enhanced by the Nightmare, but he seed to be able to hear each word of the hushed comnts around him with uncanny clarity, tinged with mockery, intrigue and amusent.
Heat rushed to his cheeks and he bit down on his bottom lip, desperately wishing that the ground would open up to swallow him whole.
This ti, he had truly embarrassed himself ahhh! What was he thinking, charging ahead mindlessly like that?! In the first place, they had not agreed to et in the real world, so who was to say that Noir would want to see him? After all, the Nightmare Cycle was different from real life. He thought that they might have gotten a little closer after the days they spent together, but... of course, it was all just his wishful thinking! Noir only hung around because they were stuck in the sa place with a task to complete – nothing more! Get a grip of yourself, Xinxin!
He squeezed his eyes shut, feeling hot tears of sha welling up behind his eyelids. He unconsciously hugged Lucius tighter to himself as though seeking comfort and protection. He had half a mind to flee from this place and never look back, but at that mont, soone gently tugged his arm and guided him out of the crowd. A soft voice reached his ears, laden with genuine concern, "Are you okay?"
Gu Luoxin snapped his eyes open, realizing that it was the kind senior who had shown him the way earlier. More than that, he could perceive that she was regarding him with warmth and sincerity, as opposed to the crowd who laughed at him for making a joke out of himself.
"S–Sorry, I..." Gu Luoxin began, but she waved her hand with a good-natured smile.
"Don’t worry, that’s just how Noir is. Don’t take it to heart, okay? Also, I’m sorry that I forgot to tell you that pets are not allowed inside, making you co all the way here for nothing." She hit her forehead lightly in admonishnt. "It’s all my fault. I was so busy running around that I got distracted when I saw your adorable cat!"
"No, really, it’s fine!" Gu Luoxin hurried to say. He glanced over to see that the line was moving, and the people who had laughed at him earlier had either entered the hall or gotten engrossed in their phones, having tossed the brief commotion to the back of their minds. A wave of relief washed over him and the tension in his shoulders eased. He offered a shy smile to the senior, "Thank you so much for your help... Jiejie."
"Aiyah, look at how cute you are!" She couldn’t resist pinching his cheeks, though she quickly withdrew her hand when Lucius waved its claw at her. "Haha, such a possessive cat you have there!"
Gu Luoxin ran his fingers through Lucius’ soft fur, half to comfort the ruffled cat and half to soothe his aching heart. His thoughts drifted back to the man he had seen earlier, and he couldn’t help but inquire, "Jiejie, he... I an, Mr. Noir. Is that really his real na?"
The senior looked taken aback, presumably not expecting him to be so oblivious despite acting like an obsessive fan earlier. Gu Luoxin could feel his cheeks burning again, and he stumbled over his words, "I–It’s okay if you don’t want to tell . I know it’s a weird question, and—"
"No, no, no. It’s okay, not weird at all!" She quickly plastered a bright smile on her face. "You are a freshman, right? Sooner or later, you will get to know him because Noir is quite the celebrity in our departnt. He transferred here during the second sester. I can guarantee that at least half of our visitors are here just to catch a glimpse of him. He’s got the looks, brain and talent..." she began to count with her fingers, only to stop when she recalled his original question, "Oh and yes, Noir is his real na."
This ti, it was Gu Luoxin’s turn to be taken aback. He had heard of people who dared to use their real nas in the Nightmare Cycle, but they were few and far in between. Those players were either bold or foolish, as the risk of exposing real identities in the virtual world was endless. To think that he would really encounter one... and a top player at that, really caught him by surprise. Of course, Noir belonged to the first category!
Perhaps feeling bad for not informing him about Lucius earlier, or maybe thinking that he was really eager to attend the exhibition, the senior kindly offered, "How about I help you look after your cat for a while? That way, you can go inside and explore if you want."
Gu Luoxin did not even need to think twice before refusing. "No, there’s no need for you to do that, Jiejie! I can’t trouble you about this!" He hugged Lucius tighter to himself as if to stand his claim.
She glanced down at her phone, and a mischievous grin graced her lips. "What a coincidence. Good thing I held you back in ti. Look," she showed her phone screen to him, her tone taking a turn to teasing. "Your ’Great God’ is asking for you."
Gu Luoxin’s eyes were glued to phone screen, dumbstruck. The private chat between her and Noir was displayed, showing ssages that the man had sent just now.
[Did you see a boy with the black cat outside?]
[Trouble you to take the cat away.]
As Gu Luoxin stared, another ssage popped up.
[Don’t tell him I asked you to do this.]
Gu Luoxin: "..."
"Oops!" She blinked and withdrew her phone. Upon reading the ssage, she laughed out loud in the mixture of schadenfreude and amusent, seemingly gleeful for Noir’s misfortunes. She gestured towards the black cat and sent Gu Luoxin a wink, "Let’s pretend you didn’t see that, okay?"
.
.
A/N: HAHAHA Noir you’re busted!
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