Chapter 51 - Let's Meet Behind Closed Doors

This extra chapter is dedicated to Jentrix14. Thank you for the review!

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Zhe Chouhen let go of Daoist Panda for now, but still sat very close to him on the bed, looking like a very happy and satisfied puppy.

"Wow.... So you're not a fatty panda anymore." Zhe Chouhen observed him from head to toe. "How'd you do it? And what made you choose Walter Clerval out of all of the characters?"

"I chose it since it's what the Teach..... no, the skull mask, would least expect me to do." He explained. "And besides, Walter Clerval is the second character that gets to interact with you the most. I never really planned to reveal myself since it's too risky to do so in a place where I haven't put up a talisman. Yet you luckily figured it out."

"Heh, I'm really smart, right?" Zhe Chouhen's ego was so high it had reached outer space. "Tell me I'm smart, Panda-laoshi!"

"You are smug, that's all I'm gonna say. And smugness sometimes has its benefits." Daoist Panda rolled his eyes, but he did wear a smile from Zhe Chouhen's antics. "Anyway, if you and I have to talk, we should do it here. It's protected by my talisman, and I keep on checking the protection every time I entered just to be safe."

"Oh, so that's what those gestures are for..." Zhe Chouhen nodded. "Wait, wouldn't the third party notice if they do not have control over this room?"

"They have no control over many places. I misdirected them a bit, but the expense was wasting a few my powers. Still, it would put them off my tail for a while." He explained.

"Wait, you have powers? What kind?"

"Anything I want really as long as I have enough energy. With this right hand of mine making gestures, everything I want to happen, happens.".

Zhe Chouhen blinked. "What? Then that means you can levitate, or teleport, or use telekinesis?!"

"Easy." Panda-laoshi clicked his fingers, and Franklin and Andres's research book floated in the air, disappeared, and reappeared in another location.

"Wooooahhh..... You're a wizard, Panda!"

Daoist Panda snorted at the reference. He continued: "However, it is limited. I can't use it too much. I'm saving it for emergencies."

"How do you get more energy then?"

"Getting blood from the source."

"What?" Zhe Chouhen asked. "The source of what?"

"The source of this hand. This hand is the one that holds powers, Zhe Chouhen." He gave him a good view of the hand which he now realizes is actually too slender and delicate to be Captain Clerval's hand. Like Stein, he was also a mismatched being.

"Ohh.... so you stole this hand from someone, and now you have powers. It doesn't make any sense, but whatever. " Zhe Chouhen observed the long fingers and the smoothness and suppleness of the hand, reaching out to touch it. He was a little dazed by it. "You should take care of this hand then..... Make sure not to lose it..."

He didn't even realize that he had interlaced his fingers with that hand.

"Zhe Chouhen... What are you doing?" Panic rose from Panda's voice.

They're holding hands!

Zhe Chouhen blinked. "Oh, right. Sorry."

He quickly let go, and the atmosphere became awkward.

"Anyway...."

"So, uh...."

"Yes..."

"Well....."

Two friends in a room. And yet they're alone together, sharing one bed, and even held hands.

Daoist Panda coughed, reminding himself of this friend status they have. He changed the topic. "Right, so uh..... Why do you keep pushing me and Stein together anyway?"

"Oh, that. I forgot to tell you about my plan." Zhe Chouhen went on to explain how he planned to turn Captain Clerval as the official male lead at the end of the story, earning 100% Satisfaction while also redeeming himself to get 0% Scum.

"Hmm.... That's an okay plan." Daoist Panda considered it. "But it's the redeeming that's difficult. Most of the time, even if you did redeem yourself, it doesn't go to 0 all the way. You even jumped off a balcony back at Painted Lies and still got 90% Scum."

"Yeah, it's almost like the system is broken." Zhe Chouhen said. "Or maybe I really am not trying hard enough. Whichever the case, you have your powers anyway, right? You can help me achieve 0% Scum."

"No... My powers can't do that, Zhe Chouhen." Panda shook his head. "The Meters are off-limits, it cannot be controlled by anyone."

Zhe Chouhen was confused. "I thought it was you or the skull mask that makes the Meters."

"It's not. The Meter is meant to be fair, a sentient being with its own judgment. It does not have a bias. It only determines who wins the wager." Daoist Panda explained. "As for the whole picture.... I can't give it to you just yet. Knowing too much might cause consequences."

This reminded Zhe Chouhen of something, and he frowned. He then asked, staring at Panda long and hard so he will know if he ever lies to him. "This hand with the powers..... Did you gain it at the expense of your own life? Were you killed by the person it belongs to?"

"Zhe Chouhen, I just told you that you couldn't learn too much----"

"Just a yes or no will do. No need to explain further."

Daoist Panda considered it. It wasn't really the Teacher who shot him, but then again, it was really because of him stealing the hand that the brotherhood sought after him. He is a traitor to them now. They will likely do anything just to get rid of him permanently without the Teacher noticing.

Weighing all this, he answered reluctantly. "Yes."

Zhe Chouhen's jaws clenched. "Then, I would never forgive that person. I am sure you only took that hand to help me, but the time I lost you..... It was really..... I was so worried and distraught. I can't even explain it in words, how much that memory still pains me to this day."

Daoist Panda looked at him through Clerval's glossy eyes. "I didn't expect you to care so much since I have... I'm just some stranger who harmed you in the past, how can you forgive me so easily?"

"Are you stupid? What stranger? I said I will give you a tour of my neighborhood as a friend date. You think I would do that to a stranger? And I didn't forgive you so quickly, don't compare me to those self-sacrificing MCs of yours."

Zhe Chouhen took that hand again. "I forgave you because though as cliche as it sounds, I saw the goodness in your heart. You risked your life for me. You kept me company when you were still an app on my phone, talking to me about all those weird conversations about life and fate. Can you still consider that as being strangers?"

Daoist Panda found himself unable to say anything, because he knows how he will sound if he did. He'll become a stuttering mess.

[Why is he always doing this to me?] He thought in his head. [Seriously, I can't think clearly anymore.... I think I'm—]

"You're one of my greatest friends now." Zhe Chouhen grinned. "And it's nice to have a friend in such a difficult predicament."

Daoist Panda burst out from his thoughts, scolding himself. He was about to think something illogical. Everything is just happening so fast that it swept him off his feet a bit and made him lose his footing.

"Right." Daoist Panda quickly took his hand away, afraid Zhe Chouhen will notice that his temperature is rising. "I'm your friend now, that's great. Really great."

Zhe Chouhen is not dense and could notice his flusteredness. Yet he has no sense of boundaries and decided it was the perfect moment to tease the emotionally vulnerable Panda. "Well, if you want something more, you could always just ask—"

"Frank! Franklin, where are you?"

Daoist Panda immediately clamped a hand over Zhe Chouhen's bothersome mouth as they heard Stein call out from outside. He used his powers to turn off the light of the lamp with them, and they were covered in total darkness, just listening in.

"Frank...." Stein seemed to hesitate between lowering his voice because he does not want to wake up the captain on the other room, but at the same time, he is really worried about where Franklin could have left.

"Where is he....." He muttered, and they heard footsteps on the staircase, growing fainter and fainter.

Once they could not hear Stein at all anymore, Daoist Panda sighed. They were so close that they could hear each other's deep breaths in the darkness. He slowly removed his hand from Zhe Chouhen's mouth, and he can still feel a trace of his soft lips against his palm.

Zhe Chouhen chuckled, and Daoist Panda just gave him a scorning look for laughing when there's nothing funny. But it's useless since he cannot see it anyway.

Still, he can sense it, and so he explained: "Doesn't this remind you of a situation where the guy's wife is awake and he is almost caught with his mistress?"

"Are you fucking comparing me to a homewrecker!?" Daoist Panda was deeply offended.

"No, no. I just said it's similar to that....." Zhe Chouhen whispered in his ear in a teasing manner. "Besides, you're a lousy mistress. You can't even stop pushing me away even when we're already in bed like this."

"Oi, Zhe Chouhen!" He hissed, smacking him in the forehead.

"Ow! It's just a joke, bro. Damn....." Zhe Chouhen kept on laughing like an idiot. "Anyway, I wonder why Stein is looking for me..."

Panda calmed a bit down, but he can still feel the temperature in his face rising the longer he and Zhe Chouhen stays in this position. "You should go back to Stein now before he sees you here."

"Yeah... Maybe he's having a nightmare again. I better console him." Zhe Chouhen carefully moved out of the creaky bed. "Though I want to spend time with you more."

"We shouldn't meet too often. You should only talk to me here, when the door is closed, and Stein is fully asleep. It's too risky." Panda reminded.

"Sounds like something a mistress would say."

This earned him a strong elbow to the gut. Zhe Chouhen clutched his stomach in a wheeze. "Fine.... Fine.... I'll stop with the mistress joke now."

He took his lamp which Daoist Panda turned on again using a snap of his fingers, and went on his way to the door. Just as he was about to turn the knob, Panda suddenly called out. "Zhe Chouhen, wait!"

Zhe Chouhen turned back expectantly, eyes twinkling. "Yes?"

"I..... I missed you too. Both when you deleted the app and when I had to spend a year without having to meet with you as Clerval yet. That's what I wanted to say." Panda looked away so he would not stutter, but still failed in the end. "A-And also, good night."

Zhe Chouhen felt his eyes kindle with joy and his face radiate when he heard this. He replied with an affectionate, "Good night."

Then, he left to look for Stein.

He saw that the MC was knitting his eyebrows while walking in circles outside in the garden in with a shawl over himself to keep out the cold, and so he called out. "Stein!"

Stein immediately went towards him once he heard, his large steps resounding loudly in the quiet and peaceful garden. "Frank! Where have you been!?"

"I just went out for a midnight stroll here and there... Talked with some friends." He grinned mischievously.

"You were outside... I was so worried. I could not sleep because I am having this dream, so I want to look for you in your bed and talk about it but.... But..... You're not there and I thought....." Stein tried to control himself, but he choked a bit in the end. "I thought you left me behind."

Zhe Chouhen was moved by this, he can tell Stein is trying hard not to cry. He held on to his face like one would to their own baby, their own child. "I will never leave you behind, Stein. Don't worry."

Stein had given up on acting mature and pathetically hugged 'Franklin', clinging on to him closely. "You should warn me next time when you leave... I don't want to be separated from you, Frank. Not even for a second."

"I know." He patted his back. "Let's get home and I'll help you fall asleep."

He led Stein by the doorstep. Feeling pitiful of this sweet boy, he let Stein hold on to his hands all the way back to the room. The very hand that revealed Stein's defect to Captain Clerval, the tanned one with a tattoo. Andres' hand.

Stein had a recollection from being held on like this. It was as vague as the dream that bothered him in his sleep. But he can recall the feeling.....

Of Franklin desperately holding on to this hand.

"Don't go, Andres." He can hear the pleas.

"I have to. My family is waiting for me."

"You're lying. You don't have a family. Your Mama, your whole identity..... It was all a lie, isn't it?"