8 I Like You

For Qiu Yue marriage was a very... annoying bond. She liked the idea of it, but in her life, the one married couple she had been born to had been a disaster. And even after that, her own experiences with marriages were just horrible.

She loves the idea of it and loved attending them, loved planning them for others, but when it came to her own self... well she wasn't really going to be considering it.

"I don't think I have the time to be thinking about that you know? I don't really have anyone like that either..."

She shrugged, the point here was that even if Qiu Yue did find someone right now, she was sure to refuse. Qiu Yue was going to be going to different worlds, and she knew that once she decided to be with one person, that was the only one person she'd ever be with. She was scared of the thought that she'd have to leave someone behind. That after she left this world, or whichever world she found that person in, she would never see them again. She didn't want that, Qiu Yue wasn't sure how painful it would be, but she knew it'd be enough to kill her over and over again.

Huo Zi Feng's heart was pained, it was as if someone had grabbed it and was suddenly squeezing it tight.

He wasn't sure whether he should mention it, but he couldn't hold himself back.

"Then our engagement?"

Qiu Yue's eyes grew wide as she realized she had been talking to her fiancé, while she didn't know why he was asking her these questions, she knew her answer was less than appropriate.

"Ah... that, I - I mean ー"

She secretly took a look at his face and wondered, was Huo Zi Feng asking her this because he'd found someone he liked and wanted to know if she, Qiu Yue, would be saddened by this?

Was he asking her if she likes someone else to see if she could understand him?

In her heart she smiled dryly, she had expected this.

"Senior Feng! If there is anyone you love, please tell me. Don't think about our engagement too much, as long you like that person, don't worry about anything else!"

Huo Zi Feng felt that her words were encouraging but somehow very off. He shook off that feeling and asked her another question.

"Then, if I do like someone, how– what do I do?"

Qiu Yue felt a pang hit her heart in her chest. She felt slightly confused, this girl couldn't be the female lead, so who was she?

"I'm honestly not sure about other girls but I do think being honest with your feelings and affections is the best, though personally, I wouldn't like it if she or he was mindlessly in love with me."

Huo Zi Feng nodded at what she said, he too felt the same. Then he realized certain words she'd used in the sentence.

"She or he?"

Qiu Yue looked at him suddenly, his profile and wondered, the book didn't say anything about this aspect of his thinking.

"Yes, is there a–?"

"Ah no, I was just wondering."

How many rivals I might have...

.....

Huo Zi Feng honestly wanted to cry. Before this, he probably wouldn't understand the pain of having fallen for a beautiful girl who didn't mind gender, men he had to look out for, women he had to guard her against, if this had been a fantasy world he was sure there'd be more cats and dogs after her too.

If Qiu Yue could hear what he was thinking she'd be shocked, actually Qiu Yue had never fallen or lusted for anyone but she didn't want to limit herself.

She gave him a small smile, Huo Zi Feng really seemed like a pure kid at times.

"I think love should be selfish and to some extent even impulsive."

Qiu Yue started to swing her legs alternatively and scrunched my her shoulders as she took a deep breath.

"Just don't hurt anyone, that includes you yourself."

Qiu Yue turned her head to face him as she leaned forward resting on the heel of her palm.

Qiu Yue looked at him intently, searching his eyes for something, though she wasn't sure what.

Huo Zi Feng's heart jumped in his chest, looking at this girl who was staring at him, her eyes big and clear, shining like a lake in the summertime, her lips were full and lush, of a rich shade like that of freshly picked plums. He suddenly felt the urge to reach out and take a bite.

He abruptly looked away, he knew this wasn't the right time. He first had to make sure she understood his feelings properly.

"What if she doesn't know how I feel? How I do make her aware of me?"

Qiu Yue was puzzled, why did he turn away from her?

Still, she brushed it off and decided to answer his question.

"Make her keep thinking about you I guess?"

Qiu Yue really wasn't sure, after all, she had never really been in a relationship. So asking her about all this was like asking a baseball player about playing the flute.

Huo Zi Feng hummed in agreement.

After that Qiu Yue changed the subject, she wasn't good at these heart to heart talks about romance. They both talked about General things as they sat there sipping their coffee is tranquility.

Of course, Huo Zi Feng was going through a brainstorm, trying to think of ways to get the person next to him.

He wasn't sure if he should put a name on what he was feeling, but he wasn't ready to let go of it.

___

Meng Hui's eyes reflected the computer screen he was scrolling through where there were two chat boxes and a screen for a popular MMORPG open. His fingers moved swiftly across the keyboard, as if he were dancing, while he typed his commands to his teammates and simultaneously controlled his own account.

At the current moment, the lvl 45 boss was just a few thousand health points away from the bloodlust stage. So right now Meng Hui just hoped that the game wouldn't bug out on him. With the recent update, that added many features, seemingly coming with the package was a cursed bug that froze and restarted the process with the boss when it reached bloodlust mode. This wasn't a frequent occurrence but for high-level players, it was one too many.

Meng Hui fervently prayed that nothing would go wrong. Sometimes he wondered why he didn't make one on his own. Then he remembered that he couldn't even draw a noddle, which honestly was saying something. And he couldn't show his face to anyone anyway, there was a bounty on his head.

Suddenly as the ranged attackers cast spells, the screen started to flicker dangerously. Meng Hui felt as though he was in the movie the Ring, only this was worse.

No, no! He'd spent 35 minutes on this, this couldn't–

The screen flickered a bit more and completely froze just as his character on the screen had been jumping up as if the game was mocking him.

He cursed loudly and banged his keyboard. He threw off his headphones and closed his eyes, trying to calm his frustration.

At seventeen, this youth had never been able to go out freely, in fact, he never went out. He knew that if the people looking for him found him then he'd be dead, but not before they had their fun.

So for Meng Hui the only thing he could do was use his skills to hack and play games, never speaking or releasing any information about himself. Of course, he had to live, so ever since he was fifteen he had started programming for companies on a freelance basis. It was nothing too big as he didn't want to catch anyone's attention, but still enough to feed him and keep a roof over his head– and of course, pay for his wifi and gaming addiction too.

As he listlessly went through his life with his eyes shut he heard the sound of a notification coming from the headphones. As he loved the loud music and used it to drown out the background, it wasn't a surprise he could hear. The main reason was that he had switched off sounds for anything other than the game. He hated unnecessary sounds.

Curious as he was, he went through all his safety precautions and didn't find anything maliciously tampered with, although whoever it was, had obviously changed his settings remotely to get his attention.

He looked over at the username and came to the conclusion that he didn't know anyone named 'KingYan'.If this person wanted to harm him then Meng Hui would look for a way to stop this KingYan.

KingYan: Do you have fun losing?

Meng Hui's eyebrow twitched. Was this guy trying to pick a fight? He didn't bother replying, and just as he decided to delete the message another one popped up.

KingYan: Come on, don't be a spoilsport! Hey, why don't you design a better one 'Hu1on'.

Meng Hui's fingers stopped in their places as his eyes narrowed. That was the handle he used when he handled deals with companies, but this account was personal.

It wasn't rare for someone to do this, what Meng Hui wanted to know was his motive for doing so.

MengMeng: Who is this?

KingYan: How about this, you do a project with us and we'll give you whatever you want.

KingYan: Anything. money, recognition...

KingYan: Even a way to get rid of those people.

Qiu Yue slapped Yao Yan's shoulder as the Yao Yan giggled.

"You sound like you're making her a deal with the devil!"

"Once she gets to know how you work, she'll choose the devil."

Yao Yan rolled her eyes, only after working with this perfection procrastinator did she truly understand hard work.

Qiu Yue ignored Yao Yan as she waited for Meng Hui's response.

"I really feel bad for her, the Mafia is also very unreasonable, how could they do that to her! She was just a small kid."

"I agree, the mafia is very unreasonable."

Yao Yan said sarcastically. This girl was already fortunate enough not to have died, and yet Qiu Yue was harping about how they had made Meng Hui work for them.

Qiu Yue scoffed at Yao Yan. Really this girl...

"Can you be nicer? I'm sure she'll be shocked if you suddenly drop bombs like this!"

Yao Yan ignored Qiu Yue as she saw that MengMeng was currently typing.

MengMeng: Who are you?

Meng Hui's gaze was incomparably cold. This youth with fluffy looking blonde hair and a cute height of 5'3could hardly be called intimidating. In fact, he looked so cute it was almost sinful, even with this eyes narrowed in frosty slits, his skin was white and looked so soft, his lips were like the petals of cherry blossoms that lived only a few weeks.

This youth was not part of the novel, but he was someone had Yao Yan and Qiu Yue had found using Yao Yan's extensive database gathered with the system. They wanted 'her' to be a part of their team. Actually, the files didn't mention a lot about 'her' so they thought he was female. Hence why they had been referring to him as such, his name didn't give much away and his character on the game was also female.

As for why Meng Hui thought of Yao Yan as male was... simply because she was too cool. Coupled with the name and her valiant way of speaking he just assumed she was male.

KingYan: Even if I told you, you wouldn't know. After all... the game we are going to play is bigger than this world.

Qiu Yue frowned as she watched Yao Yan laughing and spinning some random broomstick story like a yarn.

KingYan: are you ready to play, player one?

Meng Hui was very suspicious but he had recently been into the idea that they could travel to different worlds.

MengMeng: .....

MengMeng: Really?

KingYan: Pffffft

KingYan: Of course not.

KingYan: Stop daydreaming and come to the address I forward tomorrow.

KingYan: Don't worry, no one will harm you. I'll send you an image of my partner who will meet you. You don't have to do the same. You can do a check on me to make sure I'm legit.

Meng Hui felt that this KingYan was really bossy, he cursed him to never have a girlfriend!

Yao Yan suddenly sneezed which sending him the address and wondered why she was suddenly catching a cold. If she could hear Meng Hui she would surely hit him over the head and beat him up nicely, it was because of this guy's curse that her life got messed up!

But that's a story another chapter.

KingYan: She'll wait for an hour for you to arrive. If you don't then...

KingYan: We'll find another way to make the project work.

When Meng Hui opened the photo attachment he really felt as though he was hit by a meteor. He knew he himself was very pretty– something he wasn't proud of, but this girl was honestly much prettier than him. In fact, there was no comparison whatsoever.

But he didn't lower his guard. This KingYan was highly suspicious.

But Meng Hui did want to know if he was serious. If this KingYan was serious then this was a good opportunity. If KingYan could bypass Meng Hui without alarming him and knew that Meng Hui was being pursued by those people, was only because his skills were top of the top.

Perhaps this KingYan really could help.

When Qiu Yue finally saw someone sit down in front of her after she had waited for almost an hour, she rejoiced singing hallelujah.

Just by looking at Meng Hui, Qiu Yue was so thankful that they had chosen her. If Qiu Yue played her cards right, she could have a super adorable younger sister.

So slowly the smooth talker Qiu Yue started to work her magic, she told Meng Hui about her project. She also specially mentioned her identity so she could make Meng Hui understand that Qiu Yue could protect Meng Hui. She also acted very gently and with a lot of care.

Though most of all what convinced Meng Hui were her eyes, which were completely devoid of deception, they looked so true and pure as they sparkled with excitement when they talked about the project.

In just a few hours, Meng Hui wondered if he had a family, an elder sister, is this what it would feel like?

He was still wary but still agreed to Qiu Yue's contract. Of course, there were more things to take care of before that. Like with Meng Hui, Qiu Yue and Yao Yan needed other experts. Slowly, KingYan contacted all of them and Qiu Yue sweet talked them all over like pied piper.

With all this excitement, it wasn't long before Qiu Yue's three months at the office were almost over. There was a final meeting at the office and tomorrow they would have a farewell party.

Qiu Yue thought that perhaps her leaving would be the biggest surprise to the rest of the team, but the biggest surprise was actually what Huo Zi Feng would give to her.

He told her that her new office would be on the top floor of the twin building next to where Aries operated in, and her team could utilize the entire building if they wished to. This was a lot of investment in terms of a fixed resource.

Qiu Yue was shocked. Huo Zi Feng also assigned Zhou Jia to her team, making it clear that he wanted a cooperation between them to finish this project. Qiu Yue was more than happy to accommodate to this, Huo Zi Feng was basically offering to act as their promoter for free. Well except for the request that they operate from the building next door, but Qiu Yue didn't feel there was anything even remotely bad about that.

In place of Zhou Jia, interestingly, the coworker male lead was going to take over the position as his secretary. The relationship between the coworker ML and Huo Zi Feng was interesting, to say the least, but Qiu Yue would think about that slightly later.

Currently, she was in the conference room with Huo Zi Feng as she finally rested herself on the wooden oak desk. Leaning forward on her arms as she sighed in contentment.

"I'm so glad it all went so great! But... are you sure Senior Feng? What you're doing for us is a big thing, a huge favor."

Huo Zi Feng lightly pulled on his tie to loosen it a bit as he sighed.

"I believe that your project will succeed, hence why I decided to support the project."

He answered matter of factly.

Suddenly his eyes flew open shining brightly as though he had decided upon something. He stepped forward, walking towards her. Qiu Yue who stood facing away from him was not aware of this.

She said that I had to be forward with my feelings!

"If it was my name or money I would give it all to you."

Qiu Yue rolled her eyes as she laughed lightly at the cheesy sentence.

"Are you trying out new lines or something? Hey, how are things with the girl you like-"

Huo Zi Feng continued to step forward towards her, and when she turned around to face him while laughing, her breath hitched and her laugh turned awkward as she realized how close he was to her.

"...ha..hah..."

"....."

She felt slightly bothered even with breathing, she wasn't sure what to do with him so close to her.

"I'm serious."

Huo Zi Feng chose to bend his head and look straight into her eyes. He wanted her to understand what he was about to say.

Qiu Yue could see herself reflected in his dark eyes as if all he saw was only her. A beautiful shine could be seen in his eyes.

"I like you."

Qiu Yue nodded and then opened her mouth very robotically.

"I don't think I heard you."

Huo Zi Feng just signed, there was no way she hadn't heard him, he was standing so close he could hear her breath and he was pretty sure she could hear his heart beating.

He gently placed his hands on either side of the oak desk and around leaning in a bit more, as she leaned back to maintain a distance.

"I like you."

Qiu Yue was about to say the same words again when he cut her off.

"No matter how many times you say you didn't hear me, I will always say the same thing. I like you."

Qiu Yue was seriously going to start having problems breathing. He was so close. SO CLOSE.

If she so much as leaned forward...

But slowly denial cleared up her mind. She rationalized that he was just in a phase. He couldn't possibly like her.

"Senior Feng... sometimes people react to someone else's feelings for themselves, like if person A hates person B, and person B realizes that he may hate person A. In a similar way, if A likes B, then even B starts to think that he likes A. I think you're just confused with your feelings–"

"So you like me."

His lips curled into a beautiful smile and crinkled upwards as he let out a deep low chuckle.

Seeing his smile, hearing his laugh Qiu Yue felt her heart skip a beat.

"No! I didn't– I meant–"

Huo Zi Feng pulled up a finger and lightly held it in front of her lips, barely touching them.

"I know. I understand. You're just very shy."

"No that's not-"

Qiu Yue honestly felt like her heart would burst. What was with this close proximity and confession! He was even twisting her words! Because of him, she couldn't even remember what he had originally meant!

Then his face drew close to her and she hurriedly squeezed her eyes close. She felt something soft and warm lightly peck on her forehead and then it was gone.

Her hands went up to her forehead as she looked at Huo Zi Feng who was walking out with a slight skip in his step.

"W-what."

Huo Zi Feng realized that Qiu Yue had given him the best advice to get Qiu Yue. He had done what she had said, to make himself so memorable that she'd always remember. And he had to admit that this was way better than he had thought it could be.

After standing there dumbfounded for fifteen minutes, Qiu Yue was still unable to understand what had happened.

Affection.

Affection!

Then Qiu Yue realized what she had meant, that affection of other kinds could be seen as love! This was what she wanted to explain.

But as she strangely still felt the warmth on her forehead she knew she that would be wrong, what she felt wasn't simply affection.

Suddenly she realized this was probably the advice she had given him.

"Make it unforgettable."

Well, he certainly did that!