Chapter 236 - DO YOUR BEST, SHEN JI YUN

"YAN, why didn't I see you in the headquarters earlier?" asked Luo Jin when Luo Yan was about to enter his room. "You must have logged in only a few minutes earlier than me." 

The family just finished eating dinner. So, Luo Yan planned to go to his room and contact Yu Jiao to talk about those designs. He hoped that she would agree to his request and draw those designs. 

"Ah," he was about to say that he was doing some errands with Shen Ji Yun but he immediately stopped himself. If Luo Jin knew that he was alone with Shen Ji Yun, he might throw a fit like usual. Telling him to be careful around the guy who Luo Jin kept on insisting that had an ulterior motive for getting close to him. "I was preparing some things for the opening of my pavilion. How about Ah Jin?"

If Luo Jin went online earlier, it was actually kind of weird that he didn't send Luo Yan any message despite knowing that he was also playing the game. If it was normal, Luo Jin would definitely send him a message asking him where he was. But for the whole duration that he was online earlier, Luo Yan didn't receive any message from him.

Luo Jin scratched his cheek and looked sideways. "I was busy doing some task."

Luo Yan observed his reaction. Seeing the way he dodged his gaze, a sudden thought entered his mind. Then a teasing grin appeared on his face. "I see. You must have been doing some kind of task with Sister Yuqi."

Luo Jin was slightly startled when he heard what his second brother said. He was about to confirm his guest but when he saw the teasing grin on his brother's face, he changed his mind. He already had an idea what this brother of his was thinking right now.

"I wasn't!" he unconsciously shouted.

"Oh? Then I was wrong? Weird. I'm pretty sure that the only reason Ah Jin would forget sending me a message is if you're with Sister Yuqi. After all, in Ah Jin's mind, spending time with Sister Yuqi must be more important."

Luo Jin's whole face quickly turned red. "I- I told you I wasn't!"

Then he abruptly turned around and walked towards the stairs.

Luo Yan chuckled and just entered his room. He picked up his phone that was placed on his study table and sat on his bed. Thinking of his younger brother's blushing face, he couldn't help but laugh once again. Luo Jin was really cute when he was embarrassed like that. It was so obvious that he had a crush on Su Yuqi yet he still insisted on denying it.

Thinking of that, he suddenly couldn't stop himself from remembering the last conversation he had with Eclipse before he logged out.

=====

[Mashter, Mashter, Eclipse has something to tell you.] – Eclipse said when they teleported back to the team's headquarters.

[What is it?] – he asked.

[Do you remember when Captain asked you to go on ahead, you know, when we were still in that building where you bought those NPCs?]

[Yeah, what about it?]

[Didn't Captain say that he had to talk to the administrator that's why he asked you to go out first? Well, he didn't. He actually talked to a cat beastkin girl.]

Luo Yan's interest was actually piqued when he heard that. He knew that Shen Ji Yun was lying when he said that. He just didn't expect that he would talk to a female player. There's nothing wrong with that. So, why lie?

[What did they talk about?]

[Apparently, that cat girl was trailing after Mashter and Captain. The Captain asked why would she do that. And she said that she bore no ill will and she was only following the two of you to gather materials for her fan-art. She was planning to draw the two of you and post it on her Weibo. She was planning to draw Does Mashter know how Captain reacted?]

Luo Yan was a bit surprised hearing that the female player was following them. Even more surprised to hear the reason behind. It sounded like such a lame excuse. [He reprimanded her, of course.]

[Tu-tut! Wrong. Captain asked for that girl's Weibo and told her to draw the two of you in a way that would make you appear closer. Then the girl asked if that meant he wanted to make the two of you look like a couple. And the Captain nodded! Does Mashter know what that means? The Captain wants the two of you to be a couple! So, Mashter should just marry Captain and then…]

=====

Luo Yan didn't hear what Eclipse said after that. Because all he could think of at that moment was the fact that Shen Ji Yun wanted a drawing of them looking like a 'couple'. He didn't doubt that Eclipse was lying to him. After all, despite having almost human like emotions, he was still a program made of data and codes. He wouldn't have the desire to lie like human does.

Shen Ji Yun probably never thought that his actions would be reported back to Luo Yan by Eclipse. And so, he was careless enough to show what he truly felt at that time. Which meant that he truly wanted the two of them to look like a 'couple'.

When Luo Yan realized that, his mind just completely blanked out. He didn't even remember how he logged out. When he removed the VR helmet, he just noticed how fast his heart beat was. It took a while before he could even calm himself. Because the suspicion he had since Eclipse began on pairing the two of them up was just confirmed at that moment.

Shen Ji Yun seemed to really like him in that way.

It was something he never thought to be possible. If not for Eclipse telling him about that 'couple' thing, it would probably not even cross his mind. He might suspect it, but he would never think of it as true. 

How could he? This was Shen Ji Yun they were talking about. Even others wouldn't think of that possibility. Much less him. Well, probably with the exemptions of his brothers. But those two were just a special case. They're paranoid that way. But when he thought of Shen Ji Yun's actions from before until now, with the knowledge that he liked him, then that would probably explain a lot of things.

Why he was always so gentle and caring towards him, why every time he accidentally touched him, he would blush, why it was so easy for him to give him a smile when most of the times he couldn't even do it. If Luo Yan compiled each and every reaction Shen Ji Yun had when it concerned him, then it would be easy to see that he really liked him. 

He clutched his chest. He could feel his heart beating faster and faster once again. He didn't hate the fact that Shen Ji Yun had romantic feelings towards him. He wasn't even disgusted by it. In fact, he was very flattered. Someone so outstanding actually fell for him. How could he not be flattered? 

But at the same time, he was also at a lost. Because he had no idea how to react. Although he was happy about Shen Ji Yun's feelings for him, it didn't mean that he would just go up and say; 'okay, let's start dating'. He wasn't even sure about how he felt about him. 

He had never been in love before. But he promised to himself that if ever he did, he would totally commit himself to that love. He didn't want something that was merely in passing. Something that could easily be broken by a mere tug. He wanted something that would last until the end of his life. 

Luo Yan knew how extreme that sounded. Maybe even a bit cheesy. But he just didn't want to waste his time on useless relationsh.i.p.s. If he commited himself to someone, he wanted that someone to be the 'one'. And right now, he couldn't say with full confidence that Shen Ji Yun was the 'one'. 

But he also couldn't just directly reject him. Or rather than 'he couldn't', it's probably more accurate to say that he didn't want to. It's a very contradictory feeling. This was probably the first time he felt so undecisive.

He lay down on the bed and let out a frustrated sigh. The only thing he could do right now was to just go with the flow. Well, at least until he was certain of what he's feeling for Shen Ji Yun. But who knows, maybe before that could even happen, Shen Ji Yun would be able to make him fall for him. 

An almost imperceptible smile crossed Luo Yan's lips. [You should do your best, Shen Ji Yun.]