Chapter 295 - Love is all around me

There was a pause in the air, as if time was frozen as all movements seemed to cease. Seconds ticked by just like an eternity. 

The girl holding the camera stiffly looked up at the tall boy with glasses in front of him. 

...What did I just hear?

Did he just...

Then, as if a wrinkle in time was unraveled, all colors seemed to rush in.

Song Xuantin's eyes widened and she almost dropped the camera. At the same time, her face instantly reddened visibly. Her heartbeat sounded loudly in her ears.

Thumped. Thumped. Thumped.

"W-what...did you say?" Song Xuantin stuttered as her heart disorderedly raced inside her ribcage. 

She looked at him with hopeful eyes filled with expectations, waiting for him to say those words again.

His words rang again inside her mind like a broken tape. 

'I, Gu Zhen, likes Song Xuantin.'

'I, Gu Zhen, likes Song Xuantin.'

'I, Gu Zhen, likes Song Xuantin....'

Immense joy filled her, but at the same time, she felt like she was stuck in a midsummer dream, as if everything was unreal. She raised her trembling hand to pinch herself and felt pain.

...She was not dreaming! 

Gu Zhen really just gave her a bomb!

Song Xuantin began to tremble. Her eyes shone with unbelievable happiness as she stared fixedly at her beloved man, her first crush, and her puppy love. She had devoted herself on loving this man for so long. Finally, she was able to hear that sentence she could only think of in her dreams.

After happiness came excitement. 

'Gu Zhen loves me!' It was the satisfaction and joy of having one's feelings reciprocated.

After excitement came pride.

'Haha, so this day finally came! The day that the stoic and indifferent Gu Zhen finally fell for my charms! Hahahahaha! You also have this day!'

Her Gu Zhen finally surrendered to her seduction. White flag rises while she was on the top of the castle, watching his walls fall.

She suppressed herself from screaming 'kyah kyah kyahhhhhh'.

All of these changes and tangle of overflowing emotions happened in a flash. In the end, her moved face which tried to suppress her inner self made her look like a woman who was about to cry.

Gu Zhen watched the face of the girl change with various emotions. She looked up at him with her expressive eyes covered with water mist, affection shining from her face. 

Those eyes were shooting hearts at him.

His throat constricted. He quickly looked away. His cheeks reddened visibly in Song Xuantin's eyes.

Gu Zhen covered his mouth as he coughed unnaturally in embarrassment. "I-I am tired. It's not too early anymore. Let's go to the place you are talking about." 

He decisively turned around and started to walk.

Song Xuantin woke up from her stupor. She pouted and immediately ran after him. She grabbed his sleeves and forced him to look at her directly.

"Hey! You can't just ran away after confessing!" Song Xuantin's joyful cry was so loud that it echoed throughout the valley.

Gu Zhen's face got redder and kept walking ahead despite the consistent tugging at his sleeves. He bit his lips. He resisted the urge to cover his face.

What he did say? Why did he freaking say what was in his mind?!

This was the problem when his gadgets were not with him for extended periods of time. Surrounded by his most reliable and familiar companions, he could feel as if everything was under his control. Even if there was something unexpected, with the help of his little darlings, he could improvise a way to overcome those. But without them occupying his attention, he became so talkative and transparent. 

The cap on his bottle of emotion was left behind in the rest house, leaving him open here in front of the persistent Song Xuantin. 

Now after saying his most hidden feelings, he did not know what to do.

He was waiting for a confession, but why was he the one who confessed instead???

A palm-sized face jumped up, literally, in front of him, trying to get his attention to her.

"Hey, Gu Zhen! Hey, look at me—"

He childishly turned his red face again to another direction. 

Was it because he kept imagining of a scene where Song Xuantin stood before him, shyly saying 'I like you, Gu Zhen' in his mind?

'Shame on me. Shame on me. Shame on me.' Gu Zhen was having an inner fight with himself.

Ahhh... He wanted to bury himself into a hole. 

It was clearly those naughty thoughts' fault... He even had a spring dream last night...

The girl kept on hopping up and down in front of him. Gu Zhen felt cornered. 

He was still stubbornly keeping his mouth shut and not looking at her as they both continued walking in such manner.

"Hey, hey. Is it true? You like me, huh? Since when did you like me? Gu Zhen~" Song Xuantin tugged at his sleeve coquettishly. She tried to lessen her obvious excitement and kept asking Gu Zhen if she heard it right.

Although she was pretty sure that she heard it right, but she was truly not hallucinating, was she?

He was not just teasing her, right?

"Cough. Let's find a place to rest first." Gu Zhen still felt embarrassed and avoided her heated eyes.

Online help urgently needed! 

#WhatToDoWHenYouAccidentallyConfessed#

He still did not know what to do, so he could only try to delay time.

"Oh~ Okay then, hehe," Song Xuantin giggled happily and finally let him go.

She had been pestering him, but he did not deny it even one bit!

Not denying equals it was for real! Hahahaha!

Her steps were light and she almost floated as she walked. Ah, how she wanted to dance like a madwoman! Her bright eyes peeked at the obviously shy Gu Zhen—kyaa!!! So adorable!!!—from time to time. 

Song Xuantin felt she was the happiest woman in the earth, just a little more and she might sing her her favorite song, 'Love is all around me'* and swirled in dance.

The sound-track of her favorite song was playing in her mind.

The famous group, Wet Wet Wet*, was singing in the background.

????I feel it in my fingers ????

I feel it in my toes ????

The love that's all around me ????

And so the feeling grows'????

Song Xuantin hummed the song with a sweet smile as she tiptoed with the beat.

The girl was in cloud nine and the boy was in a predicament.

Gu Zhen, still with a loudly pounding heart, was looking at everywhere except her. He was still on overdrive, thinking zealously of ways on how to handle the situation. 

What to do? What to do? 

However, his excellent knowledge in Math and programming could not help him this time. He felt as if his every step was heavy. 

...Why did he feel as if he was tricked?

He was the one who had scammed her, yet why he did he feel as if he was the one who sold himself? He felt as if he was a girl who had been taken advantage of and lost something important.

F$#k it. What did he lose? His heart? He admit that, alright!

He cringed and blushed again. Goosebumps!

Now he was having this kind of cheezy lines!

Song Xuantin smiled at him once again and ran forward. She happily pitter-pattered like a ballerina, twirled, and opened her arms wide, presenting the beautiful lake by the flowery meadows.