Part 2
In just three or four days, Hua Yan felt an inexplicable sense of crisis.
Unexpectedly, just as Hua Yan made his plan, the other teammates clearly had the same idea.
So when the dorm door opened, Cecil, who was leaning against a lamppost listening to music, looked up to see Berlin followed by one, two, three, four teammates.
Five people came out in a magnificent procession. Four-fifths of them looked at him with eyes that could hardly be called friendly.
However, to the teammates’ disappointment, Cecil had no reaction, directly ignoring the stares that should have been hard to ignore.
He wasn’t affected in the slightest, his eyes only on Berlin. “Morning. Want to try riding shared bikes tomorrow?”
Berlin agreed while stretching. “Sure! I’ve been running every morning; riding a bike would be nice too.”
Jiang Shuiran narrowed his eyes slightly.
Hua Yan: Damn, he’s a pro.
Han Yuzhe calculated calmly in his mind: No matter. Tomorrow, no one will find a single shared bike within a hundred-kilometer radius.
Wu Hengyao had no reaction. He didn’t understand the deeper meaning. Instead, he rubbed his stomach and looked at Berlin pitifully and hungrily. “Ah Lin, do you have any beef jerky?”
Hua Yan glared at Wu Hengyao with a look of hating iron for not becoming steel: “…”
How does this stupid wolf only know how to eat, eat, eat! He’s utterly disgraced the werewolves. Is his brainstem made of beef jerky?!
Berlin secretly checked left and right. After confirming the assistant wasn’t hiding in the bushes peeking, he fished a small packet of snacks from his bag. “Here, the last pack.”
Wu Hengyao: “Ow. It’s fine; there’s a KFC on the way.”
Hua Yan: “…” Just leave the group. The day Cecil eats Berlin like beef jerky, you’ll still be looking for KFC on the road.
Berlin noticed Cecil wasn’t very warm towards his teammates and figured he might not be a group fan, but a solo fan who only liked him.
His gaze lingered on the top of Cecil’s head again, blinking unaccustomedlyâjust like when he first met Cecil in the real world, the space above his head was empty. No affinity score visible.
In the dream, Cecil’s affinity had risen by another ten points, but the real-world Cecil was the only person whose affinity he couldn’t view.
Berlin didn’t understand why, but it strangely made him feel very relaxed.
Knowing the affinity score at a glance made it hard for Berlin to completely let go during interactions; he would unconsciously have reservations.
But Cecil never acted overly enthusiastic, maintaining a certain distance. His expression and conversation were normal, and most importantly, Berlin didn’t know his score.
It felt like returning to a world without affinity scores in an instant: Little Berlin making friends by observing expressions and actions, guessing the other’s mood through direct or indirect intuition.
Now, even if people around him reacted differently, Berlin would subconsciously check their score.
Over time, the world felt like an RPG game.
He worried he would forget how to think and lose the ability to discern.
Berlin finished loosening up his limbs and started jogging with his bag.
He was tall for an idol, with good proportions and long legs. In high school, his long jump record was 2.7 meters, listed in A Slice of School History to this day.
Running wasn’t Berlin’s strong suit, but his coordination was naturally good. He kept fit, so his physical condition was excellent. He could run the whole way from the dorm to the company without resting or panting.
He didn’t chase speed, maintaining an even pace. Cecil ran alongside him, looking equally relaxed.
Han Yuzhe was too lazy to move. Initially, he ran with Berlin for a bit, but soon successfully convinced himself that running like this was pointless. He found a blind spot and teleported ahead.
As a marine creature, Jiang Shuiranâs choice of a singing and dancing career was already baffling to his kin. Working hard at dancing didn’t mean he liked dry-land running on asphalt under the morning sun.
So Jiang Shuiran also dropped out of the morning run.
Hua Yan stood in the shade of a tree, feeling like his exposed skin was about to smoke.
He could sense lenses snapping photos, but he couldn’t be bothered to care.
In March, Hua Yan wearing a shirt was completely unaware that he was conspicuous on the street, not just because he was a Skye memberâa handsome guy in a shirt amidst a sea of down jackets would confuse anyone enough to take a second look.
In the cold wind, the paparazzi snapping click click click photos of “Hua-Lin” sneezed, filled with awe: Handsome? Traded for arthritis and rheumatism.
Even the paparazzi were genuinely impressed.
Hiss, as expected of a top idol. Wearing ripped jeans even at zero degrees.
Hua Yan stood in the shadows, watching Cecil and Berlin running side by side in the sun, and suddenly fell into a rare state of emo.
He thought with a tinge of sadness: Is it true that humans are most suitable with humans?
They could openly put Berlin’s photocard in their phone case, and they could run together in the morning sun.
While Hua Yan was in the middle of his emo phase, he heard a disruption of the atmosphere: Crunch, crunch, crunch.
He looked up expressionlessly: “…”
Fifty meters away, Wu Hengyao was politely refusing “Sorry, no autographs” while holding a red KFC bucket, happily gnawing on fried chicken wings with his shark-like teeth.
Hugging the bucket, he caught up to Berlin with a speed unattainable by ordinary people, squeezing between him and Cecil. He didn’t speak, just buried his head and focused on eating while running. But that brainwashing crisp sound was endless, effortlessly shattering the beautiful atmosphere between Berlin and Cecil without a trace of intent.
For a moment, nothing else could be heard on the street except the unstoppable “Crunch, crunch, crunch.”
Hua Yan: “…………”
Emo, my ass.
He never expected that he, a noble vampire, had less brain than a clueless stupid wolf.
No, the stupid wolf had no brain. He was just doing what he wanted by instinctâ1. Successfully insert himself between Cecil and Berlin, stopping them from running side by side. 2. Hungry, so eat the KFC bucket.
Hua Yan: Why can Wu Hengyao do what I can’t? Because he doesn’t use his brain.
Only intellectuals who overthink constantly lament the passing of spring. Wu Hengyaoâs brainstem was naturally missing, split into three simple, crude parts: Eat, Kill, Berlin.
So Wu Hengyao never knew what emo was. He only got irritable when hungry or when he couldn’t see Berlin, but he solved problems directly: eat when hungry, get close to Berlin when missing him.
So Hua Yan thought for a moment, quietly hooked his finger, controlled a blind spot from the surrounding gazes, floated a dead branch from the ground into his hand, and transformed it into a small, retractable sun umbrella.
He leveled his mindset, adopting Wu Hengyao’s simple and crude thought process, and opened the umbrella openly, quickly catching up to Berlin. Conveniently, he used the large black umbrella in his hand to shove the crunching Wu Hengyao aside.
Hua Yan: To hell with overthinking.
So what if he used an umbrella? Idols are afraid of tanning; what a great excuse. No explanation needed. If Berlin wanted to morning run, he could run with Berlin while holding an umbrella.
The point wasn’t running together in the sun; the point was just running together!
Cecil, who had unknowingly been squeezed to the far edge: “…”
Two people had squeezed in the middle. Thanks to the wide street, the sidewalk could handle four people abreast at the limit, but it was crowded.
He frowned slightly and decisively circled back, switching from the far right to Berlin’s left side.
Now they were side-by-side again.
However, it didn’t last long before the “Crunch, crunch, crunch” sound shifted, wedging itself between Berlin and Cecil once more.
Then, the familiar big black umbrella aggressively stole the spotlight, forcing its way between Wu Hengyao and Berlin.
Berlin, who had been inexplicably squeezed to the far right: “…………”
When Cecil switched from the far left back to the far right again, Berlin finally couldn’t take it anymore.
He stopped, incredulous, hands on his knees, looking at the three who stopped with him. “Hello? Are you three shuffling cards here??”
Cecil: “…”
Hua Yan: “…”
Wu Hengyao: “Crunch, crunch, crunch.”
Everyoneâs gaze fell silently on Wu Hengyao at the same time: “…”
Wu Hengyao, moving completely on instinct and unconscious action, tilted his head in confusion, not sensing anything wrong. “? Crunch, crunch, crunch.”
Hua Yan was on the verge of exploding, his temple throbbing violently.
Whoever can dump this bucket on Wu Hengyaoâs head right now, Iâll Venmo them 100 on the spotâoffer valid for life. đ
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