Ao Jing was thinking about what to write next when there was a commotion on the other end of the street. He looked up, only to see people jump to the left and right, forming a corridor that was immediately overtaken by a swash of bright orange fabric.
Ao Jing closed his eyes, counted to five, and opened one eye. Finally, he was able to make out the person inside that monstrosity. He sighed and turned to the chat window. [Zhou Ming has arrived.]
Shangguan Yu raised his head from where he was lying, trying to see if he could see far enough over the roofs but, unfortunately, he couldn’t. Ah, what a pity! [See you later then! I’ll go and see where that servant is right now. Love you!]
Ao Jing had wanted to close the window when the message appeared. Upon seeing the last sentence, he was frozen in shock. Love you? That …
His ears turned red and he wrote back, feeling flustered. [Love you too.]
He looked at the words appearing on the holographic screen and exhaled slowly. How stupid to still feel all nervous. They had known each other for so long and even had had their first date in real life now. And even though they hadn’t said it directly, neither of them had contradicted Shangguan Yu’s family when they said they were boyfriends now. Between calling each other husband online, meeting up in real life, and even kissing, was there still a need to be shy?
Well, most likely, he’d slowly get used to this after they met up a few more times in real life. Right now, everything was still so new. Why shouldn’t he be a little nervous every now and then? Each step was a new one but he was happy to take it if it brought him closer to Shangguan Yu.
Before he had time to think about it any deeper, Zhou Ming stopped in front of him, smiling brightly.
"Hey! I thought you guys had totally forgotten about me."
Ao Jing smiled wryly, not quite wanting to admit that they had indeed forgotten about him. Instead, he just motioned at the carriage a few steps away. "Didn’t I message you? Anyway, we can continue if you want to."
Zhou Ming looked over but stayed where he was. "Ah Yu told me that the two of you were going on a date today. Did you go yet? How did it go?"
Ao Jing didn’t quite know what to say. "Why are you asking me? Shouldn’t you be asking Shangguan Yu?" Anyway, Zhou Ming was Shangguan Yu’s friend, not his. Wouldn’t he rather want to get his friend’s perspective on things?
Zhou Ming just raised his brows though. "Can’t I ask both of you? Anyway, if you’re evading the question like this, it couldn’t have gone too well. Which of you messed it up?"
Ao Jing was taken aback. "Nobody messed up!" While the date might have been a little unconventional in how it turned out, it had still been a good one. He definitely wouldn’t let anybody say anything else.
Zhou Ming frowned though. "Then why didn’t you say so immediately? Sheesh, you really made me think that something bad happened."
Ao Jing sighed and shook his head, once again motioning at the carriage. "Alright, now you know. Should we leave then?"
Zhou Ming just continued to furrow his brows. "Why are you so eager to leave? Is it that you really don’t like me?"
Ao Jing raised his brows at that. "What do you mean?" Wasn’t it normal to want to leave immediately? Anyway, he had called him over because of the mission, hadn’t he?
Zhou Ming pursed his lips at that. "Don’t try to change the subject! You’ve been acting weird from the moment we met. You never wanted to play together with Shangguan Yu and me either. Obviously, you have something against me. So that is why you don’t want to tell me anything now either. You can admit it!"
Ao Jing was completely shocked speechless. What was with this outburst? He reached up and rubbed his neck, trying to gather his thoughts. "I … I don’t have anything —"
Zhou Ming raised his brows and pointed a finger at his nose. "Ah! Don’t you dare lie to my face!"
Ao Jing didn’t quite know how to continue but finally sighed. "In the beginning, I might have had a few reservations regarding you. That’s not a problem anymore though."
Zhou Ming’s expression turned a little better when he got the truth out of him but he still looked a little confused. "Why though? I’m not a bad player. I definitely didn’t make any trouble for you that day."
Ao Jing just gave a smile. "Whatever made you think it was about the game? I thought you were interested in Shangguan Yu!"
This time, it was Zhou Ming who looked shocked. "Ah? Why would you think that? Obviously, I’m straight!"
Ao Jing glanced at the orange monstrosity that he wore and wondered just how it was supposed to be 'obvious' that he was straight. This guy looked gayer than him! But anyway, some people just were that flamboyant and even if he thought so, he wouldn’t say that out loud. "Well, I was newly in love and there was somebody that knew my crush better than I did. Can you really not put that past me?"
Zhou Ming pursed his lips but finally, he gave a nod. "Well, seeing that you’re my good friend’s boyfriend now, I guess I shouldn’t be like that. Let’s get on with this mission then!" With that, he strolled past him and got into the carriage, smiling at the three people inside. "Oh, you’re here already! I thought you were still waiting at the gate."
Ao Jing sighed and then followed him with a shake of his head. Anyway, it was nice that the two of them had managed to move past this. Shangguan Yu would probably be happy about that as well when he told him later.
