° Ziek's infuriated gaze zeroed in on her lips, his frustration momentarily eclipsed by their softness, "When are you going to bring at least something edible?" His annoyance was undercut by the natural melody of her laughter, a sound that stirred something deep within him. "Don't they say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach?"

°  "Hm ♪♫, they do," Bing Shi stopped licking, placing her lollipop before his mouth, "Do you want an indirect kiss?"

° thump

° Ziek's heart skipped a beat, his gaze locking onto the lollipop that had graced her lips just moments ago. "You disgusting cheater," he muttered under his breath. Without another word, he turned away, feigning interest in the store's shelves to compose himself, though his mind was a whirlwind of distracting thoughts.

° Bing Shi chuckled, "I like it on hard mode. While others use their cooking skills," she threw the untasty lollipop into a trash bin, "I rely on the power of a smelly durian lollipop."

° Ziek's restrained amusement finally escaped in a chuckle. Hey! Why did she throw it away? That's a waste of food! His heart spoke out silently, while his brain tried to shut it down aloud, "Are you seducing me behind his back?"

° "No, I was just testing the theory," she responded with a casual air. Noticing his reddened ears, she added with a sheepish grin, "Seems like the saying holds true, hehe."

° "..." Ah, he couldn't anymore. He was defenseless against her antics.

° "Have you ever been in love?" Bing Shi inquired when his guard was down.

° "I've had a few girl...friends," Ziek replied, his thoughts drifting to the past, "It never lasted for long." He knew this warmth; it always ceased with time. So why when it came to her, it didn't seem to quit?

°  "You're so young and yet so experienced. How many girlfriends have you had?" Bing Shi asked. "When my boyfriend was your age, he dropped out of school and played games on his second-hand laptop all day. He was such a baby boy compared to you. Very inexperienced."

° "Three. Why would you be interested in such a loser?" Ziek thought that her boyfriend was super-rich, so it was her who was rich?

° "I fell in love with his smartness. He was so fun and so good at taking care of me in the games," Bing Shi had to hold in her inner fan-girl. "As long as he continued to make me happy, I didn't care about anything else. Who said a woman can't take care of a man? From the start, I thought that he'd be my stay-at-home husband. But he proved me wrong, and became the opposite."

°  'And I fell in love all over again ♪♫'

°  So when Bing Shi's brain kept telling her that Xuan Mu had potential...it was because it saw him as a potential housewife?!? She kept it for herself so that Xuan Mu could select his path himself. She didn't push him into anything as she was okay with anything he chose. Imagine Xuan Mu's reaction when he got to know the truth. One word. Priceless.

° Ziek knew she was odd, but this much?! 

°  If the women, who wanted the successful Xuan Mu, didn't know the future, would they be interested in the suicidal 'good for nothing' boy? Would they still think they could replace Bing Shi in his heart? No, because they'd be unable to see him the way Bing Shi did.

° "Aren't you going to ask how far I went with those girls?" he asked. How would she respond if she knew that he had kissed someone before?

° "Did you break their hearts?" Bing Shi responded with a question.

°  What about his heart? Ziek looked up at the ceiling, "No, but they sure acted like that." The more he got to know them, the more he loathed them for pretending to like him, "After a breakup, they'd die during some accidents. Serves them right. I'd kill them myself if they continued with that shitty acting."

°  Bing Shi opened her eyes wide, "Woah, Woah, you don't sound sad at all. They had to have it hard with you."

°  Ziek turned around to face the person in black, who kept defending his exes, "Well, fūck them."

° Bing Shi sniffed the air, "I smell some fishy conspiracy. Let's go before I start over smelling."

°  "What about my candies?" he asked and looked around for some gummy snakes and sour candies, but found none.

° "They're in my backpack," she replied, tapping her back and pointing to a side compartment. "You can help yourself."

° Ziek positioned himself behind her, unzipping the backpack and peering inside. "Why do you always carry around such a massive bag? An umbrella? A roll of duct tape?"

° "Huh?" Bing Shi twisted around to glance at her backpack. "What if it starts raining suddenly? Or if the umbrella breaks?"

° Raising an eyebrow, Ziek quipped, "Who needs a rope and a shovel for a day trip?"

° "I do," Bing Shi retorted, deftly retrieving the rope and shovel from his hands. She removed her backpack and stowed them away. "You opened the wrong compartment." She then extracted a bag containing his snacks and handed it over.

°  Ziek accepted the bag and laughed, "Do you have OCD?"

° "I don't," Bing Shi refuted as she slung her backpack back on and headed for the store exit.

° "Sure looks like it," Ziek followed her with a grin.

° "It's not OCD, I just like to be prepared for any situation," Bing Shi defended her choices.

° "Of course, of course," he responded playfully.

° As they continued, they delved into her 'fishy conspiracy.' Despite its absurdity, they found amusement in discussing it. After comparing their pasts, they ended up with a hilarious conclusion.

° Someone probably tried to recreate her boyfriend's past life. And pushed little copies of Bing Shi to him. No wonder he always felt as if those lowly copies never saw him, but someone else. The only person who treated him as Ziek Leoners was the current Bing Shi, who treated him as his own individual.

°  And like that, they strolled around the city and caught a group of rebels who wanted to kidnap Bing Shi along the way. Such a dumb tactic worked perfectly against people filled with greed and arrogance. How could they waste such an opportunity? It was one unknown person and Bing Shi. They saw no allies nearby, so what could possibly go wrong?

°  With this duo?

° Everything.