1050  BE A MAN AND JUST DO IT!

TODAY was team Yunyue's last fight in the qualifiers. It didn't arouse much excitement from the public, unlike their fight with team Sanguis. Mostly because their opponent had the least win among all the teams in their block. So, everyone already expected that it's going to be team Yunyue's win.

Of course, this didn't mean that team Yunyue would just take it easy. They still gave their all in the match. And the result was as everyone predicted. Team Yunyue won. With nine wins under their belt, they now advanced to the top 16.

The whole team was once again celebrated at Yuexing Pavilion, with Yu Jiao as a special guest. They decided not to talk about the final tournament round and just celebrate their advancement. They spent about two hours there, just drinking, eating, and generally just being happy.

After their little celebration, everyone separated and went on their own way. Naturally, Luo Yan and Shen Ji Yun were together. Eclipse would usually want to accompany them. But today, he didn't. The kid just told his master that he'd go back to the village, dragging Dusk with him. And with Dusk dragged like that, of course, Rowan also had to follow.

This was not because Eclipse suddenly became independent from Luo Yan, this was because his usual feeling of attachment had considerably lessened. Before, because Luo Yan could only spend a couple of hours a day inside the game, Eclipse always missed him very much. But now, with the pet app on Luo Yan's phone, the two of them could communicate anytime they wanted. With that app in hand, it almost felt like they were always together.

Luo Yan felt a bit saddened by that. The app had only been installed on his phone for a week and Eclipse was already not that attached to him like how he usually was. What more if a year had passed? He suddenly felt like a parent watching his child grow up in an instant. Was he already having separation anxiety?

"What's wrong?" Shen Ji Yun asked, noticing his complicated expression.

The two of them were in Shen Ji Yun's floating island. Sitting under the eaves of the huge tree, watching the stars in the night sky. Shen Ji Yun had put a bench there where the two of them could sit comfortably.

Luo Yan rested his head on Shen Ji Yun's shoulder. "Nothing. I just thought that kids really do grow up fast."

Shen Ji Yun only made a confused expression, obviously not understanding where that suddenly came from. Luo Yan chuckled and explained to him what he just thought.

"I don't think that's it. Knowing Eclipse, he probably was just busy with something. That kid would never be unattached to you," Shen Ji Yun said with conviction. "But if you're still worried, you can lessen the time you spent talking to him using the app. Instead, you can use that time to video call me. Even if you call me every hour of the day, I won't get tired of your presence and will forever be attached to you."

Luo Yan blinked and then laughed out loud. Sometimes, Shen Ji Yun could really say the cheesiest pickup like without even changing his face. And Luo Yan would eat it up every time.

"Yes, I don't doubt that."

He leaned closer to the other, planning to give him a quick peck on the cheeks. But Shen Ji Yun suddenly turned his head, so the peck landed on the other's lips instead. This startled both of them, but Luo Yan managed to recover quickly.

He continued in a teasing tone, "Brother Ji Yun, if you want a kiss, just tell me. It's not like I won't be willing to give you one."

Shen Ji Yun's face turned red, as if he wasn't just professing how he would be forever attached to Luo Yan earlier. But despite his obvious embarrassed expression, he still managed to say;

"Then I want a kiss."

A smile crossed Luo Yan's lips. "Anything for my prince."

He leaned over once again and this time, kissed the other's lips.

----------

Luo Jin glanced at the pink-haired girl, firing spells left and right, decimating the trolls coming at her. They were in the Forest of Darkness. It's their favorite area to grind levels. Since there was still time before they exceeded the advised playing time, they decided to go here.

No, actually, Luo Jin just insisted on tagging along. As he always did. Because if he didn't, then there's no other way for them to be alone together. Grinding levels and attacking dungeons had been their favorite activity together. That's the reason Luo Jin was able to level up so fast.

Although fighting monsters in the game helped him to lessen his anger issues a lot, having to spend time with Su Yuqi was more important.

When it was decided that he and Luo Yan would spend winter vacation in B City, he almost jumped up and raised his fist in victory. Because it meant that he could meet Su Yuqi in person.

He told himself that he would definitely try to ask the other out, to eat or play. Anything would be fine. But winter vacation was already coming to an end and yet he didn't even manage to ask the other even once. Heck, he wasn't even able to do anything noteworthy on Valentine's Day.

What's the point of realizing his own feelings when he couldn't do anything about it?

He wasted a whole month dilly-dallying that he wasn't even able to improve his relationship with Su Yuqi, not one bit. Every time he tried to ask her out, he would get tongue-tied and wouldn't be able to say what he really wanted to say. Instead, he would say the exact opposite. He thought of beating himself up numerous times because of that.

"What's wrong?" Su Yuqi's question pulled Luo Jin out of his thoughts.

Luo Jin looked at the other. This would be his last chance to ask her out. He should be a man and just do it! But before he could even say anything, he could already feel his tongue getting twisted. So, he just blurted out the first thing that came to his mind as fast as he could.

"Can you date me?!"