Chapter 97

Don’t Treat Me Too Well

He Jin’s fingers trembled and quickly replied, “no.”

Although he had already felt different than before, when he was on the game. He wasn’t really ready to meet Fire in real person. As “meeting” would mean a different beginning. He would be nervous, and he would fear or even retrieve…

Qin Yu just said that, and of course, they were still following their agreement at the very beginning. Like He Jin, although the last boundary between them was almost breaking, they still tried not to break it. Otherwise, he would have approached to He Jin openly long time ago.

Seeing that He Jin decisively refused, he also felt at ease, he thought for a while for the next strategy.

He Jin was afraid that Fire would overthink, he temporarily got the money. But he had made up his mind that it’s only borrowing.

He returned to A city with much difficulty, and there were even fewer people than his hometown. In big cities, most people are from other cities. At this time, most of them were still spending the New Year in their hometown and hadn’t returned.

As he had things to worry about, He Jin didn’t fall asleep on the train. He had to endure the fatigue to return to the University. Sure enough, all the staff was still on leave, and students who chose to stay in the dormitory had to get the approval to stay. He Jin had no other ways but to stay outside.

On the way to find a place to live, He Jin was fortunate to find a Costa café with a recruitment announcement.  But when he saw it, the café was already closed, and there were only a few lights that stayed on. He Jin saw someone cleaning inside and lightly knocked on the glass door.

It was a girl who was of a similar age as He Jin. She waved her hand from far away, meaning that it’s closed.

He Jin pointed at the recruitment notice, and the girl opened the door for him.

“Are you still recruiting?” He Jin asked.

The girl looked at him thoroughly and said, “yes, there’s no one to work during the New Year, and we do need someone. But our manager has left, why don’t you come back tomorrow?”

He Jin took the business card that the girl gave him and found a guest house nearby.

He had only eaten a tea egg for the whole day. At 10 p.m., He Jin was so hungry that he had no strength at all, but he didn’t have any appetite. He just wanted to take a shower and go to sleep.

After taking a hot bath, He Jin went back to his bed, and his bracelet vibrated – it was Fire, “where are you? Has the train arrived?”

When he was just going to reply, his bracelet vibrated again, and there was another message from Qin Yu, “what are you busy with these days? Haven’t heard from you for a while.”

He Jin was stunned, what a coincidence…

He first responded to Fire and said, “I did, and I’m at a place near school now.”

He went back to the message interface and was a little hesitant about telling Qin Yu about him leaving home…it might be because he still wanted to retain a bit of his self-ego. He was reluctant to rely on anyone, especially someone who he had good feelings for. Qin Yu was an enthusiastic guy, but He Jin thought that he couldn’t take advantage of him.

He thought for a while and responded to Qin Yu, “yeah, I’ve been visiting relatives these days.”

Qin Yu, “…” (=_=)

For someone who didn’t understand He Jin’s personality, Qin Yu might feel like being lied to. But then, he realized that the second message of He Jin was a lie…it’s strange, why would he be honest to Fire but lie to himself instead?

Qin Yu suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable.

He persisted a bit and sent him another message, “when will you go back to A city?”

This time, He Jin didn’t know what to do. He wasn’t good at lying, and he got a bit nervous after Qin Yu asking him this. He tried to make another lie, “after the 15th day of the New Year, perhaps.”

Qin Yu, “oh, where is your home at Q city? Is it inside the city? I don’t have much to do at home anyway, and there is a report on TV about Q city. I want to come and have a look.”

At the same time, Fire asked, “have you had dinner? Is the place you’re staying at safe enough?”

He Jin was so confused by what Qin Yu said, he first replied to Fire, “I’ve eaten a little. It’s a safe place. Don’t worry.”

He had to think hard to come up with an answer to Qin Yu, “I have been quite busy lately, and I might not have time to show you around. Maybe wait until the summer holiday? I will accompany you then.” It was just to stall. He had no idea whether it was still possible for him to go back.

Qin Yu, “you don’t need to show me around, I will walk around alone. I just want to see you and have lunch together. Don’t tell me that you won’t even have the time for this?”

He Jin knew that he had no other ways but to tell Qin Yu the truth…

He struggled for a while, before choosing to confess, “sorry, Qin Yu. I’d lied to you. I’m not at home. I’m back to A city.”

Qin Yu, “…”

Qin Yu, “when did you come back?”

He Jin, “today, I came back at night.”

Qin Yu, “where are you staying now?”

He Jin, “at my classmate’s…” (=_=)

The next second, the bracelet vibrated vigorously, it was a call from Qin Yu!

He Jin was so scared that he forgot to adjust the answering mode and received the call as a video directly. The face of Qin Yu appeared on the projection, and the appearance of He Jin sitting in a guesthouse in his pajamas was also sent to Qin Yu…

It’s evident that he’d lied…oopsie…

Qin Yu asked him directly, “why didn’t you tell me that you were coming back?”

He Jin, “I…I didn’t want to trouble you.”

Qin Hao raised an eyebrow, “trouble? Aren’t I your friend?”

He Jin, “it’s not that…”

Qin Yu, “what happened? How come you came back so early?”

He Jin said with embarrassment, “it’s something to do with home…well…I argued with my mother.”

Qin Yu, “give me your address. I’ll come and look for you.”

He Jin said, “no, it’s a bit too late now. I’m fine…”

Qin Yu looked a bit offended, but He Jin shook his head very persistently, “I’m a little tired today. Tomorrow, tomorrow I’ll contact you.”

Qin Yu was silent for a while, he finally nodded and compromised, “then you sleep first, good night.”

When he hung up, He Jin felt a bit tangled. He lied on his bed and asked himself, “Qin Yu, what do you treat me as? If I’m just your friend, why do you care about me so much?”

Before going to sleep, He Jin took out his helmet again and tried. It still didn’t work. He knew nothing about the related technology, and he had no idea what to do with it. He used his bracelet to check whether other people had a similar problem before and how they’d solved it. It was said that if it weren’t broken because of intentional damages, it would be repaired free of charge within a year. Otherwise, they had to pay for the repair, and it could take up to three months, it would also cost a lot. The other way is to get a new one by giving up the old one, and in the first half of the year, if any problem occurred, it could be replaced by a new one with half the original price.

The last solution seemed more reliable, but He Jin had another check, and it turned out that all major stores were closed until after the 3rd day of the New Year.

He Jin put the helmet back in his bag, the zipper slipped, and suddenly the can of 7-up fell from the inside. He Jin picked up the can and rolled it in the palm of his hand. It was cold. He chuckled a little and opened it.

The carbonated drink slipped through his throat, passed through his esophagus, and entered his stomach. “Oh ~” He Jin burped, and suddenly felt much more refreshed. He looked at the green can in his hand and suddenly thought of Qin Yu running in the train station and getting him stuff…

…Don’t be so nice to me, Qin Yu. You have an admirer, and I do, too.

He Jin stopped replying.