Chapter 53

Now that Chen Chun had found him, he wasn’t in a hurry anymore. He strolled over slowly. Seeing Lin Linya look unwell, his earlier irritation at not being able to find him vanished completely.

His heart aching, he touched Lin Linya’s cool, little face and asked in a gentle, coaxing tone, “What’s wrong?”

Lin Linya shot a fearful glance at the nearby game machine. “A bit dizzy. Feeling nauseous.”

He then noticed the frog plushie in Chen Chun’s hand. The listlessness from moments ago vanished; he was alert again. Taking the plushie, his eyes crinkled in delight. “Little Frog!”

He hugged the ridiculously ugly little frog tightly to his chest. He clearly adored it.

“Did you catch this?”

Seeing him so happy, Chen Chun’s usually stern expression couldn’t help but soften. “As if I have that kind of skill. I went and talked to the arcade boss and bought one for you.”

Lin Linya was now thoroughly satisfied. It piqued him to think he’d spent so many tokens and caught nothing. He snorted. “I told you, that machine was so difficult. How could anyone possibly catch one?”

Chen Chun didn’t pursue the topic further. He turned his head to look at Lu Qingyuan standing nearby. “The junior who sent the milk tea?”

The two exchanged a brief nod in greeting, but their attitudes were slightly cool, not overly enthusiastic. Lin Linya chalked Lu Qingyuan’s demeanor up to his personality, but Chen Chun’s attitude surprised him. In his eyes, Chen Chun was generally easygoing, good-natured, and got along well with everyone.

This was the first time he’d seen Chen Chun so cool towards someone else.

“My friend’s back. I’m going to go play with him now. Thanks for keeping me company.” The moment Chen Chun was back, Lin Linya eagerly pulled him off to try other things. Before leaving, he waved goodbye to Lu Qingyuan.

As he grabbed Chen Chun’s arm and turned, Chen Chun also turned, glancing back at the junior behind them.

The moment the two left, Lu Qingyuan’s smile vanished. He watched their retreating figures with icy eyes. The look in Chen Chun’s eyes from earlier lingered in his mind.

That silent warning and the protective possessiveness towards the person beside him was definitely not normal.

After playing some classic rounds of King of Fighters, Lin Linya dragged Chen Chun over to the dance machines. There were two machines. One was occupied by a girl in a pretty, fluffy skirt dancing a routine.

The other was free.

Lin Linya’s limbs weren’t very coordinated, but he was all about participation. He shoved his phone into Chen Chun’s hands, asking him to record. He hopped on, followed along, and got the lowest score. Luckily, his long arms and legs made it look less awful than it could have.

When he came off, the bangs on his forehead were soaked. He recovered after half a bottle of water and sheepishly asked Chen Chun, “How do you think I danced?”

Chen Chun told it like it was. “Like a clumsy turtle directing traffic.”

Lin Linya: “…”

He turned embarrassment into anger. “You’re so good at metaphors. I’ll pretend I didn’t hear it this time. Don’t ever say it again, got it?”

After the dance machine, Lin Linya was exhausted. He and Chen Chun found an empty spot in the rest area and sat down, grabbing two free ice cream cones from the nearby stall.

Finishing his ice cream and clutching his big-mouth frog, Lin Linya counted the game tokens left in their basket. He asked, puzzled, “Why are we missing three tokens?”

Chen Chun was on his phone next to him. His hand paused. He clicked his tongue. “Maybe you miscounted?”

Lin Linya’s eyes widened. He looked at him pitifully. “Impossible. We spent forty-six tokens just now. We should have fifty-four left.”

“When did you get so meticulous?” Chen Chun muttered under his breath.

But Lin Linya didn’t hear him. Like an accountant whose books were off by a few bucks at month’s end, he fretfully started recounting everything they’d played from the beginning.

Chen Chun could have easily made up an excuse, insisting Lin Linya remembered wrong or saying he spent them on a game. But he didn’t. Instead, he diverted his attention. “That mini karaoke booth over there just opened up. Didn’t you want to sing?”

Lin Linya indeed stopped agonizing over where the three tokens had gone.

The mini karaoke booth fit exactly two people. Lin Linya sat down, put on the headphones, and turned on the song machine, focused on how many tokens to insert. Just then, he heard the clatter of tokens being fed.

He turned; Chen Chun had already dumped all their remaining tokens in.

“Sing a bit, then we’ll head back. It’s already really late.”

Lin Linya pulled out his phone to check. He hadn’t realized it was already eleven PM. He nodded. “Okay!”

Seeing Chen Chun sitting still, he took off the other headphone, leaned over towards him, and carefully placed it on Chen Chun’s head. He smiled with satisfaction once it was on.

“Sing with me.”

Chen Chun couldn’t sing and was even a bit tone-deaf. He’d been mocked for it at a KTV with classmates before. He’d only planned to keep Lin Linya company and awkwardly tried to remove the headphone. “I’ll just listen to you.”

Lin Linya knew he didn’t like singing. He held his hand down, looking at him earnestly. “I queued a duet. You definitely know this one.”

He turned and operated the song machine a few times. The intro to “Love Trade” started playing in Chen Chun’s headphones.

Chen Chun: “…”

Afraid Chen Chun couldn’t hear him, Lin Linya said very loudly, “You sing the male part, got it?”

What could Chen Chun do? He went along with it. They sang the duet together. Lin Linya was incredibly into it and felt very satisfied when they finished, even complimenting him, “Your rap was pretty good.”

Chen Chun knew his own skill level. The melody was carried entirely by Lin Linya; he himself was basically just reciting lyrics to a beat. He coughed. “I’m done singing. You sing by yourself.”

Lin Linya didn’t insist this time. He picked some songs he wanted to practice.

After singing for a while, he suddenly looked at Chen Chun beside him. He found Chen Chun not on his phone, but leaning back, watching him. Seeing him turn, Chen Chun raised his broken eyebrow slightly.

The soundproofing in the mini booth was excellent. Chen Chun could only hear Lin Linya’s singing. Though it was just a hobby, Chen Chun had always thought he sang better than professionals. So, before he knew it, he’d been listening, mesmerized.

He saw Lin Linya switch songs. The familiar intro that followed made Chen Chun freeze abruptly.

Lin Linya seemed to be doing this on purpose, insisting on interacting with Chen Chun. His beautiful eyes looked straight at him, sincere and focused. His black hand microphone made his fingers look slender and pale. “You said love is like a cloud, free-floating to be beautiful.”

His other hand still clutched the little frog tightly.

As the chorus built to its climax, his damp black hair stuck to his flushed cheeks, fine lashes resting against his skin.

“Always quiet, was the love I gave you…”

In this cramped space, Chen Chun had nowhere to escape. Lin Linya had a pleasant, sweet scent that turned the enclosed space into a giant cage, making him the trapped beast, almost unable to breathe.

Chen Chun swallowed hard, feeling something was very off with himself.

The song finished. Lin Linya opened his eyes, looked at him, and winked playfully.

That last song was manageable. The next one made Chen Chun squirm even more.

“…I can’t just be an ordinary friend. Love has already run so deep, how could I bear to let go?”

Maybe Lin Linya hadn’t thought much about the lyrics’ meaning; maybe he simply liked the song. Chen Chun could only look away, flustered.

During the quiet instrumental break, Chen Chun heard Lin Linya fall silent. He felt a gentle tug on his sleeve, as light as a kitten’s touch.

He turned his head. Lin Linya, wanting to tease him, was looking at him slyly.

Lin Linya took off his headphones. Afraid Chen Chun wouldn’t hear him, he leaned over, his hand pressing against Chen Chun’s thigh for support. His slender waist curved softly downwards, so pliant it seemed he might fall into Chen Chun’s arms any second.

He stared intently into Chen Chun’s eyes and repeated, spacing each word deliberately, “Bro Chen, were you the one who caught this little frog?”

Chen Chun’s ears rang as if he’d suddenly gone deaf. His heart gave one heavy, pounding beat.

…

Lin Linya’s long-dormant Weibo finally saw an update. Good news: he posted a picture. Bad news: it still wasn’t a selfie. It was a horrifically ugly big-mouthed frog.

[Wolf Fang Little Yaya: Gave birth. (Image)]

His fans felt their eyes hurt by his aesthetic taste.

[From the child’s features, I can tell his father’s facial features probably don’t even know each other.]

[Wifey is so kind. Which trash can did you pick this little thing up from?]

[Honestly, finding a plushie this outrageously ugly is no easy feat.]

The netizen asking which trash can the plushie was from got a swift reply from Lin Linya. Just two words: [Wolf Fang Little Yaya: Beloved pet.]

[Okay wifey, but you should know, a child can’t be without a father, so how about I do it? I can grudgingly be your husband.]

[“I can grudgingly” “be your husband” Cunning husband fans.]

An anti-fan also commented, [Just as ugly as you.]

This comment also got a reply from Lin Linya. [Wolf Fang Little Yaya: Do you have that thing at home? You know, that round, reflective thing you can see yourself in? If you do, go take a look, you tasteless thing.]

The anti-hater fans, alerted by the commotion, rushed to the scene only to find the hater had already been roasted by their own streamer. [???]

[Hahaha I’m dying, Yaya, you’re so cute Mommy’s gonna gobble you up.]

[Are you haters really that idle? If so, go follow us first and then curse, our Baby’s Weibo follower count is just too pitiful.]

[You can mock his gaming skills, but not his face.]

[I’ve never badmouthed Yaya before, so in my next life, let me be reincarnated as a man to be his husband, wuwuwu!]

Less than half a day later, the fans swiped to a new post from Lin Linya: a set of nine photos taken by someone else.

[Wolf Fang Little Yaya: You are a song I cannot finish singing. (Images) x9.]

All nine photos were taken at the arcade. There were shots of him holding the hand microphone in large headphones, leaning casually against the racing car. The simple logo on his black short-sleeved shirt made him look quite cool.

The best-looking one captured him with the corner of his red lips curled up smugly, one eye half-closed, making a finger-gun gesture at the camera from a distance. His face was flawlessly perfect.

[Opened this with trepidation, let out a sigh of relief at the incredibly normal caption.]

[So pretty, Baby!!!!]

[Thanks for nature’s blessing, thanks Bro Hater. (Hands clasped)]

[Being able to see such casual, daily-life Baby, and from a girlfriend’s perspective no less, how is this any different from free money raining from the sky? Thanks Bro Hater. (Hands clasped)]