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Lin Qin and XĂź Beijin come to a stop at the boundary between light and dark.
XĂź Beijin is surprised to see Lin Qin blocked by the screen of light. He has a bad feeling about this, like a tub of cold water was poured right down the warmth in his chest.
Then he looks at Lin Qin, who seem even more confused than he was… But it doesn’t look like he was surprised, but more wonderment, at how he only discovered this right now instead of earlier.
Lin Qin says, “I can’t leave.”
And probably realising the possible ambiguity, he explains, “I mean, I can’t enter the top floor of the Tower.”
Xü Beijin seem a little apprehensive as he says, “this… this shouldn’t be,” then he holds Lin Qin’s hands and mutter, “no, no way it is…”
Lin Qin touches Xü Beijin’s cheeks and brow, then says, “it’s fine. Go.”
He notices Xü Beijin’s mood is tumbling, and reassures him even more gently, “really, I’m relieved I could see you off up until now.”
He would be devastated if Xü Beijin ended up lost in this ‘shortcut.’
And he’s happy to think that it’s because of him that Xü Beijin could travel here without much hassle.
Though he doesn’t know what Xü Beijin is astonished about.
Why can’t Lin Qin go to the top floor? Even Xü Beijin himself could pass through the light! It’s a shortcut, a bug that everyone can use! Why is Lin Qin an exception?!
No, wait, it could be something else.
XĂź Beijin suddenly remembers.
Lin Qin has been through True Ends──A lot, even, but he has never left the bottom floor of the Tower.
When others ask him why he doesn’t go to a higher floor, his reply is always that he’s disinterested, or he just doesn’t answer altogether.
Soon enough, people are no longer interested, and this has become something people largely know to ignore.
They assign labels of ‘weird,’ ‘strange’ or even ‘alien’ to Lin Qin, so they think that, whatever happens, as the crownless King of the bottom floor, it’s nothing to be surprised by.
Though…
What if, Lin Qin is actually unable to ascend to a higher floor?
All this time, XĂź Beijin knows and has been confounded by all the strangeness surrounding Lin Qin.
At first, he suspected foul play from utility cards. Later, he thought it might be because Lin Qin himself is special.
He might even be an actual NPC──Because he’s really, really behaving unlike how a human would.
But even if he wasn’t human, as long as he was part of the game, what reason could there be that he cannot go to the top floor? Why is he stopped by this screen of light?
What, would the information panel of Lin Qin, display?
Xü Beijin has never been as angry at his identity of Tower resident as he is now; otherwise, he could have used an Infocard to check on Lin Qin… He is really baffled by Lin Qin’s state right now.
This completely unexpected happenstance right at this moment is like a boulder dropped onto Xü Beijin’s chest, suffocating him.
After thinking long and hard about it, he looks up, and asks Lin Qin with a careful tone, “do you think… you could leave the bottom floor of the Tower?”
Lin Qin seems to blank out for a moment, surprised by the sudden question from Xü Beijin, and asks, “what do you mean?”
“Can you go up to a higher floor in the Tower?” Xü Beijin changes his question, “you’ve had True Ends before, so why do you not go up to a higher floor? What is the reasoning behind it?”
“I just don’t want to,” Lin Qin answers concretely, “as for whether I can… I don’t know. I’ve never tried to.”
Then Xü Beijin turns to the screen of light, and he mumbles, “but… you knew you can’t pass through this…”
“No, I can’t…”
“Lin Qin, do you know why you know you can’t go to the top floor of the Tower?”
Lin Qin’s voice trails off.
XĂź Beijin turns back towards Lin Qin, looking at this straightforward young man, his love.
All this time, Lin Qin has said he’s not interested in the higher floors, though the reason sounds more like an excuse to hide the fact that he actually cannot go to the higher floors of the Tower.
He actually can’t leave the bottom floor of the Tower at all.
Finally, Lin Qin answers, looking as calm and honest as he always is in front of XĂź Beijin. Never hiding a thing, never lying a thing.
He says, “I just know. I don’t know why I know, but…”
He points towards the screen of light, adding, “I know that I cannot go behind this. It’s like an instinct. I can’t go. I’m…”
Lin Qin struggles to come up with a word, and XĂź Beijin is examining his expression closely, like he used to do in the long past.
Finally, Lin Qin has his word, and says, “I’m forbidden… to go there.”
‘Forbidden’?
The choice of word makes XĂź Beijin gasp a little.
His face even goes pale once more.
Lin Qin, worried, asks him, “what’s wrong? Beijin, did it make you upset? Don’t… don’t’ worry. I’ll be fine. You will be too. We will both be.”
He touches Xü Beijin’s cold lips with his fingers, anxious, looking like he wish he could warm Xü Beijin up with his body warmth.
Well… maybe it’s not as absurd as it sounds.
Though Xü Beijin’s face really doesn’t allow much time for him to think.
Then, suddenly, XĂź Beijin turns to hug him.
Lin Qin looks all flustered.
In their relationship, XĂź Beijin has always been the more passive, introverted, and quiet side.
He doesn’t often reveal his thoughts or emotions, and only occasionally, can Lin Qin see a bit of speechless amusement in him.
It feels warm and fluffy to him, like he’s being enveloped.
His instincts tell him, it is love from XĂź Beijin.
And when they bicker a little, Lin Qin thinks it’s a ‘lover’s quarrel’──Well, maybe, but in any case, before Xü Beijin pulled him close for a kiss earlier, he’s never seen Xü Beijin do something so forward.
He wasn’t bothered by it either. He is the one who tirelessly cling to Xü Beijin, it’s been like this since the very beginning.
He’s used to interacting like this, and he thinks, Xü Beijin has become used to it as well.
So when Xü Beijin is hugging him proactively, and can even feel Xü Beijin’s hands trembling a little on his back, he is panicking, not knowing what is happening to Xü Beijin. He doesn’t understand.
And Xü Beijin wouldn’t tell him.