He thought of that sleek cat with smooth and shiny fur. He always felt that it was especially handsome, and it might’ve been because the first time he’d seen it, it gave off a deep, aloof, and distinguished air. Since his unlucky little sister had been there to agitate it, even if the cat always seemed to call out softly to him like a little maiden, Shen Zhifan always felt that it had quite a…domineering appearance.
He never thought that it was already a little eunuch.
Regretfully, he shook his head, but he also showed a subtle hint of a smile.
Faced with this expression of Shen Zhifan’s, Yan Shuo somehow felt…somewhat inexplicably and ominously, he felt as if…a certain part of him was very uncomfortable.
“You…” When he’d come out, he had been holding a pen in order to feign the appearance of being hard at work. Putting the pen aside as if he were not paying any attention, he asked, “…aren’t going to training?”
“Training?” Shen Zhifan, uncomprehending, unconsciously repeated the question.
“En, mech training.”
Yan Shuo’s gaze slid onto his body. Since he’d already thoroughly felt up Shen Zhifan as a cat, he naturally knew that it was impossible for the current Shen Zhifan to train at the base like before.
Thinking of this matter, the expression on Shen Zhifan’s face froze somewhat.
The Mech League was starting soon. Although his body retained some of his previous skills from muscle memory, with his current level of only being able to get by in the amateur competitions, he would still be completely exposed when it was time for him to compete.
General Yan took in his tangled and embarrassed expression. Unseen by Shen Zhifan, his lips curved up slightly for a moment, “Wait a moment.”
Shen Zhifan blanked. He hadn’t reacted yet when he saw Yan Shuo walking back into the house, leaving the door open.
…Fuck, wait a minute, could this possibly mean that he was just invited inside?
Shen Zhifan’s throat bobbed slightly.
Ai, but this was his male god’s house ah!
He glanced inside, unable to catch sight of the figure; Yan Shuo seemed to be moving around upstairs. He quietly notified, “I’m coming in,” – his voice was so soft that it was like a mosquito buzzing, so of course there was no response. Although Shen Zhifan somehow felt that he was just getting excited by himself – even though he hadn’t gotten a reply, he still felt as if he’d gotten some sort of permission.
Of course, one wouldn’t be able to tell all of this from his expression. Ever since he was little, Shen Zhifan had always been quite dim-witted and his only victory was that he was handsome. His usual disposition was cold on the outside and hot on the inside, so when he wordlessly stood there as if he were a flower vase <sup>1</sup> fig. Just a pretty face , he would give one the misconception that he really wasn’t that oblivious.
Although Yan Shuo’s house was actually quite ordinary, it did give a pure and cool feeling overall. Most of it was in cool colours, with few decorations, making the house seem especially empty. The decorations themselves were not as gaudy as the ones at Shen Zhifan’s place, although those weren’t to Shen Zhifan’s taste. After all, that couldn’t be counted as his own personalized place.
Of course, in Shen Zhifan’s eyes, his male god’s house was certainly the best.
Look, these colours matched so beautifully; the dark brown of the floorboards with the olive green of the walls…with regards to praising his male god, Shen Zhifan was extremely blind. Nothing was filtered through his mind, and while his gaze roved around, he suddenly caught sight of the flower vase on the coffee table.
The flower vase was made in a classically elegant style, in blue and white porcelain, the body of the vase was as graceful as a classical beauty.
The flowers that the vase held were eye-catching. The sprigs seemed to have been specially trimmed, and there was a delicate little silver pocket knife placed on the coffee table. Blooming between lush and thin green leaves were small, softly-coloured, milky white flowers.
These flowers…something moved in Shen Zhifan’s eyes.
When the little cat came by his house before, it had held a stalk of these little white flowers in its mouth; he still didn’t know what it was called.
Ah that wasn’t right ah, don’t talk about the flowers, he didn’t even know the name of the kitty ah!
As he was thinking, he lifted his head and saw Yan Shuo leaning on the top of the stairs, quietly gazing at him.
Shen Zhifan startled internally, somehow feeling that he’d been caught being sneaky by Yan Shuo, despite actually doing nothing. However, he still felt a kind of weird awkwardness.
“Do you like what you see?”
Yan Shuo had changed clothes, out of the rather professional outfit and into a very casual style. Wearing a striped-white sweater and and very form-fitting pair of black trousers, at a glance, he suddenly seemed younger by quite a few years.
He would only need to add a pair of gold-rimmed glasses to cover his excessively perceptive eyes – then, he’d even look like a student that was still in school.
“Very…very attractive.” Shen Zhifan turned his eyes away. Although he knew Yan Shou had been talking about the flowers, his heart still skipped a beat. That sweater of Yan Shuo’s was really short, and when contrasted with his long legs, made him seem even taller than his 180cm height. He was so handsome that Shen Zhifan once again felt that his tongue had trouble functioning, before quickly remembering the question that he’d been curious about just then, “Your cat comes over to my place quite often, but I still don’t know the name of such a beautiful cat?”
At this question, Yan Shuo seemed to blank. After a pause, and as if he’d thought of something, he said, “It’s called…KK.”
“KK?” Shen Zhifan blinked a few times, even thinking what a weird name this was. It suddenly came to mind, along with a bunch of coal poured into his brain.
Wasn’t KK his name in the game?!
Suddenly, Shen Zhifan asked, somewhat sorrowfully, “This cat, is it possible that Princess Olivia gave it to you?”
Yan Shuo froze. Originally, he’d just wanted to tease Shen Zhifan, but he didn’t expect Shen Zhifan to think this into it. Now he was embarrassed to expose the joke. Lightly shaking his head, he passed over the scarf in his hands to Shen Zhifan.
Shen Zhifan mindlessly accepted the scarf, his thoughts still on the wretched dramas playing out in his mind: “The Esteemed General Was Forced To Accept The Name Of His Rival In Love That His Fiancee Bestowed, And As He Was Filled With Sorrow And Detested That Cat, He Spent Every Day In Depression” and “The Rival In Love Was Formerly His Lifesaver; Unable To Strike, He Was Left In A Dilemma”.
Shen Zhifan felt around the black scarf. It had an exquisitely soft texture. Although he didn’t know what material it was made of, since Yan Shuo used it, then it was probably of a certain quality.
Apart from that, it was nothing but an extremely ordinary scarf ah.
Confused, he glanced at Yan Shuo. After half a day of earnestly examining the scarf for anything particularly special, he failed. He could only ask in a small voice, “This…does this have some special use?”
He’d just finished asking when he saw Yan Shuo…smile as if he really couldn’t hold it back.
…Was this very funny?
As he was still at a loss, Yan Shuo had already taken up the scarf, and in the next moment, Shen Zhifan felt his ears and neck being covered by the softness of that scarf.
“Let’s go, I’ll take you to the mech base for training. Many people will recognise you there, so cover your face for the time being with this scarf.”
Yan Shuo’s fingertips accidently brushed past the tips Shen Zhifan’s ears. An electrifying numbness suddenly spread from his ears to Shen Zhifan’s heart, and they went completely red. It was a pity that they were hidden in the black scarf.
“…Fuck.”
Shen Zhifan cursed lowly, before suddenly squatting down.
Yan Shuo, who’d just been about to stride away, didn’t understand what was going on.
“What is it?”
“No…” Shen Zhifan now felt like he really resembled a quail that wanted to tuck its head into its wing. Speaking slowly, in a small voice, “I just felt…that when I was examining the scarf before…I looked really dumb…it’s really humiliating.”
Yan Shuo couldn’t help his lips curving upwards again. No, if it weren’t for the circumstances or the need to maintain his image, he would simply…laugh out loud.
“You can laugh,” Shen Zhifan’s head was still tucked down, and he spoke stuffily in both grief and indignation, “I can already hear you.”
“I…cough,” Being told off like this, Yan Shuo really almost couldn’t hold back, although he quickly restrained himself, “Actually, it’s fine, it was…quite cute.”
He’d discovered that ever since Shen Zhifan had lost his memories, he hadn’t been able to keep up with the latter’s thoughts.
It was probably because the difference between the previous and current Shen Zhifan was too big.
He gazed at Shen Zhifan, who seemed as if he wouldn’t be getting up for a while without placation, and momentarily couldn’t resist reaching out to pat Shen Zhifan’s head.
Though before his hand landed, Shen Zhifan just happened to lift his head up. Yan Shuo’s fingertips kept moving from inertia, lightly skimming across the corner of his lips.
In an instant, the soft and warm texture relayed from his fingertips to his heart. He pulled his hand back violently, so much so that he couldn’t catch sight of Shen Zhifan’s still-bright eyes.
Clearing his throat and wanting to make himself look more natural, he said, “Let’s go, I’ll take you over there.”
There weren’t many people in the mech base. With the amount of money that mechs flushed down the drain, ordinary people couldn’t afford them. Wearing the scarf, Shen Zhifan earnestly followed behind Yan Shuo, and although many looks fell on him, most of them were quick to interest and quick to look away. Shen Zhifan even began to feel that he was quite well-disguised.
That was until a blushing young woman came over to ask for an autograph, and Shen Zhifan realised that he’d been exposed.
“Hello, I…I’ve always admired you…”
Shen Zhifan paused, and glanced at Yan Shuo who’d also stopped, then looked back at the girl. He exhaled softly, then cheerfully gave her an autograph.
“I’m still recognisable, even like this ah?”
The girl paused, then answered hesitantly, in a small voice, “…everyone could recognise you.”
Upon receiving his autograph, the girl was unable to contain her happiness, “Since they say that your temper is really bad, they’re all afraid to come over.”
Following her gaze, Shen Zhifan looked over. Sure enough, there were a few other girls outside looking in, shocked and talking amongst themselves.
Somewhat confused, he looked towards Yan Shuo, “My…is my temper really bad?”
Yan Shuo shook his head, then nodded.
“It’s actually not bad, it’s just sometimes you like to smash up the mechs. You come here often and the base is membership-only so everyone knows you, so the scarf was mainly to defend against those fans outside.”
…Sometimes, like to, smash up, the mechs.
“I’m really too much of a wastrel, aren’t I…” Shen Zhifan couldn’t help but grumble reproachfully. Fuck, he’d always wanted to save and earn money, yet in the end, it seemed like the grown-up version of himself simply didn’t care about this little amount of money ah.
“It’s fine, mechs are something that I can afford.”
Yan Shuo carelessly tossed this line out, and strode forward with his slender legs.
Without warning, Shen Zhifan was again stunned.
Wait a minute…just then, did he just, hear something incredible ah?