Beloved Pet

Ye Delun felt his throat go dry and his fingers twitch. His chest felt airy and light as if a balloon was blown in his ribs. A casing surrounded his heart and squeezed it tight, tight enough to make him gasp for breath. This was the feeling, the feeling of his heart moving up and down, his head spinning. It reminded him of merry-go-rounds and see-saws. A strangely specific combination, yet it fit together so well. The adrenalin went straight towards his head.

This was the trill, the thrill he had been looking for. It felt almost melancholic, the instinct to run and hide kicked in. He wanted to hide. Hide and wait to see if the monster could find him.

He felt Li Yusheng's back hit him when he stumbled and Yang Lan caught him. He heard her call out to Li Yusheng, yet he didn't look away. He watched until the door slammed shut and the monster disappeared behind it. Ye Delun was very annoyed at that door.

"Everyone! Get up, time to go! Get going! Get going! Li Yusheng, get Yang Lan out of here! Get to the windows, then scatter!" He heard Shen Lin say. He felt a tug on his shirt as she hurried to pull him along.

'Ah, wait... I want to see...' His eyes stayed on the door. He watched as the monster broke through, splinters flying everywhere. A small, uncontrollable smile formed on his face. It looked so cool, and deadly. Although the blood everywhere was a little annoying and the dead body inside was a little repulsing. And the fleshy texture grossed him out a little. But overall, it was a cool-looking monster. Definitely fit for being the first he's ever seen.

[You look at 'Nao Nao', your beloved pet and long-time member of your life.]

'.....what?'

['Nao Nao' is a lot bigger than when it was young, it used to be so cute. You wish you had taken photos.]

"..."

"Ye Delun! Jump down!" Shen Lin said to him. The smile was completely wiped from his face and he looked blankly towards her.

'This is my precious pet, do you really think it would bite its owner?'

Ah, why was life so cruel?

Besides his thoughts, Ye Delun jumped down anyways. Right after him, Shen Lin also jumped. Both of them heard the sound of Li Yusheng's profession. "Yang Lan, I like you! I really like you! I'm sorry I was never able to say it before, I'm sorry! But I love you!"

And then right after he was dragged into the room to have his own time with 'Nao Nao'. Ye Delun cringed and said a little prayer for the poor man.

[Your victim, 'Li Yusheng', has become pray for your beloved 'Nao Nao'. You're proud of 'Nao Nao's' accomplishment!]

'..." 'That's nice... Good... good job, Nao Nao...'

He felt that he was in a very awkward position and didn't know what to feel. The adrenaline had disappeared with the message and along with it, his excitement.

"Shit." Shen Lin said through clenched teeth. "Ye Delun," She grabbed him by the shoulders. "Run, and don't get caught. I don't know what that thing is, but I'm sure getting captured would mean our deaths. I'm going to check on Yang Lan, so you go from here. I hope to see you safe if we meet again." She turned away and ran towards where Yang Lan and Li Yusheng were.

"..."

'Of course she would leave me here for the female lead.' Not surprised, but still disappointed.

Instead of running away, Ye Delun did the exact opposite and climbed back up. The tentacles were gone and so were Li Yusheng and Yang Lan. All that was left was the trail that 'Nao Nao' had left behind.

He plopped himself onto the ground and stared at the door. 'Speaking of disappointments...' He was so close, he swore he was able to really feel it for a moment. If only that dang message hadn't shown up, then he would be bolting across the yard thinking he was running for his life. One of his ideal situations if he would say so himself.

"Hey." He called out. "No one's here anymore, you can come out."

But unlike what he wanted, the two front doors collapsed into dust.

'Eh? Is it supposed to be shy? Or is it because it was eating?' Was it too shy to eat in front of others? Ye Delun felt that sometimes, he could become a little unaware of his messy eating habits.

"Nao Nao doesn't want to come and see me? I thought Nao Nao would have missed me... but I guess not." He put his hand over his eyes as if he was about to cry. He was a terrible actor, and underneath his hands was his completely blank face.

Suddenly, a small ripple formed in the ground, and a short, fat tentacle slowly slithered out. It cuddled against his shoe as if it was in the wrong. "Why do you seem so guilty? Are you trying to show you're sorry?"

The tentacle wrapped around his foot. Ye Delun tried to hold back his flinch as the slimy texture brushed up against his ankle. His whole shoe was pained red with that slime...

"What are you sorry for exactly?" Was he supposed to understand the thing? He can't read minds, so how?

'It's acting like a punished dog...'

The little tentacle hesitated for a moment as if thinking. And then a hole opened up in the ground beside him and he took a look down. Only to see the same sight he had seen before, only with the body of Li Yusheng to keep Duan Li company. He turned away a moment later. Now that he knew he wasn't in danger, he wasn't in the mood for looking at such things.

'What a pitiful death. Poor guy.' The man had confessed his love and wasn't able to get an answer, what a sad way to die.

"You're apologizing for eating him?" The tentacle nodded.

['Nao Nao' is very sorry for eating the food it wasn't given, and wants to always be loved by its master. So it is feeling sorry for eating 'Li Yusheng' even though the corpse wasn't given to him yet.]

[It argues that the temptation was too overwhelming and couldn't handle itself.]

'...Yes. Thank you for finally translating.'

Ye Delun hesitated before slowly placing his hand on the slimy creature and began to stroke it. "It's fine. As long as you know what you did is wrong." The tentacle seemed to like it, as it began to vibrate and rub itself against Ye Deluna's hand.

Although the creature was a little grotesque, it was still cute in its own way. Ye Delun, as if he hadn't just witnessed the events from before, had fallen for the creature.