His Time Stopped

Alan turned around to find Lin Que by the entrance. Apparently, he was spacing out for no particular reason. "Lin Que! Don't get lost! There are a lot of people today. Do you need me to act like a dad on a day off? Sheesh!"

His sudden shout out gained many cosplayer's attention. Lin Que exhaled deeply and walked towards his friend's direction. "I saw another person in the same outfit as mine, so I spaced out a bit."

"Huh? That shouldn't be a surprise to you. It's an Anime Convention! There are lots of people with the same clashing outfits. You'll probably come across more than one person today with the same look." Alan practically had to drag him by his arm to catch up with the other members.

"Yeah, but there was something about that person..." he wanted to continue talking, but realized that he didn't make much sense. Noticing Lin Que's softened tone, Alan smirked and wrapped his arm around his shoulder.

"Was it the feeling or aura that the person had emitted?" His tone changed to a playful one.

Lin Que nodded and said, "Exactly! It felt as if I was actually watching the anime and Tuxedo Mask actually appeared in front of me."

"Uh huh! That is the power of a professional cosplayer! You got intimidated by that guy in that outfit! Was he that cool?" Alan looked backwards, hoping to catch a glimpse of the person that gained Lin Que's attention.

"How do you know that the person is a male? Could've been a female." Lin Que tried to argue even though he also thought that the cosplayer was a male.

"Not a lot of females would choose to cross-dress as Tuxedo Mask. He is pretty hard to imitate because of the character's aura. Without the right mindset, it would be hard for anyone to get into character." Alan tried to simplify his explanation while pulling Lin Que through the crowd.

"Oh, I see. I thought that anyone could play off any characters. Well, you have more experience as a cosplayer, so whatever you say goes, I guess." Lin Que wasn't convinced by his words. Even so, he didn't bother dwelling on the same topic as it wasn't really something that interested him.

Finally, they caught up with the rest of the members. Lin Que looked around and realized that similar to what Alan's team was doing, small groups of cosplayers were also setting up a table around this section.

"What are you guys doing?" He asked curiously as he saw them take out different products from their bags.

"Setting up our table." Alan answered as he busied himself with organizing the postcards in his hands.

"For what?"

One of the members looked up and smiled, "To earn money, of course. Did you think that this was a regular meet and greet event just to take pictures? Cosplayers could rent a space where they sell their own creations. Here, look at this."

Lin Que followed his hand's movements as he revealed the different items that they brought with them today. On the table, postcards, stickers, metallic pins, magnets, bookmarks and many other stationary items could be seen. "You guys are selling these? But what's the difference between these products and those in regular stores?"

"Look carefully at the products. We printed our cosplay pictures on it. There are many popular characters and different styles to lure our customers. Oh, I almost forgot that we brought a polaroid and a stack of our photo albums. We charge for fan service too." Alan squatted down to get the remaining products out of his bag.

"So that's why you wanted me to dress up as Tuxedo Mask today..." Lin Que rubbed his chin and chuckled deeply. Hearing his voice, Alan gulped nervously, "Ahahahaa! Big bro Lin! You wouldn't calculate these small potato issues with me."

"Let me guess. You posted on your social media that someone would be Tuxedo Mask. In order to not lose business, you decided to come and persuade me. Very detailed plan that you have there." Lin Que crossed his arms and stared at his friend for a while.

"Damn, such sharp eyes. Please~~ Just this one time! I'll share the profit with you... Just this one day~ no, no. Half a day~~ I'll take more photos of you that you could use for the yearbook later! Come on, you wouldn't want that spoiled, rich president come after your butt because you don't have pictures to give to him."

Facing his shameless friend, Lin Que couldn't help but sigh. "Fine, but you should be more honest with me from now on. I don't need a share of your profits. Hurry and finish your set up. Don't make the money that you spent on these items go to waste."

"Okay, okay. No problem! With you here, I'm sure we will get twice as many customers!" Alan quickly sorted the products on the table with his back towards Lin Que.

He shook his head and turned to the side to look at other people's set ups. At the same time, one of the girls from the neighboring table turned around. That was when everything else froze in his eyes, but her. His eyes focused on the girl who looked up from her phone. Her bright, round eyes twinkled in delight from the sparkling effects of her contact lenses.

If he didn't assume wrongly, the natural color of her eyes should be light hazel color because the lenses themselves seemed to only brighten up her eyes. Her apricot cheeks and glossed layered lips matched wonderfully well. The aura she emitted was so pure and innocent that his feet moved forward subconsciously.

'Wow...' was all he could think of when he saw her. Her lips slowly parted and the lip gloss had made her lips look moist. She didn't cover up her freckles nor tried to look flawless. Perhaps, she felt his consistent stare, so she lifted her jewel-like eyes and happened to meet his.

The girl's sweet, rose colored lips curved upwards, revealing her straight, white teeth and the way her eyes followed her smile was truly captivating. He watched her maintain that same smile as she walked forward towards his direction.

As if time had stopped at this moment...

As if everyone else was a part of a black and white film with muted sounds...

His eyes were entirely concentrated on her every movement...

All he could hear right now was... his heart going...

Bathump Bathump...