WILL LUO YAN REALLY BE ALRIGHT?

LUO YAN looked at the time and saw that it was almost time for dinner.  Luo Jin said that he would only log off for a bit but he didn't return after this long.  He wondered what could have happened.  

"Brother Ji Yun," he called and then cringed a little bit inside.  Seriously, calling this guy 'brother' was just a bit weird for him.  After all, technically, he's older than him.  But because he had to act cute and pitiful when they first met, he didn't hesitate to call him 'brother'.  Changing the way he call him now would be a bit weird.  He'd just bear with it.  "I have to log out now.  Thank you for the meal.  How much was it?  I'll pay for half."

"No need."

He looked like his decision couldn't be changed, so Luo Yan could only say; "Then let me buy a meal for you next time."

Shen Ji Yun was thinking of rejecting him because he's not really that fond of VR food.  No matter how good it tasted, it still lacked something.  A certain satisfaction that you could only get by eating real food.  Maybe he's just being too sensitive because he knew how to cook.  

But before he could reject him, he suddenly thought that it was actually a good excuse for them to meet again.  So at the end, he could only say, "Um."  

"I'll go now then."

"Wait-" he said when Luo Yan stood up.  The rabbit turned to him, his big peach blossom eyes full of curiosity as to why he stopped him.  "If you encounter anything in the game that you don't understand or just something you find weird, just message me.  I'll try to answer it as best as I could for you."

"But wouldn't that be too much of a bother?"

"It won't."

Luo Yan looked at Shen Ji Yun's seemingly cold appearance, but despite that, he's actually saying something quite heartwarming.  Could it be that he's the type that's cold on the outside but very warm on the inside?  Wait- wouldn't that make him one of those?  What was that term again?  That term otakus used to describe that type of character.  Muu- juu- ah!  Kuudere!  He must be that, right?

Luo Yan couldn't help but chuckle thinking of that possibility.  "Then I'll take Brother Ji Yun at your word." The other just seriously nodded which highly amused him.  "I'll go now.  Bye-bye!" he said and gave a little wave.

As he walked out of the private box, he suddenly remembered that he hadn't yet input Mana to that egg today.  He'd just do it before he logged out.

Shen Ji Yun looked at the closed door of the box and sighed.  He actually wanted to ask if he and the rabbit could be friends.  But somehow, he couldn't find the right timing to do so.  Or maybe he just simply sucked at this 'asking to be friends' thing.  Because he had never done something like this before.

He and Bai Ze became friends because of the other's unrelenting efforts.  Or rather, it's because Bai Ze just enjoyed meddling with him.  As time went by, he simply got used to his presence.  The same could be said for Yuqi and the other two members of their team.

Should he just ask Bai Ze for advice then?  He let out a long sigh.  He could already feel a headache just thinking about it.

----------

Luo Yan went out of his room.  He just walked for a bit and he immediately saw Luo Jin.  It looked like he just came down from his room.  

"Ah Jin," he called walking up to him.  "Why did you suddenly logged out?  Then you didn't log in again.  Did something happen?"

"Nothing.  I just felt sleepy and decided to log out to take a nap for a bit," Luo Jin said, not looking at his second brother.

How could he tell him that after taking that task, he ended up with all kinds of things, some he didn't even want to mention.  Not only that, he also barely managed to finish shooting all the targets before the time was up.  Then when he returned to that room where the Master Gunslinger was, he gave him a B rating for his task.  Which was really frustrating.  Not to mention, all those unmentionable things were still on him.  He didn't know how to remove it, so he just decided to log out.  

When he returned to his room, he felt like those things – all the mud, slime, and those other gross stuffs - were still attached to his skin.  He could only accredit it to the fact that the game was just too real.  To the point that even he was no longer in the game, his senses were still affected by what he experienced.  

So he took a bath.  Who would have thought that after that, he would really fall asleep?  So technically, he didn't really lie to his second brother.  He just didn't tell the whole truth.  How could he?  It was too embarrassing.  It would just make him look lame and uncool.  How could he leave that kind of image to Luo Yan?

Luo Yan stared at his younger brother.  "Really?"

He had a feeling that Luo Jin was lying.  He thought of bullying him into telling the truth, but at the end he still thought against it.  He already bullied Luo Jin quite a number of times, he wasn't even aware that he's being bullied.  Luo Yan was kind of starting to feel guilty about it.  So, he decided to let him off this time.

"Of course!  Anyway, you didn't talk alone with that shady blue-eyed guy, did you?" Luo Jin said, changing the subject.

"I did, actually."

"Why?  And even after I purposely told you not to," Luo Jin said, with a bit of grievance and blame.

"Well, he waited for more than an hour just so he could ask me those survey questions.  It would be rude of me not to meet him.  And frankly, I have no reason not to," Luo Yan said.  "Don't be too antagonistic to him.  Even though he looks like some expressionless doll, he's not a bad guy."

"I don't care if he's expressionless or not.  That's not the reason why I don't want you to go near him," Luo Jin said, looking annoyed and frustrated.

"Wait- don't tell me you still think he has some kind of ulterior motive?"

"Because he has!"

Luo Yan chuckled.  "I assure you, he doesn't."

Luo Jin stared at his second brother's smile which only made his already pretty face much prettier and suddenly, his frustration just increased by a few levels.  Would Luo Yan really be alright?  He couldn't even recognize the enemy!  How could he grow up safely in this society full of wolves just waiting in the dark to have a bite of him?  

No matter.  Luo Jin just had to make sure to protect him.