Yu Na looked at him longingly, her eyes bright as if they contained a piece of starlight.
Xiao Chen felt his heart turn soft and mushy.
He raised an eyebrow at her playfully, his eyes filled with amusement as he slowly and deliberately said, "You haven't even properly agreed to be with me yet, I don't even have a formal status, and you want me to pinch you already?" He acted aggrieved, "That's so unfair!"
"I...," Yu Na said in a small voice, her face red, "I didn't say I don't agree..."
But Xiao Chen deliberately made things difficult and lied, "For me, everything else is fine, it's just that my language skills are no good, my comprehension is lacking. So you have to state it clearly before I can understand."
She got annoyed, "You're doing that on purpose!"
"What? You're already looking down on me for not being educated enough?"
"No," Yu Na reluctantly, haltingly said, "I, I, I agree to be with you."
Seeing her like this, Xiao Chen found her extremely cute. He deliberately picked another fight, "Tsk, you sound so reluctant about it."
Yu Na was too embarrassed to lift her head. Fortunately it was night time.
She raised her voice, "I agree to be with you!"
Xiao Chen saw she was still struggling and decided not to tease her further.
"Oh—" He was satisfied by her coaxing, "Why couldn't you just say so in the first place?"
"..."
Xiao Chen leaned in obnoxiously, "Now you can pinch me."
Yu Na glared at him, annoyed, "I'm ignoring you now. I'm going home."
She turned to go upstairs when Xiao Chen called out to stop her, "Wait—"
"What?"
Xiao Chen opened the car door, "Get in the car. I'll drive to the parking garage to drop you off upstairs."
Yu Na was about to agree but suddenly remembered the apartment wasn't cleaned yet.
While it wasn't very messy, still...she didn't want him to see it.
After all, they had just gotten together.
"No need, I can go upstairs by myself," she said. "I'm too tired today and want to go to bed early."
Xiao Chen asked, "Are you sure?"
"Yes."
Xiao Chen thought for a bit, "Alright then, remember to eat dinner."
"Okay."
Yu Na remembered that in those TV dramas she watched about couples, this was the most common parting line.
She imitated them properly, reminding Xiao Chen, "Remember to let me know when you get home."
Xiao Chen's lips quirked up. He replied solemnly, "As you wish!"
Yu Na's heart thumped erratically.
This was dangerous.
So dangerous.
She didn't dare continue bantering with him, because she really couldn't bear to part from him.
Yu Na ran into the building without looking back, leaving Xiao Chen with a nonchalant view of her back. But in reality, her expression completely gave away how she was feeling at that moment.
Just as she entered the building, she saw a young couple passionately kissing and embracing next to the elevator.
They were completely shameless about doing this in a public area.
The man had his arms around the woman's waist, unwillingly saying in her ear, "I love you..."
Yu Na: "..."
Xiao Chen didn't leave. He sat bored in his car, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel as he watched that familiar window closely.
Only when the light in that window came on did Xiao Chen finally feel relieved.
...
When Yu Na got home, she put her new phone aside and eagerly charged up her old phone.
After showering, the phone automatically turned on. She hurriedly opened WeChat.
She saw the messages Xiao Chen had sent that afternoon—
[I want to see you]
[Something came up just now, didn't get to check my phone in time]
[Are you angry?]
So he had messaged wanting to confess his feelings?
Yu Na bit her lip as a trace of sweetness welled up in her heart.
She found Lin Shu'an on WeChat and sent her a message: [Shu'an, I have a boyfriend now [shy/][shy/]]
Lin Shu'an replied instantly, but the content shocked her—
Lin Shu'an: [Is it Xiao Chen?!]
Yu Na: [Yes!]
Yu Na: [How did you know?]
Lin Shu'an: [Because Xiao Chen just shared the good news with Han Chengxun]
Yu Na: ???
...
So after seeing Yu Na get home, Xiao Chen was in no hurry to leave.
Instead, he took out his phone to call Han Chengxun.
After Han Chengxun picked up, Xiao Chen uncharacteristically got straight to the point, "Treat me to a meal!"
Han Chengxun: "What the hell? Piss off."
Xiao Chen leaned lazily back into his seat, relieved now that he had nothing holding him back: "You finally have a sister-in-law."
Han Chengxun: "You lost another bet?"
Xiao Chen: "Screw off."
The two almost thirty-year-old men started off with this eccentric opening conversation before getting to the main point.
Xiao Chen told him about dating Yu Na.
After listening, Han Chengxun sincerely exclaimed, "Damn, awesome! With the way you are, you managed to get a girlfriend like Yu Na."
Xiao Chen: "?"
Han Chengxun slowly added insult to injury, "Idiots really do have idiot's luck. I believe it now."
The two man-children bickered for a bit.
Han Chengxun's gossipy side popped up and he asked, "So how did you get together?"
But too much time had been wasted on the pointless argument earlier.
Xiao Chen looked at the time and heartlessly threw out, "If you want to know what happens next, Venmo me fifty bucks first."
Han Chengxun: ?
Xiao Chen arrogantly said, "Not wasting time chit chatting with you. I promised my girlfriend I'd let her know when I get home."
Han Chengxun: ?
Xiao Chen's eyes slanted up smugly as he irritatingly added, "Otherwise she'd worry, since she's more important than you anyway."
...
Lin Shu'an locked herself in her room and verbatim relayed Xiao Chen and Han Chengxun's conversation to Yu Na.
The two's laughter rang out continuously.
Lin Shu'an said, "You don't even know, just now Xiao Chen was so full of himself. He said it's thanks to him that Han Chengxun even has a sister-in-law, so Han Chengxun ought to treat him to a meal."
Yu Na guffawed loudly as she lay on her bed, "How does that even make sense? Aren't they the same age?"
Lin Shu'an: "As you know, whenever those two are together, everything they say is nonsense."
She probed curiously for all the details.
Yu Na was in a great mood. Lying on her stomach on the bed, legs kicking in the air, she told Lin Shu'an about her interactions with Xiao Chen these past days.
After listening, Lin Shu'an sighed continuously.
They chatted for a full half hour before Lin Shu'an said, "The double date I've been looking forward to for years can finally happen now, right?"
Yu Na blushed, "Sure!"
...
After hanging up, Yu Na saw Xiao Chen had sent her two messages.
Twenty minutes ago—
1: [I'm home]
Seeing she didn't reply for a long time, he sent another message five minutes ago—
1: [?]
Yu Na held her breath and replied: [I was on the phone just now]
1: [With who?]
Yu Na smiled and truthfully confessed: [It was Shu'an!]
She also sent: [Are you jealous?]
1: [[arrogant/][arrogant/][arrogant/] Can't I even ask?]
1: [Have you eaten dinner?]
Yu Na: [Not yet, I showered after getting home then was on the call]
1: [I ordered some dinner delivered for you]
Yu Na: [Oh? What is it?]
1: [You'll know in a bit]
