Chapter 309, I'll do it next time

"...Zhuo, think of a way to control your girlfriend."

Then Zhuo heard another low voice: "A riot is about to break out around us." Although it was a bit exaggerated, Zhuo said he could do nothing to help. Rather, he was the one who was most likely to lose control.

"You are just talking nonsense."

"Alright, alright, I won't say anything more. I'm just worried about you guys, but there's still no follow-up."

Ren quickly changed his tone to one of flattery. After he finished speaking, he ignored Zhuo's blushing face and moved closer to him. Kanda then stopped him with a wry smile.

"Zhuo, congratulations. Ren, don't go too far... But Zhuo, this is actually a good thing. Look how good Romanov is. Others want him but don't have him yet. Don't worry about anything else."

"Kanda, you don't understand. I watched this guy run away time and time again. What a coward."

"It's so annoying. I'm wrong, isn't that okay?"

In fact, Ren probably had a lot of feelings during the two years of watching Zhuo and Ling get closer. After teasing, he nodded with emotion and whispered, "It's great."

Zhuo looked at him - no matter good or bad, Ren had helped Zhuo a lot and encouraged him silently behind his back. Zhuo was very grateful to Ren. Although Ren was sometimes too unreasonable and nagging, he did encourage Zhuo who was stagnant. Among the people he knew, Ren was probably the one who wished them the best in their relationship.

"So, it happened that night?"

"Ah."

"Ah, I was wondering why I had to go home all of a sudden, so this is how it is... I feel really weird."

"I'm sorry, I didn't explain it to you even though I had the chance after that."

The last time we met was Christmas, which was the night we were together, so it had been a few days. Besides, everyone had their own phone, so they had plenty of time to explain. In the end, they just found out.

As for Zero, she was sitting quietly at one side, with several female students surrounding her. Because the distance was not far, and the classroom was very quiet, she could hear what they were asking Zero - of course, she knew without listening.

After all, Jin's voice before was not small, and many people saw the way Zero responded to "Mrs. Utsunomiya" before.

Let’s not talk about that side, Zhuo is also being questioned, or gossiped about.

"There's still time to explain now - or rather, just confess quickly!"

"Even if you say so, I can't explain it clearly. The relationship just happened naturally like this...Some things are hard to explain. Anyway, a lot of things happened."

Zhuo knew in his heart that Ren didn't really want to gossip, at least in this case. Ren was a friend who was very good at observing other people's moods and sympathizing with others. Even if he went too far, he would always stay within the critical line. In short, he knew the limits.

As for this question, even if Ren didn't ask, someone else would ask it sooner or later, and we could tell from Ling's side. So Ren might as well ask it directly, and let Zhuo answer it clearly here. No matter what, even if he just gave a perfunctory answer or refused to answer, he had to make his thoughts clear. The target was Ren, so he wouldn't offend others.

As expected, the classmates seemed to be listening attentively to the conversation here. If he said something like "I was also confessed to", things would probably get out of hand.

Let's just admit it for now.

After Zhuo made up his mind, he planned to confess his relationship with Ling.

As a result, a loud scream was heard, and Zhuo seemed to hear the despair and resentment of the boy behind him, but he ignored it for now.

"I was in love with someone a long time ago, so I confessed my feelings." Perhaps Zero was a little impatient with the series of questions from the other end, but it was more likely that she felt that this would solve the problem faster. Zero said this without any tone, in a calm tone, as if she said "I had eggs this morning."

Then, just like at home, Ling placed his hand on Zhuo's.

Zhuo was stunned for a moment, then also held Ling's hand.

"That's not right... Even if you say so, I think I fell in love with you first."

"It must have been me first... before Zhuo knew it... it had been a long time."

"I'm sorry, I know I was so timid and cowardly, I've reflected on it, please forgive me."

"Ah."

"Next time I'll take the initiative and do it myself."

“What are you going to do next time?”

"……you guess."

As for the next step for the couple, there was no other possibility. Ling could understand it if he thought about it carefully... But she stared at Zhuo, as if she wanted to see through Zhuo's heart. Zhuo avoided her sight.

Zhuo felt that he should not speak out at this moment, and he was not old enough to take responsibility, so he kept it in his heart. I am afraid that this sentence will remain the same after many years and will not fade. Even if he is timid and procrastinating, Zhuo will not change his mind - when the time comes, he plans to speak out himself, so he will keep it for now.

Because of Zhuo's silence, Ling looked up at him with a bit of dissatisfaction - to say staring, in fact, she just kept staring at him. But Zhuo touched her head without messing up her hair, and her dissatisfaction subsided.

"…You just want to fool me."

"It's not time yet, but there will be a day."

"Oh~~Okay."

Ling didn't sound happy, but Zhuo felt that she was not really like that - when Ling was really unhappy, she wouldn't say a word.

Just like the last time after the cocktail party, Zhuo had Yurina's lip print on his collar... She didn't say a word for several days, no! She didn't say a word to Zhuo~~~
However, Ling seemed to have noticed something, looked up at him silently, and then turned his head away without saying a word. Zhuo didn't know what was going on, so he looked around and found that his classmates were all keeping silent and looking at this side.

Their eyes were all focused on Zhuo and Ling.

“Ah—oh—”

Indeed, Zhuo was planning to acknowledge his relationship with Ling and stabilize his position. However, he did not intend to do it as he usually did at home.

Zhuo held her hand without noticing, and touched her head without noticing. These behaviors are nothing at home, but at school, it is obvious what the classmates will think.

"Hey, I'll go. Why don't you two just chat first? I'll help you move the district office over here?"

(Note: Ward Office, the official office unit of Neon, can be understood as an integrated Civil Affairs Bureau. However, its functions are broader than the Civil Affairs Bureau, that is to say, it is not just the Civil Affairs Bureau, but also units that will be harmonized if written out.)
Even Ren, who had just been blessing them, couldn't help but remind them.

Zhuo then slowly moved his hand away that was caressing Ling's head. He bit his lip and turned his face away to avoid showing the heat on his cheeks.

(End of this chapter)