Chapter 449: Telling Ling that he wants to meet Xia Mi

"You're back. It's very hot today. Would you like something to drink?"

When Zhuo found out that Ling had arrived home earlier, he froze.

Ling walked out to greet him very naturally. When she saw the very satisfied expression on Zhuo's face, she blinked frequently in confusion.

"You seem very happy."

"Well, I guess so."

Even though the 'chance encounter' didn't happen, I was happy to have spent a day without the pressure of the store manager - this kind of thing was too embarrassing, Zhuo really couldn't say it, so he could only give a vague answer, but he didn't expect that it would arouse Ling's curiosity.

"...what's wrong?"

"Uh, no, nothing... nothing."

"You don't look like it's nothing."

"It's really okay."

Zhuo looked away awkwardly, trying to change the subject, but it only made Ling more suspicious. Zhuo thought that maybe it was because her way of changing the subject had never been so good that it was so obvious. She slowly narrowed her blue eyes.

Both parties have a tacit understanding that in principle, they will not overly force the other party to do something that they are unwilling to do... Just like Ling never asked Zhuo why he seemed precocious compared to his peers, and Zhuo never asked Ling who he met and what happened during the years he walked alone. This is a tacit understanding of leaving each other space. This is not concealment, but both parties believe that some things, even if the other party knows, will only increase one person's worries and regrets, so there is no need to tell... But if there is something wrong with the behavior of one of them, that is another matter.

In Ling's opinion, it is not an exaggeration to describe Zhuo's current attitude as suspicious.

So she kept her eyes fixed on Zhuo.

Although he hadn't hidden anything wrong from her, Zhuo had never thought about what would happen when he met 'Jörmungandr' from the beginning to the end. Of course, this was just his wishful thinking, and it wasn't an exaggeration to say that he was self-righteous... But Zhuo really didn't want to be honest, so he ended up being suspected, worrying about what to do.

Zhuo's eyes were evasive, which made him look even more suspicious, and Ling's gaze became even sharper.

Her eyes then turned to the bookstore bag, so Zhuo picked up the library shopping bag and the convenience store plastic bag to show her, trying to divert her attention as much as possible.

"It's really nothing, don't worry about it. Can you put all this stuff in the refrigerator? There are frozen foods in there."

"I know that, but it doesn't seem right to me—"

"It's really nothing."

As soon as he finished speaking, when Zhuo tried to stuff the supermarket bag into Ling's hand, the bookstore mat slipped from his wrist.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the supermarket bag had already been handed to Ling, and the ice cream inside was not broken - but the book that Zhuo had been holding in his hand fell to the ground with a thud.

If the cover of the book was a portrait, it might be possible to get away with it, but the portrait itself might become troublesome. Unfortunately, the cover of the book was a simple landscape picture, and the title was the life of a wandering author that Zhuo had liked to read before. No matter how you look at it, it doesn't seem like Zhuo was hiding it for the sake of this book.

The scene fell into silence for a moment, and Zhuo felt guilty at the same time. After all, even if you didn't think about it, it was wrong to simply look forward to meeting the opposite sex with the intention of just taking a look.

The sudden incident caused Ling and Zhuo to stop moving, but she was the first to relax and pick up the realistic collection that fell on the ground.

She looked down at the cover and had no intention of asking further questions.

Zhuo couldn't help but get nervous, thinking it would be fine if she said something to him, but Ling just glanced at the landscape picture on the cover and said, "It looks like a northern-style house." He raised his head and looked at Zhuo.

Then she gently brushed off the dust and handed the book to Zhuo.

"Is this the reason you came back late?"

“…Is that so?”

Zhuo's tone became doubtful because he couldn't believe that this wasn't the reason. After all, the boss's no longer oppressive look was the culprit.

"Okay, okay, I chose to go out just to see what Xia Mi looks like. I know this won't work, but I still did it."

Although he confessed the contents, his frank speech sounded a bit cold and angry due to guilt and shame.

Ling didn't seem to be annoyed by his cold attitude. She just looked up at his face seriously with a look that was hard to tell whether it was gentle or smiling. "Xia Mi?"

"It's the Jörmungandr I mentioned. She lives in this city. From what I know, she seems to be very stunning in appearance, so I wanted to try to see her."

"This... Zhuo is so weird. It's not something shameful. I would be suspicious if you were hiding it like this."

"I, I thought you would feel uncomfortable..."

"I didn't expect you to think of me as someone who doesn't have confidence in the people she decides to accompany. I wouldn't do anything like that."

"I, I don't think so... but this idea is wrong no matter how you look at it. Being criticized for wanting to see other people of the opposite sex when you already have someone you like is a normal reaction. It's not strange for me to think so."

"But Zhuo has never thought about what to do, and he won't cause trouble to others. Whether you want to go out or want to see that person, isn't it a personal choice? People who lack confidence may have opinions about you going out."

Ling resolved the little knot in Zhuo's heart with a very decisive tone.

Afterwards, Ling glanced secretly at the broken paper bag on Zhuo's wrist. When she saw that there was nothing else in the bookstore bag, she looked relieved for some reason.

"You don't need to worry about this kind of thing. You acted so sneakily that I thought for a moment that you bought some obscene book."

"How can I buy it?"

"Is that so? You didn't find it."

"That's not necessary!~Okay, let's not talk about this topic anymore."

Zhuo walked into the house holding Ling's hand and closed the door. When he entered the living room, he flicked his finger at Uesugi Eriya who was peeping against the wall and "knocked" her back.

Being a boy hiding something secretly would inevitably arouse suspicion, and Zhuo was also wrong in this regard. Moreover, Zhuo felt that Ling's focus was very strange. She did not show any concern about Zhuo's desire to meet the opposite sex in real life, but was more concerned about Zhuo buying some obscene books.

Besides, it’s hard to buy that kind of book in a regular bookstore - an exceptionally calm complaint emerged in Zhuo’s mind.

However, after hearing Ling say, "Although I know this is a very normal thing for high school students," Zhuo decided to swallow back his complaint.

"I'll state first that I won't buy it...By the way, what would happen if I did buy it?"

"I would ask you why you buy this kind of book. Although I understand that you are interested in this area, I would also worry that you may be more interested in the genre of the book than I am."

"Why do you think I'm interested? But you're worried about that kind of thing. That's very typical of you."

"In theory, even a hobby like this can show a man's interest."

"I really didn't buy that kind of book, please rest assured."

"Is that so?"

After all, it was just a small matter. Even if he really met Xia Mi, for Ling, rather than being jealous, he would probably think of worry first. Zhuo thought so and smiled bitterly.

(I shouldn’t have taken it so seriously if I had known this earlier.)
Ling then pointed in the direction of the bathroom with a calm face. I don't know if she noticed that Zhuo felt a little relieved in his heart because he said it out loud.

"Okay, go wash your hands. Even if you want to see that person, you have to finish what you need to do when you get home."

"I've given up. I didn't think much of it anyway. And this isn't my home~"

“It’s all the same to me.”

"Eh?"

Ling's answer made Zhuo a little dumbfounded, but Ling did not give Zhuo a chance to ask further questions and pushed him into the bathroom from behind.

The touch on his back made Zhuo feel warm in his chest. He walked towards the bathroom, feeling happier than if he could really see Xia Mi, and even happier than when he was walking home.

(End of this chapter)