Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Hearing my probing question, Gu Yan's face, which had just regained a hint of color, flushed bright red again. His gaze darted around, resembling a little hamster caught in the act of stealing a snack.
"Um... ZG..." he stammered, his voice barely audible, "it’s... it’s the abbreviation for Zero Gu..."
"Huh?" I widened my eyes. "Zero Gu? Is that the code name you gave yourself?" That sounded so juvenile!
"No!" He quickly denied it, his face growing even redder. "It was... it was a backup generated randomly by the system when I registered my game account. I thought... it sounded pretty good, so I used it..."
Seeing him so flustered, I couldn't help but laugh again. "Pfft... Random? Zero Gu? I can't believe you came up with that!"
Gu Yan nearly buried his head in his coffee cup.
"What about the emoticon?" I continued to press. "（￣▽￣）／ This one isn’t something the system would randomly generate, right? Gu University God, using an emoticon in your document comments—now that’s quite bold."
"That was... just a slip of the hand... No, I mean, I got used to it..." He stumbled over his words. "I’ve been using it when chatting with you, and when I was editing the document, I didn’t pay attention and just typed it out..."
Watching him squirm as if he wanted to find a hole to hide in, all my earlier discomfort vanished. Sigh, this guy is really... adorably foolish.
"Alright, alright," I waved my hand to let him off the hook. "This time I'll let you slide. But," I shifted my tone and became serious, "Gu Yan, or should I say... Zero?"
I paused, watching him nervously swallow before continuing. "Online is online, and offline is offline. Are you Gu Yan or Zero?"
This question needed clarity. I could accept the witty and humorous Zero online and slowly try to understand the slightly awkward and genuine Gu Yan in reality. But I couldn’t accept someone who needed to wear a mask to communicate.
Gu Yan fell silent. He looked down at his coffee cup for a long time before finally raising his head to meet my gaze with an unusually serious expression.
"They're both me," he said, his voice soft yet clear. "The online version is how I want to be seen—or rather, it's how I dare to present myself in front of you. The real me... is also me. Maybe a bit dull, a bit boring, and not very good at expressing myself."
He paused for a moment as if struggling to continue. "Xia Wan, I know it was wrong of me to hide this from you before. I was afraid... afraid that once you knew Zero was Gu Yan, you'd completely dislike me and we wouldn't even be friends anymore."
"But now, I want you to know... the complete me. Whether it's Gu Yan or Zero." He looked into my eyes with sincerity and a hint of vulnerability. "Would you... be willing to give me that chance?"
The café was quiet except for the soothing music playing in the background. Sunlight streamed through the glass windows, dancing on his distinct eyelashes.
I looked at him, feeling a whirlwind of emotions.
Did I dislike him? Initially, yes. But now… seeing this Gu Yan who was carefully and somewhat awkwardly explaining himself out of fear of being disliked made me realize that… perhaps it was impossible to truly hate him.
Maybe it was time to let go of past prejudices and get to know this person anew.
After all, the joy and warmth Zero brought me were undeniably real.
Taking a deep breath, I smiled at him. "Alright then… Gu Classmate or Zero? Please take care of me from now on?"
Gu Yan froze for a moment before an overwhelming sense of joy and relief blossomed in his eyes. The tension in his lips finally relaxed as he broke into a radiant smile that lit up his entire face.
"Yes! Please take care of me!" He nodded vigorously, like a child who had just received candy.
Seeing his silly expression, I couldn't help but laugh.
Perhaps the distance from online to offline isn't as far as I had imagined.
Comment 0 Comment Count