Chapter 273 - TO FOREVER HOLD HIS HAND
"SO, is there any more grass on my face?" Luo Yan asked, raising his head to look at Shen Ji Yun. He tried his best not to sound like he's teasing him, but a bit of teasing tone still appeared in his voice.
"T-there isn't any more," Shen Ji Yun said shaking his head.
He almost wanted to bury himself under the ground because of embarrassment. That was such a bad lie that only gullible people would believe it. But it seemed like Luo Yan was purposely giving him a pass. So, he wouldn't ask more. He wouldn't question why he believed his flimsy lie so readily. What's more important to him now was the fact that their relationship would no longer spiral into an awkward mess.
Luo Yan couldn't help but chuckle when he saw Shen Ji Yun's ear tips turning red. He's probably pretty embarrassed right now. Because he, himself, knew how stupid the lie he gave out sounded. He shook his head helplessly. This guy could seriously easily awake the bully inside him. If he was a little bit more of a sadistic bastard, he might have already been playing with this guy's feelings by now. It's good that he's a person with conscience. If not, then Shen Ji Yun, with his adorableness, would definitely suffer in his hands.
He was about to say something when he heard a rustling sound on the side. He turned towards the direction of the sound and saw small black furry paw appearing followed by a little vulpine snout. After that, the whole body of the black fox appeared. It seemed that he was finally able to get out under the Invisibility Cloak. Sure enough, after that, a thin silvery piece of cloth that appeared almost translucent suddenly appeared beside Eclipse.
Luo Yan crouched down and picked up the cloak then returned it to his Items Tab. He then turned his gaze to Eclipse who was shrinking his neck as if guilty.
[Mashter, Eclipse is sorry.]
Luo Yan flickered his forehead gently. [So, you do know you're wrong?]
[Yes, Eclipse shouldn't have jumped to Captain like that.] Eclipse raised his head, his sapphire blue eyes filling with tears. [Please, forgive Eclipse.]
Seeing his pet being cute like this, Luo Yan's idea of scolding him disappeared. But his expression still remained serious to make it seem like he was still a bit angry. [I'm not the one you should apologize to.]
Hearing that, Eclipse immediately understood and turned to Shen Ji Yun. The the little fox bowed, his head almost hitting the ground. [Captain, Eclipse is really sorry. Please, forgive Eclipse. Captain should be magnanimous and not be too angry since you did gain a lot from what Eclipse did.]
Luo Yan was amused at first by the bowing acting of Eclipse. But when he heard that part, the corner of his mouth couldn't help but twitched. Was this little guy sincere in apologizing or was he just trolling them? No, since he was the only one who could actually hear what Eclipse said, didn't it mean that he was trolling him? The urge to squeeze the little guy into a ball suddenly became strong.
He understood what the little guy meant. He's saying that because of that 'falling accident' just now, Shen Ji Yun managed to hold Luo Yan in his arms and eat his tofu. So, in a sense the other really did gain a lot. He wasn't sure if Shen Ji Yun's affection for him was so obvious that even an AI could notice it at a glance or if Eclipse simply made it his mission to ship his master with his favorite captain.
If it was the latter, the urge to squeeze this little guy into a ball became even stronger.
Shen Ji Yun, on the other hand, was a bit dumbfounded. Because he couldn't hear what Eclipse was saying, all he could see was a small black fox bowing towards him.
"Ah, Yan Yan… what is your pet doing?" he asked, unsure.
Luo Yan resisted the overwhelming urge to squeeze Eclipse. He held the little fox and stood up. "This guy was apologizing to you just now and asking for your forgiveness very sincerely," he said, biting out the word 'sincerely' while pinching Eclipse's cheek. Of course, not mentioning the last part of Eclipse's speech.
[Aw… aw… Mashter, you're hurting Eclipse.]
He ignored his complaint and just continued pinching his cheek.
Shen Ji Yun was a bit surprised when he heard that the fox was apologizing. "He still knew how to apologize?"
He didn't expect that the pets programmed in the game would be this sentient. It seemed like the programming department really went all out during this last update. He had already noticed that the little fox seemed to be unlike other NPCs. His reaction in regards to his surroundings was very lively, as if he could understand everything that's happening around him. If he was apologizing now, that only meant that he really did understand.
He stopped when he suddenly realized something. He remembered that when he was talking to that cat girl beastkin a few days ago, this fox was with him. Wouldn't that mean that he understood what was happening then? And because he could communicate with Luo Yan, the probability of him telling the other about it was very high. Then, did Luo Yan already know about it? That he did not stop someone from drawing a fan-art of them and even encouraged that person to make the two of them look closer in that fan-art.
Just thinking of that possibility, he couldn't help but feel nervous. After all, with just those, Luo Yan could immediately infer that his feelings for him was not exactly that platonic. His rabbit was so smart, he would definitely easily put two and two together. But in just a few seconds, he readily rejected the idea.
If Luo Yan did know about his feelings for him, he probably wouldn't be able to act so normally around him right now. He would either avoid him or act all awkward around him.
Maybe this fox didn't report that to Luo Yan because the other didn't ask him about it. After all, he's a pet and Luo Yan was his master. If his master didn't ask, then there's no reason to report. He wouldn't be so sentient that he would take the initiative to report it to Luo Yan, right?
With that, his hanging heart finally settled. But unbeknownst to him, this little fox had already dug a pit for him long ago.
"I think it's about time we go," Luo Yan said, already done pinching Eclipse's cheek. He turned to Shen Ji Yun. "What do you think, Brother Ji Yun?"
Shen Ji Yun nodded. "Let's go."
Luo Yan took the special teleportation scroll that would bring them to his Origin Village from his Items Tab. He turned to Shen Ji Yun again and held out his hand.
Shen Ji Yun gazed down at the palm in front of him. An almost imperceptible smile appeared on his lips. Without hesitation, he reached out to that hand. Wishing that he could forever hold onto it.