After finishing his afternoon practice, although he had been focusing on his breathing, he knew that concentrating on his breathing exercises in the quiet dojo wouldn't yield any substantial results.
So, he decided to take up his own unique, somewhat intrusive, concentration practice after dinner.
**Supermarket**
After parking his bicycle, he went straight to the electronics section and picked out a music player with the loudest volume. Then, he bought some glutinous rice from the rice shop.
Only then did he ride his bike back home.
The trees by the roadside rustled in the wind, and leaves occasionally fell onto his shoulders and arms.
After returning home, he quickly ate a few bites of food and then started searching for and downloading music that would make people feel annoyed or irritable. He downloaded the tracks onto his phone.
It wasn’t until around 7 PM that he finally got everything ready.
He stretched lazily, but his gaze inadvertently landed on a game icon.
“It’s been a while since I last played. Maybe I’ll have a quick match?”
He muttered to himself.
Then, he clicked on the game and entered the matchmaking queue.
As soon as he entered the game, he instinctively glanced at the bottom left corner and saw that [Cute and Noble] had joined the game…
He didn’t pay much attention to it, as he had already forgotten about it.
……………………
Not far away, in the villa area,
Cornelia looked at her teammate’s name and suddenly stood up, gritting her teeth as she stared at the in-game name [Yasuo King]. Her eyes burned with fury.
She knew the time for revenge had come.
“Today, I’ll make you feel guilty. I’ll make you experience the taste of sleeplessness too!”
Cornelia clenched her fists and muttered fiercely through her teeth.
As expected, about ten minutes into the game,
after she had died ten times, [Yasuo King] clicked on her ID.
“He’s going to scold me, he’s going to scold me! He’s going to scold me!”
Cornelia said excitedly, her eyes sparkling with anticipation.
[Yasuo King]: “Can you just go AFK and let the AI play?”
Seeing this message, a sly smile spread across Cornelia’s face. She looked at the screen and began typing.
[Cute and Noble]: “Sorry, I’ve been diagnosed with cancer and need to rest in bed. I’m playing lying down today, so I’m not used to it.”
[Yasuo King]: “Oh, I understand. I’m sorry too. I have late-stage heart disease, so I’m a bit irritable and anxious. Please understand.”
Cornelia was momentarily stunned by this message, and her expression shifted between disbelief and confusion.
“Is he lying to me?”
“He’s definitely lying, just like I did!”
Cornelia bit her lip, muttering to herself. But the next message from him left her completely dumbfounded.
[Yasuo King]: “I haven’t played the game in a while. This is my last match. Let’s do our best together. After this, I’ll delete my account.”
At that moment, Cornelia felt like her entire world was collapsing!
Was it true?
How could it be?
But he really hadn’t been online for a long time…
Although she still had some doubts, she began to take the game more seriously.
With the team’s renewed vigor, they gradually turned the game around from a losing position to a winning one, ultimately securing victory.
“We won!”
Cornelia stood up and jumped in excitement as the enemy’s Nexus exploded. But the next second, she felt a wave of overwhelming guilt wash over her.
She moved her mouse and clicked on the recent match history. [Yasuo King]’s name was still lit up, indicating he hadn’t deleted his account and was still online.
Suddenly, a friend request popped up.
Cornelia glanced at it and saw the familiar name.
He added me?!
She clicked accept, and a chat window appeared.
[Yasuo King]: “It’s so hard to win a game with a noob like you. Didn’t expect that, did you? I was lying to you. Hahahahaha!”
The next second, Cornelia’s face twisted in anger, and her mental state plummeted to its lowest point.
She clenched her fists tightly, ready to type a retort, but found that she had already been blocked by him.
“Damn it, damn it!!! You’re the worst!”
Her hands were trembling, and the veins on her forehead were visibly throbbing.
“Why? Why did you lie to me? Why did you lie to me?”
Cornelia shouted in frustration, her voice echoing through the empty room.
A minute later, she slumped back onto the couch, muttering to herself, “Well, at least he doesn’t have heart disease.”
She shook her head and decided to go find Su Cheng. Whenever she was feeling down, she liked to spend time with him because his words were as comforting as a therapist’s.
Plus, there was always the bonus of getting some walnuts as a reward.
Besides, this time she had a legitimate reason to visit Su Cheng.
**Returning the slippers.**
The slippers from yesterday had already been dried, and she had even attached a personalized label to them.
Thinking of this, she grabbed the plastic bag and headed toward Su Cheng’s neighborhood. When she arrived at his building, she saw Su Cheng pushing his bicycle out, apparently about to leave.
Cornelia quickly walked up and stopped him.
“Su Cheng!”
She called out to him.
Su Cheng looked up at her, his eyes filled with confusion. “Hmm?”
Cornelia hesitated, unsure of how to explain herself.
Finally, she held up the plastic bag and said in a serious tone, “I’m here to return the slippers from yesterday!”
“Tomorrow. I’m busy right now.”
Su Cheng said as he got on his bicycle, but then he noticed Cornelia’s pitiful and pleading expression.
“I’m busy right now. You can go ahead.”
Su Cheng sighed and took out his keys from his pocket, tossing them to her.
Cornelia caught the keys in disbelief, staring at them as if she were in a dream.
“Are these… house keys?”
Cornelia looked at the keys in her hand, momentarily dazed.
“Yeah.”
Su Cheng rode off on his bicycle, but before he left, he couldn’t help but add, “Just put them under the doormat when you’re done.”
“Keys… keys.”
Cornelia repeated the word over and over, and then it suddenly hit her.
“Wow.”
Cornelia’s face lit up with joy as she looked at the keys in her hand. Then, she glanced at the disappearing figure of Su Cheng on his bicycle, her heart pounding wildly.
Su Cheng had given her his house keys.
Did that mean…?
Cornelia thought to herself, then immediately skipped into the neighborhood and straight into Su Cheng’s house.
“It’s just me here…”
She put on the slippers she had brought and confidently walked into the living room, which was empty.
“Huh? The bedroom door isn’t closed?”
Cornelia noticed that the bedroom door was unlocked and the TV was still on. Using the excuse of turning off the TV, she tiptoed to the door, pushed it open, and saw the neatly folded blankets on the bed.
She walked in, a faint blush appearing on her cheeks.
Does he sleep on this bed?
Cornelia wondered, then turned her gaze to the light source nearby. She realized it wasn’t the TV but a computer, and the screen displayed a game interface.
“He plays this game too?”
Cornelia’s heart leaped with joy. She stepped forward, extended her slender, pale fingers, and gently clicked the mouse to check the player’s profile.
[Yasuo King]