CHAPTER 149: PLAYING GAMES

Justin quickly moved to stand beside Joshua. The sofa Joshua was sitting on was a single-seater, and there was no way to squeeze Justin onto it.

He could only stand behind Joshua, leaning down so that his tall frame almost entirely enveloped Joshua, leaving him barely visible.

At that moment, Joshua suddenly took off one of his earphones and handed it to Justin. Justin couldn’t help but pause for a moment. Joshua looked at him, puzzled: "What’s wrong?"

Justin quickly shook his head: "Nothing."

He swiftly took the earphone from Joshua and put it in his ear. Immediately, cheerful music filled his ears, and Justin felt a slight warmth spread through them.

Joshua’s phone screen was still displaying the game character, tiny and white, resembling a little rabbit hopping forward relentlessly. Ahead lay countless obstacles, but they weren’t fixed in place.

Just when it seemed like he had finally escaped danger, an obstacle would accidentally fall from above or sprout from the ground. If he wasn’t quick enough, the only outcome was game over.

Joshua played with intense focus, his eyes burning like twin flames, but in the end, he lost. He directly handed the phone to Justin, blinking, silently pleading for help.

How could Justin resist? It was obviously just a regular expression from Joshua, yet Justin could already feel his palms sweating.

He took a deep breath, catching a faint peach-like sweetness in the air, smiled, and took the phone from Joshua, speaking softly: "I don’t really know how to play either, but I’ll win for you."

Hearing that, Joshua burst out laughing, patting Justin on the shoulder: "Don’t talk big, haha! I’ve been playing for three days and still haven’t reached level 2."

Joshua wasn’t very good at games, so Justin decided not to crush his spirits.

Meanwhile, Henry and the others, returning from outside, saw Joshua clinging tightly to Justin. Justin held the phone with a serious expression, while Joshua pressed against him, flailing his arms and talking nonstop.

"Right, right, right! There’s going to be a trap here... Ah, move back, move back!"

"Alive! Amazing, Justin! Ah, get out of the way, spikes are coming, move back, move back..."

Justin furiously tapped the screen, all while Joshua climbed on him. At this point, Joshua could no longer sit still on the sofa. Too excited, he climbed on top, pressing his head against Justin’s.

Justin was now sweating from Joshua climbing on him, yet a thrilled smile remained on his lips.

Until the final stage, Joshua clutched the corner of Justin’s shirt, pressing his lips together, afraid that speaking would affect Justin’s performance. The others gathered around didn’t disturb the tense atmosphere even a bit.

Justin stole a glance at Joshua, seeing him purse his lips and furrow his brows, and couldn’t help but find it slightly amusing.

Just then, Joshua suddenly felt his body tilt slightly beneath him.

What’s happening? Is this a hallucination?

The truth proved it wasn’t a hallucination, because the sofa, after Joshua’s "destruction," finally tipped backward.

Joshua shut his eyes tightly—the fall was too fast, and he didn’t even have time to jump.

Before he could react at all, his body was caught by a large, sturdy arm that slipped under his armpit.

Henry had caught Joshua, one leg braced against the sofa. The other two didn’t have time to reach out, surprised by his speed.

The air grew a little quiet, and their gazes simultaneously dropped to the exposed waist revealed by Joshua’s position.

Joshua’s T-shirt had ridden up, and his posture tensed his abdominal muscles, revealing four defined abs. Although he looked slender, he had actually trained diligently all along, constantly checking his muscles in the mirror. His muscle layers weren’t too thin, yet not so bulky as to make him look fragile. Henry’s eyes caught a flash of pale pink, stopping at Joshua’s navel, dark and mysterious.

Joshua’s waist was tiny, fair, and lightly pink-toned. Justin swallowed hard. Glancing at the other three, he quickly pulled Joshua’s shirt down while grabbing his hand to help him stand.

Henry’s leg also returned the sofa to its original place. Joshua sank onto the seat, swaying slightly, instinctively gripping the armrest, still not fully recovered.

He exhaled, then immediately looked at Justin.

Justin instinctively lifted his phone—the character had died at the final stage.

Joshua couldn’t help but let out a long sigh.

Luther found it amusing: "Hey, you almost fell just now, and all you cared about was the game. Don’t get so reckless—next time, no one’s going to catch you."

Joshua pushed Luther’s face away and blinked at Henry, smiling: "Thanks, leader."

Henry dropped his gaze to Joshua and spoke softly: "Don’t do that again next time."

Joshua smiled brightly, unbothered by Henry’s cold expression.

Leonard, on the side, teased: "Looks like Joshua isn’t afraid of you either."

Henry ignored him, patting Joshua’s head: "I don’t need him to fear me." With that, he headed to his room to prepare for a bath.

Leonard quickly snatched the phone from Justin’s hand and roared, "You were struggling with this game? Let me take you straight to the highest level!"

Leonard was incredibly talented, and Joshua couldn’t help feeling a burst of confidence. His eyes sparkled as he gave Leonard a thumbs-up: "I’m entrusting my fate to you, Leonard!"

Leonard poked the little character on the screen a few times, as if poking Joshua himself.

Luther, standing off to the side, snorted coldly and muttered, "What’s so great about being good at games..."

Joshua couldn’t help finding it funny. He patted the back of Luther’s hand and said gently, "Don’t be sad, Luther. I’m bad at games, too."

Luther instantly pulled his hand back with exaggerated dignity: "Sorry, but my skills are still far better than yours. We’re not on the same level."

Joshua immediately leaned forward, bumping Luther with his shoulder, smugly saying, "Oh? You want to start something? Trying to provoke me? Looking for a fight?"

Luther grabbed Joshua’s face, and before Joshua could react, he bit his cheek.

Joshua’s eyes widened. Before he could even wipe the saliva off his face, Luther had already bolted into his room, slamming the door behind him. The sound of devilish laughter echoed from inside.

Joshua’s expression darkened: "Luther!!"

Leonard watched Joshua prepare to storm after Luther and silently admired how skillful Luther was at escaping.

He and Justin exchanged a glance—only to both frown and look away immediately. Justin tugged Joshua back into his seat, and Leonard quickly said, "Look, level two already."

Joshua looked at the phone screen and indeed saw the character jumping around in celebration.

What he hadn’t been able to achieve in three days, Leonard accomplished in just a few minutes!

"How are you so good?! Are you insane?"

Leonard laughed and flicked Joshua’s forehead: "What are you saying, you little shrimp?"

Joshua rubbed his forehead and grinned foolishly. Then he pointed at the screen urgently: "Hurry up! You said it yourself—you’re helping me grind to the highest level!"