Chapter 561: Critical HP Damage

    "Did you cry?"

    Gu Luoxin’s hand abruptly shook when he heard that question. H–How did Senior know? Had he given something away?? No, he was certain that he had not shed even a single teardrop since they started speaking on the phone, so there was no way Noir could know about it! As for the question, was it just a blind guess? Because his voice sounded a little weird when he picked up the call?

    Gu Luoxin’s mind raced furiously in that split second before he came to a solid decision. He wouldn’t admit it even if someone held a knife to his throat— it was simply too pathetic!

    With the mentality of not knowing how to stop until he hit a dead end, Gu Luoxin turned around with a perfectly bewildered expression. "No...?" he displayed a mix of confusion and curiosity in his tone. "Why did you say that, Senior?"

    Stellar acting, Xinxin! The musical theater industry will lose out if they don’t recruit a genius like you!

    "Really?" Noir narrowed his emerald eyes, and Gu Luoxin began to sweat— or it could also be because he had set the heater too high.

    "Uh-huh, really." Gu Luoxin blinked, still looking as guileless as ever.

    "But your eyes are as red as a rabbit," Noir pointed out, plunging Gu Luoxin into a state of confusion.

    Without thinking, he moved to the mirror in the hallway to check his eyes. "That’s impossible," he refuted. "My eyes don’t turn red that easily when I cry..." halfway through his sentence, he belatedly sensed something amiss. At the same time, he caught sight of his own reflection on the mirror— he looked perfectly normal, save from the tip of his nose that had turned slightly red due to the cold. Where were the red eyes Noir was talking about??

    Leaning against the opposite wall, Noir had his arms crossed over his chest in a casual posture, a barely perceptible smirk hanging on the corner of his lips. "I lied."

    Gu Luoxin: "..."

    0 - 1

    This round, the genius Xinxin lost miserably in the hands of his cunning opponent.

    "Senior, you’re so mean," he finally gave up the pretense and admitted dejectedly, his voice barely a murmur. "I didn’t want you to know..." and the more maddening thing was, he couldn’t find it in himself to muster even a morsel of anger after being tricked. Sigh, Senior was so handsome that his mere presence purified the air and made this world a better place, so how could Gu Luoxin afford to be mad at him? He just did not want the person he liked to think that he was such a crybaby, that’s all...

    Alas, as though sensing the line of his thoughts and insisting on going against them, the next thing Noir said was, "Why? Embarrassed to let people know how much of a crybaby you are?"

    KO! 0 - 2!

    "Ugh!" Gu Luoxin clutched his chest as though an invisible arrow had struck him, his expression pained. If this was a video game, he would have received a critical HP damage due to this single sentence, his health bar depleting rapidly to its very last breath. "Can you please... don’t be so cruel..." he weakly pleaded for mercy. "Don’t tell me you came all the way here just because you want to see me cry..."

    Noir’s response was simply an arched brow, his face unreadable. He did not confirm with a ’yes’ or ’no’, nor did he elaborate on his sudden presence. Instead, he jutted his chin toward Gu Luoxin, asking, "What’s that?"

    "Huh?" Gu Luoxin followed his line of sight and saw the canvas bag which he had tied around the strap of his backpack to make it easier when he rode the bicycle later. He had been too taken aback by Noir’s appearance that he had unknowingly carried it everywhere he went. "Oh, this? It’s the food I made for my uncle. But there’s no one to eat them now, so I planned to take them back with me," he released a quiet chuckle, trying to make his tone sound as casual as possible.

    But what he did not realize was how expressive he usually was. Each of his emotions would be displayed vividly not just through the corners of his lips, but also in the subtle arch of his brows, the way his eyes crinkled in the corners, and the slightest shifts of his facial muscles. There was also his body language. He smiled not only with his face, but also his entire body.

    But when he forced himself like this, his expression would turn stiff and unnatural, and his eyes would dim, betraying the emotions he tried so hard to conceal.

    Noir opened his mouth to say something, when he saw Gu Luoxin’s expression turn thoughtful. "Have you eaten yet, Senior?" he asked, a flicker of hope and anticipation flashing in his round eyes. "If you don’t mind, would you like to try...?"

    He held up the canvas bag with both hands timidly, hesitantly, just like a small hamster presenting a beautiful seed it had stored, fearing that his sincere offer would be met with cold refusal.

    Noir nearly choked, and the words he had originally meant to say became, "...Okay."

    In the next instant, Gu Luoxin’s expression bloomed into pure joy— so bright and genuine this time, it was almost blinding.

    Ten minutes later, the two of them sat on the dining table with the reheated food laid out before them. After Gu Luoxin conscientiously introduced each dish he had cooked, he watched with a nervous bob of his throat as Noir put the first bite into his mouth.

    "H-How is it?" he couldn’t resist asking, his knuckles tightening around the chopsticks.

    Noir hummed with nary a change in his expression. "...Not bad."

    Not bad? Gu Luoxin blinked twice. Coming from Noir, it should have meant... passable, right?

    Gu Luoxin bit down on his chopsticks, unable to contain the silly grin spreading across his face. He lowered his head and brought a big mouthful of warm rice into his mouth, chewing heartily, though once in a while he couldn’t resist stealing a few glances at the man opposite him. Even now, he still felt a sense of surrealism when he saw Noir in the house where he grew up. This was something he had never foreseen could come true before, on the last day of the year to boot!

    Yet it somehow did, all thanks to this man who always brought him unexpected surprises.

    It was hard to believe he had been so depressed just moments ago, but now the suffocating sadness and loneliness that choked him and threatened to pull him under seemed so, so far away, like an event from the past lifetime. And he owed this all to Noir.

    Because of Noir’s presence, the house which had once felt so cold and empty suddenly became warm and cozy.

    "Eat properly and don’t keep staring at me," Noir suddenly pointed out without lifting his head.

    Cheeks flushing, Gu Luoxin hurriedly dropped his gaze and buried his head into his rice bowl. "O-Oh."