Chapter 39 - What Are You Looking At? (1/2)

“The hell are you talking about?” Adrian responded, “I’m talking about pillows and blankets.”

Fayn asked, “What are you suddenly buying pillows and blankets for? What, are you sleeping separately now?”

Adrian could deeply feel that this topic could not go on any longer. He spat his words out through his gritted teeth, “We’ve always been sleeping separately.”

“Oh right, you only have one spare set at home. I’ve even slept on them before.” Fayn was even more puzzled now. “Then why are you buying new ones?”

Wasn’t it because that damned rabbit wouldn’t go in its nest? Adrian shot Zhong Yan a look that said: You wanted to buy the blankets, you deal with it.

So Zhong Yan did. Swift as a blade, he blurted out, “One of them got dirty.”

Fayn asked, “Wouldn’t it take just two hours to throw it in the washer and dryer?”

“…It ripped, so I threw it out.” Zhong Yan forced himself further down the rabbit hole.

Fayn was shocked. “What on earth did you do to not only get a blanket dirty but also ripped?”

Zhong Yan looked to Adrian. It almost looked as if he was trying to ask for his permission to tell, but in truth, it meant: I can’t anymore, you go.

The words “what the hell kind of a stupid reason is that?” were practically written in Adrian’s eyes.

Even Fayn was feeling hesitant. He could not believe what was going on. “Could it be… you two…fought?”

“Adjutant Suster, stop asking about the blanket,” Wei Lan interjected.

Both Adrian and Zhong Yan breathed a sigh of relief, only to hear Wei Lan say, “The blanket must be dirty for reasons that are inconvenient to explain, thus why the commander is not saying it. So it would be better for you not to ask.”

“Pf-” Fayn could not help himself from laughing.

Adrian rubbed his forehead. Zhong Yan turned his head to observe the logo on Adrian’s car and pretended that they were no longer caught up in this troubling conversation.

“What’s wrong?” Seeing the reaction of the two, Wei Lan’s spoke with some confusion, “After the commander’s suggestion from last time, I reflected on it and felt that it made sense, so I’ve been learning to read the atmosphere…was there anything wrong with what I said?”

Fayn tensed up immediately, and said earnestly to him, “You’re absolutely right, Dr. Wei! It’s my fault for being too dense. I won’t ask anymore. Have you been practicing just recently? I think you’ve really made great progress!”

Adrian said to Wei Lan, “No, I don’t think you…”

But before he could finish, Fayn hooked his arm around his neck and brought him to the side, whispering, “Come on, bro, what’s up with you? Can’t you be a little nicer to Dr. Wei?”

“Me? Not nice enough?” Adrian was at his limits. “And what the hell’s with what he’s saying?”

“Then tell me, what are you buying the blankets for?”

Adrian: “…”

“Look, you’re not gonna say it either, so isn’t it an inconvenient reason to talk about? What did he say wrong?”

In that instant, Adrian felt the impulse to come clean to Fayn about the rabbit in his backyard and be done with it. This guy would definitely make fun of him, but so be it then.

“What’s more, he’s only saying this now because of that random suggestion you gave him, now look what you’ve done.” Fayn tried to persuade him, “Anyway, he was just trying to be nice and help you out. I was going to mess around more if he never spoke up, it’s just too hard to pass up.”

“Get outta here.” Adrian said, “We’ll go our own way after dinner. I can’t stand him.”

The differences between people are too huge, so Adrian thought. He didn’t even have one-hundredth of the tolerance that Zhong Yan had. Only Fayn could stand him.

“Alright, alright, I won’t bother you with your bed accessory shopping, okay? Don’t be so cold man.”

While talking, Fayn led him back with his arm still around his shoulders. Enthusiastically, he turned to Wei Lan. “The commander said he didn’t think your efforts were fruitless. You’re doing really great right now!”

Adrian couldn’t stand to hear more so he twisted his head to the side, and noticed that Zhong Yan was looking straight at him. With outsiders around, his demeanor was as calm as still water, but Adrian could still see resentment welling up in his beautiful phoenix eyes.

What happened? Adrian pondered on it for a moment and realized that Fayn’s arm was still around him.

Zhong Yan had once accused him of “being interested in Fayn”.

Adrian shuddered and shrugged Fayn’s arm off his shoulder.

“What’s up with you?” Fayn suddenly asked while speaking with Wei Lan, perplexed.

“Stop pulling me around when you talk. Do it normally. There’s people watching, show some propriety.”

“What? Who’s watching?” Fayn asked.

Zhong Yan quickly paved a way out for Adrian. “So what’s good to eat in Navi’s capital? I saw some good reviews for a steakhouse in the virtual community, should we eat there?”