Chapter 229 - A PICTURE OF A FAMILY (1/2)
”WHAT'S wrong?” Shen Ji Yun asked when he saw Luo Yan almost stumbling. He readily stretched out his hand to hold his elbow. But before he could do that, Luo Yan already steadied himself.
Luo Yan laughed, as if embarrassed. ”I'm alright. Just lost my balance for a bit.”
”Then does that mean you feel dizzy?”
He raised his head and saw Shen Ji Yun's worried gaze. He tried to smile more genuinely to assure him that he's really alright. ”I'm really okay, Brother Ji Yun. I probably just stepped on a small stone that's why I almost stumbled.”
A small stone? Are the streets on Goldcrest City not paved properly? Was there a bug? Maybe he should talk to Brother Zhao about this. What if the next time Luo Yan was walking alone here, he tripped again and truly fell over?
Luo Yan looked at his pet. [What do you mean by 'marry'?]
Eclipse saw that his master was smiling when he asked that. But for some reason, he thought that if he gave the wrong answer, he would be punished. So, he decided to be honest and not be naughty. For the time being. [When Mashter marry someone, he would form an automatic connection to that person. It's a very special connection that would allow the two of you to communicate mentally and to feel whenever the other is in danger. That connection would also extend to Eclipse since Mashter is my owner. So, Eclipse would be able to talk to Mashter's partner.]
With Eclipse's explanation, Luo Yan suddenly remembered that Arcadia did have a marriage system when it was still a PC game. Just like any other MMORPG games back then. He just didn't expect that it was still present here in the VR version. But that's not the problem. The main problem was Eclipse suggesting he married Shen Ji Yun.
[You do know that your master and the captain you like are both boys. We can't get married.]
[Mashter, you don't have to worry about that. His Majesty promotes free love. Even if you have the same gender, you can still get married.] – Eclipse said in a proud tone, as if complimenting the King of Arcadia for having a wide view of the world.
Luo Yan felt the corner of his mouth twitching. If he was still holding Eclipse, he probably already flicked his forehead. [That's not really the main issue. I and Brother Ji Yun are friends. We don't have that kind of relationship.]
[Mashter, how could that be an issue? Aren't most relationsh.i.p.s start with friendship? With Mashter's beauty, Eclipse is certain that, sooner or later, Captain will be tempted and pursue you. With how excellent Captain is, Mashter will definitely not reject him. Then the two of you will get married. After that, Eclipse will be able to communicate with Captain.]
This time, Luo Yan didn't resist laughing. This little guy said so much nonsense, but at the end, the whole point of his tirade was he simply wanted to talk to Shen Ji Yun. He chose not to comment, unless Eclipse said more nonsensical things. Well, maybe not really all nonsense. After all, he was still on the stage of assessing whether he was truly attracted to Shen Ji Yun in that way. Though he was still not sure how he would do that without molesting Shen Ji Yun.
But it's not really something that needed his immediate attention. With his pavilion and the upcoming Rookie Carnival next month, he already had his hands full. He only had a month to prepare for that tournament. Not only did he need a good weapon, he also had to train with Eclipse so the two of them could fight seamlessly together. He wanted to win the championship. It would be his own way of telling the whole Arcadia community that the number one Assassin on the PvP leaderboard back then was finally back.
After that incident at the rooftop, he decided to just take his time to slowly understand his feelings for Shen Ji Yun, if there really was one. It's not as if the other would just vanish anyway. They're teammates. They see each other almost every day, albeit virtual. They even exchange messages on WeChat from time to time. That's why he firmly believed that sooner or later he would be able to grasp the reason why he felt those weird feelings sometimes when he's with Shen Ji Yun.
”What are you two talking about?” Shen Ji Yun asked, because he was sure that the two were conversing with each other again.
Shen Ji Yun's question temporarily cut-off Luo Yan's train of thoughts. He turned to him and smiled. ”Nothing. Eclipse was just saying how much he enjoyed being hugged by Brother Ji Yun.”