QTAMW

░Bing Shi's thoughts░

'Other's thoughts'

〖Xuan Mu's thoughts.〗

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From that day onwards, they began to understand each other more by asking all kinds of questions about themselves.

『Bing Shi:』 What does it feel like when you overdose on sleeping pills?

She was curious, but not enough to try it on herself.

『Xuan Mu:』 I never did drugs before. But I think I felt high? After feeling high, I started to have hallucinations and didn't know what's going on around me.

Xuan Mu typed what he remembered.

『Bing Shi:』 Oh, that's cool. Why did you drop out of school?

All her life, Bing Shi was taught that school was the top priority.

『Xuan Mu:』 They thought I was a genius and forced me into the school for the special ones. But I never cared about school. More like I never cared about anything, so I dropped out. They couldn't understand me and sent me to all kinds of psychiatrists.

She had so much to ask.

『Bing Shi:』Did those psychiatrists help you?

『Xuan Mu:』 It's easy to bypass them. They didn't find anything wrong with me. No, they didn't help me at all.

『Bing Shi:』 So interesting.

Never did she meet someone so fascinating.

『Xuan Mu:』 Are you not going to persuade me to go back to school?

『Bing Shi:』 Why should I? It's your choice, they shouldn't force you. My parents never forced me to do anything.

Instead of forcing, Bing Shi's parents overpraised her, causing her to feel pressured.

『Xuan Mu:』 You are more mature than my parents. My parents, on the other hand, always force me.

He chuckled.

『Bing Shi:』 You have a little sister, right? I remember when you had to take a break to change her diapers or to clean her teeth, and make milk for her. I would never change diapers to my brothers. I hate children.

That's the reason why Bing Shi was so surprised when Xuan Mu told her that he dropped out. Similar to her, Bing Shi imagined him as a nice boy, who took care of his sibling.

『Xuan Mu:』 You still remember? She is a spoiled girl now. She doesn't listen to me at all!

Xuan Mu looked at his tiny sister, who was watching cartoons in his room.

『Bing Shi:』 My brothers, on the other side, listen to me more than my parents, haha!

She bragged about herself.

『Xuan Mu:』 Oh, how did you do it? And why do you hate children?

He looked from his sister back to his monitor.

They began to teach each other all kinds of tips and tricks from their life experiences. The only thing they didn't know about themselves was their personal information such as their home address, and their faces.

Somehow, both of them started to hate the world less. Thinking how thanks to those bad things before, they got a chance to meet each other.

One time, Xuan Mu found an opportunity to hear her voice. It was a complicated long time-consuming dungeon, which could be shortened with lots of tricks, knowing Bing Shi, she wouldn't understand from his typing.

She agreed.

He nervously waited for his voice call to connect. When she picked up. He grew even more nervous.

"Bing Shi?" he asked quietly.

The girl on the other side was silent. Her face turned red.

*Silence...*

"Bing Shi... Are you here?" Xuan Mu grew worried and raised his voice a bit.

"Y-yeah..." Bing Shi started to fan her hot face.

"That's good," he chuckled, ignoring his violent heartbeat.

*Silence...*

The girl on the other side almost fainted from his chuckle...

"You are usually very talkative, aren't you? Now, you are so silent," Xuan Mu chuckled while thinking up how to make her talk.

"Oh god, what's wrong with your voice? It sounds so nice! Like aaah~... I can't describe it," the girl fanned her face again.

"You like it?" he laughed out.

"Oh my god! Don't laugh!" she demanded. His laugher finished her.

"... Now, let's go to the dungeon. I'll explain what you have to do," he chuckled at her reaction.

〖So cute.〗

Then, he noticed something was wrong with her voice. It was low, monotonous, without a hint of joy nor sadness. Often, he would get mad at how unresponsive she could be due to her laughter, which, for him, sounded emotionless.

"Bing Shi, am I boring? Your voice sounds so bored," he asked for the tenth time. Would she leave him for not being funny?

"Oh, you mean my voice? My brother said it sounds like I'm sleepy all the time. Don't mind it. I'm having fun. You don't have to make me laugh all the time," she giggled at his needless worry.

░Why is he so afraid of me getting bored of him? I never get bored.░

"Oh, that's good to know," Xuan Mu noted it down. Only when he got a chance to hear Bing Shi speaking to others, did he notice a difference.

Whenever Bing Shi talked with Xuan Mu, there was always a tint of sweetness in her voice.

Inside the dungeon, Bing Shi followed Xuan Mu's commands obediently. After they finished the dungeon, they went back to the city.

"Why are you playing as a girl character?" she asked when she noticed Xuan Mu playing as females, but didn't hide the fact that he was a male.

"Girls are better to look at," he said truthfully.

"Makes sense," Bing Shi switched her gender into a man and started to chase girls around, "No wonder men like to chase after girls online, it's so fun~."

Xuan Mu shook his head helplessly, chuckling to himself.

Both of them stopped appearing in public places. They didn't want to waste time. They had to finish all daily and weekly quests in a short amount of time.

She was always complaining about how she couldn't keep up with his pace. But laughed at people who gave up playing with them for them, being too fast. They had to duo everything because everyone else slowed them down to the top.

"So I wasn't slow, it was you who is too fast!" she laughed delightfully.

They tried all kinds of games chosen by Xuan Mu. Somehow, Bing Shi started to like survival games.

Currently, they were on the wooden raft in the middle of the sea. They had to keep themselves alive by catching all sorts of things from the ocean. She was having so much fun catching everything with a hook, doing the easy stuff. While he was building, expanding their raft, crafting, and killing of the sharks, everything to survive.

But they had to stop playing because Bing Shi got seasickness from a game! Xuan Mu laughed so hard, she, on the other hand, started crying.

"Noooo, I just started to enjoy it. My enjoyment, byeeeee ~ byeeeee!" Bing Shi waved her imaginary white napkin with fake tears in her mind, "Ugh, I'm going to puke."

He didn't see her green face, but he felt it in her tone. Finally, he could read her voice. He started to get worried, not for long as laugher escaped his lips, "Usually, you are so smart. So why when you are with me, you become so silly?"

"When I'm with you, I can finally switch my mind off — doing brainless things like gathering, leveling, making potions, grinding. Didn't you say you like to use your mind in games? Now it's your turn to be my sugar daddy~."

A joyous sparkle flickered in his eyes, the corner of his mouth raised up, "Aren't those things boring? Oh, let me be your sugar daddy then. I'll take care of you well."

Bing Shi grinned sheepishly, "This sugar mommy likes boring stuff too."

"Oh, Ok," Xuan Mu chuckled dotingly. He just found out that Bing Shi liked role-playing, and it's not like he minded, the opposite, he found her combos amusing, "I never saw a sugar daddy taking care of a sugar mommy."

"Me too, that's why I wanted to try it out, hehe," Bing Shi took a few deep breaths, "I think, I'm better. Let's sail, I'm not giving up until I catch all the animals for our garden!"

Resuming playing the game, Xuan Mu turned of the ocean's waves function, yet it didn't take long for Bing Shi to get motion sickness again.

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Their feelings grew on each other, but none of them confessed. They were tricky; they knew each other's feelings but said nothing.

Xuan Mu always respected her wishes; he never suggested anything, patiently waiting for her not to be scared and make the first move. And he was right.

After four months, out of nowhere, she sent him a picture of herself. The ugliest one she could find. A photo from her ID.

"I look like a murderer, right?" Bing Shi laughed gleefully. As always, they were inside their bedrooms, playing games together.

Xuan Mu was shocked beyond belief; someone like her would send pictures of herself to someone like him?

"No, not at all... you are pretty," Xuan Mu looked at the round girl with black hair combed into a ponytail.

〖So it wasn't a dream? She is real...〗

〖So pretty...〗

He got a reaction... from her face? No, it was the thought of her, showing her attachment to him. He looked down in between his legs.

〖What is she doing to me?〗

"Thank you. Can you show me yourself?" she asked.

He went to a bathroom to take a picture of himself and did as she wished.

"You look nice," she looked at a skinny young boy with a gloomy look, there were dark circles under his eyes.

"T-thanks," Xuan Mu shuttered.

It got worse and worse. Xuan Mu started to get more nightmares about Bing Shi leaving. He thought it would be enough to be friends, but the amount of wet dreams and dirty thoughts he had about Bing Shi, turned him into a pervert rather than a friend. The more Bing Shi showed attachment to Xuan Mu, the more he wanted her but also didn't.

〖She is a treasure, she should stay untouchable.〗

〖Nobody is worthy of her.〗

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"Do you like me more than a friend?" After a year and a half, she asked him out of the blue.

"I do," Xuan Mu answered straightforwardly. His heartbeat accelerated; his whole body felt hot.

Note N.6. - Just tell the truth; she knows the answer already.

"I do too. Let's date online. Here is my number. But don't call me. Just texting," she gave him her contact info.

*Thumb*

Xuan Mu's young heart exploded from too many emotions. He was looking at his monitor with his mouth agape. Then, he closed his mouth; dark thoughts started to blur his mind.

〖 She likes me more than a friend?〗

〖 Is she my girlfriend now?〗

〖 So from now on, she belongs to me?〗

〖 Does it mean she will never leave me?〗

That's when the hell broke down for Xuan Mu. His obsession with Bing Shi brought out the worst in him. And he felt so powerless against it...

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╔════ Author's note ═════╗

I especially didn't describe their features in detail, for their eyes saw something else, compared to other people.

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