Chapter 35: Showing Off What? Pfft…

The final stop was the ice skating rink.

The spacious skating rink was completely empty aside from them, not a single soul was in sight. Seeing the vast ice surface, Xia Mi La grew cheerful again. While Cui Zhe was still bending over tying his skates, she had already glided out onto the ice.

She was an excellent skater her steps light and graceful, her posture beautiful.

Cui Zhe simply sat there watching her. He saw her skate far out, spin a few circles, then slowly make her way back.

“What should I do,” he said somewhat helplessly, looking at her. “I’m not very skilled.”

Xia Mi La was that type of versatile all-rounder, but he was more specialized his skating skills were barely at the level of being able to stand steadily.

“It’s fine,” Xia Mi La extended her hand toward him. “I’ll guide you.”

Their progress was indeed much faster than Cui Zhe had anticipated.

Today’s date… could be considered holding hands too.

Xia Mi La held his hand as they slowly skated across the ice.

From his peripheral vision, Cui Zhe saw the rink’s scenery continuously receding, felt the chilly wind brushing past his cheeks, and sensed the warmth transmitted from her soft palm.

As they skated, they chatted casually about trivial matters whatever came to mind.

Cui Zhe felt profoundly peaceful inside.

He didn’t dislike spending time with Xia Mi La. Setting aside status and interests just him and Xia Mi La, purely as two individuals interacting he could accept that too.

Actually, his ideal vision of a partner was precisely this kind of quiet, warm companionship. He hadn’t expected to find this feeling with Xia Mi La.

Finally, tired from skating, they went to rest at the rink’s edge.

The skating rink was rather cold, and they had just expended considerable energy.

“I’ll have them bring some food,” Cui Zhe said. “How about some Oden? It’s warm and comforting.”

“Okay,” Xia Mi La nodded. “I’ll go to the restroom first.”

“I’ll accompany you.”

“No need,” Xia Mi La raised her hand to point. “It’s right over there, isn’t it? Very close. I can manage myself.”

Cui Zhe didn’t insist further: “I’ll wait for you here then.”

“Okay.”

Sitting on the bench at the rink’s edge, Cui Zhe glanced at his watch.

Tonight had truly been a very pleasant time. Unconsciously, time had flown by it was already approaching midnight.

He then took out his phone, opened the photo album, and checked the pictures he had taken of Xia Mi La earlier.

Most photos were taken with Xia Mi La’s phone, though a few convenience shots used his own.

They all turned out quite nice. Mainly because Mira was beautiful, so even casual shots looked good.

There was also a message from Jin He on Kakao, asking if they were finished yet.

He hadn’t replied earlier since he hadn’t used his phone much besides taking photos, and even now… he still didn’t feel like replying.

After fiddling with his phone for a while, Xia Mi La still hadn’t returned. It seemed like she’d been gone rather long. Cui Zhe glanced toward the restroom direction, planning to go find her.

But just as he stood up, Xia Mi La approached from another direction holding a cake with lit candles.

Cui Zhe remained standing there, waiting for her to slowly walk toward him.

The warm glow of candlelight illuminated her face as Cui Zhe heard her gentle voice softly say to him, “It’s past midnight. I know your family will hold a birthday party for you at the end of the month, but I remember your actual birthday is today. So, happy birthday. Am I the first one to wish you happy birthday this year?”

“Yes.” Cui Zhe reached out and helped her hold the cake. “Thank you.”

“Make a wish,” Xia Mi La smiled at him.

Cui Zhe complied, made a wish, and then blew out the candles.

The two sat down on a bench, divided the cake, and other food was brought over by the staff.

“When did you order the cake?” Cui Zhe asked curiously.

He hadn’t expected Xia Mi La to surprise him like this at all.

“I ordered it after school,” Xia Mi La replied.

So early. A peculiar thought suddenly occurred to Cui Zhe could it be that she agreed to go out with him because of his birthday?

As he pondered this, he heard her continue, “It wasn’t that difficult, and your birthday isn’t hard to remember either. I’ve wished you happy birthday every year before, haven’t I?”

Cui Zhe nodded. “Yes.”

Their relationship hadn’t been that close in the past, but they still maintained the necessary social interactions.

The conversation easily drifted to their shared history.

Though not particularly intimate, having been friends for so many years, they still had plenty of common memories.

Like last year, after the party ended, he and Jin He secretly drank together and both passed out drunk in the garden.

“Really unbearable,” Xia Mi La shook her head helplessly at the memory. “How could you drink so much? And you two were so scary, going to drink in the garden of all places.”

“In the garden,” Cui Zhe said, “how romantic.”

“Mmhmm, so romantic. If I hadn’t been looking everywhere for you, you would have frozen to death in the bushes.”

“Ahem…” Cui Zhe scratched his head. “You saved our lives.”

“Hmph, you were so refined and elegant at the birthday party, who would have thought you’d turn into drunkards right after it ended.”

Cui Zhe sighed helplessly. “We really didn’t know that alcohol would be so strong. It didn’t feel like we drank much before we blacked out. I remember A He said he wanted to call you…”

“No, he didn’t,” Xia Mi La said. “I called both of you many times but no one answered.”

“Sorry,” Cui Zhe found it both absurdly funny and somewhat apologetic.

“It’s all in the past,” Xia Mi La said. “What is there to be sorry about?”

With Jin He finally appearing in their conversation, both their thoughts drifted back to a year ago.

Just the simple desire to get drunk after the party ended… He still remembered her worried, reddened eyes when they finally sobered up.

Back then, he never imagined their relationship would develop in this direction a year later.

At that time, they were just the most ordinary of friends.

“A Zhe.” As he was thinking this, he suddenly heard Xia Mi La call his name.

“Hmm?” He turned to look at her.

But Xia Mi La wasn’t looking at him, instead gazing at the ice rink ahead. “Actually, we’ve always been good friends.”

Cui Zhe sensed there was more to her words and hesitated before responding, “Mm…”

“No matter what the relationship between Jin He and I is, it won’t affect the relationship between you and me. So you really don’t need to be so formal. There’s no need to do so many deliberate things. If you want to know any information or have any thoughts, you can tell me directly.” It was only after saying this that Xia Mi La finally looked toward him, “Because we are, and will continue to be, good friends, right?”

Cui Zhe: “…”

He began to feel apologetic again.

His approaches, his deliberate actions, his calculations – he realized she had been aware of all of them.

Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but show a bitter smile – and it seemed like he had been rejected.

*

“So this is why you stopped clinging to her?”

The next day at noon, Jin He asked this in the cafeteria of Tanmyung High School.

“Yeah,” Cui Zhe said helplessly.

He hadn’t hidden what happened last night from his good friend and Pei Duo Xing, having told them most of it.

Since Mi La had said that, he definitely couldn’t shamelessly approach her anymore.

Moreover, since Mi La had been so sincere with him, he didn’t want to play any more little games. He also wanted to treat Xia Mi La more sincerely.

Jin He wasn’t surprised by this outcome at all: “I told you long ago that Mi La is hard to pursue.”

“Yeah,” Cui Zhe responded casually again.

He was wondering what kind of guys Mi La liked now.

“What about that cake you posted in your moments,” Pei Duo Xing asked, “did Xia Mi La buy it for you?”

When she said this, her gaze was somewhat evasive. She looked at Cui Zhe, then averted her eyes, not daring to meet his gaze.

She naturally knew about Cui Zhe’s birthday too.

There was one time when she had prepared a cake, and they secretly hid behind the bushes in his family’s garden, sharing a small cake together to celebrate his birthday in advance.

This was a secret between her and Cui Zhe that Jin He didn’t know about. It was also one of those rare sweet moments she had experienced during those years.

“Mi La bought it,” Cui Zhe answered.

But his memories didn’t extend that far back – he only recalled the image of Xia Mi La carrying the cake toward him yesterday.

“Just a cake,” Jin He snorted lightly, “In the past, Xia Mi La would always carefully prepare birthday parties for me.”

From selecting the venue to decorations, from the cake to gifts, everything was thoughtfully done according to his preferences.

Cui Zhe: “…”

He didn’t know why Jin He was suddenly showing off like this. When Mi La used to do these things for him in the past, he hadn’t seemed to cherish them much.

Pei Duo Xing lowered her eyes and pursed her lips, thinking pretty much the same thing.

What’s there to show off about, pfft.

*

Xia Mi La had already left the cafeteria.

She and Xu Lian Yi were walking toward the lounge while talking.

Jin Can was following behind them, neither too close nor too far.

He was following them at a leisurely pace – just like during the meal, he had been sitting at the table behind them, and when they finished eating, he got up and followed them out.

“What’s up with Acan today?” Even Xu Lian Yi felt something was off, quickly glancing back at Jin Can before asking Xia Mi La, “Does he have something he wants to say to you?”

Xia Mi La also looked back.

She wasn’t so cautious, looking directly into Jin Can’s eyes. Instead, it was Jin Can who shifted his gaze away after meeting hers, not maintaining eye contact.

He seemed somewhat troubled.

“You go to the lounge first,” she said with a slight smile to Xu Lian Yi. “I’ll go talk with him.”

“Alright,” Xu Lian Yi didn’t say much more. “I’ll head off then.”

Xia Mi La waved at her, then stood in place, waiting for Jin Can to approach.

Jin Can maintained his usual unhurried pace, slowly walking up to her.

The two stood facing each other.

“What’s wrong?” Xia Mi La looked up at him with concern and asked, “Did you encounter some difficulty?”

—

Author’s Note: Ah, I’ve been forgetting to promote my new story preview – it’s another competitive harem scenario, but should be more lighthearted and comedic. If you’re interested, feel free to add it to your collection!

“Cyber Sister-in-Law, Zero Experience”

The highly anticipated holographic game “Real Star Love” has opened for beta testing.

The game’s NPCs are modeled after the most popular real-life celebrities,

Aiming to provide fans with the most authentic experience of dating their idols.

Xia Li was the lucky winner of the only beta access code.

Upon entering the game, she immediately chose Jiang Yan, the idol she had been chasing for years.

Unexpectedly, the game developed a bug,

Failing to overlay the perfect attributes onto the NPCs.

The game instead reflected the celebrities’ real personalities.

Shocked by Jiang Yan’s arrogance and rudeness, Xia Li consistently failed to romance him and simply switched targets.

Only to be emotionally manipulated by an award-winning actor, cheated on by a popular streamer…

The gaming experience was extremely poor.

Frustrated, Xia Li wanted to quit the game, but this triggered the second bug.

Not only was she unable to leave, but several celebrities also became trapped in the game.

The only way to escape the game was to max out Xia Li’s affection meter.

If even one person succeeded, everyone could leave.

Jiang Yan glanced at his affection level for Xia Li: 50%

He felt it wasn’t a big problem, the task didn’t seem difficult.

Then he encountered Xia Li herself and saw the displayed affection level she had for him: 0%

Jiang Yan: …

When Xia Li discovered she couldn’t leave the game, she decided to stop trying altogether.

Xia Li: Hah, why should I bother romancing anyone? You bunch of paper characters, prepare to die!