Chapter 422: Day 27 into the Mary Sue Story

Chapter 422: The Twenty-Seventh Day of Being Thrown into a Mary Sue Story

What the hell is inside this idiot's head?! Tofu dregs?!!

"I get it!" An Yi was panicking too, raising his voice, cutting him off in near-exasperation at Lu Lu's absurd actions and words.

Lu Lu flinched at the shout and blinked his eyes open in a daze, only to see An Yi staring back at him, eyes wide with disbelief.

"Put your clothes back on right now! Are you stupid?!" An Yi's voice had lost its usual calm, now sharp with irritation and urgency.

Lu Lu was rattled by An Yi's unprecedented outburst, and finally snapped out of his ridiculous "proof" stunt.

Shame hit him like a wave as he scrambled to grab the edges of his undone jacket, hastily wrapping himself and yanking his pants back up. His face was burning red, the flush creeping all the way down his neck.

He hung his head, not daring to meet An Yi's eyes, wishing the floor would swallow him whole.

What had he just... what had he just done?! He actually... dropped his pants in front of An Yi?!

But... but he was really desperate... He was scared An Yi wouldn't believe him, scared An Yi would get the wrong idea...

Lu Lu finished getting dressed, looking like a grade-schooler caught with his hand in the cookie jar, head down, stealing glances at An Yi from the corner of his eye.

That look was shy, timid, pitiful, and aggrieved—too complicated to put into words.

An Yi looked at him in that state, and the irritation and absurdity in his chest faded by more than half, leaving behind nothing but helplessness and a mix of amusement and exasperation.

He took a deep breath and found his usual composure again.

Lu Lu stole a few glances at An Yi, and seeing that he seemed less angry, felt his courage creep back a little.

He licked his dry lips, scraped together the last of his courage, and spoke again in a tiny, tiny voice: "An Yi, I really like you."

An Yi looked at him—at his red ears, his damp eyes full of anxiety and hope, and his lips pressed tight in a way that looked almost pitiful.

The last bit of agitation from Lu Lu's absurd behavior finally settled, dissolving into a barely audible sigh.

He'd figured it out—with someone like Lu Lu, common sense just didn't apply.

"I know." An Yi's voice was back to its usual gentleness, with a hint of helplessness.

Lu Lu's eyes lit up the second he heard those three words!

He knows? An Yi said "I know"! He didn't say no! Does this... does this mean...

Encouraged, Lu Lu shuffled another small step closer.

He looked at An Yi's calm expression, hesitated, then suddenly dropped to one knee—on purpose this time.

He knelt in front of the sofa where An Yi was sitting, looked up, and tentatively wrapped his arms around An Yi's waist, burying his face against his stomach.

An Yi stiffened for a moment but didn't push him away.

Feeling that, Lu Lu was ecstatic inside!

He tightened his arms, pulling An Yi even closer, his cheek feeling the warmth and the soft lines of An Yi's body through the thin fabric.

He took a deep breath, breathing in An Yi's nice scent, and spoke in a muffled voice, full of hope, asking carefully: "An Yi, let's be together, okay?"

An Yi looked down at Lu Lu, whose ears were bright red as he buried his face against his waist.

Those puppy-dog eyes, always so damp, were peeking up at him now, filled with longing that was about to spill over.

He'd already decided to say yes.

Before Lu Lu's big confession downstairs, before his clumsy second confession, even before all those ridiculous, absurd stunts—he'd already made up his mind.

But... remembering Lu Lu's jaw-dropping "pants-dropping vow" from earlier, An Yi felt a lump in his throat, and the word "yes" just wouldn't come out.

He felt that agreeing now would be like endorsing and enabling the guy's bizarre way of thinking and behaving.

But... looking at Lu Lu's pitiful, hopeful eyes, he couldn't bring himself to say no either.

An Yi was quiet for a few seconds. Finally, under Lu Lu's increasingly anxious, almost tearful gaze, he gave the tiniest nod and let out a syllable from his throat, tinged with reluctant resignation:

"Mhm."

Lu Lu was over the moon!

He heard it! An Yi said yes! An Yi actually said yes!

His eyes flew wide open, shining with pure, unbridled joy. His whole face lit up with pure joy, and the corners of his mouth stretched into a huge, goofy, brilliant grin.

"An Yi! You said yes! You said yes!" He nearly jumped up, but immediately plopped back down on the carpet beside An Yi, then, without a second thought, wrapped both arms around An Yi's waist, burying his face in An Yi's neck and greedily breathing in his scent.

"I like you so much! So much! An Yi! I'm so happy! So happy I could die!" His voice was muffled because his face was buried against An Yi.

An Yi was being squeezed a little too tight. He smiled, raised a hand, and patted Lu Lu's head where it was nestled in his neck, the gesture carrying a hint of barely-there indulgence.

"Mhm." An Yi's voice came from right by his ear, gentle and clear: "I like you too."

Those four simple words were like a sweet spell, making Lu Lu's whole body tingle, so happy he felt like he might float away.

He hugged even tighter, nuzzling into An Yi's neck, making happy little humming sounds.

After a long while, Lu Lu loosened his hold a little, but stayed sitting close to An Yi on the carpet by the sofa, his head resting against An Yi's leg.

He looked up at An Yi's face, which looked especially soft and beautiful in the gentle light, his heart full to bursting with happiness.

Then something suddenly occurred to him, and his face quietly flushed red again.

He remembered his own stupidly ridiculous "proof" stunt from earlier, and An Yi's shocked expression at the time... It was so embarrassing...

But also, An Yi had said yes to being with him in the end!

A wave of shy, sweet emotion washed over him.

His brain short-circuited again, his mouth running ahead of his brain once more. He leaned in close to An Yi and asked in a breathy, shy, hesitant whisper, just loud enough for the two of them to hear:

"So... is it big?"

An Yi's expression, which had been soft with a faint smile, froze all over again at those words.

He slowly looked down at Lu Lu leaning against his leg, face tilted up, red as a tomato, eyes flustered but holding a hint of inexplicable anticipation.

An Yi: "..."