After silently gazing at the scenery for a while, the “me” who had “fallen” into the lake, after a bout of useless struggling, realized that Gu Fan never once cast his gaze toward me. I gave up on resisting, letting gravity pull me down toward the lake’s bottom.
It felt as if I couldn’t sense my own heartbeat. I remained dazed for a long time, until my cheek was poked, and I finally woke up. By then, the sky had already turned completely dark.
“It’s so late, time for dinner. Let’s go.”
As though nothing had happened earlier, Gu Fan smiled as usual and walked ahead, leading the way.
A bitter taste echoed in my chest. Lowering my head gloomily, I stepped on Gu Fan’s shadow, secretly venting my dissatisfaction.
And then… just like that, following close behind Gu Fan, I was taken back to his home. His home—not mine.
“Wouldn’t this be a little inappropriate…? It’s already night. I’m afraid of disturbing your family.”
I said the kind of polite words that weren’t my true intention, desperately hoping Gu Fan wouldn’t follow along with them and really refuse to let me in.
Standing in front of Gu Fan’s front door, my heart pounded wildly. If it weren’t for the fact that this was a public place where others might see us, I would’ve already hugged him in excitement and kissed his cheek.
Mmm… Just thinking about it makes me giggle. But doing something that bold… I probably wouldn’t dare.
Not because I don’t like Gu Fan enough, nor because I haven’t gotten past that mental barrier, but because I’m afraid Gu Fan might dislike such overly intimate behavior.
After all, the first impression Gu Fan gives people is that finely measured sense of distance.
Not overly intimate, yet not distant either.
“We’re already here. Won’t you at least stay for dinner before leaving? Or… is Zhi Nian trying to run away? If you did that, I’d be very sad.”
The corners of Gu Fan’s eyes curved, his upper body leaning slightly closer toward me, speaking words that were nearly an outright hint. He really did seem like a mischievous little puppy…
But when I heard those words, my heart finally relaxed completely.
“I promise.”
Suppressing the excitement that was almost rushing up my throat, I tried to maintain a tone of composure.
I wasn’t quite sure what Gu Fan’s motive was in bringing me to his home for dinner. We had eaten together before, but always at restaurants outside.
I had never actually experienced having a proper meal in someone else’s home.
Gu Fan opened the door with his key, slipped it back into his pocket, but didn’t go in immediately.
Instead, he turned around, took hold of my wrist, and led me into his home.
“Mom, I’m back.”
“Mm, mm, I know. The dishes on the table should still be warm.”
From the sofa in the living room, a woman responded to Gu Fan’s greeting. I looked toward the living room, just in time to catch her casually glancing toward the entrance.
Then I saw her half-lidded eyes suddenly light up with a “spark”—amber-colored pupils, exactly the same as Gu Fan’s.
“Oh ho, Xiao Gu, you’ve really grown up, huh?”
As expected… Gu Fan’s mother was still just as unrestrained as ever.
Mother Gu raised her brows at me, as if she still hadn’t fully recovered from her surprise. I, on the other hand, quickly gave her a slight bow in return.
“Excuse me, Auntie. I’m Gu Fan’s friend, my name is Shen Zhi Nian. You still remember me, right?”
Out of habit, I instinctively adopted a cautious and respectful tone when facing Gu Fan’s family.
I didn’t even give myself time to think about my wording—my voice unconsciously dropped very, very low.
“Ah, of course I remember! My Xiao Gu having such an adorable catgirl childhood friend—I’m honestly jealous of him.”
Gu Fan’s mother stood up from the sofa, walked straight over to us, and placed her hands on both our shoulders, gently pushing us toward the dining room.
“Alright, alright, no more chatting. You two must be hungry, right? I’ll go warm up the food, just wait a little.”
Hearing her say that, and with my stomach indeed a bit empty, I obediently let Auntie guide me to a seat.
The dishes on the table were carried back into the kitchen one by one, and when they returned, they were steaming hot.
Even though I already knew what kind of personality Gu Fan’s mother had, being treated so warmly again still made me feel both happy and nervous. Growing up, I had barely ever been cared for in this way.
“You’ll get used to it. My mom doesn’t have any bad intentions—she’s just a bit too energetic, so don’t mind her.”
The boy sitting directly across from me said helplessly, resting his left hand against his forehead. His slender, beautiful fingers brushed through his bangs.
I stared blankly at him for a while before nodding absentmindedly.
“Mm, it’s fine. I actually really like Auntie’s personality—it makes me feel warm inside.”
At first glance, Gu Fan’s mother seemed very different from him, but if you looked deeper, you’d find they were actually alike in their gentleness.
Of course, the most important thing was that she was Gu Fan’s mother. If a stranger had treated me with such enthusiasm, I would’ve been unable to accept it.
The warmth of an unknown person… it might be overwhelming enough to swallow me whole.
“Do you want a drink? I’ll go get you one.”
“Mhm, sorry to trouble you, Gu Fan.”
Gu Fan got up and walked to the refrigerator, but the moment he opened the door and saw the situation inside, his expression suddenly froze, and his brows furrowed tightly.
“…What’s wrong?”
I had been secretly watching Gu Fan all along, so I quickly noticed his unusual reaction.
“Um… can you drink alcoholic beverages? It looks like we’re out of soft drinks at home.”
Facing the inside of the fridge, Gu Fan explained hesitantly. Just then, Gu’s mother came out of the kitchen carrying the last two dishes.
Hearing what Gu Fan said, she also paused in her tracks.
“Uh, didn’t you remind me to buy drinks earlier? Ahaha, sorry, sorry, I forgot. I’ll just…”
As she spoke, she noticed Gu Fan slowly shifting his gaze toward her. She immediately straightened her back, quickly put the plates on the dining table, and slipped back into the living room.
Gu Fan watched her leave, then sighed helplessly once again.
“Cocktail—one with a very low alcohol content. Want to give it a try? If you don’t like it, Zhinian, I’ll go downstairs to buy something else.”
Gu Fan walked over holding two bottles of cocktail packaged in frosted glass. Since I had never dealt with such drinks before, I couldn’t tell whether the glass itself was blue or if the liquid inside was blue.
Although I wasn’t confident in my alcohol tolerance, since Gu Fan said the alcohol content was low, I didn’t want him to make another trip. Naturally, I nodded and agreed.
With two crisp “ka-cha, ka-cha” sounds, both bottles of cocktails were opened. White mist drifted up from the mouths of the bottles. I held mine curiously in my hands and took a small sip.
“Mm… sour and sweet… it doesn’t taste like alcohol at all…”
“As long as it suits your taste. One bottle should be fine. If you pass out, I’ll carry you home.”
Gu Fan said this as he tilted his head back and took a big gulp of his own cocktail.
“Eh? But if you drink, you can’t drive!”
“Oh, that’s true.”
Gu Fan raised his eyebrows, and the hand holding the bottle froze midair, stuck between putting it down or lifting it again.
“Well then… looks like if Zhi Nian gets drunk, I’ll just have to carry you back myself.”
“W-wah! Gu Fan, you’re so mean…”
Even though I knew he was teasing me, just being teased like that made my heart skip a beat. My cat ears twitched sharply, as if struck by an electric current.