On the sofa, Zhong Yan took a light sip of the coffee in his hand, surprised to find that it was unexpectedly sweet, not the bitter flavor he remembered.
It reminded him of the time he skipped class with Ellen to get coffee.
Could it be... Ellen remembered I don't like bitter coffee and added sugar just for me?
If that were true, it would be truly touching.
"Hey, you're staring at me like that—it's seriously creepy..." Ellen's lips twitched in annoyance, her expression full of disdain.
So weird... in the dream, when he looked at me like that, it felt so nice. Why does it feel so gross in real life? Ellen just couldn't make sense of it.
"Ahem, it's just... I haven't seen you in a while, and suddenly you seem... even more beautiful than before." Realizing his misstep, Zhong Yan coughed awkwardly, trying to recover.
His completely unsubtle flattery earned him a sharp side-eye from Ellen. "Smooth talker. Instead of wasting your breath, just finish your coffee and get going."
With that, Ellen stood up and walked into her room. As the door closed behind her, her breathing and heartbeat immediately quickened, and her cheeks turned slightly red.
The culprit? Zhong Yan's compliment.
It was such a lame pickup line, and yet... why did hearing it from him make me feel so shy?
She even wanted to grab a mirror and check whether she really did look better than before.
Words from different people... hit completely differently depending on your relationship.
Though Ellen acted irritated by Zhong Yan, in reality, just sitting next to him had her heart pounding. The fact that she managed to hide it for so long was already impressive.
"Ugh... ever since I had that dream, I can't even talk to him like a normal person." Ellen crouched down, burying her face in her knees, her tail swaying behind her in sync with her fluttering thoughts.
Meanwhile, Zhong Yan, blissfully unaware of Ellen's emotional storm, was just sipping coffee on the couch.
As far as he was concerned, the best news was that Ellen's injuries were recovering.
Thinking that, he set down the half-finished cup of coffee and looked toward Ellen's room—just in time to see her coming out again.
She had a box of candy in her hands.
"...You're still here?" Trying to suppress her emotions, Ellen glanced over at him with feigned indifference. Then, she placed the candy box on the table in front of the sofa. "Since I've missed a whole week of school, think of this as compensation. Eat as much as you want—but you're not allowed to take any with you."
Looking at the colorful variety of candies before him, Zhong Yan knew this was no small gesture—Ellen adored sweets, so this was a true luxury.
Letting him eat them freely at her place was probably the most she could compromise.
Naturally, Zhong Yan didn't stand on ceremony. Still... coffee and candy together—what an indescribably odd taste.
"Oh, right. This is for you." Tossing a piece of candy into his mouth, Zhong Yan suddenly remembered something, pulling out a bracelet from his pocket.
He had spotted it earlier on the way here, in a small shop.
It wasn't made of any rare material, but it was finely crafted—and most importantly, it had a little cartoon shark charm dangling from it. That charm was exactly why he bought it.
Naturally, it was meant for Ellen.
"This... is for me?" Ellen blinked in surprise when Zhong Yan handed her the bracelet.
Then, seeing the cartoon shark, she immediately realized why he had picked it.
"You... you seriously got me something like this." Without hesitation, Ellen accepted the bracelet and began examining it closely.
Honestly, the design was a bit quirky and not particularly elegant—Zhong Yan clearly didn't have the best eye for these things.
Still, it was the first gift he'd ever given her.
And that made all the difference.
"Thank you, Zhong Yan. I'll take good care of it."
That unexpected gift shattered the carefully maintained walls around her heart, and her affection for Zhong Yan soared to new heights.
There was a strange tension now filling the air.
But contrary to what some might imagine—nothing inappropriate happened between them afterward.
In fact, after giving her the bracelet, Zhong Yan very politely excused himself and left.
He had only come to check on her—after all, her injuries had been severe, and she would need plenty of time to recover.
Fortunately, thanks to her shark-like regenerative abilities, Ellen healed much faster than most.
Otherwise, she'd probably still be stuck in the hospital, with no chance to be lounging at home like this.
As a side note—seriously, don't eat candy right after drinking coffee. That weird blend of bitterness and sweetness is just... unexplainable.
...
Time began to pass quickly once Zhong Yan's life returned to its normal rhythm.
Joining the twin siblings in exploring the Hollow and completing commissions had become a regular part of his daily routine.
Back in the day, he could freely move through Hollows using Kamui, without ever worrying about route planning or logistics.
But now, after numerous joint operations with the Phaeton siblings, he had picked up a great deal of Hollow-exploration know-how.
Even if he couldn't yet be called a pro, he was definitely a bona fide Bangboo wrangler now.
In fact, even when working solo, as long as he used the Carrot database installed in Pei, he could fully operate in the Hollows under the name "Zhong Yan."
Of course, when working alone... it still felt better using the identity of Uchiha.
No matter how detailed the Carrot maps were, they could never compete with a single Kamui teleport.
Recently, as the municipal elections drew near, public security in New Eridu had been cranked up another level—and that also meant the main storyline from the game was just about to begin.