Sheng Kuang froze, his entire being seemingly put on pause.
The private room was quiet. Lin Jing stirred her coffee with a small spoon, took a slow sip, and then looked up at Sheng Kuang, who hadn't reacted for a long time. She blinked and said, "Only within the game."
Sheng Kuang snapped back to attention. "What?"
"..."
Lin Jing remained expressionless for a moment, then repeated her words, word for word: "I said, should we form a couple? Only within the game."
Sheng Kuang fell silent again, his expression freezing once more.
Lin Jing pouted slightly, clearly displeased. "Forget it, pretend I didn't say anything."
As she spoke, she picked up her coffee and took a large, determined gulp.
When she put the cup down, it made a crisp clinking sound against the saucer.
Sheng Kuang's eyelids flickered, and he suddenly came to his senses. "Let's form one."
He quickly grabbed his phone and opened the game. As if afraid she wouldn't hear, he repeated his words, his voice a little too loud, "Of course, we should form one."
As he spoke, he tapped a few times on his screen and then looked at her eagerly. "I've sent the request."
Lin Jing responded with a slow "Oh," and leisurely tapped on her phone screen to enter the game.
A red dot appeared in her friends' intimacy relationships.
It was Sheng Kuang's romantic relationship request, sent again.
Seeing that she hadn't taken the next step, Sheng Kuang couldn't help but urge, "Accept it."
Lin Jing felt a laugh bubbling up. She suppressed the corners of her lips that were about to turn upwards and, under his gaze, which seemed to convey that he wished he could click it for her, she raised her finger and tapped the screen.
Immediately, a identical page popped up on both his and her phone screens:
Intimacy Relationship Established.
Lovers Lv11.
Guarding the sky, the sea, and you.
When she had suggested forming a couple, Lin Jing hadn't felt particularly shy. Now that they had formed one, she felt a bit embarrassed.
She looked at the new lover in her intimacy relationship list, named "yLs·miracle," cleared her throat uncomfortably, and asked, "We're a couple now. So, what should we do next?"
Sheng Kuang was taken aback by the question.
The thought of teaming up with her in the game had crossed his mind long ago.
Even before he was sure of his feelings for her, he had felt that urge, which was why he had rejected her request to become best friends.
However, later, he didn't just want to be in-game partners with her; he wanted more. Su Dan Novel Network.
Her willingness to form a couple with him now was a good start.
Although it was still a long way from the outcome he desired.
Human nature dictates that when you like someone, possessiveness flares up.
He truly wanted to have her, to possess her because he liked her, but he hadn't really thought about what they would do after truly possessing her.
She had said it was only within the game, not a real relationship. It seemed there wasn't much they could do.
Sheng Kuang thought for a moment and then looked up. "Play a game?"
"..."
Lin Jing couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Of course, it's congratulations."
She then picked up her coffee. "Congratulations on finding an in-game partner and finally having a couple."
Sheng Kuang: "..."
Sheng Kuang clinked his cup against hers. They both took a sip of coffee, using it as a substitute for wine. Then, Sheng Kuang put down his cup and looked up, asking, "What's next?"
He thought to himself, they would probably play a game, right?
Lin Jing rested her chin on her hand, lazily leaning on the table, and tilted her head in thought for a couple of seconds. "Next... we should adjust the settings, of course."
Sheng Kuang: "Hmm?"
Lin Jing tapped into the game settings and chose to hide their intimacy relationship. "You have so many fans, and so many people monitor your account every day. You should definitely hide our relationship in the settings."
Sheng Kuang pursed his lips slightly.
He knew very well that what she said was reasonable.
After all, their relationship was currently ambiguous. While it wasn't that he was unwilling for things to be clear, there was still a hint of disappointment.
He longed to make her public, but until she made up her mind, he had to respect her wishes.
As she had said, with his numerous fans, if their relationship were revealed, it might cause a stir online.
It was quite irritating.
But no matter how unhappy he felt, Sheng Kuang still hid their intimacy relationship as she had suggested.
Lin Jing browsed Sheng Kuang's profile and confirmed that there were no obvious clues from his end before saying, "Continue playing the game?"
Sheng Kuang hummed in agreement and created a room, inviting her.
They had originally intended to duo queue, but Lan Tingting sent Lin Jing an invite request, and Yu Zhou sent one to Sheng Kuang.
And so, inexplicably, duo queue turned into a five-person team.
Chen Jing was online, so Sheng Kuang casually invited him and started the game.