Chapter 121

Chapter 121

Bai Xingshu froze completely at that moment.

Huh?

Huh???

Actually, Bai Xingshu had been asked similar questions many times by others in the research institute.

He often responded with joking replies, saying things like, "Yeah, I like Teacher Song the most," or "Of course I like him—don’t you? Teacher Song is an absolute masterpiece of a human being!" Such words came to him without thinking.

Bai Xingshu could reel off these kinds of statements without pause.

—Because really, apart from the word "like," which didn’t carry the romantic implications everyone imagined, everything else he said was completely sincere and required no mental effort.

But Bai Xingshu knew that Song Xiyan wasn’t the type to brush things off like that.

Moreover, Bai Xingshu could hear the absolute certainty in Song Xiyan’s voice when he spoke.

No hesitation, no turning back.

The sheer emotion behind those two simple words was unmistakable—not just to Bai Xingshu, but to anyone with ears.

Inside, Researcher Wang seemed completely floored by the words and fell silent.

Bai Xingshu silently pulled back his hand.

Rubbing his nose, he awkwardly glanced around before acting casual as he quietly made his exit.

Before going: "If they dare talk about me behind my back, then I have every right to listen!" (Righteous.jpg)

After going: "Turns out there really are things I shouldn’t hear..." (Guilty.jpg)

Only after retreating did Bai Xingshu begin to properly think about the situation.

Teacher Song... likes him?

After a few seconds of silence, Bai Xingshu decided to rouse his system.

[See! I told you there’s no issue with people my age!] Bai Xingshu began gloating in front of the system.

[First, Cheng Yunxi liked me—he’s 20. Now, Song Xiyan likes me—he’s 24!]

[So, this isn’t my problem!] Bai Xingshu’s voice was brimming with smugness as he shouted at the system.

The system, rudely awakened by its host: [...]

If the system had a mouth, it would be twitching.

[What you actually said was that younger people don’t do it for you—what does that have to do with others liking you?!] The system, being a system, had every word stored internally. There was no way the host could pull this nonsense.

[Tch!] Bai Xingshu shoved the system back into its little black room.

After teasing the system, Bai Xingshu's mind cleared a bit. He calmly brushed himself off.

It was both smoothing his clothes and collecting himself.

--- He had some thinking to do.

Bai Xingshu stepped back into the Neural Control Project group once more.

Though he'd braced himself, as soon as he walked in, his gaze still involuntarily landed on Song Xiyan.

Wearing the same outfit and bearing the same appearance, somehow, the Song Xiyan before him now seemed like an entirely different person to Bai Xingshu.

Song Xiyan noticed that Bai Xingshu's gaze lingered on him slightly longer than usual.

Frowning slightly, he looked up.

But Bai Xingshu wasn't looking at him anymore.

The moment Song Xiyan turned, Bai Xingshu—with his quick reflexes—had already averted his gaze.

All easy smiles as usual, Bai Xingshu walked into the testing area and got himself hooked up to the monitors as if it were second nature.

And then… all the researchers present sensed something downright terrifying.

It was just routine testing, yet somehow… it felt as though Bai Xingshu was about to tear the whole lab apart.

Song Xiyan watched it all unfold, his brow furrowing.

When the tests wrapped up, Song Xiyan didn’t return to the work area with the others as usual. Instead, he grabbed a cup of water and walked over to Bai Xingshu.

“What’s wrong?” Song Xiyan handed him the water, keeping his voice even.

This evenness wasn’t because he believed nothing had happened to Bai Xingshu.

It was the calm of someone ready to handle whatever Bai Xingshu needed.

Bai Xingshu took the water, drank a sip, then turned his head toward the wall separating them from the work area.

He knew damn well that a crowd of people were eavesdropping on him and Song Xiyan.

“Just working through something,” Bai Xingshu finally said before turning back to Song Xiyan. “Has my presence here been making things difficult for you?”

Was it because of his playing along with those rumors in the institute that Song Xiyan’s feelings for him had changed?

From Bai Xingshu’s gaze, Song Xiyan caught the shift immediately.

This wasn’t the open, guileless look Bai Xingshu had always given him before.

This gaze seemed to see right through him, staring straight into his beating heart.

Bai Xingshu knew.

When?

Song Xiyan quickly recalled the conversation Researcher Wang had cornered him in not long ago, in the fire escape stairwell.

Had Bai Xingshu overheard?

For a moment, Song Xiyan’s thoughts stuttered, but he quickly pulled himself together.

Or rather, he had seen this coming from miles away.

To him, this moment felt more like waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Yet even so, Song Xiyan’s fingers twitched involuntarily.

He could hear the underlying rejection in Bai Xingshu's question.

No surprise, no disappointment.

After all, if Bai Xingshu had been prepared to accept, he wouldn’t have needed to consider whether it was troubling or not.

But now, this situation actually saved Song Xiyan from overthinking.

After a few seconds of silence, Song Xiyan slowly shook his head. "I’m glad you came."

As he spoke, Song Xiyan relaxed entirely. All his decisions had been made long ago.

He reached out and gently ran his fingers through Bai Xingshu’s hair. "No pressure. You can take all the time you need to think about it."

With those words, Bai Xingshu felt the warm hand on his head withdraw.

Looking up, he saw Song Xiyan already turning and walking toward the work area.

Bai Xingshu: "..."

He didn’t follow.

That day, Bai Xingshu returned from the research institute earlier than usual.

Shen Geng jumped at the sound of the dormitory door opening during the day and frantically minimized the various confidential files he had open.

Seeing Shen Geng’s flustered state, Bai Xingshu couldn't help but laugh.

Despite the laughter, Shen Geng still desperately maintained the already crumbling facade he had upheld for so long.

After quickly cleaning up his screen, Shen Geng finally turned to Bai Xingshu, puzzled. "Why are you back so early today?"

As he spoke, he scanned Bai Xingshu’s face and frowned slightly.

"You look even more messed up than when you were ‘going through that breakup’ before."

Bai Xingshu: "..."

Why'd he have to bring up exactly the wrong thing to mention?

But his current situation was indeed worse than getting dumped a few more times.

It had never crossed his mind that Song Xiyan might like him.

So, it wasn’t even in the same league as Cheng Yunxi’s situation.

And besides...

The guy had taken it in stride and called it quits after Bai Xingshu rejected him.

That was how normal people react, right?

Why was Song Xiyan a whole other story?

Song Xiyan had said, "You can take all the time you need," but Bai Xingshu could hear what went unsaid.

—Even if you reject me, I won’t give up.

Wasn't that basically drawing a line in the sand? he thought.

Bai Xingshu thought to himself irritably, then turned to Shen Geng, seeking validation.

Shen Geng: "?"

"So tell me this, if your first reaction after having someone confess to you is figuring out how to let them down, that's proof positive you don’t like them, right?" Bai Xingshu asked.