[Pei Ran: If you're in a game, then never mind]

[Yan Zhun: Invite me]

Pei Ran had never been a team leader, so he sent him an invitation, a bit unskillfully. 111GOD soon appeared in the team lobby.

"What map should we play?"

"Is it just you?"

The two spoke at the same time.

Pei Ran was stunned for a moment: "Yeah, it's just me. Do you want to invite other people?"

"No," Yan Zhun paused, "I saw you were in a duo queue just now."

Pei Ran said: "I joined the wrong team just now. I didn't look at the ID carefully and thought it was an invitation from you."

Yan Zhun raised an eyebrow: "Oh, so you thought it was me."

Pei Ran didn't notice the subtle hint of a smile in his words, hummed in agreement, and asked again: "What map should we play?"

"Island Map." Yan Zhun said, "I promised I'd give you a helicopter ride."

While they were playing, Pei Ran's phone kept ringing.

He looked at the voice message from Luo Qingshan. He didn't really want to listen to it, but he was also worried that something was wrong with his hand. In the end, he chose to open the shortest one.

—"What time are you going to school tomorrow, let's go together? I'll come pick you up..."

Pei Ran pressed pause, not letting the voice message finish. He took a moment to look down and reply, "No need."

Yan Zhun glanced at the date. The annoyance that had just dissipated came right back, making him feel so stifled he wanted to light a cigarette.

Then he heard a small sound from his headset, like the sound of a candy wrapper being torn open.

He endured it for a moment, then opened a drawer, took out a White Rabbit, and put one in his mouth to satisfy the craving.

Playing games with Pei Ran used up a lot of candy.

It was late at night by the time they finished playing. Pei Ran looked at the dark computer screen, suddenly thought of something, and opened the game companion app to settle the bill with Yan Zhun.

The rule of this game companion app was that the client places an order first, and after the paid-for time is up, they have to go to the back-end to click "settle payment" before the companion can receive the money.

The maximum time that could be purchased was 50 hours, and the companions were required to complete the order within a month, otherwise the order would be voided.

[Yan Zhun: ?]

[Pei Ran: I probably won't have much time to play games after I go back to school, so I'm settling the bill with you first.]

[Pei Ran: I'll come back again when I have the chance.]

Pei Ran didn't realize how polite and distant his last sentence sounded. "I'll come back again when I have the chance" could even be interpreted as "I won't be coming back" in normal circumstances.

In the end, Yan Zhun couldn't hold back. He went to the balcony and lit a cigarette, but didn't smoke it, his gaze fixed on that sentence.

After a long time, he finally made a move.

[Yan Zhun: Transferred 1200 yuan to you.]

Pei Ran was startled and subconsciously typed a question mark.

The other person quickly replied with a voice message. Pei Ran picked it up and held it to his ear to listen.

"Did you really think I'm a game companion?"

Pei Ran wanted to reply with another question mark, but he felt that it might be impolite, so he pressed the voice message button and responded foolishly: "Yeah."

In the next voice message, Yan Zhun's laughter was low, as if he couldn't hold it in.

"Among game companions, someone like me would cost at least two hundred an hour."

"I'm not short on cash right now."

"I coaxed you into placing an order just to trick you into playing games with me."

Pei Ran listened to all three messages, and the phone pressed against his ear had made it warm.

He was silent for a moment, then asked: "...Do you really like playing with noobs?"

Yan Zhun couldn't take it anymore. He stubbed out his cigarette, lowered his head and laughed for a long time, before replying seriously.

"No, it's that I like playing games with you."

"To be precise, I pretty much like doing anything with you."

"It means I like you, do you understand? It has nothing to do with whether you're a noob or not."

Pei Ran remained in the posture of holding a phone to his ear, his whole body still as if the pause button had been pressed.

He even stopped breathing for a few seconds. The only sound in his mind was his own heartbeat, and even his temples were throbbing like a drum.

As he put down his phone, he accidentally tapped the voice message again, and Yan Zhun's voice sounded once more—

"It means I like you..."

Pei Ran fumbled to turn it off. He blinked rapidly twice, quickly got up and went to the window, and slammed it shut with a bang.

The rain was too loud. He thought.