FIMA Ch16: Rose

Xie Qingxiao paused his steps, a faint sense of indescribable irritation and displeasure rising in his heart.

“Hmph.” Standing by the door, he looked toward the figure in the corner of the room.

Actually, his legs are just a bit longer, his face a bit more handsome, his aura a bit better, his brain a bit smarter, his basketball skills a bit better… maybe his singing is a bit better too… that’s all it is…

Gu Siyuan was sharp as ever. Suddenly raising his head, his gaze directly met Xie Qingxiao’s fully focused stare.

For some reason, a faint blush suddenly crept up behind Xie Qingxiao’s ears, and he subconsciously took a step back.

Gu Siyuan chuckled lightly. Lifting the four fingers gripping his disposable paper cup, he beckoned, “Come here.”

The Alpha’s voice, moistened by the hot water, was still deep, but it carried an unquestionable chill.

Xie Qingxiao subconsciously stepped over.

“Why are you here?” Gu Siyuan asked while putting away his phone. He raised a hand to loosen his uniform tie and simultaneously unbuttoned the first button of the shirt underneath. His entire aura instantly shifted from cold and severe to untamed.

It was only after standing in front of him that Xie Qingxiao’s mind cleared a bit.

Looking at the man’s fresh and untamed slicked-back hair, he suddenly remembered the afternoon when Gu Siyuan competed in basketball with Shan Kai. After it ended, at the school gate, this man was also in this uniform shirt and slicked-back hair, as if he hadn’t changed from beginning to end.

But he himself had changed a lot, in every aspect, including his aesthetic tastes.

“Just came to see how your preparations are going.”

Gu Siyuan gave a “Mn” and lazily smiled: “Then I must thank my desk-mate for his concern.”

“Oh… no need.”

Xie Qingxiao felt that he was probably the kind of person who “loved someone to the point of wanting them to live forever”. Once he found something pleasing to his eyes, then it was truly good in every possible way. Right now, just looking at Gu Siyuan’s pitch-black, smiling eyes, he felt as if he were going to be directly sucked into that profound depth.

The class monitor and the Arts and Entertainment Committee member walked over: “Xie Qingxiao, did you also come to see Academic God Gu?”

Xie Qingxiao quickly snapped out of his daze: “Yeah, just looking around.”

The class monitor continued: “Academic God Gu’s program is the second one. The hosts are currently giving the opening remarks, and the first opening performance act is already waiting backstage. It will be Academic God Gu’s turn very soon.”

Xie Qingxiao smiled: “Ah, then I need to hurry back to my seat.”

Gu Siyuan nodded: “Go ahead. I’m leaving too.”

When Xie Qingxiao returned to the grand auditorium, before he could even sit still, he was caught by Huo Yi next to him.

Huo Yi glared at him: “You went to the bathroom for that long?”

Xie Qingxiao felt guilty: “Yeah.”

Huo Yi furrowed his brows: “Hmph, tell the truth. Did you use this time to secretly go backstage to see your male god?”

Xie Qingxiao resolutely denied it: “Am I that kind of person?”

Huo Yi sneered coldly: “You are.”

Xie Qingxiao fell silent. He admitted that he had indeed been a bit bewitched by Gu Siyuan’s beauty just now.

Right at this moment, the opening song and dance program on stage came to an end.

“Thank you all for your hard work in performing! Alright, next, please welcome the solo vocal performance brought to you by Gu Siyuan from Class 1, Grade 12!”

Following the voices of the two handsome and beautiful announcers, the lights on the stage shifted. The curtains slowly pulled apart to both sides. First to appear before everyone’s eyes were long legs encased in uniform suit trousers, then the upper body wearing only a white dress shirt, and finally, a handsome and sharp face.

It was completely out of place with the noisy and lively atmosphere, giving people the illusion that he wasn’t here to perform on a high school stage, but rather to give a presentation at some international conference.

However, the moment the music sounded and he opened his mouth to sing, everyone realized that it was indeed an illusion.

Simply incredible…

How could someone be so good at absolutely everything they did?

Below the stage, the sounds of phones and cameras continuously rang out, everyone wanting to capture this moment.

When the song reached the middle chorus, the sudden shift and rise in pitch made the audience unable to hold back, erupting into waves of enthusiastic applause and gasps of amazement.

“Amazing, my god…”
“Too awesome! I’ve tried this song so many times, and I can never hit those high notes!”
“This is Academic God Gu, right? The one on our school’s big red banners. How can he even sing so well? How are the rest of us supposed to live?”
These were the emotions of ordinary students.

“Ahhh! So handsome, so amazing! Mom, I want him!”
“Is this the Academic God? Too awesome. Is there anything in this world he can’t do, besides marrying me…”
“From now on, this is my new husband! I’m going up to give him flowers!”
These were the emotions of the fangirls and fanboys.

Listening to the various comments from all directions, Xie Qingxiao’s eyes suddenly flashed. A certain already firm seed thoroughly took root and sprouted in the bottom of his heart.

For a moment, his heart was filled with both nervousness and joy, to the point that he basically couldn’t even pay attention to the subsequent programs.

Happy times always pass quickly.

The arts and entertainment showcase, which lasted over three hours, ended before people could even process it.

However, right until the very end of the entire performance, Gu Siyuan remained one of the performers who left the deepest impression on everyone.

But right now, Student Gu Siyuan—who was currently on the minds of many Beichuan High School students—was experiencing a major life decision.

He looked at the single red rose held out in front of him and asked casually, “Is this a compliment for my hard work performing on stage today?”

Xie Qingxiao looked at him and said calmly, “It counts as that, but it also carries its more original meaning.”

Gu Siyuan’s eyelids lifted slightly: “Oh?”

Xie Qingxiao smiled first, then signaled: “My arm is getting tired.”

Looking at his smile, Gu Siyuan suddenly fell silent.

An instant sense of unease rose from the bottom of Xie Qingxiao’s heart. Compared to when he had faced an impatient Shen Ting once upon a time, this silence made him feel as if all his senses were being torn apart a hundred times over.

Xie Qingxiao slowly lowered his hand, trying his best to keep his voice calm: “Do you have anything you want to ask or say?”

Gu Siyuan took a step forward, held the hand grasping the rose, and said earnestly, word by word, “Roses are very beautiful, making people unable to resist feeling tender affection towards them and wanting to protect them. But I have never received or possessed a rose before, and similarly, I never thought it would appear in my life in the future. I…”

When speaking with smart people, a mere hint is understood very clearly.

Listening to his words and feeling the warmth transmitting from his wrist, Xie Qingxiao suddenly felt a bit speechless at himself.

Once, he had thought Shen Ting gave him a gift on Valentine’s Day because he liked him, and thus fell headlong into it. But in reality, he was nothing more than a spice to someone else’s romantic life.

Now, because of Gu Siyuan’s help, he once again thought someone had feelings for him. But how could he forget that Gu Siyuan actually only started having some interaction with him recently? They had been desk-mates for nearly a year, and Gu Siyuan had never treated him specially before.

Was he truly this starved for love?

Xie Qingxiao pulled his hand back, wrinkled his nose, and blinked. He even squeezed a hint of a smile out of the corners of his mouth. In a tone devoid of any discernible emotion, he said, “Right, I… I misunderstood. It’s fine, sorry.”

After saying that, he turned right around and walked away. After a few steps, he suddenly started running, his back looking extremely panicked.

Gu Siyuan stood rooted to the spot, unmoving for a long while.

“He has fallen in love with you. He was confessing to you just now.”

At this moment, a familiar yet foreign, cold mechanical voice suddenly sounded. It was the portable system that hadn’t appeared for a long time since he arrived in this world.

Gu Siyuan lowered his eyes and said, “I know that now.”

“Then why aren’t you going after him to win him back?” the system asked.

Gu Siyuan said expressionlessly, “I… am not certain if I truly love him, and whether I am prepared to spend my whole life with him.”

When he returned to this world, he originally just wanted to smoothly complete the mission and didn’t want to get involved in anything else.

He liked having everything under his control and hated unexpected events, such as romance.

He especially disliked the way people became completely unrecognizable when messed up by love. He might indeed have a very favorable impression of the currently lively, cute, sly, and spirited Xie Qingxiao, which was precisely why he was increasingly unwilling to recall the utterly unrecognizable Xie Qingxiao from the end of his past life—the memory transmitted to him by the system. He was even less willing to personally engage in this kind of romance that could make someone unrecognizable.

Moreover, his initial feeling toward Xie Qingxiao was pity, and now he mostly found him cute. But was this love?

In his past life, they were the exact same people, and they were also desk-mates, but nothing happened. Now, because he knew about Xie Qingxiao’s romantic misfortune in his past life, this change had occurred… was this normal?

If he hastily started a relationship without even figuring himself out, would it cause a second, even greater harm to Xie Qingxiao? His mission in coming to this world was originally to make Xie Qingxiao happy…

System: “…”

In your mind, every other sentence is about Xie Qingxiao. One sentence saying you find Xie Qingxiao cute, the next fearing he won’t be happy? You’ve even considered the future? And this isn’t love?

Don’t think that just because you are a human, you can fool this electronic dog…

The system said coldly, “Host, if you don’t accept him, aren’t you afraid that Xie Qingxiao will encounter someone like Shen Ting again in the future? He won’t be like you, only wanting to spend his whole life with academia and money.”

Hearing this, Gu Siyuan’s expression instantly froze over.

There could actually be another…
Are there really that many scumbags in this society?
Do people have to date? Then… can he regret his decision?

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