Hojo Natsuki opened his mouth slightly, and was speechless for a moment.
This sudden development made him fall into a confused cycle of "What is this? Where am I? What is this? Where am I? This is..." The words that Kurosawa Jin said were so familiar, but he seemed to not understand Japanese.
The other party suddenly acted out of line, but his attitude was so matter-of-fact. However, he was stunned for a moment and couldn't think of a powerful response.
"You've gone too far." Hojo Natsuki lowered his voice and struggled to form his words, "How could you—"
The other person replied casually: "You can too. I don't mind."
Hojo Natsuki: “…”
Hojo Natsuki said expressionlessly: "I mind."
"Really?" Kurosawa Jin said jokingly, "I used to like touching you, but now I mind it."
Hojo Natsuki: “…”
What kind of hooliganism is "I used to like touching"? Is there such a thing
He frowned slightly and was about to retort, but before he opened his mouth, he instantly realized what Kurosawa meant.
After all, the frog in the mobile phone is really at the mercy of players.
Touch the frog's paws and ask the frog to stretch out its paws for him to touch.
Touch the frog's belly, once, twice, twice.
Poke the frog's little fat face.
The fingers pinned the frog in mid-air.
Hojo Natsuki had no way to refute. When he met the other party's playful gaze, he fell silent.
He really wanted to honestly admit, "Don't think too much, actually you are just a bad-tempered little frog in my phone." However, it was obviously inappropriate to confess under such circumstances. If Kurosawa Jin knew the truth, he would definitely be furious, and then, it might be even more irreversible... The sense of crisis gripped his throat, and Hojo Natsuki reluctantly admitted the crime.
"I thought I was playing a game at the time," he explained. "I didn't mean to..."
"'Thought'." Kurosawa Jin opened his lips and repeated the word, "So, it's not?"
The two worlds are gradually connecting and merging, and this trend is difficult to reverse. Hojo Natsuki is not sure if he can interfere, and it is not convenient to explain the matter of supernatural powers in detail, so he explains ambiguously: "The world you live in is presented to me in the other dimension in the form of a game, making me mistakenly think that you are a virtual character. ... As for what will happen in the future, whether the worlds will merge, I don't know."
Kurosawa Jin asked: "What else?"
Natsuki: “Nothing special.”
Kurosawa: "Is it the effect of 'supernatural power'?"
Xia Shu: “… About the same.”
After accidentally chatting about some serious matters, the suffocating atmosphere in the living room seemed to dissipate a little, and Hojo Natsuki finally freed himself from the awkwardness. He quietly put away the black windbreaker covering his body, tidied it up and put it aside, feeling lucky that he had escaped a disaster.
"I have something else to do, and I will have to work overtime later." Hojo Natsuki made an excuse, put on his slippers, stood up and walked to the door, "I will..."
Now that he had suddenly quit the game, the next login location would still be this safe house, so he had to find another suitable place to log off - it would be best if he had his own apartment so he could come and go freely.
Luckily it didn't last more than a few seconds.
Hojo Natsuki had just taken three or two steps when two slender fingers hooked the back of his collar, and the rough fingertips rubbed the skin on the back of his neck.
"You're walking pretty fast." Kurosawa Jin raised his eyes and let out a mocking laugh. "Are you that afraid of me?"
Hojo Natsuki: “…”
It’s not that I’m afraid... But any straight man’s first reaction when seeing someone of the same sex who is interested in him is to leave quickly...
The other party approached him from behind, and a hoarse voice sounded in his ears - however, Hojo Natsuki didn't hear what he said clearly. The moment he felt the warm breath infect the skin on his cheek, he felt like his tail was stepped on. He quickly broke free from Kurosawa's shackles and immediately retreated a few steps, pulling away from him to a distance that made him feel safe. ... Although this safe distance was more of a self-comfort.
"Don't get so close." Hojo Natsuki said warily, "Stay away from me.
”
Kurosawa Jin pulled the corner of his lip, and as he requested, he did not do anything beyond the boundary. He looked at a cat or dog that had lost its temper, with an indulgent look and a lazy posture.
Hojo Natsuki moved to the other side of the sofa, putting some distance between himself and Kurosawa.
He didn't know where to begin.
Thoughts are like knotted threads, tangled up into an intractable ball of hair.
Adults are good at playing dodgeball and exchanging witty remarks while drinking. They don't say things too clearly and don't do things too completely, always leaving room for maneuver.
Therefore, straightforward expression makes people feel difficult. He also knows very well that some things can be delayed, while some things must be decisively dealt with.
Prolonging the battle line will give the other party unnecessary thoughts, making a process that could have ended simply become complicated and annoying.
Faced with this situation, Hojo Natsuki really has no relevant experience in dealing with it. He can offend any one of those confessors whose names he can't remember, and he is not afraid to cut off contact with them... It is obviously inappropriate to use those dispensable characters to compare Kurosawa Jin.
"I want to make it clear to you." Hojo Natsuki said carefully, "I don't like men and I have no interest in the same sex."
"Oh." Kurosawa Jin looked him up and down and said coldly, "Do you have a woman you like?"
"That's not what I meant!... I mean, I don't want to develop an intimate relationship with anyone." Hojo Natsuki immediately refuted, and then began to organize his words, "Intimate relationship, it sounds scary, right? It's a strange area that I don't want to touch at all."
Kurosawa didn't comment. He sat on the sofa diagonally opposite him and leaned back, like a large cat preparing for a nap, looking sleepy or not, as if he didn't care what he said.
But whenever those green eyes looked at Xia Shu, they were filled with scrutiny and vigilance that could not be ignored—this Top Killer who was always calm and composed, and calm and elegant when shooting and killing, was not as calm as he appeared. He was observing and testing.
But Hojo Natsuki was immersed in his thoughts, his eyes were scattered on the coffee table, and he did not catch the other person's emotions in time.
"I think when a relationship goes sour, it's doomed," he said slowly and sincerely, "so if you want to keep it going for a long time, you can't cross the line."
Starting from the first neighbor girl, he had received confessions from many people. They dressed themselves up nicely and expressed their love to him, either stumbling or speaking glibly.
He has never been in love, but he has occasionally observed or heard about some people's love affairs.
At the beginning, it rose like a bubble, looking incredibly beautiful, light and gorgeous in the sunlight.
In the end, it either disappears quietly or ends in a loss for both sides.
Standing on a high place, Hojo Natsuki summed up a set of cognitions without getting involved.
The beginning of an intimate relationship is a dog trying to disguise himself as a cat, wagging its tail at another cat, trying to please it.
But no matter how hard it pretends to be a cat, it can never really turn into a cat. The conflicts caused by species differences will sooner or later surface and lie between them. It will be a river that is difficult to swim across.
After the initial passion of love fades, there is no extra emotion to repair the cracks caused by the conflict, and the cracks never heal themselves, but only get bigger and bigger.
So when the story comes to an end, both sides suffer losses.
When friends become lovers, the ending is often even more miserable. After a memorable but embarrassing love, the two cannot go back to the beginning, and it is difficult to move forward. Neither love nor friendship can be restored to the original state. This is the price of love.
If this is the price of love, it is better to keep a safe distance from the beginning - it can both look good, last a long time, and end decently.
He stated his proposal to cover up the incident, and Kurosawa stared at him, tapping his knees occasionally with his slender fingers.
“… Intimate relationships, sooner or later, become awkward and nothing is left.
Come."
Hojo Natsuki finally met his eyes and said word by word with great seriousness, "Besides, I don't like homosexuals, so please don't say that again. I won't agree to it. ... Just pretend that what happened today never happened."
As he narrated, the hesitation in Kurosawa Jin's expression slowly faded away, and turned into a firmness that he was sure of victory. There was even a casual smile on the corner of his lips, and his state was relaxed and unrestrained.
The only thing that made him hesitate was Natsuki's condescending status as a player. The other party could withdraw at any time, making this relationship unequal from the beginning. He had to consider the possibility that the other party would leave forever because of anger, and he was tied up and in a dilemma. However, Hojo Natsuki's firm refusal at this time instantly dispelled those doubts.
This silent tug of war lasted for years, and the balance of advantage seemed to tip towards one side, which was about to achieve an overwhelming victory.
But domestication and being domesticated, need and being needed, have always gone hand in hand.
Kurosawa Jin raised his green eyes, and his gaze gradually became focused and dangerous - as if locking onto a target through a sniper scope. Gin returned to his own territory, where he was invincible.
And his goal is doomed to have no escape.
"I understand." said Kurosawa Jin.
—You care about me too.
(End of this chapter)