The handsome young man walked silently onto the rooftop. The clear confidence that usually shone in his eyes was gone, replaced only by a strange blankness and disbelief.
"Lin Qijiu! Lin Qijiu? What are you doing standing here? Enjoying the clamor of the wind?"
A white-haired girl with braided pigtails walked onto the rooftop, a piece of bread dangling from her mouth. Seeing the boy standing there in a daze, she slapped him heartily on the shoulder.
He was the top student in the grade; she was at the bottom.
Whether or not every top student is destined to have a failing student as a close friend, for the young man, this girl was one of the few good friends at school with whom he could speak his mind. This was because most of the girls surrounding him were superficial flirts, while the girl... was a lesbian.
Coupled with her naturally outgoing personality, the young man quickly became close friends with her, reaching a point where they were practically sworn brothers.
"I lost..." The young man stared blankly at his palms.
The scene of his utter defeat was still vivid, making him want to grind his teeth to dust.
"Lost? Lost what? A game?"
"I lost a duel! I lost to my big womanizing old man!"
The young man clutched his head and wailed, startling the girl. "How could this happen! That guy who's always so unhurried, only jogs in the morning, spends every night indulging in pleasures, and even keeps long hair—how could he be so powerful! I didn't even touch him, and he picked me up and spanked me!"
After a pause, the young man let out a desolate moan: "Spanked me! How does this age and how does a guy my age still have the traditional mindset of spanking a child who misbehaves!"
"Uh, that... are you talking about your father, the one you said was powerless and constantly emitting... what's that thing called..."
"Pheromones."
"Oh right, your despicable father who's always emitting those 'mones' toward the opposite sex?"
"Yes..." The young man slumped against the railing, the sunlight falling on his shoulder. "Mom clearly told me I could take on ten people..."
"But you're really good! Even I can't beat you using the Kaslana family's Weapon."
"You? Forget it." The young man tilted his head up, uninterested.
"What do you mean! I'm super awesome!"
"Mhm, I know."
"That's so half-hearted!"
After arguing with the girl for a while, the young man pushed off the railing and pondered aloud: "The plan to run away is still set for tomorrow. You absolutely must keep this a secret. If my parents ask you, just say you don't know."
"No problem! I'll handle it! You can stay at my place, and then you help me pursue Mei, agreed!"
"I just hope you don't mess up..."
The young man shook his head and sighed, looking at the overly confident girl.
...
"I'm home."
The young man checked the shoes in the entryway. His mother wasn't back yet, so he and his father would be eating dinner together tonight.
He didn't want to admit it, but he had to: his father's cooking skills were even better than his mother's. His control over ingredients, heat, and seasoning was perfectly balanced and reached a level of perfection. Even his casual plating looked like something from a Michelin three-star restaurant.
This skill was probably one of the reasons why he managed to deceive those pretty Aunties.
Damn it, did this guy save the world in his past life? He's more like the chosen one than I am, the actual chosen one!
Sure enough, the moment he walked into the living room, his father was setting the last dish on the table. The lavish spread was mouth-watering, and the steaming heat, with no wasted residual warmth, stimulated the appetite.
The man wearing a black mask untied his apron, tapped the dining table, and signaled for the young man to put down his bag and wash his hands for dinner.
Hmph, only acting like a father at times like this.
The young man muttered silently but obediently went to wash his hands. He couldn't let the man see any hint of his plan before running away.
After washing up, the young man walked to the dining table and sat opposite the man.
"...How's your backside today?" The man calmly watched the young man, whose expression froze as he picked up his chopsticks.
"It's fine." The young man lowered his head, feeling both shame and resentment, not wanting the man to see his expression.
"Can you tell me why you did that yesterday?"
"..."
The young man had long realized that the man was the type who was highly perceptive about many things, although he usually didn't say much.
But this time, the man seemed to have noticed the young man's abnormality, so he specifically asked.
At the young man's silence, the man mused, "Is it because of the 'cheating'?"
"Thud!"
The young man slammed his chopsticks onto the table and stood up, his face full of rage.
"...Since you know, why are you asking me!"
In the young man's view, asking something you already know is a form of provocation.
"I've told you many times, you misunderstood..."
"I misunderstood? Where did I misunderstand! Was the person I saw that day fake? Was Auntie Mobius taking you away in a car fake? Was you not coming home all night fake? Or are the looks they give you fake? Was Auntie Sakura evasive gaze fake!" The young man blurted everything out in one breath, collapsing back into the chair. He crossed his arms and muttered, "Tell me... are these things fake..."
"..." The man hadn't expected the young man's emotions to erupt so suddenly. He was stunned for a few seconds, then spoke truthfully, "They are all real."
"..."
The young man nearly choked.
"You... then you admit you cheated?"
"No."
The young man silently stood up and turned to walk toward his room.
"Qijiu, eat."
"I'm not hungry."
"If you don't eat, your mother will come and feed you later."
"..."
The young man walked back with his head bowed, seemingly channeling his grief into appetite. He quickly devoured the dishes on the table, threw down his chopsticks, and retreated to his room.
The man sat in his seat, glanced at the mess on the table, then looked at the young man's tightly closed door. After a moment of thought, he gathered the dishes and, after cleaning up, knocked on the young man's door.
"Qijiu, I don't know what kind of 'truth' you want to hear, but for me, this is my first time interacting with my own child, so I don't understand your thoughts. If you can, please talk to me again."
"...Haven't you ever been a child before? How can you not know what I'm thinking..." The young man's muffled voice came from under the blanket through the door. "Father, if you had discovered your parents were having an affair at my age, you would definitely be just as distressed as I am. So you must have been in a happy, complete family back then, without this kind of nonsense, which is why you don't understand how I feel..."
"...I, indeed, never encountered anything like that."
"Then there's nothing more to say."
The man stood forlornly in front of the door, his raised hand finally lowering.