Mei was the kind of person who—once she agreed to something—would take it seriously and follow through.
The night before, Kevin—the guy who usually only talked about work, or the headaches caused by his roommates in the Golden Courtyard—had, for once, brought up the girl Su Yu had "picked up" during their bedtime call.
"She's… kind of special," Kevin had said. "Like a cat that's been hurt, and won't let anyone get close."
"Su Yu can't handle it. He asked me to keep an eye on her."
For someone as smooth and socially adept as Su Yu to find it tricky—and to specifically ask Kevin, of all people, a social black hole…
That meant the situation was genuinely more complicated than it looked.
Mei pushed up her glasses. Without making it obvious, she let her peripheral vision slide toward the white figure trailing behind Su Yu.
The girl kept her head down. Every step was light, as if she were afraid of disturbing the dust in the air.
That posture—completely sealing herself off—really did make you…
want to understand what was going on.
"Kiana."
Mei stopped, turned, and extended one hand behind her in a subtly inviting gesture.
The motion was natural—like she was calling a lagging companion over, not offering charity.
"This way is a bit twisty. It's better if we walk together."
"Otherwise if you get lost, Kevin—being directionally challenged—won't be able to find you."
Up front, Kevin stumbled mid-step, then turned back to give his girlfriend a look that clearly said Do you have manners?
But under Mei's gaze, he could only swallow his protest and continue acting as the guide.
Kiana froze.
She looked up—first at Su Yu.
Su Yu was smiling and nodding at her, his eyes practically saying: Go on. It's fine.
Kiana pressed her lips together. After hesitating for a moment, she finally started walking.
She didn't take Mei's hand, and she didn't move too close.
She simply came up beside Mei, keeping about half a meter of space.
There was still that invisible barrier—
but at least… she wasn't hiding in Su Yu's shadow anymore.
"..."
In the corridor, only the echo of four sets of footsteps remained. Occasionally, staff rolled equipment carts past them, the wheels humming over the floor.
Mei watched the girl beside her out of the corner of her eye.
She was tense.
The way her whole body stayed wound tight, the small unconscious motion of twisting her clothes between her fingers—every bit of it betrayed her unease.
How do you break this silence?
A few formulaic openers flashed through Mei's mind, and she dismissed them one by one.
With a kid like this—hedgehog-spines out—anything too stiff would backfire.
Alysia's face surfaced in her thoughts: that always-mischievous smile.
If it were Alysia, at a moment like this, she would definitely…
Mei gave a small cough, adjusted her tone, and tried for something that sounded casually nosy in just the right amount.
"Oh, right—Kiana."
She turned her head. Behind the lenses, her eyes carried a carefully measured curiosity.
"I've actually been curious for a while…"
"What exactly is the relationship between you and Su Yu?"
"Eh?"
The question clearly hit Kiana out of nowhere.
She jerked her head up, the wary look in her eyes instantly going wide and round.
The hard, cold expression on her face deflated like a punctured balloon—
Pffft—replaced by pure, confused blankness.
"W-what… relationship?"
She repeated it reflexively, her brain failing to shift gears.
Her and Su Yu?
Anchor and observer? Rescuee and "owner"? Or… game developer and materials provider?
But none of those sounded like something she could actually say out loud.
"J-just…"
Kiana stammered for ages, and a thin flush spread over her cheeks.
This wasn't shyness. It was the full, brutal effects of a sudden question her brain wasn't built to answer—
CPU overload: smoke coming out.
Up front, Su Yu heard it and nearly tripped—left foot catching right foot, almost faceplanting on flat ground.
He whipped around, staring at Mei in disbelief.
Was this still that academic Mei whose head was full of research and quantum mechanics?
Why did this sound exactly like Alysia's pink-elf gossip energy?
Oh no.
Had the "Alysia virus" started going person-to-person in this world too?
"Don't be nervous," Mei said, watching Kiana's helpless panic, lips curling in amusement. "I'm just asking casually."
In that instant, Kiana no longer looked like a spiky little hedgehog.
She looked like an ordinary neighborhood girl who'd been teased by an older adult and didn't know what to do.
"Besides," Mei continued, "Su Yu never used to bring any girls to our gatherings. Even Dan Zhu or Klein—those were just work contacts."
She paused, her voice softening a little, like an elder sharing a small piece of experience.
"This is the first time he's ever asked us to seriously look after someone."
"First time…?" Kiana murmured, repeating the words.
Her eyes slid forward to Su Yu again.
He was still walking, but he kept turning back to shoot frantic looks at Mei—so flustered it was almost funny.
That guy who was always grinning, always teasing her, forcing her to eat green peppers, and then lecturing her with a straight face about crooked logic—
he had actually asked others, seriously, to look after someone?
Some corner of Kiana's heart—where anxiety and self-doubt had been crouched for a long time—felt gently soothed by that simple sentence.
So even someone as stained with sin as her…
in this world, was still being treated… earnestly.
Not as a nuisance—
but as someone worth being entrusted with.
"Um…"
Kiana took a deep breath. Finally, she found her voice again.
She looked at Mei. Still awkward—yet more than that, there was an earnestness, a desire to explain properly.
"If I have to label it…"
"Then it's probably… debtor and creditor."
"Debtor?" Mei blinked, clearly not expecting that answer.
"Yeah." Kiana nodded solemnly, thinking of all the free food and shelter, and that contract that kept her alive in this world.
"I owe him a lot… a lot of things. And a lot of favors I can't repay."
"So I'm working to pay off the debt."
"Working to pay off your debt…" Mei nodded thoughtfully.
But the gossip fire in her eyes didn't go out.
If anything, it burned brighter.
She glanced meaningfully toward Su Yu up ahead.
"Sounds like a very special kind of debt, then."
"Possibly the kind that lasts a whole lifetime?"
Up front, Su Yu felt a chill run down his spine.
Somehow… that explanation hadn't clarified anything.
It had only made it worse.
And—seriously—
was gossip just a universal instinct for women?
Even Mei wasn't immune.
....
My Patreon : patreon/RuneA
If you want to read the novel in advance, you can subscribe for early access. I also have many more novels in my collection that you might be interested in
I upload ten novels a day, with 3 to 4 chapters per title depending on the length. If you're following a particular series, please wait your turn a little
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it