What kind of proper cohabitation was this?
Was cohabitation supposed to be this proper?
"Wasn't Chang'an supposed to be secretly passionate? How could he be so good at holding it in?"
Eden felt utterly powerless. It seemed she would never live to see the day Ye Chang'an made the first move.
As for making the first move herself... sorry, that was impossible.
It was not that she could not bring herself to do it. She had simply seen too many girls confess to Ye Chang'an and get rejected.
Quite a few of them had been prettier than her.
It was only natural that those girls were rejected, since they rarely even got the chance to speak with Ye Chang'an.
Eden had undoubtedly spoken with him the most, but that did not mean her confession would have any chance of succeeding.
There were no feelings, no ambiguity—just idle chats and music. What fucking chance did she have?
"Ugh, how am I supposed to win him over?"
Eden wanted to cry. It was just too heartbreaking.
Just as she was wallowing in resentment, Ye Chang'an knocked on her door.
"Eden, are you asleep?"
"Hm?" Eden immediately sat up and looked toward the door, only to find it had been left slightly ajar. Her interest instantly vanished.
This was not a nighttime raid. Who the hell knocked before entering through a door left ajar during a nighttime raid?
"Not yet. The door isn't locked. Come in."
Ye Chang'an pushed the door open and entered. He glanced twice at Eden's alluring body sprawled across the bed before shifting his gaze away.
"Are you sleepy? If you are, I'll talk to you tomorrow."
"No, go ahead. I'm not sleepy yet. Oh, right, if this is about playing together, don't bother. I'm not in the mood."
Play together, her ass. She had been dragged into playing with him five days a week. Was this a job or something?
"It's not about playing together. It's about you."
"Then say it."
"Mm..." Ye Chang'an pondered how to begin, then ultimately decided to get straight to the point.
"I'm a little curious. Do you never practice singing?"
"Huh?" Eden sat upright in surprise and asked doubtfully, "I don't sing. Why would I practice?"
The question felt completely baffling.
"You don't sing? Why not? Don't you like singing?" Ye Chang'an looked as astonished as if he had heard Beethoven say he did not play the piano.
Fundamentally, it was indeed the same thing.
A pianist saying they did not play piano, a singer saying they did not sing—it was absurd.
"I like singing, but I never planned to pursue it professionally." Eden explained, feeling that Ye Chang'an was acting very strangely today.
And now his expression had become even stranger.
"Why don't you want to pursue it? Don't you want to become a singer? Don't you want to stand onstage and sing the operas you love?"
"No. Seriously, what's with you today? Why do you keep asking such weird questions?"
Eden turned the question back on him, convinced that something was off with Ye Chang'an.
But in the end, the reason Ye Chang'an was acting strangely lay with Eden herself.
They had lived together for a year, yet he had never once seen Eden practice singing. That was nothing like the daily routine of someone destined to become a legendary singer.
Everyone who reached the summit needed daily accumulation and practice. Eden was no exception.
It was true that she had been born talented, but talent needed to be nurtured with sweat.
It showed whenever she learned a new instrument.
At first, she played terribly, and only gradually became perfect after gaining proficiency.
As an instrumentalist, she was already among the very best.
But as a singer, it seemed she had not even begun.
Ye Chang'an had waited a year without seeing it, and he finally could not hold it in any longer.
The answer nearly shattered his sword heart.
—Could Eden, who did not want to be a singer, still become a legendary singer?
—And why did she not want to become a singer?
Ye Chang'an could not understand. He asked seriously, "Eden, please tell me honestly. Have you truly never wanted to become a singer?"
"Uh..." Eden was speechless. She wanted to brush him off, but felt that giving a perfunctory answer to Ye Chang'an's earnestness would not be right.
After considering it, she finally said, "It's not that I never thought about it. I did when I was in elementary school, and I even made time to practice."
That was the truth. It had really happened.
"Then why not now? What made you give up?"
"..." She could not say that. Saying it would be a confession.
Eden chose silence. No matter how Ye Chang'an pressed her, she refused to speak. When his questioning became too annoying, she stood up to leave.
"Eden, wait."
Ye Chang'an grabbed Eden, refusing to let her run away. He held her shoulders and looked into her golden eyes.
"Please tell me. Why did you give up on becoming a singer?"
"...Do I have to say it?"
"Yes. I want to know."
"...Is it important to you?"
"Very important."
"How important?"
"It concerns whether I live or die."
Three questions and three answers, especially the last one, which sounded rather serious.
Eden did not know why it was so serious. She sighed and sat back down on the edge of the bed, speaking of something seemingly unrelated in a somewhat dazed voice.
"Chang'an, did you know that my family has always called me a genius? I had an extraordinary talent for music from a young age.
"Whether as a singer or an instrumentalist, I could quickly grasp the essence and become outstanding.
"My family said I would become a superstar of the era, and they all hoped I would work toward that goal.
"I didn't dislike that goal, because I loved music. I loved it very, very much."
"But after I met you, my family rarely said I could become a superstar of the era anymore.
"Because they learned about you.
"You should remember the music competition we entered when we were five. The judges could not determine who was better, so they gave us joint first place.
"My family watched that competition too, but their conclusion differed from the judges'.
"You were first, and I was second. You were more talented than me.
"Afterward, I never entered competitions with you again. But whenever there was a final, my whole family would gather and have me perform offline.
"They would act as judges and continue comparing you and me.
"The final result never changed.
"You were still first."
"There could only be one superstar of the era. My family all believed that person would be you, not me.
"I believed so too.
"After all, I was always with you. I knew how hardworking and how outstanding you were."
"But none of that was why I gave up on becoming a singer."
Eden had said a whole lot of nonsense to give herself time to gather her courage before finally revealing the truth.
"I gave up on becoming a singer because I started to like you."
Chapter of Creation: Journey to a New World: 7. Eden's Long Confession
"Falling for someone is a very unfortunate thing, because you never know what changes you might make for the person you like.
"I read that in a book when I was in elementary school. Back then, I did not understand what it meant.
"After all, I was still young. I did not even have a concept of liking someone.
"Of course, the liking I mean is not the kind of liking I have for music. I'm explaining this first so an idiot like you doesn't confuse the concepts.
"What I feel for you is not ordinary liking. It is liking in the romantic sense.
"If I had to use a more fitting word to describe it, then it would be love.
"Yes, love."
"Before middle school, I had not fallen in love with you yet. At most, it was the liking between friends.
"Mm~ That doesn't seem quite right. More specifically, it was the liking between close friends.
"We were close friends. We could eat together, play piano together, discuss music together. Other than going to the bathroom, we could do everything together.
"I think we even slept together once, because you kept me talking about music so late that I stayed at your house.
"I slept with you."
"Only after starting middle school did I gradually understand the many layers of meaning behind the word liking. Once I separated them out, I realized that what I felt for you was love.
"It should not have turned out this way. That liking could have remained just liking.
"But it still became love, and that was all your fault.
"It was all because, on the day school started, you stole the hearts of every girl in school. Every girl around me became one of your fangirls, screaming beside me all day about how much they liked Chang'an and how they wanted to confess to Chang'an.
"During that time, someone asked me every day whether I was dating you, just because you clung to me every day and only seemed happy talking to me.
"I'm not a blockhead like you. After being asked that many times, of course I developed a clear understanding of romance.
"And then I realized that what I felt for you seemed to go beyond mere liking.
"Then there was something else I can blame you for."
"I think it was either our second or third year of middle school. I don't remember clearly.
"Anyway, your fangirls got twisted up over how close I was to you and called a group of their little sisters to come cause trouble for me.
"Luckily, I was clever enough to hide in the bathroom and lock the door. They could not get in, but I could not get out either.
"You remember what happened afterward, right? Don't tell me you forgot.
"You came looking for me and went into the girls' bathroom, then carried me out when my legs were weak with fear.
"In a princess carry, no less."
"Actually, there were many, many more things I could blame you for. They were all trouble caused by your fangirls.
"People always say beautiful women have brought disaster since ancient times, so why was it the other way around for you and me?
"I was always dragged into trouble because of your handsomeness. I never saw you get into trouble because of my beauty.
"Oh, right. Everyone who came looking for trouble with you got beaten down by you, and everyone who came looking for trouble with me got beaten down by you too.
"You even hit girls. Chang'an, you could be pretty heartless sometimes.
"But I like it. Mm, you blockhead, please understand that liking here means love."
Before you continue