Sharing Embarrassing Stories / A Habit Unchanged for Ten Years

"It can't be..." Kevin wasn't sure either.

"Hey, hey!" The waiter watched the two of them come in without ordering, then sneakily peek at the "couple" at the opposite table. He nearly called the police, but forced a polite smile. "Excuse me, may I take your order?"

"Ah, right." Kevin ordered several barbecue platters, then handed the menu to Mei. "Do you think we should tell the people at the Courtyard?"

"Better not. Since they didn't tell us, why should we go out of our way?" Mei rejected Kevin's suggestion.

Kevin lowered his voice. "Back at the academy, everyone knew Senior Mobius was interested in Yaqing. But Yaqing... I don't know whether he really didn't realize it or was pretending not to."

"Kevin, do you think they'll return to the Courtyard tonight?" Mei asked curiously.

"No idea. Can't we just keep following them?"

Mutually Revealing Embarrassing Histories

The barbecue sizzled with oil, its fragrance filling the air. Just as Yaqing reached out to take a piece, Mobius's chopsticks snatched it away. Without hesitation, she put the meat into her mouth, seemingly forgetting that she had just taken it off the scorching grill.

"Hot, hot, hot..." Mobius kept fanning her tempting red lips with her little hand, yet refused to spit out the barbecue.

"Senior Mobius, being an airhead really doesn't suit you." Yaqing watched the scene with amusement. Remembering Otto's teachings, he gallantly offered her a glass of ice water.

Mobius took the ice water and drained it in one gulp. Feeling the pain on her lips, she suspected they had blistered from the burn.

"And how do you know what kind of personality I have?" Mobius stared into Yaqing's eyes.

Yaqing smiled faintly, picked up a piece of barbecue, and said, "Senior, our first meeting must have been ten years ago. You were a sophomore then, while Kevin, Su, and I were freshmen. I remember you seemed to have the title of the aloof campus beauty."

"Heh, aloof?" Mobius scoffed. "Would you listen to the thoughts of beasts? Rather than aloof, it would be more accurate to say I couldn't be bothered to communicate with them."

Mobius suddenly seemed to remember something and couldn't suppress her laughter. She snickered. "Speaking of campus life, I remember it now. Back then, you, Su, and that little follower Kevin were called... what was it again? The Three Kings of Qianyu? Hahahaha."

"Senior, is it really okay for us to bring up such embarrassing history?" The moment that cringeworthy title was mentioned, Yaqing felt uncomfortable all over. Back then, Kevin had probably been the only one enthusiastically calling himself Prince Charming.

"Didn't you bring it up first?" Mobius refused to lose out in the slightest.

At a nearby table, Kevin and Mei watched the laughing pair in confusion. Kevin asked doubtfully, "What are they talking about? They're having so much fun. We should've sat closer."

"I think I heard them talking about... the Three Kings of Qianyu?!" Mei's expression turned strange. Naturally, she knew her boyfriend had suffered from a severe case of chuunibyou in college. Someone had given him the title Prince Charming, and he had accepted it with great enthusiasm.

The mention of that cringeworthy title made Kevin, who had already been a corporate drone for five or six years and had been ground down by life, feel uncomfortable all over. Especially when he remembered calling himself Prince Charming back then, he felt physically ill.

"Why are they even talking about that?" Kevin stuffed barbecue into his mouth, seemingly trying to briefly forget his chuunibyou years through binge eating.

"Could it be that modern dates involve discussing each other's embarrassing histories?" Mei found it hard to understand.

"That's definitely not normal, but..." Kevin felt that it somehow made perfect sense when it came to Mobius and Yaqing. After all...

Yaqing and Mobius sneezed at the same time.

Both of them felt as though someone was cursing them.

"What do you think?" Mobius asked.

"Think about what?" Yaqing dipped his barbecue into the seasoning.

"About suddenly wanting to make anime again. That Saintess Redemption Chronicle flopped in ratings back then, so are you that lacking in confidence about the new script?" Mobius blew on the hot barbecue before putting it into her mouth once it had cooled slightly.

"That Saintess Redemption Chronicle wasn't a script I wrote."

At the mention of it, Yaqing gritted his teeth in anger. Right after graduation, Otto had called him back to take the fall, which caused the project he was responsible for to drag on until now. The board had even used that incident to reject his creative ideas time and again.

"I could tell. Saintess Kallen was obviously written by President Otto. You left the Far East without saying a word back then because you went back to take the blame, didn't you?" Mobius had genuinely believed it at the time, thinking Yaqing had a crush on a married woman.

"So this time, you're making someone else take the blame?" When Mobius saw that Walter Yang was the sole credited screenwriter, she knew Yaqing had made the same choice Otto had back then.

"This isn't a lack of confidence. Quite the opposite—I'm too confident in the script." The fruit platter Yaqing had ordered arrived. He ate a slice of watermelon to cut through the greasiness of the barbecue.

"Precisely because I'm confident in the script, I'm afraid someone will mail me razor blades. Some radical viewers might even come after me in real life with a knife." Yaqing spoke seriously.

"What exactly did you write later on?" Seeing Yaqing would rather give the credit to someone else than put his own name on it, Mobius became somewhat curious.

"Nothing much. It's a story about beautiful girls saving the world." Yaqing added another pile of raw meat to the grill.

Mobius frowned tightly and asked, "You're not into NTR, are you?"

Yaqing had just taken a sip of water and nearly sprayed it all over Mobius's pretty face. Fortunately, he held it in. Otherwise, he wouldn't even need to wait for radical viewers to stab him—Mobius would personally send him onto an operating table.

"How could you possibly think that?!" Yaqing could no longer maintain his fake gentlemanly demeanor and stared at Mobius in astonishment.

"Then what else could it be? You said it's a story about beautiful girls saving the world. Other than cheating and cuckolding, I really can't think of any reason you'd be afraid viewers would stab you." Mobius pulled out a tissue and wiped her mouth.

"Heh, that kind of trash shouldn't exist in this world." Yaqing spoke while eating.

Mobius rested her chin on her hand and quietly watched him.

Once they had finished all the barbecue on the grill, Yaqing stood up to pay the bill, but Mobius stopped him.

"Don't move."

Yaqing instinctively halted.

Mobius pulled out a tissue and wiped the seasoning from the corner of Yaqing's mouth.

At the next table, Kevin silently snapped another photo and privately sent it to Su.

Doctor's Benevolence: "This is... quite something?"

Su, who was eating with everyone at the Golden Courtyard, looked at the photo Kevin had sent. His narrowed eyes opened wide in shock.

"Brother Su, what's wrong?" Seeing Su actually open his eyes, everyone's curiosity was instantly piqued. Pardo, who was sitting closest, was the first to ask.

"Nothing. Kevin sent me a restaurant I've always wanted to visit." As expected of a doctor, he lied without blushing or skipping a beat.

But no one believed Su's explanation. Even Canned Food probably wouldn't have believed it.

COOL~: "I feel like they're even sweeter than Mei and I are. I have to say, even dangerous Senior Mobius becomes so feminine when she's in love."

Doctor's Benevolence: "Kevin, you'd better not say that in front of Senior Mobius. Otherwise, you might end up like Senior Klein."

COOL~: "Of course. I'm not an idiot. Gotta go, they're leaving."

After Yaqing paid the bill, he and Mobius left the barbecue restaurant. This time, they took the elevator straight down to the first basement level, where Mobius sat in the passenger seat of the McLaren.

"Senior, where are we going next? World Serpent, or back to the Courtyard?" Yaqing brushed one hand over the steering wheel while taking out his phone with the other.

"Let's go to World Serpent. There are still experiments to do, but first we need to go..."

A Habit Unchanged for Ten Years

At World Serpent Technology Company, the three executives had announced a company-wide holiday today. Aside from the few employees assigned to permanent duty, the building was empty. Mobius had Yaqing park in the company's parking lot.

"The office building is pretty big. Looks like World Serpent has been developing quite well these past few years." Yaqing held a cup of milk tea while carrying several more in his other hand.

Mobius was also holding a cup of milk tea. She took small sips, swallowed a mouthful of pearls, and then said, "Isn't it thanks to you, our secret major investor?"

"Don't say that. I only invested once when I graduated, and it's already been seven or eight years. World Serpent's growth still depended on all of you." Yaqing didn't care about the initial investment at all. To him, it had been less than a quarter's worth of company dividends.

Yaqing and Mobius swiped their cards and entered the office building. While they waited for the elevator, the two little tails following them finally arrived downstairs in a taxi.

Kevin hid in the grass, holding up two small branches. He asked in confusion, "Coming to a company on a date... does that have some special meaning?"

Mei helplessly pressed a hand to her forehead as she watched Kevin act foolishly. "Kevin, are you... disguising yourself?"

Kevin coughed several times, tossed aside the branches in his hands, and said seriously, "Mei, should we keep following them?"

"How can we? There are surveillance cameras everywhere, and Mobius is definitely taking Yaqing to the laboratory. There's only one elevator leading there." Mei gave up. She knew the company best, so she knew they would definitely be discovered if they continued.

"Ugh." Kevin sighed, still seeming unwilling to accept it.

After Yaqing and Mobius entered the elevator, something strange happened. The elevator didn't rise—it descended, all the way to the third basement level.

Mobius's laboratory was on the third basement level. She had requested it herself. In Mobius's words, she didn't want anyone disturbing her experiments.

Inside the third basement laboratory, a girl in a white lab coat sat at a desk, continuously nodding off. The dark circles beneath her eyes were so heavy that it seemed she might fall asleep at any moment. Three bowls of instant noodles, each weighed down with books, sat on the desk. Beside her, two noisy twin girls were also sleeping soundly with their heads on the lab bench.

Ding.

The sound of a card being swiped rang out. The girl in the white JK-style skirt rubbed her eyes and yawned. "Haa... Is it already evening? Senior Klein, did you soak our instant noodles?"

The girl in the white skirt nudged the black JK-style skirt girl beside her, who looked exactly like her. Only then did the girl in black slowly wake up.

"Mmm... instant noodles, instant noodles!" Klein hurriedly lifted the books weighing down the noodle bowls. Unfortunately, the noodles had already become mushy after soaking for who knew how many hours, and even the hot water had turned cold.

"These probably aren't edible anymore... right?" Danzhu leaned over to inspect the cold instant noodles that had been soaking for who knew how long.

"We'd better not eat them. Let's make three new bowls." For safety's sake, Cangxuan didn't want to end up in the hospital with food poisoning again.

"Ahem, ahem." Mobius watched them with twitching lips. She had clearly lived this way all along, so why did it feel like she was abusing her employees when viewed from an outsider's perspective?

"Doctor!"

Drawn by the coughing, Klein and the sisters Cangxuan and Danzhu finally noticed Mobius standing at the doorway. They hurried over, while curiously examining the man beside her.

Very few people could enter Mobius's laboratory in the first place, let alone a man. Since they had begun working in the laboratory, they had only seen World Serpent's three doctors, or corporate drones who came to deliver supplies but were really there to see someone—Kevin in particular.

"I get it, Doctor. This is another lab rat you found!" Danzhu looked utterly exhausted, but her eyes were exceptionally sharp.

Yaqing looked at Mobius strangely. First, she abused her employees; now, she captured people to use as lab rats. It seemed Senior Mobius had become even more dangerous than she had been at the academy.

Mobius knew what Yaqing was thinking from the look in his eyes. She snorted. "Hmph. They all volunteered to participate in the experiments. I never forced them."

Mobius sharply turned her head, and her loose light-green hair lashed across Yaqing's face. The fragrant scent of shampoo made the tip of his nose itch.

Danzhu scratched her head, completely confused. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Idiot." As the older sister, Cangxuan lightly knocked Danzhu on the head, earning a glare from Danzhu.

"Hello, I'm Yaqing Schariac. I'm Doctor Mobius's junior and also her roommate at the Golden Courtyard." Before outsiders, Yaqing always put on the appearance of a gentleman, even if it wouldn't make the other person like him.

Perhaps out of instinct as a lab assistant, Cangxuan didn't take the hand Yaqing offered.

Danzhu, on the other hand, became excited. She clasped Yaqing's hand with both of hers. "So you're that famous director! I'm your fan! I especially loved Saintess Redemption Chronicle when I was in elementary school. Please, you have to give me an autograph!"

Yaqing had been quite happy when he heard that she was his fan, but the moment she mentioned that cursed work, his smile froze. He even wanted to pull his hand away.

Girl, I can't agree with your taste.

But as a gentleman, Yaqing didn't say it aloud, nor would he embarrass a lady. Reluctantly, he signed his name for Danzhu.

"You're that Schicksal director?" Cangxuan finally reacted. Her eyes turned into money symbols, but Danzhu quickly grabbed hold of her.

"Ha... ha. I brought you some gifts." Unable to understand the thought processes of Mobius's subordinates at all, Yaqing could only stiffly change the subject and place the milk tea Mobius had told him to buy on the table.

"It's milk tea! Senior, come quickly, there's milk tea!" Danzhu called out to Klein, who was nearly asleep again.

Klein drowsily accepted the milk tea and muttered to herself, "Milk tea, wonderful... I can work for a few more hours now."

"Klein, long time no see." Yaqing smiled.

Speaking of Klein, she could probably count as his junior. However, when Klein enrolled, he was already in his senior year and out doing an internship. He had first met Klein when he returned to campus for the graduation gala and saw her following Mobius around.

"Mmm... Senior Yaqing, long time no see." Klein's voice was weak, as though she might run out of breath at any moment.

"Klein, how long have you been working nonstop? I told you long ago that you'd work yourself sick like this." Yaqing said concernedly.

"It's fine, it's fine. I already slept for two hours this afternoon." Klein was enjoying the happiness brought by the sweetness of the milk tea, but she still hurriedly shook her head.

"Klein, you need to rest." Mobius approached with a cup of instant coffee. She was also worried about Klein's physical condition, afraid that one day Klein might suddenly die in the laboratory.

"But the research isn't finished yet..." Klein said weakly.

"Research?" Mobius glanced at the twin sisters. "If it weren't for them, this project would have been finished ages ago."

"Doctor, how can you say that?!" Danzhu put her hands on her hips.

"Exactly!" Cangxuan chimed in.

"Heh." Mobius sneered. "A few days ago, who spilled their bowl while eating instant noodles and covered an entire page of important documents in soup? And who was late twenty-nine days in one month, forcing us to buy milk tea twenty-nine times? Or who..."

Mobius counted on her fingers, listing the foolish things Cangxuan and Danzhu had done. Before she could finish, the twin sisters clung to Mobius's legs like Sun Wukong when Tang Sanzang began chanting the Tight-Fillet Spell.

"Doctor, please stop. I'll never eat instant noodles before putting away the documents again." Danzhu was in tears. Nearly two-thirds of the foolish things Mobius mentioned had been done by her.

"I finally understand why you two stayed at this company." Yaqing casually opened a bottle labeled iron phosphide, poured the powder inside into his palm, and tipped it into his mouth.

This stunned Danzhu and Cangxuan, who had still been tearfully performing moments ago. Was iron phosphide something people could eat?

"What are you staring at?" Yaqing licked the powder from his lips and smiled. "Senior, after all these years, you're still obsessed with putting powdered sugar in iron phosphide bottles."