Probably a Date?

"You..."—Dong Moxuan rubbed his chin as he looked at Mei, unable to say anything for a long while. "As expected of a good student!"

"Mr. Xuan!"

Apparently seeing through Dong Moxuan's thoughts, the girl's face flushed red, and she looked somewhat angry.

Dong Moxuan paid no attention to Mei's reproach and continued asking.

"Tell me, Mei, don't you usually go out and have fun with your friends?"

As soon as he said this, Dong Moxuan seemed to think of something.

"Sorry, I forgot. You don't seem to have any friends..."

Mei "..."

Hearing Dong Moxuan's words, Mei seemed to have suffered a critical hit.

If it had been before Raiden Ryoma's accident, she might still have been able to use those girls whose names she could barely even remember as an excuse. But now...

"Hmph."

With no idea how to refute him, Mei could only snort softly and turn her head away with an air of tsundere pride.

"Mr. Xuan only knows how to tease Mei..."

Seeing that Mei seemed genuinely angry, Dong Moxuan could only laugh awkwardly and reach out to rub her head.

"All right, all right, it's my fault..."

When Mei hid her flushed cheek from his hand, Dong Moxuan did not get angry.

"After all, outstanding people are always lonely. With Mei being so outstanding, it's perfectly normal for her not to have any friends."

"But... I'm pretty confident in my own abilities too, so..."

Looking at the girl beside him, Dong Moxuan said casually, "I should count as Mei's friend, right?"

"Huh?"

Dong Moxuan's words caused Mei's expression to freeze. She secretly glanced at him, and for some reason, her heartbeat began to quicken.

"To Mei, Mr. Xuan is... is someone she can trust..."

"So you admit that I'm your boyfriend?"

"Mm..."

Mei nodded instinctively, then suddenly realized what she had said and blushed furiously.

"Mr. Xuan!!!"

"Ahem..."

Dong Moxuan coughed awkwardly several times.

Seeing this, the embarrassment and anger in Mei's heart suddenly vanished for some reason.

She could only lower her head and sigh softly.

Why did this Mr. Xuan always like to tease her?

"Hey, Mei."

Dong Moxuan suddenly took Mei's hand.

"Since you've admitted that I'm your boyfriend, I have to fulfill the duties of a boyfriend!"

I never admitted anything like that, you jerk!

Mei's face flushed as she looked at Dong Moxuan. Before she could voice her rebuttal, Dong Moxuan continued.

"So, let's go on a date?"

"Huh??!"

Mei was instantly filled with question marks.

Hadn't this topic taken an absurdly sudden turn?

However...

"Off we go!"

Before the dazed Mei could recover, Dong Moxuan pulled her along and started running.

"Eh..."

Being dragged along by Dong Moxuan, Mei looked ahead and let out a cute cry of surprise.

"Eh, eh, eh???!!"

"Phew, this should be the place, right?"

After finally stopping, Dong Moxuan bent over and wiped at the nonexistent sweat on his forehead.

"Huff, huff, huff... So Mr. Xuan wanted to go on a date here?"

On the other side, Mei's cheeks were flushed and her legs trembled slightly after being dragged along by Dong Moxuan for their "two-person exercise."

She was only an "ordinary" high school student. Unlike Dong Moxuan, she could not remain so at ease after such strenuous exercise.

"It's an arcade... Mr. Xuan, you really don't understand a girl's heart at all, do you?"

Although she had never experienced it herself, surely she had at least seen or heard about it.

A date at an arcade?

She had never heard of such a thing.

"When it comes to dating, the location isn't important. As long as both people are happy, that's all that matters."

"You should know, the first time I went on a date, it was at..."

A gentle, silver-haired, blue-eyed girl suddenly appeared in Dong Moxuan's mind, and his expression froze slightly.

"In any case, the location isn't important."

Stare~

Mei did not hear a single word of what Dong Moxuan said afterward.

All her attention had already focused on what he had said about his first date.

When she heard that Dong Moxuan had gone on a date with another girl before, she felt uncomfortable for some reason.

She stared at Dong Moxuan without blinking, making him feel extremely awkward.

"Uh, Mei, why are you staring at me?"

"Hmph..."

Mei snorted softly and folded her arms.

"Come to think of it, Mr. Xuan, you're my father's friend, right? That means you should count as my elder... Going on a date with your junior... How awful!"

"Ahem, you can't put it that way. Big Brother Ryoma and I are friends despite our age difference. I'm actually still quite young."

As he said this, Dong Moxuan pressed his palms together and gave Mei a pleading look.

"I've been extremely busy with work lately, so I haven't had any time to go on a date with a cute girl."

"And Mei is so gentle. You definitely wouldn't refuse me, right?"

"Mr. Xuan..."

The girl in the white dress looked at the silver-haired youth before her with an indescribably strange expression.

"You really said something incredibly scummy in such a casual tone!"

"Thank you, thank you..."

Completely ignoring Mei's barbed words, Dong Moxuan chuckled and scratched his head.

Mei "..."

"After all, Mr. Xuan has taken good care of Mei before..."

Seeing Dong Moxuan's thick-as-a-city-wall skin, Mei could only sigh inwardly.

"If it's Mr. Xuan's request..."

In the end, Mei still did not resist Dong Moxuan's "rude" request.

"So, Mr. Xuan..."

Walking beside Dong Moxuan, Mei shyly and awkwardly toyed with the hem of her clothes.

"What should we... do next?"

The girl named Mei had never taken part in anything called a date, so she seemed exceptionally clueless at that moment.

"Since we're already at the arcade, our first target has to be..."

Dong Moxuan turned his gaze toward the arcade's most popular machines.

"Let's play this first."

Dong Moxuan sat directly in front of one of the arcade machines and gestured for Mei to sit beside him.

"This?"

After sitting beside Dong Moxuan, Mei touched the joystick and buttons with extreme unfamiliarity, her expression slightly bewildered.

"How do you operate this machine?"

"Looks like you really haven't played this kind of game before, Mei..."

Sitting beside her, Dong Moxuan watched Mei's movements and sighed faintly.

But that made sense. Mei was the very picture of a traditional Japanese Yamato Nadeshiko—a sheltered young lady.

Without someone like him, a "bad influence" friend, egging her on, she probably would never have had anything to do with games in her entire life.