Today, you're the female lead

"H-hi... long time no see, Brother Lin..."

Wang Haonan was so nervous that he even stammered. Lin Yu sat down beside him unhurriedly, reached over to sling an arm around his neck, and put on a friendly expression. "Are you guys here to eat?"

With Lin Yu's arm around him, Wang Haonan sensed a murderous aura and felt like crying, but had no tears. He looked to the other two for help, only for them to act as if it had nothing to do with them, infuriating him.

Damn it! Your brother's in trouble, and instead of helping, you're just standing by and watching!

Although he wanted to condemn them, with his neck locked in place, he had no way to show them any love right now. He had better figure out how to get away first.

"Uh... yes! We're here to eat. Ahaha..."

His guilty manner was hardly convincing. Zhang Zeyang and Li Wei both covered their eyes, unable to watch. He could at least have made his act a little more believable.

In the end, under Lin Yu's harsh interrogation, they told the truth.

"So you came looking for me, saw me walking with a girl, assumed she was my girlfriend, and secretly followed us out of curiosity?"

All three: "That's right..."

They obediently admitted their mistake. After all, following someone was wrong to begin with. Looking at the three of them owning up to it, Lin Yu sighed helplessly.

"All right, I won't hold it against you this time, but don't do it again. So, what did you need me for?"

The three were baffled. Had Lin Yu forgotten?

Li Wei said, "Lin Yu, did you forget? Our dorm gets together at the start of every semester. We already sent the messages in the group chat, but you never replied, and we couldn't reach you by phone either, so we came looking for you."

Only after hearing Li Wei's explanation did Lin Yu remember. He took out his phone and discovered that over a dozen messages and several missed calls had piled up in the Dorm 515 group chat.

"Sorry, my phone was on silent, so I didn't hear it. Also, I'll sit this gathering out. Have fun, you guys."

Oh-ho, something's going on. Wang Haonan and Zhang Zeyang exchanged a look and grinned wickedly. Seeing their sleazy smiles, Lin Yu immediately sensed trouble. He was just about to get up and flee when they pushed him back down.

"All right, we've said what we needed to say and apologized. Now let's talk about you. Hehe~"

"So are you two really a couple?"

They asked the question they most wanted answered. Wang Haonan was certain they were, while Zhang Zeyang remained skeptical. Li Wei hadn't thought that much about it. If they were, he would offer his blessings; if not, he wouldn't say anything more.

So in the end, only Wang Haonan and Zhang Zeyang wanted to know whether Lin Yu was dating.

"All right, all right. You guys don't need to worry about my relationship with someone else."

Seeing that Lin Yu wasn't particularly willing to talk, the two decided not to pry any further.

After all, there were limits to eating melons. If someone didn't want to talk, they shouldn't force them. Besides, they were all brothers, and they couldn't let this hurt their friendship.

Zhang Zeyang and Wang Haonan each rested a hand on one of Lin Yu's shoulders, their expressions solemn.

"If you don't want to tell us, you don't have to. But as your brothers, we still want to say this: if it's true, we'll give you our blessings. If it's not, but you're pursuing her, let us know. Your strategists are here to help!"

"You guys...!"

The two gave him determined smiles, and Li Wei gave him a thumbs-up from the side.

"You guys are so cringe."

"Oh, come on-!"

Hearing that, the three nearly fell to the floor. A perfectly good moment of brotherly affection had been ruined by Lin Yu calling them cringe.

Seeing their reactions, Lin Yu held his stomach and stifled his laughter.

Wang Haonan said, "I've felt this way before, Brother Lin. You've got a black-bellied streak, don't you?"

"All right, all right. I appreciate the thought."

"Thanks, everyone!"

Lin Yu solemnly thanked these few friends of his.

Their words made him decide to start examining his feelings for Firefly.

He had never dated and barely interacted with girls. The women he had spoken to most were his own mother and his troublesome younger sister.

So he didn't understand much about romantic love.

"That's more like it." Wang Haonan happily slung an arm around Lin Yu.

"But I still want to ask-where did you find such a pretty girl? Tell me so I can try my luck there too."

At Wang Haonan's lustful idea, Lin Yu gave a teasing smile. "Take a guess."

After waving goodbye to them, Lin Yu returned to his seat. "Sorry for the wait."

He had accidentally spent a little too long chatting and kept Firefly waiting.

"It's fine. You all looked like you were having fun talking. I didn't mind waiting a little."

He sat down and quickly finished the remaining noodles, then the two left the cafeteria and strolled leisurely along the campus's tree-lined avenue.

They would have to wait until two in the afternoon to sit in on a class. Since most people had gone to the cafeteria for lunch, there weren't many people on the path now.

"Lin Yu, they're your friends, right? Did they need you for something?"

"You're pretty observant. As expected of a battle-hardened Glamoth veteran."

Lin Yu hadn't expected Firefly to guess, since they had been quite far away at the time. But thinking about it, her ability to notice that they were being followed had already demonstrated her strong countersurveillance skills. He had to say, a Glamoth veteran was terrifying indeed.

"It wasn't anything much. They just wanted me to go out for a meal with them."

Hearing that it was a group meal, Firefly's heart skipped a beat, and she couldn't help growing a little nervous, because this campus visit might have to end early.

She was already very happy to have come for a look around, and she didn't want Lin Yu to be unhappy. Thinking that, her nervousness eased considerably, but Lin Yu's answer caught her by surprise.

"But I turned them down."

"Huh...?"

Seeing Firefly freeze on the spot, Lin Yu waved a hand in front of her eyes in confusion.

"What happened? Why did you suddenly space out?"

"Ah... it's nothing."

Coming back to her senses, Firefly hurriedly pretended nothing had happened, but the perceptive Lin Yu still noticed a hint of something amiss. He wasn't in a hurry to point it out, though.

Lin Yu said nothing and continued walking. Firefly paused, then immediately quickened her pace to catch up.

The two walked on in silence. As Firefly recalled what Lin Yu had just said, she couldn't help smiling. But thinking about it, his reason for turning them down most likely had something to do with her, didn't it?

At that thought, a trace of guilt rose in her heart.

She asked tentatively, "Lin Yu, why did you turn them down?"

"Because of you, of course."

Lin Yu gave his reason without hesitation. He had already noticed a few signs earlier, but he had been waiting for her to bring it up herself.

Faced with Firefly's question, Lin Yu didn't hide anything and simply told her outright. He wasn't good at lying, and even if he did, Firefly would probably notice, making it even harder to explain then.

Seeing the self-reproach on Firefly's face, Lin Yu explained calmly.

"Don't blame yourself. It's just one meal together. We've already gone out more times than I can count. Missing this once won't matter."

Hearing that, Firefly's guilty heart eased a little.

Lin Yu rested his hand on Firefly's head and gently stroked it, a tender smile appearing on his face.

"This is your first time. We can't just stop halfway, can we? How many first times does a person get in their life? You have to cherish them. Otherwise, once you've missed them, you've really missed them."

Those words struck straight at Firefly's heart, dispelling the last trace of guilt within it.

"Besides, today you're the female lead. How could I abandon the female lead and leave her on her own?"

Firefly covered her mouth and chuckled. "If I'm the female lead, then you're the male lead."

"If you think so, then I am. Besides, I already promised to come to campus with you, so of course you take priority."

"You always think too much about others. Sometimes, thinking a little more about yourself will make you happier too."

"Mm, I understand..."

Right now, Firefly was very happy. Although she didn't know why she was so happy, she simply was.

She didn't know how to describe that feeling. Before coming here, she had rushed from battlefield to battlefield. Back then, she had been an emotionless machine. Now she could slow down and ponder what feelings really were, but in the end, she still didn't understand.

She only knew happiness, sadness, and anger, yet with Lin Yu, she always experienced something different.

Firefly could never figure out exactly what was different. She knew only one thing: this feeling was always warm, like a ray of warm sunlight falling on her frozen body amid the bitter cold of a world of ice and snow.

So warm.