Another day, and Bai Ling was once again living the jobless-drifter life.
The moment he teleported down from the Dijiang, he spotted a familiar figure waiting not far away.
Pink-tipped horns. A pink-tipped tail. And a pair of eyes that lit up the instant they saw him.
Yvonne.
Bai Ling's steps paused.
"Mr. Bai Ling!" Yvonne hurried over with a bright smile. "You're finally here! I've been waiting forever!"
"…Waiting for me?" Bai Ling glanced around. "You came here on purpose just to wait?"
"Yeah!" Yvonne said as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "I messaged you. I said I needed to talk to you. Don't tell me you forgot?"
Bai Ling fell silent for a moment. He rarely checked his communicator, so he genuinely had no idea.
"What is it?"
Yvonne didn't answer right away. She craned her neck to look behind him.
"Are you alone this time? Where's everyone else?"
She'd heard that lately there were two cute couriers around Bai Ling all the time.
For some reason, cute girls just kept gathering around him.
"They're on the Dijiang," Bai Ling said. "Angelina and Jelperta got a request from Perica. Eldera has something else to do."
"Ooooh~" Yvonne drew out the sound, then leaned in and lowered her voice. "So right now… it's just you?"
Bai Ling took one look at her expression and immediately had a bad feeling.
"…Yeah."
"Perfect!" Yvonne grabbed his wrist. "Come with me!"
Bai Ling stood at the entrance of his temporary residence on the outskirts of the Hub District, staring at his own wide-open door in deep contemplation.
The room was packed.
Pink throw pillows. A pink carpet. Pink curtains. And several fluffy, glowing things whose purpose he could not begin to guess.
His bed had been shoved into the corner and covered with a brand-new bedsheet—
Also pink.
"How is it?" Yvonne stood beside him, looking thrilled. "I redecorated for you! Doesn't it feel way cozier now?"
Bai Ling stayed silent.
So silent that Yvonne's expression slowly shifted from anticipation to confusion… and then from confusion to unease.
"…You don't like it?"
Bai Ling drew a deep breath.
"Yvonne."
"Mm?"
"I'm just an Originium Arts test operator."
"I know."
"Not an idol."
"I know."
"Not a cute girl idol."
"What are you even trying to say?"
Bai Ling pointed at a glowing pink furball in the room. "What is that?"
"A night light." Yvonne said matter-of-factly. "It glows at night. Super pretty. I have a bunch in my room."
He pointed to the corner at a plush toy taller than himself. "And that?"
"Hug Bear." Yvonne blinked. "Your room was totally empty. I figured you'd get lonely at night, so I brought you a companion."
He pointed at a row of pink cups on the table. "These?"
"For drinking water." Yvonne said. "Your old cups were way too plain. I replaced them with nicer ones."
Bai Ling closed his eyes, then opened them again, as if reformatting his entire worldview.
"Yvonne."
"Mm?"
"These things… to me, aren't they a little—"
Before he could finish, light footsteps came from behind.
"Mr. Bai Ling! We—"
Angelina's voice cut off mid-sentence.
Bai Ling turned around and saw Angelina and Jelperta outside, both pairs of eyes locked on the room behind him.
Angelina's expression went from puzzled → shocked → barely holding it in.
Jelperta's ears trembled slightly, like she was fighting a losing battle against laughter.
Angelina lost first.
"Pff—"
She clapped a hand over her mouth, but laughter still leaked through her fingers.
"M-Mr. Bai Ling… your room… hahahaha…"
Jelperta turned her face away, shoulders shaking. Bai Ling stared at them with a blank expression.
Mostly because his heart was already dead.
"N-no, no—" Angelina wheezed. "Let me laugh a little longer… hahahaha…"
Yvonne stood beside Bai Ling, completely baffled. "What? What's so funny?"
Angelina looked up, tears almost coming out. "D-don't you think this room is… really… really…"
"Cozy!" Yvonne declared with righteous indignation.
Angelina froze for half a second—then laughed even harder.
Bai Ling inhaled deeply, walked into the room, and snatched up the glowing pink furball.
"Yvonne."
"Mm?"
"How do you turn this off?"
"You can't." Yvonne said. "It's supposed to stay on all the time."
Bai Ling stared at the furball in his hand.
…and fell silent.
Angelina finally laughed herself dry, wiped her tears, and stepped inside to examine everything.
"Whoa—this Hug Bear is huge! Yvonne, where'd you even get it?"
"The Hub Center logistics warehouse." Yvonne said. "There were tons of supplies. I picked the biggest one."
"And these cups?"
"My personal collection."
"And the curtains?"
"Also dug out of the logistics warehouse."
Angelina nodded, then turned to Bai Ling with a meaningful look.
"Mr. Bai Ling."
"…What."
"Miss Yvonne is really good to you."
Bai Ling looked at her expression—the kind that screamed I understand everything—and for a moment, he genuinely wanted to throw her out.
Jelperta stepped in too and said softly, "Honestly… it's pretty."
Bai Ling looked at her.
Jelperta's ears were red, but she forced herself to continue. "Pink is… warm. It feels cozier than your old empty room."
Angelina started nodding like a bobblehead. "Exactly! Jelperta's right! Mr. Bai Ling, stop nitpicking—Miss Yvonne did all of this out of kindness!"
Only then did Yvonne seem to realize how that sounded. Her face reddened. "I-I just thought… your room was too lonely… so…"
Bai Ling watched her expression, and the words at the tip of his tongue quietly sank back down.
After a few seconds, he let out a sigh.
"…Fine. Leave it like this."
Yvonne's eyes lit up. "Really?!"
"Yeah. But a few things need adjusting." Bai Ling pointed at the glowing furball. "That thing is too bright at night. I won't be able to sleep."
"That's easy!" Yvonne immediately ran over and stuffed the furball into a drawer. "There. Done!"
Bai Ling pointed at the giant Hug Bear. "That thing is too big. It takes up space."
Yvonne thought hard. "Then I'll take it back and swap it for a smaller one?"
In the instant he heard that, Bai Ling developed a faint stereotype about the Vouivre race—but he shook his head and rejected the idea.
"Just leave it. Too much trouble to swap."
Angelina watched with great interest, then leaned close to Jelperta and whispered, "See? He's obviously happy, but he has to act like he's unwilling."
Jelperta whispered back, "Mr. Bai Ling… is like that."
"Tsk tsk." Angelina shook her head. "Men like this are the easiest to read."
Yvonne didn't hear their whispering—she was still enthusiastically giving Bai Ling a tour.
"This carpet is anti-slip. You won't fall when you get up in the morning. And this cup pattern—I drew it myself. Look, doesn't it look like Tata?"
Bai Ling looked down at the design on the cup.
It was a diamond-shaped robot with a '-v-' expression—surprisingly detailed—and next to it were the words: "Tata."
"…You drew this?"
"Yup!" Yvonne said proudly. "Tata is my precious little vehicle. Of course I can draw it!"
Bai Ling stared at the earnest doodle and suddenly felt like smiling.
Not mocking—more like… his lips just naturally wanted to lift.
"Nice drawing," he said.
Yvonne froze, then turned even redder.
Angelina saw it clearly and leaned to Jelperta again. "It's over. Mr. Bai Ling has fallen."
Jelperta whispered, "…Don't talk nonsense."
"I'm not! Look at his face!"
Bai Ling looked up—and met Angelina's sparkling eyes head-on.
"What are you whispering about now?"
"Nothing, nothing!" Angelina waved her hands frantically. "We're discussing… uh… dinner!"
Bai Ling stared at her, then delivered four words.
"Worker's Home."
"Okay!" Angelina grabbed Jelperta. "Then we'll go save seats first! You two talk slowly!"
Before Bai Ling could even respond, the two of them vanished so fast he wondered if his eyes were playing tricks on him.
Only Bai Ling and Yvonne remained in the pink-filled room.
A few seconds of silence passed.
Yvonne lowered her head, fingers twisting together.
"Um… do you really like it? All these… things."
Bai Ling looked at her and asked instead, "You came all this way just to bring me these?"
Yvonne blinked, then nodded.
"Yeah."
"Why?"
"Because…" Yvonne's voice grew smaller and smaller. "You helped Tata before… and I never properly thanked you… and your room was really too empty… When I lived alone at the Originium research institute, at least there were things around me… but you're here alone with nothing… I just thought…"
She couldn't finish.
Those reasons were… half-made-up.
The truth was simple: she just felt she should be kinder to him—but she didn't know how to express it.
Bai Ling watched the faintly reddened tips of her ears and stayed silent for a few seconds.
"Thank you," he said.
Yvonne lifted her head.
Bai Ling's expression was the same as always, but his tone softened—just slightly—and he turned his face away in a not-at-all-natural way.
"These things… are all pretty good."
Yvonne's eyes brightened.
"Really?"
"Mm."
"And the Hug Bear? It isn't too big?"
"…It's a bit big, but it can stay."
"And the furball? I can go back and swap it for one you can turn off—"
"No need to swap on purpose. If you come again, you can bring it along and take it back on the way."
Yvonne smiled—bright as a kid who'd just eaten honey.
Bai Ling remembered what Angelina had said earlier:
He's clearly happy, but he acts weird about it.
He really wasn't good at saying cheesy things.
But… how could he dislike being cared for?
Especially when the one caring for him was an unbelievably cute little dragon girl.
Angelina and Jelperta were hiding, peeking inside.
"Well? Well? How's it going?" Angelina whispered.
Jelperta poked out half her head, then quickly pulled it back. "…They're talking."
"Talking about what?"
"Can't hear…"
Angelina clicked her tongue and leaned forward—only for a voice to come from behind them.
"What are you doing?"
Both of them stiffened and slowly turned around.
Eldera stood behind them holding a stack of documents, her expression gentle and confused.
Angelina forced an awkward laugh. "We… we're… um… surveying terrain!"
Eldera looked at their hiding spot, then at the open door, and laughed softly.
"Senior Bai Ling is inside?"
Jelperta nodded.
Eldera thought for a moment, didn't go in, and simply stood with them.
"Then I'll wait too."
Angelina blinked. "You're not going in?"
"No." Eldera shook her head, gaze turned toward the room, a soft smile on her lips. "Let Senior handle it himself."
Angelina stared at her and suddenly felt the horned girl seemed to know everything.
"Eldera."
"Yes?"
"Do you like Mr. Bai Ling?"
Jelperta nearly choked on her own saliva.
Eldera paused for only a heartbeat, then smiled gently.
"I do."
She answered as naturally and openly as if she were saying the weather is nice today.
Angelina looked at her, then smiled too.
"I see."
The three of them stood there in the corner, watching the open doorway, watching the two silhouettes inside.
Inside, Yvonne finished introducing everything.
"Then… I'll head back?" she said, reluctance hidden in her tone.
Bai Ling nodded. "Be careful on the way."
"Mm."
Yvonne reached the door, then suddenly turned back.
"Bai Ling."
"Mm?"
"Later… can I come again?"
Bai Ling met her eyes—expectant, nervous—and without thinking at all, agreed on instinct.
"Of course."
Yvonne smiled and walked out naturally, but no amount of composure could hide the blush on her face.
She dashed toward the corner outside… and nearly crashed into the three of them.
Angelina, Jelperta, and Eldera all stared at her in perfect synchrony.
Yvonne froze—and her face turned even redder.
"Y-you…"
"We didn't see anything!" Angelina swore with both hands raised.
Jelperta silently looked away.
Eldera smiled softly. "Safe travels, Miss Yvonne."
Their coordinated "combo" successfully produced the sight of a girl fleeing with a flaming red face.
Angelina watched her back and sighed with emotion.
"Ah… youth is wonderful."
Jelperta murmured, "…You're not that much older than her."
"That's different." Angelina said meaningfully. "I'm an experienced woman."
She turned to Eldera.
"Right?"
Eldera only smiled, saying nothing.
After confirming everything in the room was "fine," Bai Ling came out and looked at the three people loitering in the corner, his expression barely holding together.
"So you were peeking the whole time?"
"No, no!" Angelina denied instantly. "We were waiting for you to finish talking so we could go together!"
Bai Ling looked at her, then at Eldera and Jelperta.
Jelperta's ears were red enough to drip blood.
Eldera kept smiling gently as always.
He sighed, then looked back at the pink room behind him.
The gigantic Hug Bear sat quietly in the corner. The glowing furball, now stuffed in the drawer, still leaked a faint light through the crack.
Suddenly… he felt at peace.
So what if the house was like this?
Why can't a guy live in a home like that?
"Let's go," he said. "Dinner at Worker's Home."
....
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