Su Yi understood immediately that they'd misunderstood his relationship with Hui-chieh.
Being handsome really did invite baseless accusations.
"You've got it wrong. There's nothing between Hui-chieh and me."
…Alright. Not nothing happened.
"Su Yi, you're being a bit much!" Sora said, displeased. "You're calling her Hui-chieh, you accepted flowers, and now you're saying there's 'nothing'? You think we'd believe that?"
If you're going to lie, at least make up something that sounds plausible.
Just saying it with a straight face—who would buy it?
"Fine, fine. Then I'll start from the beginning. Didn't I save someone yesterday? That person was Officer Ch'en. The reason you were released today is because she signed off."
"As for my relationship with her…" Su Yi spread his hands. "All I can say is: I didn't even know her name was Ch'en Hui-chieh until this afternoon."
"You only met Officer Ch'en yesterday?" Croissant blurted out.
The four Penguin Logistics girls exchanged looks. If Su Yi was telling the truth—if he'd only met Ch'en yesterday—then they'd most likely misunderstood what was going on between them.
After all, knowing each other for just two days meant, at worst, maybe holding hands. No way they'd even gotten to kissing.
"Then what about the flowers?" Exusiai's eyes lit up as she sprang to her feet. "Why would she give you roses?"
"Calm down, Exusiai. Calm down," Sora said. "Let him finish."
"Ahem. I'll continue…"
Su Yi cleared his throat and explained everything: how he'd gone out in the afternoon to get them out and kept hitting walls, how he ran into Ch'en Hui-chieh and asked her to help release them, and how he conveniently solved a case for her right before leaving.
Then how, later that night, she showed up to recruit him, he refused in the most movingly firm way, and on the street they ran into a pitiful little Feline girl selling flowers…
Of course, while recounting all this, Su Yi applied a bit of "journalism"—and quietly left out the "bet" part.
"So the roses don't mean anything," Su Yi concluded. "We bought them to support a poor family, and to avoid hurting their pride. Since we bought them, we couldn't exactly throw them in the trash, right? So Officer Ch'en and I just exchanged them."
"And honestly, if you'd been there, I would've handed all the flowers to you. If you want them now, take them—any of you."
With that, he passed the basket of roses to Exusiai, who was standing closest.
Exusiai knew the roses had been bought for charity—and that Officer Ch'en had given them to Su Yi first.
But…
They were roses.
Su Yi gave me roses. That means he has me in his heart!
"The dinner's gone cold," Exusiai said, beaming like a spring sunrise. "Are you hungry? If you are, I'll make you an apple pie!"
Croissant, Sora, and Texas all facepalmed in unison.
Weren't you just talking about being a galgame heroine? How did you suddenly pivot into "simp side-character" energy?
"No need. I'm not hungry," Su Yi said.
He'd already ordered himself fries and a burger when he ordered for Nannan at the fast-food place. There was no room left for Exusiai's apple pie.
"Officer Ch'en personally came to recruit you," Texas asked abruptly. "Why didn't you accept?"
"Because I want to deliver with you for Penguin Logistics for the rest of my life!"
Isshoni!
Su Yi glanced at the time and said, "It's late. I'm going back to my room. I still haven't cleared today's dailies."
"Bye-bye~"
"Bye-bye~"
"Sleep early," Texas added.
After Su Yi left, Croissant saw Exusiai still hugging the flower basket and couldn't help saying, "Look at you—have some self-respect! He didn't buy them specifically for you. Why are you holding it like it's treasure?"
"I know," Exusiai giggled idiotically, "but they're roses! Don't you think this proves Su Yi has, like… just a tiny bit of affection for me?"
"I think it's because you were standing closest," Texas said, brutally delivering the truth.
"Then by that logic," Sora shot back, "Su Yi also gave Officer Ch'en roses. Does that mean he likes Officer Ch'en too?"
"That's different!" Exusiai argued. "Back then, Officer Ch'en was the only living person next to him. But in this room there are four of us! Why didn't he give them to you—why only to me? He clearly has me in his heart!"
Croissant went silent for a moment, then said slowly, "We live in a dorm… so when did it become a kennel?"
Heh. Woman—your name is liar.
Just a few minutes ago you'd sworn up and down: "I don't actually like Su Yi that much."
And now a basket of third-hand roses had already got you completely charmed—no cooldown required.
"At least Su Yi isn't a bad guy," Sora said with relief. "If he were a scumbag, Exusiai would've been hooked like a fish a long time ago—lose money and love, go back to Laterano with a big belly, and then get both legs broken by her big sister."
Croissant and Texas nodded heavily.
The misunderstanding had been cleared up, but after this incident, they'd all realized something:
Su Yi was no longer the helpless amnesiac boy who knew nothing, who couldn't take two steps without Penguin Logistics.
He was, unconsciously, building his own social circle—his own network of relationships.
That was reassuring, of course. Nobody liked taking care of a permanent burden. But once Su Yi's wings really hardened—once he could fly on his own—there was an inevitable sense of loneliness, too.
…
For the next two days, Penguin Logistics carried on as usual: deliver packages by day, clock out at night, and beat down anyone who came looking for trouble.
In the vehicle, Exusiai complained, "It feels like there've been more and more Siracusans coming to Lungmen lately. I'm so tired of beating them up—I'm bored."
"Syracuse is made of families," Texas explained as she drove. "When some families and small gangs get eliminated, they leave Syracuse just to survive. Lungmen happens to be the biggest city nearby."
In short: outsiders—coming to Lungmen to beg.
"Is that how you came to Lungmen too?" Su Yi couldn't help asking from the back seat.
They usually didn't pry into each other's past, but at this point, not asking would make him seem like he didn't care about his coworkers.
(And, for the record, Su Yi didn't always work solo. If there were too few deliveries, he'd temporarily join Texas and Exusiai.)
"More or less," Texas said, clearly unwilling to elaborate.
Since she didn't want to talk, Su Yi didn't push.
Everyone had secrets—and a past they didn't want to look back on.
"I just thought of a question," Su Yi said, puzzled. "Same-sex love isn't accepted by society—but why has whipping-and-alcohol play been wildly popular from ancient times to now? I feel like the latter is way more extreme. You could slap 'beast' and 'ice-love' tags on it and it'd still fit."
"I feel like my ears are dirty…" Exusiai clasped her hands in prayer, struggling to cope. "Lord, forgive me!"
Texas, face dark, warned him, "Don't ever post that online. The whipping-and-alcohol companies will come after you."
By noon, the three of them had finished their deliveries and were about to meet up with Croissant and Sora at the End of the Earth for lunch.
The moment they walked in, they saw a penguin wearing sunglasses perched at the bar, clearly having waited for them for a while.
-------
My : pat*eon*com/RuneA
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