The Red-robed BOSS Says I Killed Him - Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Half a month later, I finally took Li Shuheng to a real fruit shop.

It didn’t have that fake sweetness of the fruit platters found in an Instance.

This was a real shop on a street corner, with plastic crates and cardboard boxes piled at the entrance, and the shopkeeper calling out prices while keeping the accounts.

He stood at the door, his footsteps actually faltering for a moment.

“Why aren’t you going in?”

“The shop you described before… it wasn’t like this.”

“Then how did I describe it?”

“You said you’d take me somewhere very bright.”

“You said we’d pick out the grapes bunch by bunch.”

“You said if they weren’t fresh, we wouldn’t want them.”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Isn’t this place bright enough?”

“And we can pick the grapes bunch by bunch here, too.”

The shopkeeper saw us standing at the entrance for ages without coming in and called out to us.

“Buying grapes?”

“Today’s green grapes are incredibly sweet. Little girl, have a taste.”

She held one out to me.

Before I could take it, Li Shuheng stepped forward to block her hand.

“Her stomach is sensitive. She shouldn’t eat random things on an empty stomach.”

The shopkeeper blinked, then broke into a wide grin.

“Oh my, your boyfriend certainly looks after you closely.”

The tips of my ears instantly turned hot.

Just as I was about to explain, Li Shuheng replied without batting an eye.

“I have to be careful.”

“She never used to take care of herself.”

The shopkeeper gave us a look that said, “I understand.”

“Then you’d better keep a close eye on her.”

“Girls like this might look tough, but they’re actually the best at putting on a brave face.”

Me: “…”

Li Shuheng actually nodded.

“Indeed.”

Unable to take it anymore, I reached out and gave his arm a sharp pinch.

He turned his head to look at me, his eyes full of laughter.

The shopkeeper sighed with emotion as she weighed the grapes.

“You two have such a wonderful relationship.”

When those words landed, my heart suddenly went quiet.

Back in the Instance, something like ‘feelings’ was a luxury.

Liking someone was a risk, a soft heart was a weakness, and getting close meant you could lose them at any moment.

But now, someone was standing under the lights of a fruit shop, saying we had a wonderful relationship.

It felt like everything had finally touched down on solid ground.

When we left the fruit shop, Li Shuheng was carrying a large bag of grapes.

I glanced at the weight.

“Are you planning to buy enough for the next month?”

“We can put them in the fridge.”

“What if they go bad?”

“Then we’ll eat them faster.”

“And if we can’t finish them?”

“I’ll eat them.”

I looked at him and suddenly asked, “Li Shuheng.”

“Hmm?”

“Do you still think about the things from before?”

His pace slowed slightly.

“I do.”

“Does it still hurt?”

“It does.”

“Then why don’t you say anything?”

“If I told you, you’d hurt along with me.”

I stopped walking and reached out to pull him to a halt.

“Did you forget what I told you again?”

“What?”

“Don’t endure it alone.”

He fell silent.

The wind on the street was a bit strong, messing up the stray hairs on his forehead.

I reached out to brush them aside for him.

“You used to think that as long as you could block the worst of it for others, that was enough.”

“But this isn’t the past anymore.”

“You have to learn to speak up when you’re hurting, and speak up about what you want, too.”

“Even what I want?”

“Yes.”

“If I say it, will you give it to me?”

He looked at me, his gaze deep.

My heart suddenly felt a bit numb.

“Tell me first.”

Li Shuheng was silent for two seconds before speaking in a low voice.

“I want to be with you for a very long time.”

“I want to see you the moment I wake up.”

“I want it so that when someone asks who I am in the future, I don’t have to answer 0719, and I don’t have to answer Judge.”

“I want to say that I am Li Shuheng.”

“That I am Luo Tinglan’s…”

He stopped.

It was as if those last few words were too heavy for him to even speak aloud.

But I already understood.

In that moment, my heart turned so soft I could hardly stand.

“Go on.”

“I’m afraid you won’t acknowledge it.”

I looked at him and suddenly smiled.

“Li Shuheng.”

“Yeah?”

“Have you noticed? You’re much better with words now than when you first came out of the Instance.”

He frowned slightly.

“That’s not the point.”

“Then what is the point?”

“The point is whether you’ll acknowledge it.”

I teased him on purpose.

“And if I don’t?”

His gaze darkened instantly.

“Then I’ll keep waiting.”

“Until you do.”

“What if I never admit it?”

“Then I’ll just keep waiting.”

“Why are you so stubborn?”

“Is this your first day knowing me?”

I was amused by him.

After the laughter subsided, a wave of warmth spread through my chest.

I reached out and took the bag of grapes from his hand, shifting it to my other hand so I could free one to take his.

“I admit it.”

Li Shuheng’s breath hitched.

“What?”

“I said, I admit it.”

“You are Li Shuheng.”

“And you’re my boyfriend.”

He stood frozen on the spot, not moving for a long time.

I even wondered if this sentence had caused him to crash again.

A second later, he suddenly pulled me toward him and held me in a tight embrace.

It was so tight I could barely breathe.

“Gentle…”

“You just promised.”

“Promised what?”

“To claim me.”

I leaned against the crook of his shoulder, unable to stop myself from smiling.

“I’ve claimed you.”

“You can’t run away now.”

He gave a low hum of affirmation.

“You’d better not run.”

“Why? Are you going to drag me back into an Instance?”

“The Instances are closed.”

“Then what will you do?”

“I’ll catch you in reality.”

“Li Shuheng.”

“Yeah.”

“You’re becoming more and more like a human now.”

“Am I?”

“Yes.”

“Do you like it?”

Clutching the bag of grapes, I looked up at him.

The setting sun happened to fall on him, lighting up his eyes-which usually held a hint of coldness-until they were bright.

I thought about it for a moment and answered seriously.

“I like it.”

“I like it very much.”

He stared at me for a long time before finally leaning down to press a kiss to my forehead.

“That’s good.”

“I’ll slowly show you more of it in the future.”

The walk home wasn’t long.

The breeze felt wonderful.

I carried the grapes while he held my hand. Neither of us mentioned the Instances again, nor did we bring up those painful memories from the past.

It wasn’t because we had forgotten.

It was because we were finally able to put the rest of our lives ahead of those old wounds.

After getting home, Li Shuheng actually washed the grapes one by one and placed them in a glass bowl.

I sat on the sofa, watching him.

He turned back and asked, “What are you dazing off for?”

“Nothing.”

“I just suddenly felt that… things are pretty good right now.”

“What’s good about it?”

“The sky hasn’t fallen, there’s no one checking the rooms outside the door, and the kitchen is still ‘alive.'”

He laughed.

“Is that last part the main point?”

“Yes.”

“You aren’t allowed to touch a pot ever again.”

“Then what should I touch?”

I raised a finger and pointed at the grapes on the table.

“Touch these.”

“You can learn the rest slowly.”

He held a peeled grape to my lips.

“Does that include learning how to live a good life in reality?”

“Yes.”

“And also learning how to love me properly in reality.”

Li Shuheng’s movements paused.

A moment later, the hint of a smile at the corners of his eyes deepened.

“That, I can learn.”

I bit into the grape, and its sweetness slowly dissolved.

Outside the window, the sky gradually darkened, but the light inside the house was warm.

Li Shuheng sat beside me, his shoulder brushing against mine, his hands busy slowly peeling the next grape.

I suddenly felt that this was exactly the kind of life I had fought so hard to bring him to see.

No living by serial numbers.

No living by rules.

Just like this-sitting peacefully under the lamp, finishing the grapes one by one.

But right then, the phone on the coffee table suddenly vibrated.

It wasn’t a call.

It wasn’t a message, either.

The screen lit up on its own, flickering twice like static, and a line of garbled code flashed across the top.

“Locating Deep Well fragments…”

My fingers stiffened.

Li Shuheng also looked up.

A second later, the screen returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.

The room was silent for a few beats.

I spoke first.

“Did you see that?”

“I saw it.”

“Are you afraid?”

Li Shuheng handed me the last peeled grape, but his gaze didn’t shift away from the phone.

“With you here, I’m not that afraid.”

I took the grape and bit down slowly.

The sweetness bloomed on the tip of my tongue.

The night outside the window was deep, and the glass reflected the shadows of us sitting side by side.

I knew this wasn’t over yet.

But so what?

This time, no matter how many fragments of the Deep Well remain, and no matter if it ever speaks again…

I will never leave him behind those doors alone again.

(The End)