Book 3, Chapter 28 - What Is Like
“Oh yeah.” I glanced at him. “Who does Raffles like?” He’d said that Raffles had a person that he liked.
Harry turned to look at me. The question alleviated the awkwardness that shouldn’t have existed in the first place.
He smirked maliciously. Then, he braced his hand against the door frame next to my face and leaned low over me. His fringe glided along his sideburn as he leaned closer. A tuft of hair shook as it glided down his forehead, shimmering under the moonlight.
“Who do you think that person is?” He blinked at me. His long eyelashes were distinct under the moonlight, setting off his amber eyes.
I looked up at him and exclaimed in surprise, “You?!”
“Cough, cough, cough!” He burst out coughing. Blocking his cough with his fist, he shook his head. He sighed and turned back to look at me helplessly. “It was just a random excuse.”
“Oh!” It turned out to be an excuse to not let the fatty continue bothering Raffles. I smiled. “Raffles is quite popular. I wonder who he would end up with.” I leaned on the door frame comfortably. Raffles is so beautiful. I wonder what he would wear when he got married.
Harry smiled and winked at me. “Do you want him?”
I was stunned. Why does he keep trying to promote Raffles to me all the time?
His amber eyes shimmered in the moonlight. He took back his hand and flicked my forehead. “Consider him.” Then, he snuck in.
I rubbed my forehead. I knew Harry wasn’t joking but I only took it as a joke.
Raffles is great. He is handsome, he is beautiful and he is extremely, superbly smart. There’s nothing that he can’t make. He even made me Little Carl to keep me company.
But what is ‘like’? How does it feel to like someone?
I can’t get together with Raffles irresponsibly. What am I going to do if I suddenly realize that I like someone else one day?
I couldn’t help but look in the direction He Lei and the fatty had left in. After leaving Blue Shield City, he should be returning to the north. I wonder when the next time we get to meet again would be.
Raffles was angry because Xiao Ying had pulled down his mask all of a sudden. He sat huffily on his sleeping bag as he scribbled his complicated formulas alone.
The inner room was partitioned into two using a huge bedsheet, while a huge carpet that was soft and warm spread across the entire floor.
The guys took up one-third of the room. Harry and Raffles’ sleeping bags were arranged neatly on the ground. One could tell at a glance that it was Raffles who had laid them out.
The girls took up two-thirds of the room, their sleeping bags lined up neatly on the carpet.
“I’m sorry, Brother Raffles,” Xiao Ying stood on the carpet as she apologized to Raffles. “You are the only comparable one. Only then would the annoying fatty have stopped staring at our captain.” She looked down aggrievedly, anxiety plastered across her face.
Raffles stopped writing and turned his back to us angrily. He’d already taken off his bandana. His long grayish-blue hair hung behind his back, long enough to reach his waist. When he sat on the carpet, the ends of his hair brushed against the carpet behind him.
Sis Cannon and Ming You were speaking for Xiao Ying too.
“Raffles, you are sacrificing for our captain!” Sis Cannon said as she raised her fist, all worked up. “So, you are doing this for captain!” What Sis Cannon said made Raffles turn slightly and his expression seemed more relaxed.
“Yeah, Raffles. It means that you are the prettiest,” Ming You emphasized.
Who knew that once Raffles heard Ming You’s words, he turned around and started writing formulas again. It meant that he was angry again.
“Ming You, do you not know Raffles?” Arsenal glanced at Ming You helplessly. “He hates people saying he’s pretty the most.”
Ming You covered her mouth and furrowed her eyebrows regretfully when she realized. “I am so stupid. I won’t talk anymore. I don’t know what else I would say wrong later.”
“Everyone, don’t talk.” Suddenly, Xue Gie who was sitting by the side of the bed spoke. Everyone looked at her then exchanged glances.
“Yeah, let’s not talk anymore. Let the captain speak.” Sis Cannon looked at me with a pleading gaze.
Xiao Ying pulled my arm and acted spoiled. “Captain, tell Brother Raffles to stop being angry with me.”
“I know.” I patted Xiao Ying’s head and said, “Head back and rest first. Raffles wouldn’t blame you.”
Xiao Ying sighed and walked behind the bedsheet. A second later, she popped her head out to peek but Sis Cannon pushed her back.
Arsenal glanced at me before she lifted the bedsheet to enter the girls’ zone.
I sat next to Raffles as he continued to scribble. The guys’ sleeping bags were directly facing the door. Harry was out checking on the stall gate.
“Raffles,” I said but he didn’t stop writing. He had two brains so his other brain would be listening to me. “If it wasn’t for you today, I don’t know how I could have brushed off the topic about me looking like a girl.”
His hand paused, then he flipped to another page to continue writing.
I added, “It’s great now that no one would suspect that I am a girl.”
Raffles moved his booklet horizontally before me. Next time, I’ll make you look even manlier.
“Raffles, you are not willing to talk to me.” It had been a while since he’d written me a note.
He took his booklet back and wrote.
“Raffles, don’t be angry.”
Then, he pushed the booklet back to me. In your heart, am I a woman?
“Raffles! Of course not!” I immediately replied. “Talk to me. I don’t want to see you write.”
He took his booklet back but he didn’t speak nor write. His back was heaving up and down. His long grayish-blue hair hung by the side of his face, shimmering like a blue ribbon.
“I saw that you gave your hairband to He Lei,” he finally said.
I looked at his back confusedly. “Yeah. What’s wrong with the hairband?” The hairbands had been given out to all of us together. I remembered that Raffles had taken one too.
“Nothing.” He hung his head low. “Do you like..”
“I gave you a bracelet too!” I recalled and poke his back. “Didn’t I?”
His back stiffened and his hand that had been on his booklet slowly reached for his wrist.
I saw that he was quiet again, so I carefully leaned forward, supporting myself on the carpet next to his body to take a closer look at him. I could finally see past his hair under the moonlight, to his mysterious appearance that was hidden beneath.
I was stunned. The bright and clear moonlight shone in through the small round window above and lit up his face. The moonlight outlined the almost perfect lines of his face, softening his appearance vaguely as if he was a flower blossoming under the moon, which was at the same time also like a mysterious elf hidden in the moonlight.
On his indistinct face, the corner of his lips were lifted. He is smiling. He smiled.
“You smiled!” I caught him smiling and surprised him. He immediately turned to look at me. His hair flew in the air from his sudden movement, shimmering with silver light.