"No progress! Absolutely no progress at all!"
"I stayed up past ten last night just hanging out with Su Peng—so why hasn't his affection increased even a single point?"
"And now Su Peng seems suddenly on guard! Every time I get close, he bolts—what the hell is wrong with him?"
An Han stood outside the door of the neighboring dorm room, grumbling nonstop about Su Peng's uncooperative behavior.
This didn't make sense. Last time they played mini-games together, he'd effortlessly gained five points of affection.
Just as he knocked on the door, his grumbling expression instantly transformed into a gentle smile: "Su Peng! Time to get up and eat!"
Suddenly, he remembered their conversation in the cafeteria yesterday.
Could it be that Su Peng misunderstood and thought he was into guys? That's why he's been avoiding him?
It must be exactly that!
But hadn't he already clarified it yesterday?
An Han started worrying again—how should he act around Su Peng now? If he kept being overly friendly like before, Su Peng would surely keep thinking he was gay. But if he acted distant, how could he possibly raise affection?
A moment later, the door opened. Su Peng stood there, as always impeccably neat and tidy—his appearance flawless no matter the hour.
"Su—"
An Han barely got the name out before Su Peng cut him off: "I'm going out on a date today."
"With that An Ke Xin?"
"Yeah."
An Han froze for a second—then suddenly realized this was a golden opportunity.
As a bro, offering to be a wingman should boost affection, right?
Excitedly, he asked, "Can I come too?"
Su Peng blinked in confusion. "Huh?"
"Don't you need a wingman or something?" An Han offered eagerly.
But Su Peng shook his head without hesitation. "A wingman? Forget it—you?"
"What's wrong with me now?"
"Didn't you totally ruin Dong Ming's attempt to get a girlfriend before?"
An Han feigned deep thought, then suddenly snapped his fingers as if remembering. "Oh, that? That was Dong Ming's own fault—not my doing at all."
Su Peng couldn't even be bothered to argue. He turned and started walking briskly down the stairs.
An Han hurried after him, still pleading, "Seriously, it wasn't me! If you like that girl, I swear I'll be the best wingman ever!"
Unfortunately, his past "misdeeds" had already destroyed Su Peng's trust.
"I barely even like her. We're just going out as friends—nothing serious."
An Han could clearly feel Su Peng picking up his pace, practically speed-walking away like he was fleeing.
He had to jog just to keep up, calling out desperately, "I've got nothing else to do anyway—let me tag along?"
"No."
Helpless, An Han finally stopped and walked to the end of the corridor, watching from above as Su Peng left the dorm building. His head throbbed with frustration.
"What the hell am I supposed to do now?"
If the task had shown zero progress from the start, An Han wouldn't have cared. But now it was almost complete!
Damn it—he really should've picked the third task! Wearing a swimsuit all day sounded tough, but if he just wore it underneath his normal clothes like underwear, it'd be a breeze! Instead, here he was, fawning over Su Peng like a lovesick fool and getting labeled a gay guy for his trouble.
He'd really screwed up.
An Han watched Su Peng's retreating figure with despair, already giving up on the task.
Forget it. Screw the system! Upgrade or don't—whatever. Let someone else deal with this crap!
He wasn't doing it anymore!
"F***! A perfectly normal guy like me gets turned into… this… by some stupid system, forced to run around doing its bidding, and for what? Nothing! Zero rewards!"
He muttered curses under his breath, turning to head back to his dorm to play games—when suddenly, he noticed Su Peng, who'd nearly vanished from sight, turn around and start walking back toward the dorm building.
"Did he forget something?"
His heart leapt with hope—but he quickly schooled his expression and scoffed, "Whatever! I quit! Do what you want!"
All that effort for nothing!
Even as he thought that, he still waited obediently. A moment later, Su Peng slowly climbed the stairs.
"Oh hey!"
"Oh hey my ass!" An Han shot him a glare over his shoulder. "Aren't you off to your date? Forget something?"
"No. I just saw you staring after me like a 'waiting wife rock' and figured I'd cancel on her."
"You're the 'waiting wife rock'!"
[System Notification: Su Peng's Affection +2]
An Han stared at Su Peng like he'd lost his mind—or maybe he was secretly a masochist.
What kind of messed-up logic was this? Getting yelled at actually increased affection?
He eyed Su Peng suspiciously but still asked, "Weren't you scared I was gay and trying to 'turn' you?"
"Thought about it… doesn't seem likely," Su Peng said, standing beside him and gazing down at the campus below. "If you were gay, you wouldn't be this… girly."
"Gah! F*** YOU!"
An Han sucked in a sharp breath, ready to kick Su Peng off the balcony.
Ever since the system started slowly turning him more feminine, the word "girly" had become his ultimate trigger!
"Get lost!"
If Su Peng had a system too, he'd probably just received a pop-up: "An Han's Affection –100."
Fuming, An Han stomped toward his dorm, muttering, "You're the girly one! Your whole damn family's girly!"
"Go date that girl already! Why'd you come back?!"
Su Peng followed behind, watching An Han's flushed face and puffed-up cheeks—like an angry pufferfish.
Though this way of getting mad was undeniably feminine, on An Han it didn't feel forced at all. In fact… it was kind of cute.
Multiple times now, Su Peng had caught himself thinking a guy was "cute"—which should've alarmed him. Yet he couldn't bear to see An Han looking so dejected whenever he pulled away.
Besides, he didn't want to lose a friend over his own paranoid assumptions.
Unaware of Su Peng's inner conflict, An Han's heart pounded with rage. When Su Peng leaned closer, he immediately spun around.
"Wanna play games?"
"I'm going to eat breakfast!"
"How about games after breakfast?" Su Peng grinned, sidling closer again.
"Are you insane? Now I'm starting to think you're the gay one! You ditch a date with a girl just to buzz around me like a damn fly?!"
Su Peng chuckled. "I never actually wanted to go out with An Ke Xin."
He'd only used the date as an excuse to avoid An Han—but halfway there, he realized hanging out with a girl sounded way less fun than gaming with An Han.
Plus, An Han had repeatedly insisted he had zero intention of "turning" him. Maybe Su Peng was just overthinking things… or maybe he was just too pent-up lately.
An Han stomped ahead, still grumbling, "I seriously think you're a masochist!"
"No way."
[System Notification: Su Peng's Affection +1]
Why did this guy's affection go up the worse An Han treated him?
An Han turned and stared hard at Su Peng's smiling face.
Yep. Definitely a masochist.