The bell rang, signaling the end of the lesson.
Luxia quickly packed her books before turning to Hao Sheng, who was still packing his.
"What's your next class?", she asked him.
Hao Sheng took his schedule out of his bag and checked it.
"It says here I have AP Maths", he replies.
Her face immediately lights up.
"Great! It looks like we have the same class together.
"Let's go together", she offers.
Hao Sheng sends her a smile. "Sure", he says, standing up and slinging his bag over his shoulder.
The duo walked together to their next class, making light conversation on the way.
When they got there, they chose to sit, towards the back of the class.
The lesson ended, and it was now the lunch break
Luxia turned to Hao Sheng.
"It's lunch time now. I can take you to the cafeteria if you want...I totally get that you'd want to socialise and make a few friends", she said, sounding a bit reluctant.
Hai Sheng smiled and nudged her with his elbow, "What are you talking about? Don't I have a friend right here? ", he asks jokingly.
Luxia seemed relieved at his answer and quickly smiled back at him.
"Good, because I have the perfect place for us to hang out.", she said, as she excitedly pulled him along to follow her.
Hao Sheng smiled after her endearingly.
Luxia seemed like a sweet person. Her brown hair with purple highlights, and her disinterested resting face made her look unapproachable, but she was really nice once you got to talking to her. Hao Sheng felt that he would really enjoy her company.
[Wait a minute, host! What are you doing?!]
Shouldn't you be taking this opportunity to go look for the target and try to get closer to him?] '
'I don't know what you mean. Luxia is perfectly good company', he said with a small smile as he continued following Luxia.
333 didn't know what to do with his host. He was clearly feigning ignorance just now. Did he not take the mission seriously or something?! He had promised him that he wouldn't endanger his job! How shameless! This despicable host.
Hao Sheng smiled. Although he couldn't hear 333's little rant, he had an idea of how he was feeling.
Or something similar. Did the systems have feelings as well, or...? Eh, whatever the case may be, he'll think about this more later.
Hao Sheng and Luxia finally arrived at a little alcove at the back of the school. It had a cute little table and benches with a pretty view of the school garden. The groundsmen had really outdone themselves. It gave the place a peaceful aura about it.
"What do you think? Pretty neat, right? ", she asked as she turned back to him.
Hao Sheng chuckled, "Yeah, I'd say it is pretty neat."
They both sat down and pulled out their individual lunches.
"So...tell me about yourself. Where are you from? ", she asked.
"Oh, I was originally born here, but then we had to move to the States for business. I decided I wanted to complete my final year of high school back here, so I came back", he tells her.
"Oh, that's cool. I've never traveled outside of China. I really want to, but I've never really got the chance. ", she says, looking a bit down.
"Well, I could tell you a bit about the States if you want?", he offers.
She immediately lights up again. Hao Sheng chuckled. How cute! She was like a little kid.
That's how they spent the rest of the lunch break, with Hao Sheng telling her some stories and her listening attentively.
At the end of the lunch break, they went their separate ways as they didn't have the same class next.
Before splitting up, they exchanged numbers so they could stay in touch.
For the rest of the day, Hao Sheng didn't cross paths with Malakai again. It seemed like an innocent coincidence, but it actually wasn't.
[Host, could you please explain why you asked me to notify you when the target was in your area and then went out of your way to AVOID him when he was?]
[Shouldn't you be doing the opposite???]
"Don't worry, my cute little system. It's all part of the plan.", he said vaguely.
They were on their way back to the apartment.
After some probing that morning, he had discovered that he lived alone. It was very convenient for him because he didn't have to explain his movements to his parents.
[What plan? You have a plan?!]
333 found it hard to believe that this stinky host had a plan. He hadn't been in this world for even a day or even interacted with the target for that long. So how could he possibly have a plan? 333 sighed and decided to trust his host.
Hao Sheng got home and finished off any homework he had. Then, after making a quick dinner, he sat on the sofa and decided to watch a few movies to pass the time until it was time for bed.
While waiting for the movie to start, he picked up the phone and opened the message app.
[Host are you going to send a message to the target? I think that's a very good idea too]
333 knew his host wouldn't disappoint him. He was obviously just waiting for the right time to approach the target.
"What are you talking about? I'm just checking in with Luxia", he said.
333 spoke too soon. This stinky host. Why wasn't he putting in any effort.
[Why? Are you not messaging him at all?]
"Why would I do that?! That would ruin everything", he said, looking puzzled.
Why was he looking puzzled? 333 should be the one who is perplexed.It was clearly the host who wasn't acting rationally!
[You promised me a host! You said you wouldn't endanger my job and that you would try to clear this mission! What is this now?!]
Instead of answering him, Hao Sheng just laughed and said vaguely, "It's all part of the plan, my cute little system. So don't you worry, okay?", He smiled teasingly.
This made 333 completely livid. Instead of wasting his time talking to the host, he decides to return to the inner part of the system and organise the files.
Hmph. Stupid host with a stupid plan.
In another place, there was also another grumpy boy.
Malakai kept looking over at his phone every few minutes, but there was still no change no matter how many times he looked.
What was Hao Sheng doing and why had he not texted him yet?!!
Malakai found himself deeply regretting that he did not take his number from him as well. That way, at least he would be able to initiate the conversation, instead of being stuck here waiting for him to text him.
Just then, suddenly, a sound rang out in the room.
Ding!
It's was his phone!
Malakai picked it up, a bit smug. He knew there was no way Hao Sheng wouldn't text him.
He quickly opened the message app and almost threw his phone across the room when he saw that the message was from a group chat he was in and not some unknown number.
He sighed and opened the group chat. It was just an announcement that there would be a party the next Saturday and to spread the word.
Hah. Another party huh....
He switched off his phone and decided to go to bed earlier than usual.
It didn't matter if Hao Sheng decided to text him or not. It's not like he cared or anything.
Yeah, this didn't bother him. Maybe he just didn't get the time. They'll probably see each other and talk tomorrow at school.
Yeah, it wasn't a big deal.
But as Malakai lay there in his bed, he felt unsettled. Why wouldn't a person text another person they haven't seen in years? Didn't he miss him or something?
Stupid Hai Sheng and him not texting me. He didn't need him anyway.
Malakia closed his eyes and fell asleep resentfully.