Eyes that are the same as those of evil

Chapter 180 We Won't Break Up
I woke up feeling refreshed and energized.

Tan Jia lazily opened his eyes, and what came into view was Lin Zhiyue's collarbone and ears. His head was buried in his body, and the two of them were in a position like carrots that had grown together.

Regardless of whether the person was asleep or not, she pushed him aside, sat up, yawned, and glanced at the neatly arranged plates of fruit on the table. She reached out and poked at a piece of watermelon to eat.

Lin Zhiyue wrapped himself around her from behind, his breath almost touching her ear, as if he dared not get too close.

She poked at another piece of watermelon, raised her hand to feed it to Lin Zhiyue's head, which was resting on her shoulder. The watermelon touched Lin Zhiyue's lips, and after teasing him a couple of times, she finally fed it to him.

"Is it tasty?"

"Ah."

"How long have I slept?"

"Two hours."

"You've been awake the whole time?"

"Ah."

Tan Jia was chatting casually, wanting to eat some more melon seeds, picking at them with her fork in mid-air, when suddenly another voice came from the living room.

"Those grapes are delicious."

Her eyelids twitched, her hand trembled, and the fork scraped against the plate with a sharp, short sound.

Then she turned her head and saw three living people sitting there, seemingly out of nowhere.

They were staring at her with burning eyes.

“Hello, Auntie.” Tan Jia pushed Lin Zhiyue aside, stood up, and nodded to the other two people she didn’t recognize as a greeting.

“Okay, okay, everything is fine,” An Hong quickly sat closer, smiling at her. “Sit down, sit down, continue eating fruit. We didn’t know what you liked to eat, so we just bought some random things. Xiao Yue didn’t tell us that she was dating you, so I didn’t have time to prepare a gift. But we can go to the mall to buy one now…”

"No need," Tan Jia said politely with a smile, "We're just..."

Before she could finish speaking, Lin Zhiyue grabbed her hand tightly, stood beside her, and stared intently at her with his eyes downcast.

"...We just didn't intend for too many people to know. I was sleeping soundly and didn't know when you arrived, sorry. You must have something to do? I'll head back now."

She was about to leave after saying just a few words, but Lin Zhiyue's face was as gloomy as a rainy day. He held her hand tightly, pursed his lips for a while, and then only asked, "Want to come for dinner?"

"No, I have to go back and check on my brother. He's a little injured." Tan Jia patted his arm, pulled away, and left.

An Hong wanted to persuade them to stay, but felt that saying more would only make things worse. The three of them remained silent, their gazes following each other.

Lin Zhiyue followed her to the door. It was clear he wanted to say something, whether it was from frustration, anxiety, or discomfort. Tan Jia, seeing that no one had followed, kissed him on the cheek.

"You have three seconds."

His Adam's apple bobbed as he whispered, "They left soon."

"...I really have to go see my brother. I won't have dinner with you even if they disappear the next second. Go back, and we can go out together in a couple of days."

He could only let go, watching her go back to the next room from the doorway, before walking back to the living room expressionlessly.

The three people in the living room had accumulated a whole host of questions, especially since they had mentally rehearsed their questions countless times during the hour when they were not allowed to make any noise.

After they left, An Hong quickly asked, "Are you two really dating?"

Lin Zhiyan: "Your girlfriend is so beautiful! Her wolf tail is so cool!"

An Qinyuan: "Damn, how did you manage to win her over?"

Skipping over the first two questions, Lin Zhiyue glanced at An Qinyuan.

"What do you mean by 'chase'?"

"Could it be that she didn't pursue you? Does that mean you were just standing there and she took the initiative to come over and say, 'Handsome, let's be friends,' and then she won you over?" An Qinyuan felt that this couldn't be the case. "She doesn't seem to be the proactive type; she's the kind that's hard to pursue." Lin Zhiyue pursed his lips tightly again, frowning as he stared at the person.

An Hong had experienced the entire process of her son's illness, onset, and recovery, and knew what his reaction meant.

"You didn't pursue her, but you two just ended up together without really knowing what was going on?"

Thinking about it, it makes sense. For the past eleven years, my son has lived in a semi-vacuum world, like an isolated island. It's already incredible that an isolated island would actively approach people, let alone fall in love, let alone sleep together on the sofa.

He wouldn't let anyone make a sound and wake the girl, and comfortably held her while pretending to sleep for an hour.

An Hong was getting a little anxious: "This won't do. Dating without a proper start is like buying insurance without paying the premium. You need to go through the process of pursuing someone, confessing your feelings, officially participating in their social circle, and letting people know that you're boyfriend and girlfriend."

Lin Zhiyan: "Have you ever given her flowers? Bought her gifts? Have you ever gone for a walk with her, eaten at a restaurant together, and ordered her favorite dishes?"

An Qinyuan: "Did you ask her about her previous relationships? Did you ask her if she liked you?"

Lin Zhiyue frowned.

Oh no, this is terrible, it doesn't even touch on one of them.

An Qinyuan quickly tried to salvage the situation: "Or perhaps she inquired about you, whether she gave you any gifts, or confessed her feelings to you?"

He still frowned.

Lin Zhiyan glanced over speechlessly.

An Qinyuan dared not speak, fearing that the chair he was sitting on would be kicked over at any moment.

But Lin Zhiyue suddenly said, "None of that matters."

An Hong: "You've never been in a relationship, so you don't know how important these things are. You're not officially together, so what will you say if you break up? You have no right to try to keep her."

“We won’t break up,” he said quietly, sitting down at the easel by the French windows, picking up a paintbrush and looking down, “unless I die.”

All three of them felt a jolt in their hearts.

An Qinyuan: My God, this is the new era of one-size-fits-all approaches.

An Hong was shocked: "Xiao Yue, A Yue, this kind of thinking is not right. Dating and breaking up are normal things. Everyone has the right to date and the right to break up. You can't stubbornly demand that others give up this right. What if something happens in the future..."

"Nothing unexpected."

Lin Zhiyue dipped his paintbrush in paint and sketched an outline on the paper. His eyes were fixed on the details of the painting, and he seemed a little absent-minded when he spoke.

An Hong was still not giving up: "She probably doesn't like you having these thoughts. Extreme ideas can make people feel pressured. It's abnormal to express feelings by talking about things that are neither alive nor dead."

“I’m not normal to begin with,” he said coldly, drawing the eyes of the person in the painting with a single stroke.

An Hong choked up.

Lin Zhiyan didn't say much. She noticed that the figure he painted was the same person as the subject of the small oil painting framed in the glass display case.

He doesn't even need a model standing in front of him to draw the girl's different poses, even her eyes are different, as if he has observed her long enough and thoroughly.

It's really hard to imagine that he would stay at home all day, slowly painting people, then carefully framing and treasuring them before slowly painting the next one. His deliberate, serious, and focused manner is actually a little frightening.

Lin Zhiyan touched the goosebumps on her arm and asked, "Do you just stay at home drawing every day? Don't you go out and play with her?"

Lin Zhiyue paused her paintbrush, pursed her lips, and said, "She's very busy."

"Even the busiest person has free time. You can invite her out to relax, go on a trip, stay in a hotel, or go on a yacht trip to create wonderful memories. Or you can find out what activities she likes and go with her."

Delightful memories. Lin Zhiyue seemed lost in thought, recalling Tan Jia's earlier mention of going out together in two days.

　The next chapter will have to wait until daytime. Because it involves the start of the next case, I still haven't figured it out.

　　(End of this chapter)