“Morning, Ling Cheng.”
At 8:20 a.m., a classmate greeted Ling Cheng as they headed to class together.
With dark circles under his eyes, Ling Cheng let out a huge yawn. “Morning, Lao Yang.”
“You’ve gotta take it easy at night, haha. Didn’t expect you rented a place just so you could… do those things conveniently.”
Lao Yang—who looked uncannily like pro esports player Gao Tianliang—teased him, seeing how drained Ling Cheng looked.
“Get lost…” Ling Cheng didn’t even have the energy to argue. All he wanted was to lie down and sleep through class.
Yesterday afternoon, he had recorded audio with Chu Xiaoxiao for over an hour. Processing the files afterward—noise reduction, format conversion, and so on—kept him up until 2 a.m.
Since it was his first time doing audio editing, his efficiency was terrible, which led to the all-nighter.
The first two classes today were in a large lecture hall—a blessing for Ling Cheng, since he could sleep in the back.
Just as he found the perfect “feng shui spot”—second-to-last row, by the wall—and was about to collapse onto the desk…
A familiar voice sounded by his ear:
“Good morning, Ah Cheng~”
A girl who was supposed to be on leave from school—An Xin—walked in through the back door in a light blue dress and came straight to him.
“An Xin? What are you doing here?” Ling Cheng tilted his head, forcing one eye open to look at her.
An Xin smiled shyly. “Staying home all the time isn’t good for recovery. I thought I’d come to school for a walk. My enrollment’s still active, and my face scan works at the gate anyway.”
As she spoke, she took out a still-warm breakfast. “There’s still some time before class—have something to eat.”
Before Ling Cheng could respond, the guy sitting next to him—who was about to start a round of Teamfight Tactics—couldn’t stay quiet anymore.
A beautiful girl from another class entering the room had already caught the attention of the students in the back rows.
But this cute girl was not only greeting an unnoticed guy in their class—she was even giving him breakfast.
That was basically fantasy-level stuff.
So Ling Cheng’s usual group of buddies instantly exploded.
Lao Yang led the charge: “Ling Cheng, is she your girlfriend?!”
“No way Ling Cheng has a girlfriend—wasn’t he chasing Chu Xiaoxiao just recently?”
“I told him, as long as he switches targets, it’d be easy to find someone. But now he’s openly showing off to us?!”
An Xin seemed startled by all this, lowering her head timidly. Her body trembled slightly as she unconsciously leaned closer to Ling Cheng.
Knowing she was shy, Ling Cheng stood up to explain to Lao Yang and the others, subtly blocking their gazes at the same time.
“Stop guessing. She’s just someone I know. And if we’re talking betrayal, I’ve already betrayed—your bro here was actually pretty popular in high school.”
Just as he finished speaking, the class bell rang.
With the teacher entering, the playful commotion came to an end.
Looking at Ling Cheng standing protectively in front of her, An Xin revealed a faint, satisfied smile.
At the same time, she kept repeating the name Chu Xiaoxiao in her mind.
She quickly connected it to yesterday’s recording—how that girl had tried to get close to her Ah Cheng, even blushing shyly.
Absolutely infuriating.
That sneaky cat even used voice acting as an excuse to get that close—An Xin gritted her teeth in annoyance.
But when Ling Cheng sat back down, she instantly switched back to her timid demeanor.
“S-sorry… I caused you trouble. I’ll leave after this class,” she said softly.
“It’s fine, don’t worry about it.” Ling Cheng thought he understood her personality well—she was introverted and shy in real life—so he comforted her.
“Thank you… Then please eat the breakfast while it’s still warm. It’s my way of repaying you for taking care of me.”
She looked at him with hopeful eyes.
Ling Cheng couldn’t refuse, especially since he was a bit hungry—he didn’t usually eat breakfast.
So he quickly gulped down the soy milk and the homemade sandwich while the teacher was busy setting up slides.
After eating, drowsiness hit him like a tidal wave—stronger than before.
“I’m sleepy… I’ll take a nap,” he murmured, about to rest his head on the desk.
But An Xin gently tugged him.
Already half-asleep, Ling Cheng fell straight into her arms.
She softly stroked his thick hair and whispered, just loud enough for herself to hear:
“Just a tiny bit of sleeping medicine, combined with how tired Ah Cheng already is… perfect. No one will suspect anything—and I get to admire his sleeping face.”
Because of the armrests on the chairs, he couldn’t lie on her lap like in anime. Instead, he leaned against her arm and chest.
Still, the intimate posture drew everyone’s attention.
“Holy—! And you say she’s not your girlfriend?” Lao Yang, who had just been knocked out of his game, spotted the key detail and quickly called the others.
The group looked at Ling Cheng with a mix of envy, jealousy, and resentment.
They were all still inexperienced.
Meanwhile, Ling Cheng not only had such a gentle girlfriend, he was enjoying breakfast service—and now even showing off affection in class?!
The guys all pursed their lips in unison, their expressions screaming “as expected.”
Lao Yang fumed: “What the hell—doing this in broad daylight? I swear I’m gonna make this guy pay.”
“P-please don’t mess with Ah Cheng…” An Xin said softly. “He worked very hard last night.”
In an instant, everyone’s thoughts went wild.
Their perception of Ling Cheng completely changed.
History had shifted—he was no longer the clueless guy they knew. He had become… a real man.
Of course, that wasn’t actually true—but it was all part of An Xin’s plan.
She wanted everyone around Ling Cheng to acknowledge her existence and reject others, reducing the chances of any other girl getting close to him.
And the photos she had taken… would be useful later.
After sighing in defeat, the guys turned back to their games.
Meanwhile, An Xin pulled out her phone and started taking selfies—capturing as many shots as she could of Ling Cheng sleeping in her arms.
Ling Cheng slept until the end of the second class before waking up.
Realizing he had been leaning on An Xin—and even drooled—he apologized repeatedly, internally complaining about how sleepy he’d been lately. Guess he had been pushing too hard working on his game.
“It’s fine,” An Xin said warmly, stretching her numb arm slightly. “You’ve taken care of me for so long—taking care of you a little makes me happy.”
“Then let’s go to the club room. I’ll show you my game’s progress,” Ling Cheng said quickly, trying to change the subject and ease the awkwardness.
“Sure~ I also finished some new character art yesterday.”