Chapter 108: Totally Unnecessary!
After leaving a booth with the cat-shaped pillow, Ye Ziming didn’t mention the haunted house right away. Instead, he positioned himself so that Lin Muqing couldn’t see it, and continued walking and chatting with her casually.
As they strolled, the topic somehow shifted to video games.
Once they started talking about games, Lin Muqing naturally remembered the character outfit she liked, and also the new outfit that would be released in the next update.
“The autumn JK uniform looks so cute!”
She was looking at her phone screen, which showed the new skin for the game character, an adorable JK uniform.
White thigh-high stockings with a JK outfit. It perfectly matched Lin Muqing’s taste. Just looking at it made her really excited, and she couldn’t help but let out a tiny squeal.
“You like it?”
Ye Ziming raised an eyebrow in mock surprise and leaned over to look at her phone too, asking softly.
“Of course I do! She’s such a cute cat-eared girl, who wouldn’t like that?”
Lin Muqing nodded seriously. Although she still preferred the outfit her best friend had given her before, she couldn’t deny that this new outfit was super cute too.
After staring at it for a few more seconds, Lin Muqing quickly closed the screen and turned off her phone, shoving it into her pocket.
She couldn’t keep looking. The more she looked, the more she wanted it. She was afraid she’d give in and spend money on it right away.
“True.”
Ye Ziming nodded thoughtfully after hearing her comment. He thought what she said made perfect sense, such a cute cat-eared girl (like Lin Muqing herself), who wouldn’t like that?
At the same time, he suddenly had a new idea.
He would order several cosplay outfits based on the game characters, and whichever one Lin Muqing was willing to wear for a photoshoot. He’d buy her that corresponding outfit in the game.
He thought it was a great plan. And as soon as their date was over, he’d start making calls to get those cosplays custom-made!
“Take a look at this.”
While they were talking, the two had already reached a spot not far from the entrance to the haunted house. All you had to do was lift your head to see the twisted, creepy-looking sign that read "Haunted House."
As he spoke, Ye Ziming patted Lin Muqing on the shoulder and signaled for her to look up.
Just like he expected, as soon as she saw the creepy-looking words, Lin Muqing’s eyes went wide and she instinctively took a step back.
“You’re not seriously thinking of going in there, are you?”
Her eyelids twitched involuntarily as she turned her head toward her best friend, staring at him with a nervous and suspicious look.
Suddenly, she remembered that during lunch earlier, he had briefly mentioned something about the haunted house.
Now she was panicking.
Especially after seeing the faint smile on his face, Lin Muqing had a bad feeling about this.
“If you go in with me just once, I’ll buy you that new outfit.”
Ye Ziming got straight to the point without any tricks. He just wanted to go inside and check it out.
No threats, just a tempting offer. The corners of his lips curled up as he looked at Lin Muqing with a clearly teasing look in his eyes.
That’s right, he was teasing her. He knew she didn’t have the guts to go into a haunted house…
But if he played into her "greedy-for-goodies" side, maybe it would be a different story.
“Uhh...”
Lin Muqing froze for a moment. She had to admit, Ye Ziming’s offer was very tempting.
Hugging the cat pillow tightly to her chest, she looked at her best friend, then back at the haunted house entrance. She seemed really unsure.
“If you miss this chance, there won’t be another.”
With a look full of challenge, not just in his eyes but also on his face, Ye Ziming spoke slowly and smugly.
Then he said nothing else.
He just stood there quietly, smiling playfully, and waited for Lin Muqing to give him an answer.
Of course, he wasn’t a total villain. He had actually done his homework beforehand. After looking into it, he found that this haunted house was more fun than scary.
So he felt confident bringing her here.
Simply put, it wasn’t that scary at all. At least, not for Ye Ziming.
“Are you really serious?”
After a short pause, Lin Muqing looked back up at Ye Ziming with a determined gaze in her eyes. She seemed ready to go all in!
“Of course.”
Ye Ziming nodded with a smile and answered honestly.
“Then let’s go! Who’s scared of who!”
With his clear answer, Lin Muqing immediately turned around and walked straight toward the haunted house line. For the sake of the super cute outfit, she was ready to be brave just this once!
Out of her sight, Ye Ziming revealed a smug smile and quietly followed her to the queue.
Just looking at the length of the line outside the haunted house, it was clear that this attraction was really popular. After waiting for quite a while, it was finally their turn to enter. Right then, Ye Ziming gently patted Lin Muqing on the shoulder.
“If you get scared in there, you can hold my hand.”
He leaned close to her ear and said softly.
Those caring words made it into Lin Muqing’s ears, but all she could think about was how he had just teased her earlier. Now it felt like he was just waiting for her to mess up and act weak. No way she’d let him win that easily!
“No need at all!”
With that thought, she immediately refused his offer and confidently walked ahead like she was leading the charge. Behind her, Ye Ziming smiled helplessly but also felt a bit relieved.
He thought Lin Muqing had a great attitude, maybe she wouldn’t get too scared once they were inside. But both of them were totally wrong about what would happen next.
As soon as they encountered the first haunted house actor in costume, Lin Muqing screamed and jumped right into Ye Ziming’s arms.
“Eek—!”
With her arms tightly wrapped around Ye Ziming’s waist and her eyes squeezed shut, she let out some very soft and cute little noises.
‘So soft, so small, so cute… I just want to hold her.’
That was Ye Ziming’s immediate, honest thought. When she suddenly hugged him, he was totally stunned. The surprise moment of cuteness hit him too fast for him to react.
“It’s okay, that was just an actor. He’s already gone. Don’t worry.”
While comforting Lin Muqing, Ye Ziming placed a hand on her back, gently patting her while enjoying the softness in his arms. In the end, he gave in and hugged her back. After all, actions speak louder than thoughts.
“Eeeeh… that was way too scary…”
She cautiously peeked out from his chest and looked around carefully. Only after confirming it was safe did she finally calm down a bit.
“Yeah, I was a little startled too.”
Trying to hide the smile threatening to appear on his lips, and pushing down some odd thoughts, Ye Ziming replied softly.
“Um… will there be more ghosts jumping out later?”
After being scared once, Lin Muqing was already traumatized. She was really afraid the same thing would happen again. And thinking back to how she reacted just now, she was filled with embarrassment and wanted to find a hole to hide in.
Getting scared and hugging him like that… just thinking about it made her feel super embarrassed.
Now her face was burning red and her heart was pounding. She wasn’t even sure whether it was from the fright… or the shame.
It felt like her heart was going to jump out of her mouth any second.