Chapter 18 Did I make you nervous?

Gu Shiyue attracted a lot of attention from the moment he got his ticket and entered the queue; the commotion in the queue earlier was caused by him. Although most of those queuing for autographs today were girls, there were boys too, just not as many, making them seem rare. Gu Shiyue was handsome and tall, making him very eye-catching; male fans with his looks were definitely even rarer.

Signing slots were limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. The queue was already quite short, but many fans who had already signed remained in the adjacent public area, waiting for Jiang Luo to finish work. When it was Gu Shiyue's turn in the queue, the people on the outside were even more excited than those behind him.

Jiang Luo stood there stunned for a full five seconds, her mind blank for those five seconds. There were chairs in front of the table, specifically for fans queuing for autographs, until a staff member reminded her, "You can sit here for autographs and interactions," before Jiang Luo came back to her senses.

Gu Shiyue sat down in the chair and placed the poster that Qi Xueying had given him on the table.

Jiang Luo was still a bit dazed; his business acumen had plummeted, his mind was blank, and he didn't know what to say. Seeing the poster, he reflexively picked up a pen to sign it, his eyes lowered, his grip on the pen a little unnatural.

Gu Shiyue stared at him, his gaze sweeping lightly across his face. Jiang Luo's hair and eyes were light blue today. He wore a studded choker, several plain hoop earrings, and a lip ring. The lip ring was connected to a thin silver chain, the other end of which was attached to a plain hoop earring, swaying gently beside his face.

Gu Shiyue was silent for a moment, then spoke to him naturally: "How long have you been signing? Are you tired?"

Jiang Luo raised his head, and as he moved, the silver chain on the side of his face swayed slightly.

"No, not long ago." Jiang Luo looked at him, her breathing a little uneven. "I'm not tired."

He was interacting with fans so relaxed just a moment ago, but now he's inexplicably become awkward. Gu Shiyue noticed his discomfort and asked, "What's wrong?"

Jiang Luo wasn't nervous, but he was genuinely uneasy, so much so that he was almost speechless. This rarely happened to him; perhaps the sudden appearance of Gu Shiyue had overwhelmed him, leaving him completely bewildered.

"Did I make you nervous?" Gu Shiyue asked.

Jiang Luo immediately shook her head: "No, I'm not nervous."

"If you're not nervous, why are you stuttering?"

"I..." Jiang Luo opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say. He was really stuttering now.

This was the first time Gu Shiyue had seen him like this, and she found it quite interesting.

After the autograph session, there was an interactive segment. Usually, fans would have a lot to say to Jiang Luo, but Gu Shiyue didn't have much to say. The two of them just sat there looking at each other, the atmosphere inexplicably subtle. Gu Shiyue wanted to see more different reactions from Jiang Luo, so he took the initiative and asked, "Can we take a picture?"

Jiang Luo paused for a moment, then nodded: "...Okay."

"Let's take a group photo," Gu Shiyue said.

Jiang Luo's eyes widened slightly, clearly surprised. He stammered, "Y-yes."

Gu Shiyue took out his phone, and Jiang Luo said habitually, "Um... I'll do it."

"Okay." Gu Shiyue handed him the phone.

Jiang Luo takes photos and selfies with fans using his phone; he's very familiar with the process and knows which angles look best.

The two turned to face the same direction. Gu Shiyue sat upright, and the camera couldn't capture them both. Jiang Luo leaned slightly towards him across the table. He smelled the faint, fragrant scent on Gu Shiyue, and the ear on the side closest to Gu Shiyue inexplicably felt hot and slowly turned red.

Gu Shiyue stared blankly at the camera, and Jiang Luo pressed the shutter button, freezing the moment in their image.

Gu Shiyue had no intention of chatting with Jiang Luo under these circumstances. After taking the photos, he left before the scheduled interaction time was over.

Before the next fan came up, Jiang Luo lowered his head, took a deep breath, and quickly composed himself.

When Gu Shiyue came out of the queuing area, a crowd of people were watching him and taking pictures with their phones. Qi Xueying was behind the crowd, smiling and waving at him. Gu Shiyue walked over to her and handed her the autographed poster.

Qi Xueying asked with a smile, "You're so fast! How did it end so quickly?"

Gu Shiyue glanced in Jiang Luo's direction, thinking that if this didn't end soon, he'd start stuttering. He was probably genuinely startled; it was the first time he'd seen him so flustered.

Qi Xueying glanced at the poster in Gu Shiyue's hand and joked, "Aren't you going to keep this poster for yourself? You went through all that trouble to get it signed."

“Why keep it? It’s not like I can’t see him,” Gu Shiyue said. “I can see him anytime I want.”

"Sigh..." Qi Xueying smiled and took the poster. "That's true."

The autograph session officially ended around 5 p.m. Many fans lingered around the booth and didn't leave. Jiang Luo stood up, raised his arm, and made a big heart shape with his fingers, which immediately sparked a scream from the crowd.

Jiang Luo knew they probably couldn't hear him anyway, given the distance and the noise from the fence. He smiled and waved, then bowed deeply to express his gratitude.

After leaving the venue, Jiang Luo immediately checked his phone. There were many messages on it. He clicked on Gu Shiyue's WeChat profile picture and saw that Gu Shiyue's last message was sent an hour ago, asking which exhibition area he was in.

Jiang Luo replied while walking: I was busy when you messaged me and didn't check my phone.

Jiang Luo replied to Gu Shiyue's message before replying to others. Cheng Jiashu had sent a location five minutes earlier: "Waiting for you here. Come over when it's over."

Jiang Luo opened the location navigation and said to Jiang Chen, "Let's go find your brother Jia Shu."

"Yeah." Jiang Chen turned to look at him. "Brother, do you know that male fan from earlier?"

Jiang Luo turned to look at him, and Jiang Chen said, "He's very tall, the one in the black clothes."

Jiang Luo knew he was referring to Gu Shiyue, and tugged at her earlobe, saying, "You can tell so obviously..."

“You couldn’t even speak properly just now…” Jiang Chen had never seen his brother like this before, so reserved and awkward. “You almost couldn’t even sign your name.”

Jiang Luo chuckled, touching his ear, and said, "No way, my signature was fine... I was just so surprised, my brain went blank, I never expected him to be here. He's not a fan."

"Is he your friend?" Jiang Chen asked.

“Senior,” Jiang Luo said, “from the same school as me.”

"oh."

Gu Shiyue's phone vibrated, and he replied with a message: I know.

Jiang Luo immediately asked: Senior, have you already left?

Gu Shiyue: No.

Jiang Luo: !

Jiang Luo: Are you still at the convention center? Where are you?

Gu Shiyue: Come to Cheng Jiashu, and you'll see me.

Jiang Luo: !!

Jiang Luo unconsciously quickened his pace. Cheng Jiashu's location for him wasn't far, but along the way, several passing fans recognized him, causing him a slight delay. Even those who weren't fans asked him for photos. In the end, he could only wear Jiang Chen's sports jacket to cover his cosplay outfit.

Outside the venue, in the center, there was a large plaza with tables and chairs for people to rest. Gu Shiyue and his group were in that rest area. He sat on a chair and saw Jiang Luo walking towards them from afar. Next to Jiang Luo was the boy who had been sitting next to him earlier. He turned to talk to the boy, his eyes crinkling with laughter, and even reached out to pat the boy's head.

Jiang Luo was walking in the direction he had been given when he suddenly saw Cheng Jiashu stand up and wave at him from a distance. He quickly walked over and glanced over, but he didn't see Gu Shiyue. Qi Xueying was sitting next to Cheng Jiashu; they were all waiting for him.

Gu Shiyue was behind Cheng Jiashu. Cheng Jiashu stood up and blocked his way. Jiang Luo only saw him when she got closer. The two looked at each other.

Cheng Jiashu hadn't even spoken to Jiang Luo yet today. He stepped forward and hooked his finger on the silver earring on Jiang Luo's ear: "That earring... it's really flashy."

Qi Xueying laughed and said, "That's just how his image is supposed to be, a punk pretty boy."

Gu Shiyue watched them silently, seeing Cheng Jiashu fiddling with Jiang Luo's earrings and the silver chain on his cheek.

Jiang Luo kept her gaze fixed on Gu Shiyue and called out, "Senior."

Gu Shiyue hummed in agreement and glanced at Jiang Chen behind him. The boy's features bore a resemblance to Jiang Luo's, and he stared intently at Gu Shiyue.

Jiang Luo turned to look at Jiang Chen and introduced him to Gu Shiyue: "This is my younger brother, Jiang Chen."

Gu Shiyue nodded.

Qi Xueying knew that Jiang Luo had a younger brother, but this was the first time she had met him in person. Jiang Luo introduced Gu Shiyue and Qi Xueying to Jiang Chen, and Jiang Chen politely greeted them, "Hello."

After introducing everyone, Jiang Luo looked at Gu Shiyue and asked, "Senior... what exactly happened just now?"

Qi Xueying smiled with her eyes downcast. Jiang Luo glanced at her and had already guessed most of what was going on: "Could it be that President Ying snatched the tickets and made you stand in line?"

Qi Xueying laughed out loud: "How can you be so smart?"

“I knew it.” Jiang Luo smiled. “I couldn’t have guessed anything else besides this.”

Jiang Luo thought about it for a moment and guessed that this must be the case. What puzzled him was not that Qi Xueying asked Gu Shiyue to help her queue up, but that Gu Shiyue would actually agree to help Qi Xueying queue up.

"Were you startled?" Qi Xueying asked him with a smile.

"It wasn't just a shock... it was seventy or eighty shocks."

"Didn't you ask Senior Gu to come?" Qi Xueying blinked. "He couldn't see you even when he got here, so I gave him my ticket. See, you saw me up close now, didn't you? Isn't that great?"

To be honest, Jiang Luo didn't expect so many people to be there for the autograph session when he invited Gu Shiyue to the comic convention. Besides those queuing, there were also many onlookers surrounding him, completely blocking his view from the outside. Moreover, when he asked Gu Shiyue if he would come to see him, it was just a casual question. After all, he hadn't invited Gu Shiyue to come see him in the first place; he had just asked if Gu Shiyue was interested in going to the comic convention.

Jiang Luo lightly rubbed her fingers on her pants, glanced at Gu Shiyue, and whispered, "I didn't insist that he come to see me."

"Then I don't know." Qi Xueying spread her hands. "Senior Gu got the ticket himself, and he lined up in line himself. He wanted to see you, not me. It has nothing to do with me."

Cheng Jiashu was completely oblivious and listened in a daze. He had no interest in listening to their idle chatter and only wanted to eat: "You can talk about what you have to say later. Can we go eat first? I'm starving. I won't be able to walk if I'm hungry any longer."

"Mmm." Jiang Luo nodded quickly. "It's my treat today, what would you like to eat?"

"I want to eat hot pot," Cheng Jiashu said without any hesitation.

Jiang Luo thought that Gu Shiyue might not like hot pot, so she said, "How about we change it?"

"Why?" Cheng Jiashu asked, "Doesn't anyone here eat hot pot?"

Jiang Luo glanced at Gu Shiyue: "Senior, do you want to eat hot pot?"

"Either is fine," Gu Shiyue said.

"Okay, let's have hot pot then."

"Let's go, let's go." Cheng Jiashu picked up his bag and left.

Gu Shiyue stood up and, as he walked to Jiang Luo's side, suddenly asked, "Don't you want me to come see you?"

Jiang Luo paused, then turned to look at him.

This is bad news.

I said the wrong thing.

A note from the author:

----------------------

Update tomorrow at 10 AM!