Chapter 178: It’s Not the Game I Like, but the Person Playing It

Watching Chen Mo and Chu Mengyao interact, Su Yuqing felt a sour pang in her heart.

But she couldn’t summon any other emotion.

After all, she and Chen Mo weren’t officially a couple. The only reason she was living at his place was because he had been kind and tolerant enough to take her in.

From that perspective, Chen Mo was her benefactor, not her lover.

’What right do I have to pry into and comment on his social life?’

The insecurity Su Yuqing had harbored since childhood once again took over her thoughts.

Whenever she faced a situation that required courage, her insecurity would rear its head and interfere.

Although she felt a pang of jealousy, on the surface, Su Yuqing had nothing to say and could only remain silent.

She couldn’t help but wonder what exactly Chen Mo’s relationship with Chu Mengyao was.

After all, she had spent a good deal of time with Chen Mo while living at his place.

But she had basically never seen him take calls from other girls or chat with them on his phone.

That was why Su Yuqing had always assumed Chen Mo was single.

It was also why she had taken a slow and steady approach to their relationship.

’Since we’re both single, it’s nice to let our feelings develop slowly over time.’

But now, the sudden appearance of a girl so close to him gave Su Yuqing an immense sense of alarm.

Seeing Su Yuqing suddenly fall silent, Zhao Yuanyuan started to get anxious on her behalf.

If it weren’t for the last part of their exam, she would have loved to rush over and figure out what was going on between Chen Mo and Chu Mengyao.

Just as Su Yuqing was feeling a pang of jealousy at the sight of their close relationship...

...the other girl was, in fact, feeling the same way.

After all, she hadn’t seen the childhood friend she’d grown up with and adored for just a short while, and he already had someone he was interested in.

Anyone in her shoes would feel upset.

Especially since there was a good chance it was because she had been too timid before.

She didn’t have the courage to confess her feelings, nor the courage to turn their already great friendship into something more.

As a result, one missed chance could mean a lifetime of regret.

That kind of pain ran incredibly deep.

This was exactly how Chu Mengyao felt at that moment.

On the surface, she might seem carefree, joking around with Chen Mo like one of the guys, as if there were no gender barrier between them.

But in reality, she was very sensitive and shy at heart.

The reason she had known Chen Mo for so long without ever revealing her feelings...

...was because she was terrified.

She was terrified that if she confessed and was rejected, their relationship might instantly shatter.

This is a common fear for many people who are inexperienced with matters of the heart.

When a relationship between a man and a woman reaches that stage of "more than friends, but not yet lovers," they start to panic.

They don’t know whether they should confess and elevate the relationship from friendship to romance.

But there’s a huge risk involved.

If they do it and get rejected, it plants a seed of awkwardness between them.

Afterward, it would be absolutely impossible for them to interact as naturally as they did before.

Every time they remembered that moment, their interactions would be tinged with awkwardness.

Any casual acts of intimacy from the past, whether intentional or not, would be given an extra layer of meaning if they ever happened again.

That’s why shattering the status quo is something many people don’t dare to do.

Things are already wonderful as they are, but in the attempt to make them even better, one might end up destroying all the wonderfulness that was there before.

Not everyone has the courage to take that step, a step that carries the price of a broken relationship.

Chu Mengyao couldn’t take that step, and neither could Su Yuqing.

Even Chen Mo himself couldn’t take it.

Even though he had already figured out Su Yuqing’s feelings for him.

But he was always afraid of that "what if."

From an outsider’s perspective, everything seems crystal clear.

But from the perspective of those involved, matters of the heart are a tangled, chaotic mess.

Even though Chu Mengyao was anxious and wanted to salvage the situation, she became even more tongue-tied and didn’t dare say much.

She couldn’t bring herself to say it before, and now it was even harder.

Before, Chen Mo didn’t have anyone he was interested in.

’Now that Chen Mo already has a crush, wouldn’t I just be asking for humiliation by confessing?’

Chu Mengyao could only bottle up her feelings, forcing a smile as she chatted with Chen Mo.

Having not seen each other in a long time, their conversation flowed naturally, without any distance or awkwardness.

They could talk about anything, from the little things in life to matters of the heart.

Seeing that Chu Mengyao kept asking about him, Chen Mo turned the tables. "You keep asking about me, but what about you? Do you have a boyfriend now?"

"No," Chu Mengyao answered directly, without a second’s hesitation.

"Are there no guys in your class who catch your eye?" Chen Mo asked with a smile.

"I guess you could say that."

"I remember you go to a prestigious high school, right? Your standards must be pretty high if not a single guy has caught your eye," Chen Mo said, surprised.

Suddenly, Chen Mo looked Chu Mengyao up and down and joked, "You’re not a lesbian, are you?"

"What are you talking about?" Chu Mengyao said, laughing in exasperation. "It’s not that no guys have caught my eye. It’s just..."

"Just what?"

When it came to his childhood friend, Chen Mo was actually quite curious to hear some gossip.

"It’s just that... I don’t know if he already has eyes for someone else now," Chu Mengyao said, giving Chen Mo a meaningful look.

"That’s easy. Just ask," Chen Mo said, not thinking much of it.

Because he had absolutely no idea that Chu Mengyao liked him.

Before time was rewound, Chu Mengyao had never confessed to him either. She had contacted him a few times to play games, but Chen Mo had turned her down every time, using studying and working out as an excuse.

Later, after she seemingly heard the reason why Chen Mo had changed so much, Chu Mengyao stopped trying to contact him.

"Ask who?" Chu Mengyao looked at Chen Mo with great interest.

"Ask the people around him, of course. Probe for information indirectly. It’s simple," Chen Mo said, rolling his eyes at her.

"True," Chu Mengyao said with a smile, not pressing the matter further.

"I can’t believe it. The Yaoyao from back then who only had eyes for video games has a boy she likes now," Chen Mo teased.

"Who said I only have eyes for games? The reason I liked playing games was because..." Chu Mengyao stopped mid-sentence.

’It wasn’t the games she liked. It was the happy feeling of playing them with the boy she liked.’

’But those were words she could never say out loud.’

’And that boy would never know.’

While the two of them were chatting, Su Yuqing and Zhao Yuanyuan finished the last part of their exam. The ever-attentive Huang Mao, who had already bought water, was waiting for them on the side. The moment they finished, he handed the water over.