Yin Yue froze. "Wait.. what chat?"
She gasped. "Oh my god. He doesn't know?"
Liang Yu muttered something under his breath and busied himself with the grinder.
Yin Yue narrowed his eyes. "Doesn't know what?"
"There's a group chat of regulars," Jiang Mei explained cheerfully. "They call you 'The Latte Couple.'"
Yin Yue dropped the sugar packets.
"Excuse me??"
"Everyone ships you two!" she said, thrilled. "It's, like, the only reason some of them come back. They've been waiting for the slow burn. Apparently someone caught your coffee hand-holding moment on video and edited it to romantic piano music."
Yin Yue made a sound that could only be described as a short, internal scream.
"And you," she added, turning to Liang Yu with a smug look, "you don't exactly discourage it."
Liang Yu, very calmly, continued tamping coffee. "I don't encourage it either."
"But you're letting it happen," Yin Yue accused.
Liang Yu looked at him.
Long.
Slow.
Measured.
And said absolutely nothing.
Yin Yue's brain exploded.
"I look—I mean—it's not—" he turned to Jiang Mei, flailing slightly, "we're not together."
She squinted. "But you brought him lunch that one time."
"It was a bribery snack!"
"He tied your apron straps."
"I was physically restrained by the counter!"
"You made a rabbit latte."
"HE made the rabbit!"
"And you called him emotionally constipated with heart eyes."
Yin Yue turned slowly toward Liang Yu. "You could help me at any time, you know."
Liang Yu met his gaze. Unbothered. Calm.
Then, very softly, said, "It's not a bad rumor."
Yin Yue nearly fell into the trash can.
> 💻 SYSTEM 520:
💘 Unexpected Passive Affirmation!
💖 Affection +5
🎯 Romance Heat Level: Barely Contained
🫨 Host Status: Unstable. Visibly.
Jiang Mei squealed. "You are a couple!"
Yin Yue threw a rag over his face.
"I hate everything."
The back room of Café Fated was a postage stamp sized closet with two stools, a mini fridge, and an ominous drip from the ceiling no one talked about. It wasn't romantic and it wasn't private. And yet somehow, with Liang Yu sitting across from him, sipping cold brew like it was a combat sport, Yin Yue felt like they were stuck in a glass box with no air.
> 💻 SYSTEM 520:
☕ Bonding Break Activated!
💬 Recommended Topics: Childhood trauma, favorite flowers, hidden admiration
🔐 Exit Lock Engaged: You are trapped until Target responds emotionally
"I swear," Yin Yue muttered, picking the raisins out of a sad oatmeal cookie, "if this system ever gets control of actual weather, we're going to be making out in the rain within a week."
Liang Yu raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"Nothing," Yin Yue said with forced brightness. "Just casually losing my mind."
They sat in silence for another minute.
Yin Yue swung his legs like a bored child.
Then finally, because the words had been trying to claw out of his mouth all day:
"Why didn't you correct Jiang Mei?"
Liang Yu didn't look up. "About what?"
"You know about what. Its the couple thing."
He waited.
Liang Yu's gaze stayed on his drink.
Then: "It didn't seem important."
"Didn't—?!" Yin Yue nearly choked on his cookie. "There are people editing fan videos of us. She thinks we have a slow-burn narrative romantic arc. And I'm being shipped in real life!"
"Do you mind it?"
Yin Yue blinked.
"What?"
Liang Yu finally looked up.
"I asked if you minded."
Yin Yue opened his mouth.
Closed it.
Opened it again.
"…I don't know."
And that was the truth.
He expected to feel annoyed, maybe embarrassed or maybe flattered.
But instead there was a weird, warm flutter in his chest every time someone assumed they belonged together. Like it made the idea more real. Like it made it feel less impossible.
"I guess…" Yin Yue said slowly, picking at the corner of his napkin, "I just figured you that u might mind."
"I don't."
"Right." Pause. "Okay.. that's cool. Normal."
He shoved the rest of the cookie in his mouth before his feelings could escape.
They sat in silence again.
But this time, it felt different.
Not awkward.
Just… heavy with something neither of them was ready to name yet.
> 💻 SYSTEM 520:
💖 Affection +3
🧠 Target Response: Emotionally Engaged
📈 Host Emotion: Soft-Panic
Romance Status: One Cookie Away From Confession
Yin Yue leaned back and covered his face with the napkin.
"I hate how calm you are."
"I'm not calm," Liang Yu said.
Yin Yue peeked at him through the napkin folds.
"You're just better at hiding it?"
Liang Yu didn't respond.
But he didn't deny it either.
And that was enough.
Yin Yue stood in front of the espresso machine like a man preparing to propose or explode.
Probably both.
It was an hour before close. Customers were sparse. The café was golden and quiet, humming with steam and lo-fi jazz. Liang Yu was behind the counter, restocking syrup bottles with precision.
Yin Yue, meanwhile, was fighting with foam.
"You're going to cooperate," he told the milk pitcher. "This is a romantic gesture. It doesn't have to be good, it just has to be charming."
> 💻 SYSTEM 520:
❤️ Mission: Voluntary Gift of Coffee to Male Lead
☕ Objective: Sincere Effort + Emotional Vulnerability = Affection Boost
🎯 Tip: Rabbits again? No. Try abstract sincerity.
Yin Yue growled. "Your romantic tips are just Pinterest boards with trauma."
He poured slowly. Shaking. Concentrating too hard.
The milk swirled.
The foam collapsed.
The design morphed from "heart" to "bean" to "melting punctuation mark."
He stared at it in horror.
Then—without giving himself a chance to back out he slid it across the counter to Liang Yu.
"Here," he said, trying to sound casual. "It's a… peace offering. For enduring my face every shift."
Liang Yu glanced at the cup, expression unreadable.
Then he picked it up, tilted it toward the light.
Paused.
"…Is this a snail?"
Yin Yue's soul left his body. "It was supposed to be a heart."
Liang Yu looked at it again. "Looks like it's fleeing."
"It is," Yin Yue said. "From this interaction."
Liang Yu didn't smile. But he didn't roll his eyes, either.
He took a sip.
Yin Yue watched him like a hawk watching its crush drink a war crime.
Liang Yu blinked once.
Then said, quietly, "Tastes like you tried."
Yin Yue froze.
"…That's… the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me."
Liang Yu set the cup down.
"I mean that," he added. "You didn't have to do it. But you did it."
Yin Yue blinked at him. Slowly.
> 💻 SYSTEM 520:
💖 AFFECTION +4
💬 EMOTIONAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT DETECTED
🧠 HOST STATUS: Malfunctioning
📈 TOTAL SCORE: 31/100
⚠️ You are now officially past the Point of No Return™
Yin Yue cleared his throat. "Well. I'm full of surprises."
"You're full of something," Liang Yu murmured.
Yin Yue grinned. "You drank my tragic love-snail. That makes you an accomplice."
Liang Yu didn't answer.
Just looked at him for a beat too long.
Then turned back to the counter, with shoulders just slightly less tense than before.
The café was winding down.
Late evening light filtered through the windows, soft and warm. The last customer was a sweet middle-aged woman who always ordered chamomile with two honeys stood at the counter, digging in her purse for coins.
"Oh, and tell your boyfriend the latte art's getting better," she said, dropping change into the tip jar with a wink.
Yin Yue choked on air. "Excuse me?"
She smiled like a benevolent auntie. "You two are adorable together."
He stared as she breezed out the door, apron swishing, her tea steaming peacefully in her hand.
Yin Yue turned to the tip jar.
There was a small square of pink paper nestled among the bills.
Written in neat, looping script:
> "To the latte couple. Rooting for you! 💕"
He grabbed it like it was evidence of a crime. "People are leaving fan mail in our tip jar?!"
Liang Yu glanced over from wiping down the espresso machine. "Something wrong?"
Yin Yue held up the note. "We've gone viral. In person. I'm being shipped into real-world romance canon. Do you have any idea how much pressure that is?"
Liang Yu walked over, took the note, and read it.
Yin Yue waited.
Watched.
Expected a sigh, maybe an eye roll.
Instead, Liang Yu said, simply: "They're not wrong."
Yin Yue's brain stopped functioning.
"I... what?"
Liang Yu handed the note back. "They're not wrong."
"You... you can't just say things like that."
"Why not?"
"Because... because..." Yin Yue waved the note like it was on fire. "Because you just turned a throwaway flirt joke into an emotionally loaded missile and launched it at my soul!"
Liang Yu looked entirely unbothered. "You're overreacting."
"I'm reacting the exact appropriate amount to my boss casually confirming a fan-submitted relationship status in a public business establishment!"
Liang Yu leaned against the counter, arms crossed.
"I've never denied it," he said.
Yin Yue's heart stuttered. "You never confirmed it, either."
"I just did."
The silence that followed was not dramatic.
It was quiet.
Delicate.
Like the air had gone still just to listen.
> 💻 SYSTEM 520:
💘 AFFECTION +7
🎉 Current Affection Score: 38/100
🫣 HOST STATUS: Heart Rate High / Dignity Low
💬 Summary: He. Just. Confirmed. It.
Yin Yue opened his mouth and closed it. Pointed at Liang Yu. "You're evil."
Liang Yu smirked just barely. "You started it."
"I started working here. That's not a romantic crime!"
"You made it one."
"I—" Yin Yue exhaled loudly. "I can't believe I'm the sane one in this situation."
Liang Yu walked past him, heading towards the back to finish up for the night.
As he passed, he said, low and even, "You're still talking like we're not going to keep doing this."
Yin Yue didn't move for a full ten seconds.
Then dropped his face into his hands.
"I'm doomed," he whispered.
> 💻 SYSTEM 520:
💒 Marriage Route: Unlocked