"Have you ever considered a possibility, Lin Yuan—just a possibility."
Inside the rented apartment, Exusiai faced the black-haired boy in front of her and, with careful hesitation, put forward the hypothesis.
"What if… I'm actually female?"
The clean-cut boy with black hair showed no obvious racial traits. Hearing that, he froze for a split second—then chuckled.
"Don't joke around, bro."
Smiling, he patted Exusiai on the shoulder. "Don't overthink it. Yeah, you do look kind of androgynous, but no way. Not to that extent."
Exusiai—hair trimmed shorter, dressed in a neutral hoodie to hide any bodily cues—twitched the corner of her mouth and forced out a smile that looked oddly relieved.
"I'm saying it's a hypothetical! A hypothetical, you get it?"
She pressed again. Lin Yuan's hand paused slightly. He thought for a moment.
His thumb tapped the controller. On the screen, his fighting-game character unleashed a crisp, clean combo and knocked the opponent out. Only then did he toss the controller aside, tilt his head, and answer:
"If that were true, I'd probably have a panic response from my gynophobia and instinctively keep my distance. Can't help it. It's basically hardwired at this point."
He shook his head, regretful, then pointed at the other controller with sudden interest.
"Wanna play a round? We can switch games. I remember you don't really like fighters."
"Not today. I've gotta go to work at Penguin Logistics."
Exusiai let out a dry laugh and turned her face away. For a moment, a wave of despair washed over her.
At this point, there was no way she could bring herself to say the truth—that she was a girl and not an actual "brother."
"Lin Yuan… how long have we known each other?" she asked, as if unwilling to give up.
While shutting down the computer, Lin Yuan answered casually, "A few months, I guess."
"And in those months… you haven't noticed anything?"
"Noticed what? Have you been sleeping badly lately? Stressed out?"
Lin Yuan blinked, then asked with genuine concern.
Under that worried gaze, Exusiai could only sigh, numb and resigned.
"Forget it. It's nothing. Lin Yuan… I want pudding tonight."
"Sure. I'll make it. But you can't live on desserts. Any proper food you feel like?"
Exusiai thought for a second. "Fish?"
"Then we'll do steamed yellow croaker. I'll go buy groceries in a bit. You'll be back at the usual time, right?"
He grabbed a notebook and quickly jotted down the ingredients. A moment later, he snapped it shut.
Exusiai watched him in silence, inexplicably on the verge of tears.
What a catch. He cooked, he took care of people, he was good-looking, and he had that full-on househusband vibe.
If only he weren't her "bro."
To be honest, Exusiai didn't really want to stay in the "bro" category either.
If she could just… make that househusband vibe go official, that would be perfect.
I mean—like she said. Spending months together and not developing feelings for a pretty boy with that kind of trait set? That would be the weird part.
But there was no "if only." And by now, she couldn't bring herself to say anything like I don't want to be your brother.
"I'm heading out for work."
With that thought, Exusiai sighed softly. Lin Yuan waved her off, and she left the room.
For a while, the apartment held only Lin Yuan.
He clicked his pen cap, tossed the pen aside, and let out a long breath.
Then he went into the room, hauled out a full set of tools, took out Exusiai's usual firearm, and began meticulous maintenance.
Metal parts clicked into place—clean, precise, rhythmic. Lin Yuan worked with full concentration. After a while, he exhaled again.
"The mechanisms here are really strange… but at least maintenance isn't too bad."
He murmured to himself, then closed his eyes and rested.
It had been over three months since he'd transmigrated to Terra, yet nothing felt all that different.
The good news: he hadn't ended up in Holy Terra, and it definitely wasn't Terraria. This was, unmistakably, Arknights' Terra.
The bad news: his knowledge of Arknights amounted to nothing more than having heard the name.
The good news again: so far, it didn't seem to matter.
Before transmigrating, due to his family and certain experiences, Lin Yuan had developed severe gynophobia. His life was therefore extremely simple—he stayed home whenever possible, and the only people he interacted with were meme-loving online buddies and a few real-life bros.
After transmigrating, his life looked… basically the same.
Still staying home. Still picking up small skills in his spare time, playing games, chatting with his bros—while also taking care of this "good brother" who had such sloppy daily habits that it made him want to sigh.
No change at all.
Objectively speaking, Lin Yuan was genuinely grateful to Exusiai.
She'd given him a place to stay when he arrived here with nothing, and she was one of the few friends he had.
Sure, she could be a headache sometimes—but it wasn't anything serious. Taking care of someone, that's all. Lin Yuan wasn't incapable.
After a few months, he'd long since gotten used to it.
Even if, once in a while, he sensed a faint "girlish" aura about Exusiai… Even if, when they first met, he'd briefly misunderstood… in the end, after Exusiai cut her hair a little shorter and dressed more and more casually and neutrally, and after seeing her sunny, carefree personality, Lin Yuan became convinced of one thing:
Definitely a bro. No doubt about it.
He pulled himself out of his thoughts, put the firearm and tools away, and grabbed a broom and mop. It took him a little over half an hour to finish cleaning, then he washed his own clothes.
He didn't wash Exusiai's.
For some reason, every time he offered to throw hers in too, she always refused.
But seeing the way she looked like she wanted to say something and couldn't, Lin Yuan immediately understood.
Bro stuff. Privacy.
He wouldn't pry. That was normal.
The apartment wasn't big, so cleaning wasn't hard.
"Alright. Grocery run."
Once everything was done, Lin Yuan let out a breath, took his keys and some cash, and stepped outside.
The moment he reached the door, he hesitated—then sighed anyway and turned the handle.
He didn't like going out.
Or rather, he didn't like the unavoidable contact with women that came with going out.
He put on a mask, grabbed a baseball cap, and headed out.
…
Exusiai has been acting weird these past few months.
On the way to work, Texas found herself thinking that.
She walked along the street, letting her thoughts drift without direction.
And, inevitably, her mind circled back to all the strange changes Exusiai had shown lately.
Sometimes Exusiai would suddenly space out, like she'd remembered something melancholy.
More importantly—
She'd been going home on time. Every time.
At Penguin Logistics, that was basically unheard of. Not even the occasional party could make the fun-loving Exusiai stay longer.
At most, she'd hesitate briefly… then go home anyway.
What the hell was in that apartment? Why was she acting so secretive—and why wouldn't she tell anyone?
Could she be dating someone?
Without realizing it, Texas had already reached Exusiai's door.
But then she stopped, stunned, as she saw someone step out from the doorway.
Under a baseball cap was a mess of black hair. A mask covered the lower half of his face. The moment he came out, he scanned the surroundings, as if studying the pedestrians.
Then, he skillfully avoided the densest flow of foot traffic, choosing a path that created a near one-meter "vacuum zone" around him as he walked.
So it's real?
Texas froze—but the next second, a more plausible answer surfaced.
That kind of sneaky behavior… did Exusiai have a thief in her place?
Texas snapped back to herself—and realized that in the moment she'd been stunned, the figure had already gotten a fair distance away.
No time to hesitate.
Texas broke into a quick stride, chasing after the suspicious "thief" in strange clothing.
-------
My : pat*eon*com/RuneA
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