Chapter 8 — My In-Game Husband is a CEO

"Yes." I said, "Will you still play games tomorrow?"

The corners of his lips curved upward.

"I will."

After that, he truly began to pursue me, though in a terribly clumsy manner. Every single morning, he would appear right on schedule at the cafe beneath my office building, claiming it was "just a coincidence" that he happened to be passing by. Whenever I worked overtime, he would wait downstairs, casually mentioning that business had brought him to this exact neighborhood. During meetings, his gaze would "just so happen" to sweep in my direction. The colleagues around me quickly started to gossip.

"Man, does General Manager Tran have feelings for you?"

"Not at all, it's just a coincidence."

"How can there be so many coincidences?"

I rested my chin in my hand and smiled. "Perhaps it is destiny."

On a Friday evening, I found myself working late until nine o'clock. Stepping out of the building, I spotted his car parked in its familiar spot. I walked over and tapped gently against the glass. The window rolled down, revealing his handsome face.

"Just happening to pass by?" I asked.

"Yes."

I looked deeply into his eyes.

"Your company is eight kilometers away from here."

He remained silent.

"Do you happen to pass by eight kilometers out of your way every single day?"

He paused for a single second.

"Yes."

I could not help but burst into laughter.

"Are you an idiot?"

He watched my smile, the corners of his mouth curving slightly.

"Perhaps."

He did not drive me straight home that night. Instead, he took me out for a late-night meal at the very same private restaurant, ordering the same sizzling iron-plate squid, loaded with extra cilantro and no scallions at all. As we ate, I suddenly asked, "Have you ever pursued anyone else before this?"

He paused, his chopsticks hovering.

"No."

"Then how did you know to pursue someone like this?"

He looked straight at me.

"I didn't know," he said softly. "I just wanted to come."

My movement stopped entirely. He just wanted to come. Driving eight kilometers every day simply because he wanted to see me. Waiting downstairs every evening just to ensure I made it home safely. Every manufactured coincidence was born from a single desire: to see her. I set down my chopsticks and met his gaze.

"Tran."

"Hmm?"

"You can just say it directly, you know."

He looked slightly startled.

"Say what?"

"Say that you wanted to see me."

He stared at me, and I stared back at him. After a quiet moment, he spoke.

"I wanted to see you."

Just four words. Low, deep, and utterly serious. It sounded precisely like the sentence he had spoken in the game that day, yet this time, my heart did not panic. I simply smiled.

"I missed you too," I said.

From that moment on, we were together. It happened so naturally. There was no grand confession, no elaborate ceremony; it was simply one evening as he walked me home that I reached out and took his hand. He froze for a fraction of a second before turning his hand over to interlace his fingers tightly with mine.

"Xiaoyun," he spoke up.

"Yes?"

"Does this count as a successful pursuit now?"

I raised my head to look at him. The streetlights cast a gentle, glowing halo over his profile. I remembered the first time we met in the conference room, where he wore a crisp suit and an aloof expression. I remembered our very first gaming session, where his disastrous zero-eight archer claimed he was just out of practice. I remembered the night he stood outside the hallway watching a complete stranger suffer through intoxication for twenty whole minutes. And I remembered the packet of fruit gummies he had treasured for nearly a full year.

"It counts," I said.

His grip around my hand tightened instantly. Then, I heard him say, "Then I won't need to pursue you anymore."

I blinked in surprise.

"Pardon?"

He looked steadily into my eyes.

"We are together now."

Upon discovering that we were officially a couple, his younger sister bombarded my WeChat with a frenzy of messages. 【Little Sister】: I knew it all along! 【Little Sister】: My eternally single older brother actually managed to win someone over! 【Little Sister】: Sister-in-law, do you need a sister-in-law who knows how to game? The kind who is actually good at it! 【Little Sister】: I can be your gaming partner! I replied to her: Your brother won't allow it. 【Little Sister】: ??? 【Little Sister】: Is he really that controlling??? 【Little Sister】: I am his biological sister! I took a screenshot of the chat and sent it to him. He replied: 【tran】: She has been through seven or eight relationships, tell her to find her own boyfriend to play with. 【tran】: Pay no attention to her. I laughed out loud and forwarded his message back to his sister, driving her to utter distraction and frantic text-screaming. Meanwhile, our shared gaming account continued to accompany us day after day. Our intimacy level steadily climbed from fifteen to twenty, and then to thirty. The little heart symbol in our matching profile icons transformed from a modest shape into a grand one, followed by numbers that endlessly ticked upward, silently witnessing our journey.

A full year later. We were back at the very same Japanese restaurant, seated at the exact table beside the window. He sat across from me, his attention briefly on his phone as the warm sunlight washed over his shoulders.

"What are you looking at?" I asked.

He lifted his gaze to meet mine.

"Checking the date."

"Oh?"

He turned the phone screen toward me. A digital calendar was displayed, with today's date circled in red.

"Today," he said quietly, "marks one full year."

I paused in mild astonishment. A whole year had passed. From that zero-eight archer to this very moment. From the casual praise in a virtual world to our fingers tightly interwoven in reality. I looked at him, and he looked back at me.

"Do you still carry those fruit gummies with you?"

He reached into his pocket and produced a small packet, still the strawberry flavor. I took it from his hand, tore open the packaging, and popped a sweet into my mouth. Then, leaning across the table, I pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek.

"Consider that repaid," I said.

He looked momentarily stunned before a low, soft chuckle rumbled in his throat. It sounded precisely like the first time he had ever unmuted his microphone, yet wonderfully different—because now, completely and undeniably, he belonged to me.

Once again, summer had arrived.