I set you up on a blind date, and you've managed to overcome all the weirdness?

Lin Yan gritted his teeth and dialed the restaurant's reservation number.

He reserved a seat in a corner of the lobby.

In the corner, the light is dimmer, so it won't attract too much attention.

Being in the lobby gives her the feeling that I've brought you here to eat in a respectable and respectable way.

After settling into his new location, Lin Yan went back to his rented apartment and took a shower.

Change into a white shirt and pair it with dark casual pants.

Clean and fresh.

Finally, there's the crucial moment that determines first impressions: the greeting gift.

A gift for meeting someone doesn't need to be expensive; it's the thought and attitude that counts.

Lin Yan walked through the mall, pondering what to give as a gift.

Sending flowers?

If you try too hard, she'll definitely throw it away arrogantly.

Gift a designer handbag?

It's too tacky and bizarre. Would someone need a backpack?

Only a snakeskin bag could hold her huge pair of scissors...

A person who is extremely insecure about their appearance yet extremely concerned about it.

A person who wears a mask every day, afraid that others will see the cracks in their skin.

What does she really need?

Lin Yan's pace slowed down.

He stopped in front of a high-end boutique.

Lin Yan's eyes lit up slightly as he looked at the rows of small items displayed in the shop window.

She cares so much about her appearance.

She even felt strange wearing a mask while standing at the restaurant entrance waiting for someone.

But she can't live without a mask.

"Found it."

Lin Yan walked into the store.

If it is this thing.

Absolutely!

……

5:40 PM.

As night falls, the lights are on.

The brocade-adorned feast is right outside the gate.

Lin Yan stood at the store entrance, carrying a carefully packaged small paper bag.

Although Saya had scheduled it for six o'clock, he anticipated that she would arrive earlier.

So he arrived earlier, twenty minutes early.

If I were to truly allow a sensitive and insecure oddball to wait for me.

That's just like the old man hanging himself.

The night breeze was slightly cool.

5:50.

A tall figure appeared at the street corner.

There was no blood mist filling the sky as Lin Yan had imagined.

She wore a beige long knitted cardigan over a black fitted long skirt.

She had a great figure, long hair, and her hands were in the pockets of her cardigan.

If you ignore the white medical mask that almost covered most of her face.

She exudes the elegance of a sophisticated older woman walking down the street.

Lin Yan met her gaze and smiled slightly.

Saya walked up to Lin Yan and stopped.

Somewhat awkwardly, I shifted my gaze to the utility pole next to me.

"Why are you here so early?"

Saya's voice sounded somewhat muffled.

"Just arrived," Lin Yan replied naturally, giving the standard answer.

Saya glanced at him, her gaze lingering on his white shirt.

"I was just passing by and happened to finish my business ahead of schedule."

She gave a curt explanation.

Lin Yan found it amusing that this clumsy attempt to cover up the truth was so obvious.

This stubborn, unyielding personality is practically screaming "I want to see you soon!"

"What a coincidence, I just happened to be passing by too."

Lin Yan didn't expose her, but turned to the side, giving her half a body space.

"However, now that everyone is here..."

Lin Yan looked into her eyes, his voice gentle, with just the right amount of a smile.

"Miss Saya, shall we go inside?"

"I can't just go in alone; it would make me look weird."

Saya's body stiffened slightly.

She realized that Lin Yan was using her exact words from that morning in her rebuttal.

No one could tell her expression from behind the mask.

But something seemed to flash across her eyes.

"……snort."

Saya snorted coldly, her hands still in her pockets.

With long strides, I was the first to enter the Japanese restaurant.

Lin Yan watched her retreating figure, smiled silently, and followed her.

First hurdle, passed perfectly.

The two sat down facing each other in a booth in the corner of the lobby.

The waiter served tea.

The atmosphere became slightly awkward.

Lin Yan looked at Saya, who was staring at the teacup in front of him.

I dared not look him in the eye, but I couldn't lose face, so I stared at the thing closest to him.

interesting.

Lin Yan decided to take the initiative.

He pushed the small paper bag to the middle of the table.

"I happened to see it on my way here, and I thought it would suit you, so I bought it."

Lin Yan smiled confidently.

He was 100% certain that this gift would definitely hit the woman's weak spot.

Saya glanced at the paper bag, then opened it with a slight hesitation.

Inside, lay an exquisitely crafted silk mask.

It was embroidered with a few silver-gray whiskers, curved like a cat yawning.

Lin Yan was waiting to see her surprised expression.

However, the next second.

The space around Saya suddenly began to distort.

Her eyes instantly became bloodshot.

For the first time, Lin Yan sensed the presence of killing intent, which was enveloping him from the opposite side.

"What do you think of my mask...?"

"Is it ugly?"

It’s over.

Upon seeing the other person's expression, Lin Yan immediately realized that he had made a very basic mistake.

He overlooked the slit-mouthed woman's obsessive inferiority complex.

Indeed, her inferiority complex was the reason she became eccentric.

In her logic, if you give me a nicer mask, it means you're criticizing my current outfit that's only covering the laceration.

That means you dislike my face!

In the shadows behind Saya, a large, rusty pair of scissors slowly materialized.

"Saya".

Lin Yan forcibly suppressed his wildly beating heart. He hadn't thought of what to say yet, and only wanted to calm the person in front of him down first.

"You've misunderstood, that's not what I meant."

Sure enough, Ms. Saya calmed down a little after hearing those words.

But the large scissors in the shadows did not disappear, and she was still staring intently at Lin Yan's face, as if waiting for him to give a further explanation.

Lin Yan: You blockhead, think already!

I remember now!

I previously talked about someone who liked to cover their entire face with bangs.

What did I say again...?

"That's why I gave you this."

"It's not because your mask is ugly."

"But I think that a girl as pretty as you shouldn't hide most of her face."

Lin Yan looked tenderly into Saya's eyes, but she looked away.

"This world is bad enough as it is."

"I hope that when you occasionally go out and walk in the sunlight, people will see you as an ordinary girl."

"and."

He pointed to the cat whiskers on the mask.

"This design lets people know that the person behind the mask is cute."

After saying that, Lin Yan started staring at the face mask on the table.

The giant scissors vanished without a trace.

The redness in Saya's eyes receded like the tide.

She stared blankly at Lin Yan.

In this lifetime, or rather, in this long period of being eccentric.

The men either screamed at the sight of her gash or were so frightened they wet themselves and begged for mercy.

No one ever treated her like an ordinary girl.

and……

He also said he was cute and stuff.

"……rhetoric."

Saya turned her head and looked at the wall next to her.

Although his tone remained stiff, his ears, which were exposed outside his mask, turned red at a visible speed.

The crisis is over.

Lin Yan secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

It truly lives up to its old-school eccentricity, unpredictable mood swings, and terrifying nature.

You never know which word you might say that might step on her tail and get bitten.

Just then, a waiter came over with a dish.

Place a serving of Wagyu beef sashimi on the table.

"Please enjoy your meal, both of you."

The waiter left.

Saya turned her head and looked at the sashimi on the table.

She slowly hooked the ear loops of her mask.

Lin Yan's breath hitched, and her body tensed up instinctively.

Is it coming?

Are we finally going to take them off?

Is that terrifying rift that could drive people crazy about about to appear?