Lonely Rock: Love Songs Dedicated to the Stars

Xingge saw it clearly. Was this guy shy? He must be. After she moved closer, he didn't move away or create distance, which meant he wanted to be closer to her too, right?

At this moment, Xingge didn't know why, but a bold idea suddenly popped into her mind.

“Um… Kenzaki.”

Yuzhen was studying the function problems on the test paper with his head down when he suddenly heard Xingge calling him from next to him.

Yuzhen had just turned his head when he felt his collar being grabbed. He was pulled close by Xingge, and then he felt Xingge's lips pressed directly against his. Xingge's sudden and bold action left his mind blank; he even forgot to push Xingge away.

After they separated, Hoshigo still tugged at Yuu's collar. Their faces were very close; Hoshigo blushed and looked to the side. She didn't dare look at Yuu in front of her. Yuu was also still in a daze.

"I've brought you some fruit... Oh dear? Am I coming at the wrong time?"

Chapter 30 Stupid Couple

Kenzaki Yuuma senses that something is off about the atmosphere at Ijichi's house.

His aunt kept him for dinner. Actually, he wasn't too keen at first, since his aunt had seen him being so intimate with Xingge. Luckily, she came in late and didn't witness an even more awkward situation.

The dining table was quiet. Yuuma and Hoshika sat side by side, eating silently with their heads down. Mrs. Ijichi sat opposite them, watching them with a gentle smile on her face, making it impossible for Yuuma to discern her intentions.

Hongxia was still young and had a small appetite. After she finished eating, she held a carton of milk and drank it, looking at her older brother and sister sitting across from her in silence. Her little mind couldn't understand why the two people who usually bickered were so quiet today. Had her brother and sister had a fight? They were playing with her when she first came home, but now they weren't talking to each other.

Dinner ended in an awkward atmosphere that made Yuzhen feel uncomfortable. He went to the kitchen to wash the dishes, and when he came out, Xingge was no longer in the living room.

He noticed that his aunt was sitting on the sofa. When she saw him, she patted the spot next to her, indicating that he should sit down there.

Yuzhen obediently sat down next to her. He sat very upright, with his hands on his thighs, looking like a primary school student who had been called to the teacher's office.

"Why are you so serious? I just wanted to chat with you casually." The aunt looked at him and held back her laughter. "Xingge went back to her room, and Hongxia is playing by herself in her room. It's just the two of us now, so don't be nervous."

"okay, I get it."

He seemed a little more relaxed than before, but he was still quite nervous, wondering how he would answer if Aunt Ijichi asked him some difficult questions. This was something Yuuma, who often watched dramas with his mother, had concluded: in situations like this, the female lead's parents would definitely try everything to make things difficult for the male lead, hoping to discourage him. Although the male lead could answer fluently, Yuuma wasn't a drama character; he was just an ordinary high school boy.

"Did Yuu really confess to Hoshika?"

"Not yet, I was still hesitant before."

Kenzaki Yuuma was unaware of Ijichi Hoshika's feelings for him. Was she just a classmate, or did she also have feelings for him? Yuuma dared not speculate. His initial plan was to gradually win her heart, but he hadn't expected Hoshika to be so bold today. This was different from the seniors he usually knew. Could someone have encouraged her to do this?

Although Yuuma was happy that Hoshika liked her, what good would it do for the person who had encouraged her to do this? Yuuma couldn't think of any way to answer that.

"I don't object to your relationship," Mrs. Ijichi said, looking at the boy sitting next to her. "However, neither of you has formally confessed to the other yet, have you? I'll be very sad if that happens, especially since Hoshigo is being so ambiguous with other boys..."

"I will explain it to my seniors."

"That's good. I believe Yu is a good child."

After she finished speaking, she turned on the TV and started watching a drama series, occasionally picking up her teacup and taking a sip.

But Yu-chan, sitting next to him, was starting to get restless. Was that all the question he was asking? None of the scenarios he'd anticipated had actually happened. Was this normal? "Auntie, you're asking me to stay for dinner today, really not because you have something important to tell me?"

He couldn't help but ask.

What do you think I'm trying to say?

Mrs. Ijichi looked at Yuuma with a puzzled expression.

“Such as ‘Xingge likes you, but it’s impossible for me to accept you.’”

"How could that be? Actually, I just felt that Yuuma was tired from tutoring Hoshika, so I wanted to thank you."

As Yuuma listened to Mrs. Ijichi's answer and saw the corners of her mouth that were trying hard to suppress but were still slightly upturned, he didn't believe her answer at all. She must have done these things to see him looking so nervous. How wicked.

Since there was nothing else to do, Yuma decided to go home.

“Yu-chan is leaving, Hoshigo, go and see him off.” Mrs. Ichi knocked on Hoshigo’s door.

Xingge came out of the house, still deliberately avoiding eye contact with Youzhen. Xingge grabbed her coat and put it on, then went to the entryway to change her shoes and prepare to go out.

"Actually, there was no need for the senior to come out and see me off." Now, whenever Yuzhen sees Xingge, he thinks of that kiss from that afternoon, and his ears slowly turn red.

"It's okay, Xingge, could you buy me some donuts while you're at it? I need to go give Hongxia a bath first."

Mrs. Ijichi pushed the two of them out the door and then closed the door behind them.

"Let's go then." Hoshigo glanced at Kenzaki Yuuma, then left first.

The two walked together on the streets of Shimokitazawa. It was already November, and the temperature had dropped considerably since the beginning of the month; the night air was quite chilly.

As they thought about what happened that afternoon, their faces unconsciously turned a little red, but the evening breeze quickly masked the heat on their faces.

They walked in silence to the entrance of a bakery, where Yuzhen stopped.

"Senior, you want to buy some donuts, right? Just drop them off here."

Xingge originally wanted to continue walking forward, but when she heard his words, she stopped and turned around to look at him.

“It’s already late. If you go home too late, Auntie and Hongxia will worry.” He looked into Xingge’s eyes, but Xingge lowered her head slightly. “By the way, I’ll buy the donuts. After all, I didn’t bring any souvenirs when I went to your house today.”

As he tried to enter the store, he felt his clothes being tugged. It was Xingge pulling him from behind; she was blushing and looking down. She quickly let go when she noticed Youzhen turning around.

Ichiko Hoshika didn't know what was wrong with her today. She didn't want Yuuma to go in to buy donuts, because he would have to go home afterward, even though they could see each other at school tomorrow. Although Hoshika didn't want to admit it, she wanted him to stay with her a little longer.

“Senior…” Youzhen didn’t know what to say, but he had watched so many TV dramas with his mother, he knew what he should do now.

He stood face to face with Xingge, hooked Xingge's chin with his fingers, and made Xingge lift her head to look into his eyes. Then he took a deep breath, blushed, closed his eyes, and lowered his head. Their lips met again.

They quickly separated, both blushing, turning their faces in different directions, too embarrassed to continue looking at each other.

"That evens things out."

Yuzhen blushed and turned her head away.

Do you really like me?

Xingge spoke first, her tone sounding casual, but Youzhen noticed that her voice trembled slightly, and she was looking forward to Youzhen's answer.

"I like you, senpai." Yuuma didn't mince words. He turned his head back and looked directly at Hoshika beside him. "Shouldn't you reciprocate my feelings, senpai?"

"Honestly, didn't you already know this afternoon?"

"I want to hear what my seniors say to me in person."

"You're just pretending to know the answer..."

"I want to hear it."

"……like."

Yuuma felt like he was dreaming. He came to Hoshika's house to tutor her, and then he was inexplicably kissed, and now he had a girlfriend. But even if it was a dream, it was definitely a beautiful dream, and he didn't want to wake up.

"Um... are you two going into the store to buy something?"

A bakery employee noticed two men standing outside the door. She immediately thought of those gangsters in TV dramas who deliberately loiter at the shop entrance to deter customers. Had the manager offended someone he shouldn't have?

Although she was scared, she still went to the door to take a look, and then she heard two people outside saying things like "I like you." It turned out they were just a silly couple, the shop assistant breathed a sigh of relief, and then she opened the door.

After hearing what the other person said, Youzhen and Xingge remembered that they had just kissed and confessed their love in front of the other person's shop. The more they thought about it, the more embarrassed they felt, as if steam was rising from their heads.

Fortunately, there was no one on the street just now, so the two of them weren't seriously injured.

The two apologized to the shop assistant. Yuzhen bought donuts for Xingge, and then Xingge insisted on buying him some cakes to take home.

"Why are you only getting back now? Was the bakery so crowded that Xingge had to wait in line for so long?"

When Ichika returned home, she hadn't even had time to change her shoes before she heard her mother's voice. She closed the door and turned around to see her mother standing on the small steps in the entryway, looking at her meaningfully.

"I just walked with him a little longer."

"Really?"

"real."

Xingge gave the donut to her mother, then changed into slippers and hung her clothes on the hanger.

"But Xingge's face is very red. Did something happen that Mom doesn't know about?"

"..."

When Mrs. Ichi saw her turn her face away and remain silent, she could roughly guess that Kenzaki Yuuma had confessed his feelings to Hoshika. She knew her daughter too well.

"Hongxia, your sister bought some donuts. Do you want some?"

Mrs. Ijichi, carrying the paper bag containing donuts, turned to go back to the living room when she heard Hoshika's voice.

"I didn't buy them." Xingge blushed and glanced at her mother's back. "Youzhen bought them. He felt it wasn't right to come to our house without bringing a gift, so he bought these."

"What a good child."

……

When Yuuma returned home, he found only his older brother, Yuuki, was there. Yuuki was lying on the sofa watching a sports game on his phone. Yuuki loved sports and enjoyed watching matches, sometimes watching the same video repeatedly. However, he was actually not good at sports at all; he just enjoyed watching.

However, Yuuma wasn't very interested in these sports competitions. He found the rules too complicated and didn't bother to study them. Even if there were any matches worth watching, he would only check the results.

Yuuki was so focused that he didn't notice Yuuma was back until Yuuma put the cake he bought on the table. He lost his grip on his phone and it hit his face.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch." He rubbed his nose and sat up, but his expression changed when he saw the cake on the table. "My good brother even brought me a late-night snack. Thank you."

"Aren't Dad and Mom home?"

“They both went to the company.” Youxing put on disposable gloves and picked up a piece of cream cake. “It seems that Dad has some project to keep an eye on, and Mom insisted on going with him.”

"So what did you have for dinner?"

Yuma took a bite of the matcha cake in her hand.

"I ate ramen outside." Yu Xing finished her cake in a few bites, then picked up a piece of chocolate cake. "Can you lend me some money? I ran out of my allowance last month, and my parents have been too busy these past few days, so I'm too embarrassed to ask them for more."

"How come you spend your money so quickly?" Yuzhen looked at her older brother in confusion.

"The school has spent a lot of money ordering textbooks recently."

Yuu knew him too well; this guy was definitely lying. He leaned closer to Yuuki and sniffed him.

"W-What's wrong?"

"You smell like a liar."

"Wait, you can smell it?"

Yuuki sniffed herself and realized that she did indeed have a faint odor.

"Actually, I smelled smoke and alcohol on you." Yuzhen stuffed the last bit of cake in her hand into her mouth, chewed, and swallowed. "Tell me the truth, what have you been doing these past few days?"