After Falling in Love with a 2D Character as a Socially Anxious Person - Chapter 18

Yan Qili knew that phones made notification sounds when receiving calls or messages. The venue was noisy, certainly, but he didn’t believe his hearing had deteriorated to the point where An Jing could call so many times without him noticing a thing.

As it turned out, it wasn’t his fault.

An Jing checked Yan Qili’s phone. “You have ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode on.”

For some reason, he felt he saw a hint of stubborn confidence from this steady, cold man.

Yan Qili: “Do Not Disturb?”

What was that? He wasn’t yet familiar with the phone’s many functions.

An Jing pointed it out to him. “It’s this. When this is on, the phone stays silent.”

Yan Qili didn’t remember when he had turned that thing on. No wonder he hadn’t noticed.

“I might have touched it by mistake.”

An Jing adjusted Yan Qili’s phone back to normal mode before returning it to him. Yan Qili tucked it back into his pocket.

The guests’ autograph sessions had begun. Security and assistants were maintaining order, and fans were lining up in an organized fashion.

As a heavyweight guest of the event, the line for Baili was exceptionally long. The crowd was so large that the socially anxious An Jing took one look and immediately turned his head to find the line for the artist, Mullet.

Mullet’s line wasn’t long—about twenty or thirty people—and he could see the end of it at a glance.

After seeing what Mullet looked like, An Jing was a bit surprised. Based on Mullet’s art style and Weibo personality, he had always assumed the artist was a girl. Like a boiled egg: white on the outside, yellow (saucy) on the inside.

He hadn’t expected Mullet to be a man. And a very clean-cut, gentle-looking man at that.

Pulling his mask up a bit, An Jing asked Yan Qili, “Are you sure you don’t want to look around some more?”

Yan Qili had no interest. “Nothing worth seeing.”

To him, ACG culture was still far too advanced. In his world, some of these outfits and behaviors would have resulted in people being treated as demons and drowned or burned at the stake. The “Living Yama” didn’t understand why anyone liked it, but he was profoundly shocked.

Since Yan Qili showed little interest, An Jing hesitated. Privately, he didn’t want Yan Qili to stay with him.

Mullet was a “versatile” creator who usually did fan art. While original works were fewer, the artist drew both straight (BG) and gay (BL) content. If what was being sold this time happened to be BL-related…

He was a man, yet he was not only planning to write a BL “mpreg” novel but was also lining up to buy this kind of stuff. What if Yan Qili misunderstood?

He didn’t know yet what posters or merchandise Mullet had prepared, but given the artist’s reputation… he couldn’t rule out some “high-speed” explicit art.

An Jing glanced at Yan Qili, feeling guilty and embarrassed. Yan Qili noticed An Jing’s sudden awkwardness and asked calmly, “What are you feeling guilty about?”

“I’m not!” An Jing countered instinctively. “Why would I be guilty?”

Yan Qili looked at him with a half-smile. Under that gaze, An Jing couldn’t say anything more. If he spoke too much, it would truly look like he had a guilty conscience.

An Jing ignored Yan Qili and muttered that he was going to wait in line, telling the man to do as he pleased. Surely the “Living Yama” wouldn’t be so bored as to follow him into the queue?

Seeing that someone’s back practically radiated guilt, Yan Qili raised an eyebrow, his interest suddenly piqued again. Those “demons and monsters” in the hall were boring, but it might be fun to tease the “little coward” a bit. He wanted to see what exactly this person was so enthusiastic about.

To save time, everyone bought the merchandise first before joining the signing line. An Jing walked to Mullet’s booth. The young assistant guarding the stall asked, “Bao (Sweetie), which set do you want to buy?”

In this specific environment, fellow fans naturally acted like old friends. Assistants called all fans “Bao” or “Baobao,” regardless of gender.

The assistant said it naturally, but Yan Qili’s footsteps paused.

Bao? Calling him so intimately?

Accustomed to the term, An Jing didn’t care about the nickname. He was too busy being nervous, rehearsing in his head how to speak to the assistant. His eyes swept quickly over the stall. Without looking closely at what the merchandise actually was, he spoke rapidly: “Hello, I want the full set.”

Being a big customer buying the whole set, the assistant nodded brightly. “Sure!”

Since An Jing bought a lot, the assistant stuffed several free badges into his gift bag. An Jing whispered his thanks and left, not noticing Yan Qili following behind him.

The assistant, who was looking down to organize the stall, saw a shadow cast on the table and looked up. “B— Hello, what can I get for you?”

The seated assistant looked up, then further up. Upon seeing the tall, upright man, the word “Bao” was instinctively swallowed back down. The assistant even sat up a bit straighter, feeling inexplicably nervous under the man’s gaze.

Yan Qili’s eyes swept across the booth, finally landing on a very large poster. Even if he didn’t understand ACG culture, he could tell at a glance that the poster featured two men.

Amidst a thicket of thorny roses, atop a throne, a white-haired man with red eyes sat on the lap of a black-haired man with blue eyes. Unlike An Jing, who just wanted to buy and leave quickly, Yan Qili was unhurried.

Even with the flowers as cover, he could see that the black-haired man’s hand on the white-haired man was in a very inappropriate position. Looking closer, it wasn’t just the hand position. From their expressions and posture, it wasn’t hard to guess the relationship between these two.

Indecent. Improper.

Yan Qili’s brow furrowed slightly. This is what the coward likes?

Seeing the change in the man’s expression, the assistant asked tremblingly, “Hello…?” Was this person, who looked so fierce, really a fan of Teacher Mullet?

Thinking of how much An Jing had just bought, Yan Qili’s gaze turned subtle. Finally, he said, “One set.”

After speaking, Yan Qili caught sight of that stack of improper posters again. Truly unable to bear it, he changed his mind: “I don’t want this one.”

…

An Jing was at the end of Mullet’s line, with about thirty fans ahead of him. Standing in front of him was a couple chatting and laughing; the guy had come to accompany his girlfriend.

An Jing heard the boy tell the girl to accompany him to Baili’s signing line later. Looking at the poster his girlfriend was holding, the boy’s expression was one of disdain and awkwardness: “I don’t know why you girls like this. Don’t you think it’s weird?”

The girl rolled her eyes unceremoniously. “What does a straight man like you know?”

A straight man would never understand the joy of “shipping” characters! The boy truly didn’t get it and said bluntly, “Only girls would like this.” Spending all day obsessed with “paper people” and pairings.

“That’s not true!” the girl argued. “There are boys who like it too, okay?”

The boy asked, “In this whole line, besides me who came with you, who else is there?”

The girl tilted her chin. “Look, isn’t there one right behind you?”

“?” The boy turned back to look at An Jing.

An Jing, who had heard every word because he was standing so close: “…”

Save me.

The boy was silent for two seconds, then turned back and lowered his voice to his girlfriend: “I guarantee you, he is definitely not straight!”

A huge “label” was slapped onto him. An Jing: “…………” Who says! More rumors!

Hobbies are free! Reject stereotypes! Even though he wrote BL and shipped male pairings, he was straight! What was wrong with liking paper people?! Who did “fictosexuality” ever hurt?

In An Jing’s mind, the rejection “bullet comments” scrolled by one after another. But in reality, the socially anxious man just lowered his head, pretending he hadn’t heard their conversation. He was just that cowardly.

…

After an agonizing ten minutes of waiting, it was finally An Jing’s turn.

“Thanks for the support.” Mullet smiled at him, his eyes curving. While skillfully signing, he asked, “Do you need a personalized message?”

In his heart, An Jing thought, Of course, but he just shook his head awkwardly. From the moment it was almost his turn, his mind had gone blank. He was too nervous.

Mullet smiled. “Then I’ll just write something myself?”

An Jing nodded frantically. “S-sure.”

So, beneath the signature on the poster, Mullet seriously wrote: “Wishing you happiness every day.” It was a very simple sentence.

As An Jing looked at it, he really did feel a bit happier. Clutching his fresh signature, An Jing didn’t even know how he walked out of the line. Mullet was very gentle and had a nice voice; looking at him, you’d never guess those “wild scenes” on Weibo were his work.

An Jing couldn’t help but look back. The fan behind him was excitedly taking a photo with Mullet. An Jing’s eyes couldn’t hide his envy.

You’re so useless. He didn’t dare ask for a personalized message, and he didn’t even get a photo. No matter how much regret he felt, An Jing couldn’t bring himself to turn back and ask. He could only leave, looking back with every few steps.

On the other side, Mullet continued to chat quietly with his assistant.

Mullet: “When Teacher Baili came to ask for my autograph last night, I really wanted to ask if he could get me Teacher Yannian’s autograph.”

The assistant teased, “Are you disappointed that Teacher Yannian didn’t show up?”

Mullet: “Of course! Look at who I came for.” For a “saucy artist” like him, every public appearance carries the risk of being recognized by acquaintances, okay? He wouldn’t have come if he hadn’t heard that Teacher Yannian might attend.

Assistant: “Didn’t Teacher Baili post on Weibo saying Teacher Yannian is actually here? We just don’t know who it is.”

Mullet sighed. “Even Teacher Baili can’t find him, do you think I can? Am I that lucky?” He continued, “I just hope that in my lifetime, I can grab a signed copy of his book.”

Assistant: “…True.” At least several hundred people were looking for Yannian just now, yet they hadn’t seen a shadow. “Boss, look on the bright side. Yannian knows Baili, and you talked to Baili last night. By the transitive property, you talked to your idol last night. That was probably the closest you’ll ever get.”

An Jing didn’t know Mullet was talking about him. He just felt an itch in his nose and rubbed it. He took several photos of the signature and was hesitating whether to join his friend’s line when Yan Qili’s voice sounded in his ear:

“You like it that much?”

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