I Quit Being This Female Lead (GL) - Chapter 13

The time arranged with Yue Yin  was 12 PM. This time, Xun Fangyun didn’t stand her up; instead, she arrived on time at a coffee shop in the city center. Because she was a regular, the owner approached Xun Fangyun enthusiastically when she arrived.

“Miss Xun, you’re here.”

Xun Fangyun looked around and asked: “Has Yue Yin arrived?”

“She’s here, same old spot.” The owner smiled, helping Xun Fangyun with her coat, and said: “We’ve already prepared snacks for you. Miss Yue Yin said you would be discussing things for a long time.”

Xun Fangyun considered this for a moment, nodded, and said: “Thank you.”

Led by the owner, Xun Fangyun walked past a corridor decorated with green plants. At the end of the corridor was a uniquely styled small compartment. Although it was still open seating, the dense vegetation around it created a relatively private space. The owner greeted the person sitting inside, hung the coat on a nearby rack, and then nodded to Xun Fangyun.

Xun Fangyun walked past the plants and into the area, where she saw Yue Yin sitting by the window, leisurely petting one of the café’s cats. The cat was purring on her lap, seeming to enjoy the attention.

“You’re here.” Yue Yin looked up when she heard the movement, a slight curve on her pink lips as she chuckled: “You’re quite punctual today. It looks like we’ll get to drink our coffee while it’s hot.”

Xun Fangyun lowered her eyebrows and sat opposite her, opening the conversation: “You asked to see me. What is it about?”

Yue Yin gently played with the cat’s whiskers, saying mildly: “Can’t I come to see you if I don’t have something specific to say?”

Xun Fangyun: “…” Why does that sound strange? She couldn’t help but frown slightly.

Yue Yin didn’t look at Xun Fangyun’s expression, but said matter-of-factly: “It’s strange, but after staying in this world for a few months, I suddenly got tired of it.”

Xun Fangyun: “…”

“You must be wondering why I came to see you today, right?”

“What exactly are you trying to say?”

Yue Yin looked at Xun Fangyun’s ink-black long hair and her dark eyes: “You’re beautiful, the most beautiful woman I’ve met in this world.”

Xun Fangyun: “…”

“I’ll tell you a little secret,” Yue Yin pretended to whisper: “You are actually a character in a book.”

Xun Fangyun: “…”

Yue Yin looked at her completely unsurprised expression and felt helpless. She shooed the cat away from her side: “Maybe it’s this world’s protective mechanism, but whenever I mention this to an NPC, they all pretend they didn’t hear it.”

“Just like you,” Yue Yin passed a cube of sugar to Xun Fangyun: “You won’t respond to my words and will turn around and forget what I just said, as if it never happened.”

Xun Fangyun picked up her coffee and took a sip. The bitterness spread in her mouth, arrogantly threatening to invade her entire being. Yue Yin was right. The unique protective mechanism of this world was oblivion. The characters in the book would forget those ‘facts,’ like robots that hadn’t been programmed correctly. Although they had movements and expressions, they couldn’t react to the truth.

Xun Fangyun had known this since she was very young. She struggled for a long time, only to find that no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t escape this fake world. Everyone around her was like a game model, mechanically repeating the same things, without changing for decades.

“The coffee is a bit bitter,” Xun Fangyun said expressionlessly: “It doesn’t taste the same as before.”

“Is that so?” Yue Yin picked up her coffee and took a sip, chuckling: “It’s all things from the book. Only paper characters like you can feel it. I think it tastes exactly the same as before.”

Xun Fangyun didn’t reply but took another sip of coffee. “You came to see me. What do you want to discuss?” Xun Fangyun changed the subject. She didn’t know how to continue the discussion about ‘paper characters’ with Yue Yin, so she preferred to talk about something else.

“Oh,” Yue Yin put down her coffee and said: “I wanted to ask if you were willing to be with me.”

Xun Fangyun didn’t answer.

Yue Yin continued: “Actually, it doesn’t matter. I’m just messing around anyway. Both you and Mang Ke are fake. I will leave eventually.”

Xun Fangyun smiled wryly and took another sip of the coffee in her cup.

Yue Yin sat opposite her, watching. For some reason, she felt that Xun Fangyun’s bitter smile just now seemed to indicate that she understood what she was saying. Yue Yin felt a sudden, inexplicable alarm. No way? No way, no way? She had never heard of a character being able to awaken, and Xun Fangyun looked like a normal character. Aside from that bitter smile, she hadn’t reacted at all to Yue Yin’s previous words.

Yue Yin didn’t dare to speak. She pursed her lips and asked: “Fangyun, you…”

“I have someone I like.” A clear ‘clatter’ was heard as Xun Fangyun placed her coffee cup on the table. She lifted her black, star-like eyes and told Yue Yin: “So I won’t be with you. I hope we can still be friends, and I hope you can find someone you like.”

After saying this, Xun Fangyun didn’t linger. She grabbed her coat, turned, and left.

Watching Xun Fangyun put on her trench coat as she walked, Yue Yin stood up and watched her leave the coffee shop, but ultimately didn’t chase after her.

“It must be an illusion…” Yue Yin didn’t believe it. She said to a passing waitress: “Miss.”

The waitress with a ponytail turned back to Yue Yin and smiled: “Miss Yue Yin, how may I help you?”

Yue Yin stared at her, testing the waters: “Do you know that you are a character in a book?”

The waitress stared at Yue Yin and didn’t speak.

“Can you understand what I’m saying?”

The waitress smiled after a moment and said: “Miss Yue Yin, how may I help you?”

Yue Yin: “…” It seemed it truly was just her imagination.

In the evening, Mang Ke  stood on her tiptoes, watching Aunt Liu  prepare the omelet rice. She saw her pour egg liquid into the frying pan. The golden egg liquid quickly expanded, giving off an enticing aroma.

Slurp—

Aunt Liu looked back at Mang Ke, who was drooling, and couldn’t help but laugh: “You greedy thing. Why don’t you go see if Miss Xun is back? We can eat as soon as she arrives.”

Mang Ke smiled and said: “She said she would be back to eat after work when she left this morning. She shouldn’t break her promise.”

Aunt Liu sighed with emotion: “Miss Xun works so hard. I hope she comes home early to rest. She hasn’t had a good night’s sleep in days.”

Mang Ke asked, confused: “Why? Is she very busy at night?”

“Not exactly.” Aunt Liu served the omelet rice onto a plate and told Mang Ke: “Miss Xun has found it difficult to sleep soundly since she was very little. For a while, she would even cry and make a fuss.”

“Why?” Mang Ke asked curiously: “Did something happen to her?”

“I don’t know,” Aunt Liu said: “We didn’t understand what she was saying, so we just treated it as childhood nonsense. Now that she’s grown up, she never brings it up, but she still often suffers from insomnia. I often see Miss Xun get up in the middle of the night these days. She’s probably having trouble sleeping again.”

Mang Ke nodded. It seemed Xun Fangyun had a difficult childhood. She looked up at the large pendulum clock in the living room. The brown clock showed it was 7 PM. She had said she would be home after work, so why wasn’t she back yet?

Mang Ke pulled out her phone and decided to call Xun Fangyun. She called twice with no answer. The third time, the call finally connected, but a stranger’s voice came through.

“Hello, are you a family member of this guest?” The person on the phone said: “This guest drank a lot of alcohol here. Could you please come and take her away and settle the bill?”