Around ten in the morning, Morgana returned to the apartment.
Sports gloves, wrist wraps, lifting grips, quick-dry top, sneakers, and ultra-short shorts.
Fully equipped, heroic and dashing, she radiated youthful vitality and energy.
Pushing open the door, she saw Gao Sijin sitting on the sofa and gave an elegant smile.
“Did you sleep well last night?”
“Very well,” Gao Sijin scratched his head, nodded a bit shyly, then asked, “Were you just at the gym?”
“Yep, right next door at the fitness center. I’m not as lazy as Qingxue.”
Morgana swept back her voluminous, cascading blonde hair, droplets of sweat glistening on her damp quick-dry top. Her beautiful toned ab lines stood out elegantly. She possessed the delicate beauty of an Eastern woman fused with the untamed wildness of a Western one — a perfect blend of purity and desire.
She kicked off her sneakers and peeled off her socks at the entryway, then padded barefoot straight to Gao Sijin and sat down beside him on the sofa.
“Hey, you’re dripping with sweat! Don’t sit on my sofa like that. Go take a shower this instant, it’s absolutely filthy,” Yu Qingxue complained with a frown of disgust. “Doesn’t she reek, Sijin?”
Gao Sijin shook his head, frankly stating:
“I’d call it drenched in fragrant sweat.”
“Hahaha, Sijin’s eyes are sharp,” Morgana laughed heartily. “Unlike a certain someone whose mouth is foul and eyes are dim. Someone who never thinks about keeping in shape — once you hit thirty, you’re bound to bounce back into a fat hag.”
“A certain someone works out every single day, yet her chest remains ridiculously tiny. Strange, isn’t it?”
“Small is fine. If I were the same size as a cow like you, I’d dig a hole and bury myself.”
The two best friends traded jibes as sweet as honey.
Gao Sijin could only manage a wry, “that’s enough” kind of smile.
“By the way, Sijin, do you work out regularly?”
Morgana suddenly turned toward Gao Sijin with a friendly, forthright, and warm gaze.
“If a treadmill counts as working out, then I guess I do it occasionally.”
He recalled that back in his home country, he’d even signed up for a gym membership to stay in shape. But after some careful number-crunching, he realized an annual gym membership was slightly pricier than buying a treadmill outright. And since he almost never lifted weights at the gym — his arms would be so sore the next day he could barely raise them — the smartest purchase was actually just getting a treadmill. The most valuable part of the gym membership was perhaps being able to see women with generous chests and firm behinds.
“Come work out with me from now on, Sijin.”
Morgana took Gao Sijin’s hand.
“Shouldn’t that kind of thing be done with a boyfriend or something?”
“I’m still single — where would I find a boyfriend to work out with me? Having you as a companion to exercise together is perfect. Besides, I’m very interested in Eastern culture. You’re a great author, Sijin, so you must know all about the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties, right?” Morgana gazed at him with eager, thirsting emerald eyes, as if knowledge itself might spill forth.
“I’m honored.”
To have just arrived in Tokyo and already become friends with beauties like Yu Qingxue and Morgana still felt like a dream to Gao Sijin — so surreal it was terrifying.
Not long ago, his first volume had become a bestseller in J-Country, but plenty of authors got cut off mid-career. Without constant effort, he could easily go from a hot-selling writer to an anonymous background character. Therefore, Gao Sijin never overestimated himself, nor did he consider himself their equal.
“Have some confidence, Great Author.” Yu Qingxue pressed her slender, alabaster hand on his shoulder. “If you always look like a masochist, people won’t be able to resist the urge to bully you.”
“Hmph, who bullies whom isn’t decided yet,” Gao Sijin retorted stubbornly.
“So where are we going to hang out today?” Morgana’s emerald eyes canvassed the group for suggestions. “We said we’d go to the Skytree. Should we head out soon? I heard there’s a concert by a famous idol there today.”
“I’m fine with anything. And Morgana, go take a shower already.”
Yu Qingxue hurled a pillow at Morgana.
Apparently feeling that the clammy sweat was indeed a bit uncomfortable, Morgana hummed a lovely tune and padded barefoot into the bathroom.
“By the way, which idol is holding a concert near the Skytree today?”
“I don’t know either. Wait, let me look it up.” Yu Qingxue pulled out her phone and quickly browsed. Soon she answered, “It’s Ovinia’s concert.”
“Ovinia?”
Gao Sijin furrowed his brow.
“That name sounds awfully familiar.”
“She is a super popular idol, currently No. 1 on the Idol Ranking Chart. It’s normal you’ve heard of her.”
“No, I feel like I’ve known that name for a very, very long time…”
Yet no matter how hard he racked his brain, he couldn’t recall where he had first heard the name Ovinia. Subconsciously, it felt incredibly familiar, but there was no trace of Ovinia in his hippocampus.
“Forget it, don’t try to force it. We’ll go to the Skytree later and attend her concert in person; then it might all come back,” Yu Qingxue said gently. “It’s almost noon — should we eat out or at home? That Spanish restaurant downstairs is pretty authentic, but I think my own cooking is even better.”
“I’m fine either way. If it’s too much trouble for you, Qingxue, we can go out. My treat.”
“It’s no trouble. Let’s eat at home. I’m going to conquer you completely with my cooking and reshape your stomach into something that belongs to me.”
“That sounds a little… suggestive.”
“I meant it that way.”
Yu Qingxue tied on a checkered apron, walked gracefully into the kitchen, and opened the fridge.
“What do you feel like eating?”
“Make something you’re good at.”
“I’m good at every dish.”
“Then just go wild.”
“Just you wait and see.”
Gao Sijin sat alone on the living room sofa and turned on the TV. On the LCD screen, a young female idol with a lavender bob haircut, wearing a Lolita dress, was dancing an otagei in the center of the stage. Below her was a sea of waving glowsticks.
“Ovinia…”
The screen didn’t show a name subtitle, yet Gao Sijin spoke the girl’s name at once.
He wouldn’t be mistaken.
“Hello everyone, I’m Ovinia Yueta, and I love you all!”
The crowd below instantly ignited like gasoline thrown on a flame.
“It really is Ovinia.”
He was certain he had once known Ovinia. It was just some deviation in his memory — he couldn’t remember right now, but if he searched the corners of his mind, he would surely recall the traces she had left behind.
“Ugh —”
The moment he tried to recall forcefully, a sharp pain shot through his head, like an electric shock.
Forget it. It wasn’t something trivial he urgently needed. Better not to think about it anymore.
