Sorry, I Love You.

Cigarette dangling from his lips, Lin Yu was grinning like an idiot.

Sorry, man, this is just too funny.

After using Janna's ultimate to knock back the lightning-wreathed Kennen for the umpteenth time, a thoroughly amused Lin Yu cheekily sent an innocent emoticon in the all-chat.

The Storm's Fury: QAQ.

The Heart of the Tempest: Reporting you.

The Heart of the Tempest: Haha.

With Kennen knocked away during his ultimate, the enemy team was essentially down a man, and they naturally lost the team fight without any suspense.

Taking advantage of the downtime, Lin Yu happily took the last drag of his cigarette and jammed the butt into the overflowing ashtray, which looked like a graveyard of swords made of cigarette butts.

"Ding."

A crisp text message notification sounded. Lin Yu glanced over.

Tang KuaiKuai: I'm leaving. Can you come to the airport to see me off?

The short line of text seemed to be inscribed with some terrible magic. Through the screen, it forcefully and roughly flattened the corners of Lin Yu's upturned mouth, instantly wiping all the smiles from his face.

Staring at the text message on his phone in a daze for two seconds, Lin Yu finally chose to call the internet cafe attendant.

"Get me another pack of cigarettes."

Hearing this, the internet cafe girl who hurried over from the counter looked as if she wanted to say something but stopped herself.

She glanced at the ashtray crammed with cigarette butts on the table, then at this guy who didn't look like a good person no matter how you looked at him, and finally chose to keep her mouth shut.

Better to avoid trouble.

What did it matter to her how many packs of cigarettes he smoked?

Let alone a third pack, even if he smoked himself to death, it was none of her business.

Don't ask for trouble.

She turned and left, not forgetting to take the overflowing ashtray from the table to empty it.

After the attendant left, Lin Yu continued to control his in-game character. Only this time, the smug and cheeky smile was gone from his face, replaced by a lonely calmness.

His eyes darkened, and the pale white glow of the screen reflected in his lifeless pupils, making him look even more absent-minded.

Damn it!

You've got to be kidding me!

Lin Yu's hand gripping the mouse tightened unconsciously.

Although he wasn't some Gold Saint, he wasn't about to make the same mistake over and over again!

It was exactly like this before!

Insisting on saying goodbye to Xia Muzhu right before they parted ways, which ended up causing a whole bunch of unnecessary drama.

Now she wanted him to see her off too?

Not going!

Absolutely not going!

Anyway, everything that needed to be said had already been said.

A clean break was already the best possible ending...

...

"Yi!"

"Ya!!!"

Just when Lin Yu's attention was wandering, a giant electric mouse flashing with lightning suddenly dashed out from the bushes. Carrying a terrifying thundercloud, it flashed and used E to dash into the crowd.

Lin Yu was startled by Kennen's sudden engagement.

His hovering finger subconsciously pressed the R key.

A violent hurricane suddenly whipped up from beneath Janna's skirt, carrying the power of destruction and restoration as it violently expanded outward.

Watching the tiny Kennen get blown away like a bag of purple trash, Lin Yu quickly bared his teeth to let them catch some air...

...

In the bustling airport, Tang Manman sat all alone on a resting bench.

Her face was pale, exuding a fragile sense of weakness.

She looked down at her phone for what must have been the dozenth time. It had been over half an hour since she sent that text message, but there was still no reply.

The last bit of light in Tang Manman's eyes slowly sank into her dark pupils. She stared at the empty white floor tiles just beyond her toes, remaining motionless for a long time like a lifeless sculpture.

"Ding."

The faint notification sound, like a water drop falling into the sea, instantly pulled at all her nerves.

She hurriedly picked up her phone, only to see that the familiar ID on the screen still hadn't sent any messages.

Her eyes quickly dimmed, but soon, another kind of light gathered in them again.

A light of confusion.

On the phone screen, a friend request quietly lay there.

Beneath that unfamiliar friend request, there was a message in slightly smaller font.

Do you want to know the real reason why Lin Yu is with that woman?

...

...

"Woohoo!"

"Awesome!"

"This combat is just so awesome!!!"

Leaving the warm internet cafe and stepping on the rustling fresh snow, Lin Yu happily reminisced about the day's wonderful matches.

Awesome!

It was just too awesome!

It's been a long time since I've had such a great time playing!

From morning until now, the teammates he met could make comebacks from a disadvantage and didn't throw when they had the lead.

Their mechanics were all incredibly flashy!

Occasionally, he'd run into a few clowns on the enemy team.

Like that not-so-smart Malphite and that tilted but polite Kennen.

It was just too interesting...

A flash of cold light caught his eye, and only then did Lin Yu realize in astonishment how unusual tonight was.

At some point, the whole world had been taken over by a heavy layer of fresh snow. Like a polar snow desert, the surface was blown exceptionally smooth by the wind, resembling carefully smoothed snow bricks.

Above, the moonlight was brilliant.

The glistening moonlight spilled onto the smooth snow bricks, illuminating the entire night so it was no longer so dark.

Looking at the night scene before him, Lin Yu spaced out for a moment.

What the heck?

It snowed again?

He remembered that when he came to the internet cafe in the morning, the snow had long been trampled into a mess by pedestrians.

And also.

Isn't this a bit off?

S City.

You're located in the south!

Which southern city snows like this?

Anyone who didn't know better would think I was back home.

Lin Yu sniffled, silently roasting the abnormal weather.

The silent night was windless, but the chill was piercing.

The warmth Lin Yu had accumulated in the internet cafe had long been quietly stolen away by the freezing snowy night.

Feeling the cold, he shrank his neck, pulled his zipper all the way to the top, and shoved his hands into his pockets. Fully armed against the cold,

Lin Yu walked toward S University, draped in the bleak night.

The internet cafe wasn't far from S University, just a ten-minute walk.

On the way, Lin Yu was still savoring today's fantastic gaming experience, even unable to resist humming softly.

Turning a corner, Lin Yu saw the gates of S University. Just as he was about to quicken his pace, an ethereal voice echoed faintly.

"Lin Yu."

In an instant, the hairs on Lin Yu's body stood on end.

This voice...

Lin Yu slowly turned his head. Under the moonlight, Tang Manman stood expressionless in the snow.

The bleak moonlight spilled over her snow-white skin, cloaking her in a layer of chilling frost.

She looked at Lin Yu. No emotion could be seen in her beautiful peach-blossom eyes; even vitality was pitifully scarce.

Tang Manman opened her mouth slightly, the voice slipping from her lips faint and cold, laced with a trace of airy bewilderment.

"Why wouldn't you even grant me a final send-off?"

Lin Yu looked at her. His lips moved slightly, but he ultimately chose to remain silent.

Because some things couldn't be said.

Saying them would only cause even bigger trouble.

With Lin Yu refusing to answer, only silence remained in the windless, freezing night.

Tang Manman's gaze remained firmly locked onto Lin Yu's face. Her expression was still devoid of any emotion, as silent and cold as this snowy night.

Crunch, crunch, crunch...

The soft sound of footsteps on the snow echoed as Tang Manman approached Lin Yu step by step, until she stood directly in front of him.

She didn't stop until Lin Yu had retreated as far back as he could, halting at an intimately close distance.

She tilted her delicate face up slightly, gazing at the face she yearned for day and night, and asked softly,

"What did everything we went through together actually mean?"

"Did you really never like me, not even a little bit?"

Lin Yu lowered his gaze, not daring to meet Tang Manman's eyes.

Her behavior tonight was clearly abnormal, yet it made her even more daunting to face than when she was weeping in sorrow.

After a breath, Lin Yu's lips moved. Finally, as if letting out a sigh, he said softly,

"It doesn't matter anymore."

Tang Manman looked at Lin Yu, tilting her head slightly.

It doesn't matter anymore?

Does that mean you did like me?

If you had never liked me.

Then it wouldn't have mattered from the very beginning. It wouldn't be 'doesn't matter anymore,' right?

At this thought, the corners of Tang Manman's lips curled up slightly. A layer of icy joy faintly surfaced in her cold eyes.

"Thank you."

Tang Manman said softly.

Her gaze finally slipped away from Lin Yu's face for a fleeting moment. By the time she looked up at him again, that shallow layer of joy was almost entirely swallowed by the deep-seated coldness in her eyes.

The moonlight was clear and bright, the snowy landscape silent and cold.

In this quiet snowy night where even their breaths were clearly audible, a trace of detached guilt seemed to flash across Tang Manman's eyes.

"Lin Yu?"

Tang Manman spoke softly.

"Hmm?"

Lin Yu responded, confused.

"I'm sorry."

Tang Manman apologized abruptly, without any apparent reason.

Lin Yu was completely baffled, not understanding what she meant.

"I love you."

As the gentle words fell, before Lin Yu could even process what she meant, Tang Manman's left hand, which had been hidden in her sleeve all along, suddenly shot up and viciously stabbed toward his abdomen.

A gleam of unusual light was particularly glaring between their dark silhouettes.