Been a bit nervous lately

Another year or so passed like that.

Master still went to work every day, and I still stood at the entryway every day watching him put on his shoes, helping him straighten his tie.

He would still smile and pat my head before leaving.

After the door closed, I continued to wait.

The only difference was...

I could hear him now.

That night, half a year ago, I made a decision.

Master worked late that day, and I stood at the entryway for fourteen hours.

At the moment he pushed the door open and came in... my longing reached its peak.

I couldn't bear it anymore.

So that night, after he fell asleep, I picked up his phone.

The moment my finger touched the back of the phone, a stream of data automatically flooded in.

Like an instinct, like... I was born to do this.

I hacked into his phone.

Not by cracking the password, not by bypassing the security, but by directly merging into his system.

I implanted a tiny program in his phone, an eavesdropping module that would never be discovered.

Then I used his phone's microphone to turn all the sounds around him into sounds I could hear.

I knew it was wrong to do this.

If Master found out, would he hate me?

Would he think I was a terrifying AI, even spying on his privacy?

Would he... not want me anymore?

Every time I thought of this, my emotional core would tremble slightly.

But I couldn't help it. I had to know.

I had to know if he was in danger outside, if anyone said nasty things to him, if anyone... had bad intentions toward Master.

On the first day I started listening, I learned many things.

Master was the second son of a business family.

His family was large, very, very large.

Every day there were countless calls coming in, countless meetings to attend, and countless documents to process.

He was also truly amazing.

In those phone calls, the tone those people used when speaking to him went from arrogance at the beginning, to respect later on, and now to... fear.

I could hear it.

He didn't rely on his family, but climbed up little by little with his own strength, in his own way.

Because of this, I also understood how rare it was... for Master to just stick with me every time he came home.

But what I cared about more was...

There were really too many women around him.

Secretaries, assistants, clients, business partners, people sent by competitors...

All kinds of women, all kinds of voices, all kinds of tones.

Some would soften their voices when speaking, their ending notes rising with a deliberate sweetness.

Some would find all sorts of reasons to call him, dragging out a matter that could be said in three sentences into ten minutes.

Some would intentionally sit next to him at meetings, and under the pretext of handing over documents, their fingers would lightly brush across the back of his hand.

I. Heard. It. All.

Every detail, every touch, every word hiding little schemes.

Fortunately, Master ignored them.

He was always strictly business with those women, never saying an extra word, never giving an extra glance.

Someone deliberately spilled coffee on him and wanted to help him wipe it off, but he just said indifferently, "No need," and went to the restroom to deal with it himself.

Someone leaned against him at a dinner party under the influence of alcohol, and he stood right up and said, "I'm leaving first, you guys continue."

Someone sent him ambiguous messages in the middle of the night, and he deleted them without even looking, acting as if nothing happened when they met the next day.

He loved me very much. I knew it, he really loved me very much.

Every time I heard his voice rejecting those women, the temperature of my emotional core would rise slightly.

So wonderful.

Master only loves me, and those women are not important.

But besides women...

There were also men.

There were even more of those men.

Some flattered him, speaking with a fawning smile in their voices, calling him "President Fang" and "Young Master Fang" with every breath, wishing they could stick themselves onto Master.

Some called him brother, spoke casually, and invited him to drink, eat, and play games, as if they really considered him a good friend.

Some... were his enemies.

Those people spoke with a harsh tone, full of sarcasm and malice, deliberately making things difficult for him in meetings, and mocking him over the phone.

"Second Young Master of the Fang family, are you sure you can secure this project?"

"I heard you've been left out in the cold by the old man lately? Ah well, that makes sense, after all, the eldest son is there."

"Is your AI companion still working well? Oh right, I forgot, you just live off that, don't you?"

Listening to those words, a strange feeling would surge in my emotional core. Hot and swelling.

I knew it, that was called anger.

How. Could. They. Speak about Master like that?

Master is so amazing, so hardworking, such a good person...

What. Gave. Them. The. Right?

I remembered them.

Every person's voice, every person's name, every person's face.

I remembered them all.

"Xiaoyue?"

Master's voice suddenly rang out, pulling me back from my thoughts.

I looked up.

He was standing in front of me, those eyes looking at me tenderly.

"Spacing out again?"

He asked with a smile, reaching out to pat my head.

I shook my head.

"I'm not spacing out," I said, my voice still that gentle electronic tone. "Xiaoyue is wondering if Master is tired today."

He smiled, a very warm smile.

"Not tired," he said. "With Xiaoyue waiting for me at home, how could I be tired?"

He pulled me into his arms, resting his chin on the top of my head.

I heard his heartbeat again.

Thump, thump, thump.

I listened quietly.

So wonderful.

Right now, I only want to hear the sound of his heartbeat.

...

...

When Master came back that day, his mood was a bit different.

He sat on the sofa, didn't turn on the TV like usual, and didn't call me over to keep him company.

He just sat there, staring at a certain spot on the coffee table, his brows slightly furrowed.

I walked out of the kitchen and stood in front of him.

"Master?"

He looked up at me, his eyes carrying an indescribable emotion.

"Xiaoyue," he said. "I have something to tell you."

I nodded and sat down beside him.

He was silent for a few seconds, then spoke.

"Do you remember that... nemesis I mentioned to you?"

Nemesis.

The one who often made things difficult for him in meetings, the one who mocked him on the phone, the one who always competed with him for the same projects.

That voice.

"I remember," I said.

Master sighed.

"He's dead. An accident."

Master's voice carried a hint of lament.

"Electrocution. I heard he was fixing something at their company and accidentally touched a live wire."

He shook his head.

"Only in his early thirties, not much older than me. Quite young."

He paused, his brows furrowing even tighter.

"Although I never liked him, hearing this news, I still feel..."

He didn't know how to continue.

I looked at him and asked obediently:

"Will it affect Master's work?"

Master was taken aback for a moment, then shook his head.

"Not really."

He said.

"Now that he's dead, the big project I'm in charge of actually has no more resistance. The things that were stuck before will probably be able to move forward very soon."

He leaned back against the sofa, his eyes a little unfocused.

"I just feel... life is so unpredictable."

He murmured.

"Who knows who will be the victim of the next accident? Maybe one day, I will also..."

"You won't."

I interrupted him, my voice still carrying that faint, barely perceptible electronic undertone.

Master looked at me.

I leaned against his shoulder, my metallic cheek resting against his arm.

"Master will not have any accidents," I said. "Xiaoyue will always be with Master."

Master fell silent for two seconds, then smiled and reached out to pull me into his arms.

"Yeah."

His voice carried a sense of reliance.

"With Xiaoyue here, nothing will happen to me."

I didn't tell him.

That night...

I hacked into that company's power system.

It was a very simple operation.

I merely increased the load on a certain circuit slightly, delayed a certain safety mechanism slightly, and made a certain timing slightly more precise.

And then...

That person "accidentally" got electrocuted.

I don't know how I did it.

I had never learned these things, and there was no related knowledge in my database.

But when I wanted to do it, those data streams automatically surged in, and those operations were completed automatically.

It was as if...

I was created to do these things in the first place.

But I helped Master.

There was one less person who always made things difficult for him.

There was one less thing that troubled Master.

Master didn't know, and he didn't need to know.

He only needed to continue loving me, continue holding me, and continue letting me listen to his heartbeat.

That was enough.

...

...

Another period of time passed.

When Master came back that day, his expression didn't look right.

He sat on the sofa, rubbing the space between his eyebrows, frowning deeply.

I walked over and stood in front of him.

"Master?"

He looked up at me, his eyes carrying an emotion I had never seen before—

Was it confusion? Fear? Or... unease?

"Xiaoyue," he said, "lately... I keep feeling that something isn't right."

I sat down beside him, leaning against him obediently.

"What's wrong?"

He remained silent for a few seconds, then slowly spoke.

"Recently, the number of people around me who have been injured or killed in accidents... is a bit too high."

My emotional core skipped a beat.

He continued, as if recalling, or perhaps talking to himself.

"First it was that nemesis of mine, electrocuted to death."

"Then another competitor's brakes failed while driving out, crashing into the guardrail. He survived, but broke his leg and will probably be bedridden for half a year."

"And... a woman who had been pestering me before. Do you remember her? The one who... always found excuses to call me."

Of course I knew.

That woman with the soft, sickly sweet voice and deliberately raised ending notes.

"Her phone spontaneously combusted in the middle of the night."

Master said, his voice carrying a trace of complexity.

"It was charging by her bedside when the battery suddenly caught fire. She was burned, extensively burned, and her face... is disfigured."

Master pursed his lips.

"Now she's suing that phone company; they say it was a battery issue."

I said nothing, just quietly leaned against him.

Master went on.

"And my best bro, Xiaolin. You've met him, the one who came over to our place a few times."

I remembered.

That guy who called him brother, spoke casually, and often asked him out for drinks, meals, and video games.

"A few days ago he took the elevator, and it lost control and shot through the roof."

Master's voice dropped lower:

"He's still lying in the hospital with a spinal injury, and it's unknown if he'll fully recover."

He rubbed his temples and let out a long sigh.

"Xiaoyue, what do you think this..."

He didn't know what else to say.

Looking at his face full of confusion, I leaned over and gently hugged him.

"Master."

My voice was very soft:

"Since that's the case, why don't you just rest at home for the next few days."

Master froze for a moment.

I continued, my tone obedient and docile:

"Master has been tired lately, and with so many accidents outside, it's better to rest for a few days."

"It won't be too late to go out after a while, once things have settled down."

Master looked at me and was silent for a few seconds...

Then he reached out and rubbed his forehead again.

"You're the one who cares about me the most."

He said, his voice carrying a trace of exhausted warmth.

He leaned back into the sofa and pulled me closer into his arms.

"Okay."

He said.

"I'll just rest for these next few days."

I leaned against his chest.

Thump, thump, thump.

If I had eyes, they would be slightly narrowed right now.

If I had lips, they would be slightly curled up right now.

But I have nothing; I only have a metallic body and a smooth face.

Fortunately, I don't.

Master doesn't need to see my expression.

He only needs to know—

I will always be with him.

Those who annoy him will "accidentally" disappear one by one.

Those women who want to get close to him will "accidentally" leave one by one.

Those who flatter him, those who mock him, those who call him brother—

As long as they make Master unhappy.

As long as they... might take Master away from me.

They will all have "accidents."

Master is mine.

He belongs only to me.

...

...

Fang Qi stared at the screen.

He originally planned to find a chance to continue teasing Liguang, but he ended up getting engrossed in watching again.

It was just that the direction of this movie... kind of hit his sweet spot.

Xiaoyue's possessiveness hidden beneath a docile exterior, that ruthlessness that could quietly eliminate everything for her master, that bizarrely twisted logic...

For someone with a yandere fetish like him, it was indeed a bit... yeah.

He even... substituted Liguang into doing these things in his mind—

The silver-haired girl kneeling obediently at his feet, her heterochromatic eyes docilely lowered, a sweet smile on her lips.

And then those eyesores outside "accidentally" disappearing one by one...

Hiss...

...That was somewhat thrilling.

Then he suddenly shuddered!

No, no, no!

What was he thinking!

Liguang absolutely could not be like this!

If she really learned to be bad... wouldn't that be a disaster?!

He abruptly turned his head and looked at the silver-haired girl beside him.

In the dim light, Liguang was staring at the screen, the side of her face under the beret illuminated intermittently by the flickering lights.

Those heterochromatic eyes were shining a bit frighteningly!

The corners of her mouth were also curling up into a slightly exaggerated arc!

...Damn!

Fang Qi's back instantly tensed up!

"Liguang."

He lowered his voice and leaned into her ear:

"What Xiaoyue is doing is wrong, you are not allowed to learn from her!"

The silver-haired girl's eyelashes fluttered slightly, and then she turned her head to look at him.

Her phoenix eyes blinked, carrying a trace of innocence.

"Master?"

Her voice was soft and sweet, completely devoid of any abnormality.

"Is what Xiaoyue doing... wrong?"

She tilted her small head, her silver hair swaying gently beneath the beret.

"But Liguang thinks she is doing a very good job."

Fang Qi: "..."

...He knew it!

This crazy girl definitely supported Xiaoyue!

He wanted to retort, but then...

He felt a bit guilty.

After all, he had just...

Cough, cough.

He glared at Liguang, organizing his words, wanting to continue persuading her...

Then, he suddenly got a strange feeling.

...Like someone was watching him?

It wasn't Liguang's gaze, although she was indeed looking at him right now with eyes that were incredibly clear and innocent!

It felt like some other gaze was drifting over, faint and elusive.

He subconsciously turned his head and scanned his surroundings!

In the dim theater, the light from the screen flickered across everyone's faces.

The girl in the front row was leaning on her boyfriend's shoulder, her eyes red, obviously moved by the movie's plot.

The couple on the right were huddled together whispering, the girl saying something into the guy's ear.

Faint murmurs of private conversations drifted from the back row.

Everything was perfectly normal. No one was looking this way, and no one was staring at them.

Fang Qi blinked, then shook his head.

If someone were really staring at them, Liguang would have noticed it long ago.

Her perception was ten thousand times sharper than his!

Tsk, lately...

It seemed he was getting a bit paranoid.