TLLKTBD CH 49

Chapter 49: Alright, alright, baby, don’t be scared…

“You can’t see, I’ll hold your hand,” Jin Lang said.

The small room was bathed in soft, colorful lights, actually bright enough for Lu Qian to see. But he didn’t say anything—he just let Jin Lang hold his hand and lead him forward.

The path was short, and in less than a minute or two, they had caught up with the other two. Xu Yang was still at the front, just about to push open the iron door and leave this not-at-all-scary baby haunted house when, suddenly, something gray and fluffy fell from above, landing on his shoulder before dropping straight into his arms.

The unexpected impact startled Xu Yang so much that he let out a loud scream, pushing open the iron door and dashing out while clutching the thing in his arms. The others, frightened by his reaction, instinctively ran after him.

The amusement park staff were also startled—several grown men burst out of the haunted house screaming at the top of their lungs. Worried, they rushed forward to ask what had happened.

“……”

The three who had followed him out stared blankly at the cause of the commotion, while Xu Yang, panting heavily, glared at the thing in his arms.

“……What is this?”

A question shared by all four of them.

The staff took a look at the fluffy object and hesitantly said, “That’s… the big gray cloud from the exit?”

At the haunted house’s exit, the setting mimicked a stormy night, complete with occasional flashes of lightning and the low rumbling of thunder. Large, fluffy gray clouds made of cotton were hung from the ceiling to enhance the atmosphere. It seemed one hadn’t been secured properly and had fallen—right onto Xu Yang.

The cotton cloud was soft and weightless, completely harmless. But right now, Xu Yang felt deeply wounded.

Seeing Qi Shaobai trembling as he tried to hold back his laughter, Xu Yang gave up and sighed in resignation. “Forget it. Just laugh already.”

“WAHAHAHAHA!”

Not just Qi Shaobai—everyone around burst into laughter. Even the staff, laughing while apologizing, kept asking if he was hurt. “We’re really sorry about that!”

“……”

Yeah, right. Not funny at all. And they’re still laughing.

Xu Yang tossed the big gray cloud back to the staff and strode off. Qi Shaobai clutched his stomach as he chased after him. “Alright, alright, baby, don’t be scared. It was just a cloud.”

“Pfft…”

Lu Qian and Jin Lang, who had finally managed to stop laughing, were sent into another fit of chuckles by Xiao Qi’s teasing. They followed behind him, walking side by side.

Jin Lang had expected things to be awkward, just like that day when they came down from the rooftop.

But they weren’t.

Lu Qian simply smiled as he looked ahead, his cheeks flushed and his eyes bright.

No awkwardness, no avoidance.

Jin Lang smiled too, tugging Lu Qian forward as they ran to join Xiao Qi in making fun of Xu Yang.

Xu Yang scowled, clearly in no mood to join in their discussion about which ride to queue for next.

Just then, Qi Shaobai’s phone rang—it was Li Jin.

“Hello, Jin-ge,” Qi Shaobai answered, only to hear Li Jin’s slightly anxious voice from the other end.

“Xiao Qi, are you free? Can you do me a favor?”

“Sure, what is it?” Qi Shaobai immediately became serious upon hearing the tension in Li Jin’s voice.

“Lin-ge and I are on a business trip to review the final details of our last project. We’re already halfway there when I realized I left an important blueprint at the office. There’s no time to turn back now—can you go find it for me? I need some numbers from it, just take a picture and send it over.”

“Alright,” Qi Shaobai agreed without hesitation. “Where did you leave it?”

“It was in the set of blueprints you helped file last time. I didn’t realize there was one more detail I needed to confirm, and I accidentally filed that one away too. The blueprint number should be… let me check… P67-132. It should be in that roll. Please look for it. I’ll message you the specific data I need you to photograph.”

“Got it. But I’m out right now. It’ll take me some time to get to the office. When do you need it by?”

The others watched as Qi Shaobai unconsciously began walking toward the exit, and Xu Yang quickly grabbed his arm to stop him.

“We’ll be at the site in two hours. Will you make it in time?” Li Jin sounded worried.

“I’ll hurry. It should be fine,” Qi Shaobai reassured him before hanging up. He turned to the other three and said, “Jin-ge ran into a little problem. I need to head back to the office real quick.” He was already getting ready to leave.

“Is everything alright? Do you need help?” Lu Qian asked, concerned.

“It’s fine, really. Jin-ge just left a blueprint at the office. I just need to take some photos of the data and send them over. You guys go ahead and keep playing.”

“I’ll drive you,” Xu Yang said.

They had come in the same car that morning, and since Qi Shaobai was handling something work-related for their own company, there was no way he’d just stay behind and continue playing while Qi Shaobai had to take a taxi.

Grabbing Qi Shaobai’s wrist, Xu Yang waved to Lu Qian and Jin Lang. “You two take your time and have fun. I’ll take Xiao Qi back first.”

Lu Qian and Jin Lang nodded, telling them to be careful on the road. With that, the group split up.

Lu Qian and Jin Lang continued to wander around the amusement park, hopping into any line with a short wait. They even went on the carousel.

After all, if they had already braved the baby haunted house, then riding a carousel wasn’t embarrassing at all.

(To be continued…)