Bullet Points

Server Not Found

Three was most definitely a crowd, but then again, Han Shangyan couldn't exactly be described as the life and soul of the party.

It was a personality trait that had never before bothered him much, but his social ineptitude was suddenly first and foremost on his mind. Gun fidgeted uncomfortably as he glanced surreptitiously out the corner of his eye at the three people who had clustered together by the convention tables. He was trying his utmost to seem casual and unconcerned, but he wasn't sure he was pulling it off, to be entirely truthful. The trio had been huddled  secretively together for the past seven and a half minutes without pause. Despite his usual indifference, Han Shangyan was beyond curious as to what they were talking about. Seven and a half minutes was more time than required for just a friendly conversation...

His intrigue was born from a place the usually indifferent leader didn't dare to examine too closely for fear of falling into the rabbit hole; there be monsters. All he knew for certain was that he was magnetically drawn to the one of the three and his chest felt strangely tight as he eyed the oblivious group laughing and joking amongst themselves. From his vantage point, all Gun could discern was the jauntily bobbing ponytail that crowned the newest (as well as first and only) object of his affections. Tong Nian. A name that indubitally made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. A girl who was as pure and dazzling as the summer sky. The very girl who made him, the revered Gun God, CTF legend and cybersecurity myth, feel things he had never before known in all of his thirty years. Unfortunately for Gun God, however, he wasn't the only one who seemed to have been caught in the girl's unique gravitational pull. She was a honeypot and all the bees were helplessly ensnared by her saccharine good nature.

By the looks of it, Tong Nian was just as coveted as the fabled gold at the end of the rainbow. Which was just typical of his luck, really; had Han Shangyan ever faced anything in his life that he hadn't had to compete for? Why he had thought for even a second that his romantic life would be anything less than a battlefield filled with enemies was beyond his sphere of comprehension. At his age and with his rebellious past, Gun really should have known better; the girl had a candy cane smile and burned like a miniature sun - who could possibly resist her rays? How could he, the personification of the word sour, realistically expect to be the only one who would wish to bask in her brilliance? With his dark temperament and sullen demeanour, he would be lucky if he managed to accomplish anything besides eclipsing her entirely and blotting out her light. Han Shangyan felt like he had been slapped unforgivably in the face by the starkness of reality and it stung. He sorely needed to review his action plan if he was to have any hope of emerging with the key to her sugar cube heart.

He only had himself to blame for his current predicament; maybe if he hadn't been such an ill mannered asshole towards her in the earlier days of their dalliance, he wouldn't now be faced with the spine chilling dilemma of another stealing her away. It was a very real concern and the Boss hadn't realised how strongly the fear would be able to grip his heart. He would have acted differently if he had been aware. Tong Nian had infiltrated his world effortlessly with her patented brand of sparkling charm and he wasn't sure how to keep her from slipping through his fingers. Gun dreaded the day when she finally came her senses and abandoned him for greener pastures. It was only a matter of time before the little ball of sunshine realised he was but a scorched, barren wasteland of a human who had very little to offer her - how incredibly disheartening. The thought brought a lump to his once dubious throat; Little Squid was the only spot of colour that had graced his existence for years. What if her affection for him withered before it even had time to bloom?

The last thing Gun wanted was to be left alone in the dark again.

What an idiot past Han Shangyan had been; he would love nothing more than to administer a sharp slap of retribution to his arrogant face. The moron had pained Nian Nian's open heart with his brashness and his present self was now terrified of reaping what he had sown. It would be no less than he deserved but the anxiety was giving him heartburn. For the first time ever, all Gun wanted was to make his feelings public so everyone in the world knew Tong Nian was his and his alone.