Chapter 7: Noobs, Nerds, and First Date Jitters

07

Even after officially dating Ben White, I still couldn’t believe it.

“Do you know how to play games?”

Today he wore a gray tracksuit, skillfully booting up the computer.

“No...” I admitted honestly. He didn’t mind. “It’s okay, I’ll teach you. Turn it on first.”

My first time in a gaming café, the machines looked different from home. I looked around and saw everyone pressing a silver button to turn theirs on.

I searched for a while, found a similar button on my right, and pressed it, but the screen stayed black. I tried a few more times, still nothing. I was about to ask Ben White for help when I saw him looking at me, head tilted, smiling.

“What’s wrong?”

“Sam, that’s my power button.”

No wonder his screen was black.

“Sit down.” I was about to get up, but he put his hand on my shoulder, pressing me into the seat, half leaning over me, reaching to find my silver power button.

With one press, my screen lit up.

I held my breath. His necklace dangled in front of me, his Adam’s apple moving as he swallowed. I gulped.

“Got it?” He was still so close. I slid my chair back, blushing, nodding. He paused, smiled, and pulled me back, making me sit close to him.

“You can’t learn from that far away~”

After that, Ben White patiently taught me a game called League of Legends. My character was a red-haired girl with a bear. I nodded, half-understanding, and clicked a shiny button.

“Huh? Did you just queue for a match in the café?”

I froze, thinking I’d made a huge mistake. “What does that mean—did I die?”

Ben White laughed. “The game hasn’t started, relax, sis. It just finds opponents in the café. With me here, you won’t die.”

Even though it was just a game, somehow, when Ben White said that, I felt a sweet rush in my heart. No wonder the girls in my class are crazy about him.

“What are you thinking? Go mid lane.”

His words snapped me back. I bought the prettiest blue crystal in the shop and sent my bear out to die.

In less than ten minutes, I spent most of the time waiting to respawn. I could only watch Ben White’s screen. I had to admit, he was really good. I’d died five times, but he hadn’t died once.

“Hm? What’s wrong?”

“Ah? Nothing, I... I died.”

Ben White looked at my screen. “It’s okay, dying five times in your first game is good.”

I checked my teammates’ stats. “Really...?”

“No, you’re pretty bad.” He coughed. I glared at him. This kid couldn’t lie to save his life.

Just as I was about to send my bear out again, the enemy sent a mocking message in the chat.

Even though I was bad, it stung a bit. I was about to tell Ben White I didn’t want to play anymore, when his message popped up in the chat.

“Try touching her again.”

Honestly, at my age, I should be immune to lines like that, but coming from such a handsome guy, I couldn’t help but feel giddy.

It’s all about the face.

For the next half hour, whether I wandered into bushes or accidentally ran under the enemy tower, Ben White was always by my side. I didn’t know how good he really was, but for the first time, I felt real security in a game.

I couldn’t help but smile, sneaking glances at Ben White.

He looked so good focused on gaming, long lashes, a bit lazy, not yelling like the others, just calm and composed. His fingers were long and fair, the keyboard clicks gentle.

Watching him, I got so absorbed I didn’t even notice when we won.

“Next time you play support, just follow me.”

I nodded eagerly, about to say something when I heard familiar voices from a few computers over.

“Man, I totally stomped that Annie, but EZ kept jumping out!”

“Yeah, that Annie was awful! What’s her name, SammiFairy? Haha, those skills, so bad!”

I looked at my ID and realized these two were the ones who just destroyed me in-game.

Ben White seemed annoyed, about to stand up for me, but I calmly pulled him down, signaling him to sit.

“Let me handle this.” I gave him a gentle look. In his shocked eyes, I stood up, flipped my hair, and walked over.