Exusiai stared at Texas for a long time, meeting her eyes.
Finally, she voiced the question she couldn't swallow anymore:
"Why?"
"Because distance is hard to control."
After saying that, Texas fell silent too—as if sorting out her instincts and feelings into something clear and explainable was genuinely difficult.
She'd always been like that: more intuition than analysis. Now that she needed to convert intuition into analysis, it was a pain.
"I don't get it, Texas."
"Let me think how to explain it. When I said 'no return,' I didn't mean you two would go separate ways. I meant it in a different sense."
"You can be friends—close friends. Even if you reveal your gender, that's fine."
"But if you want to go further… you absolutely won't be able to."
Texas delivered the conclusion without hesitation:
"Because he won't accept it."
"But why?"
"Because you didn't enter his life as a woman, Exu."
Texas sighed.
"Think about it. If you succeed—if you cure his gynophobia—then what role are you in his life?"
"Uh… best friend?"
"Close. Probably plus 'benefactor.'"
Texas lowered her eyes, tail flicking irritably.
"But that's where it ends. Those roles sit too high. You can't shake them off."
"He has a kind of deep, soul-level unease. I could tell the moment I first saw him."
"With people like that, they don't want their relationships to change. Because change means instability—something that makes them anxious."
Then Texas cut straight to the core:
"Especially a relationship where you're both his best friend and his benefactor. In his mind, that weighs too much—like the paperweight holding his whole life steady, the thing that gives him most of his sense of security."
"So tell me—if you hold those two roles, do you really think you can still become lovers?"
It was like that classic joke: once you've been handed the "friend card," the romance route is locked.
Only then did Exusiai fully understand what Texas meant.
If she wanted to become Lin Yuan's lover, she couldn't become a best friend who mattered too much.
Once the "best friend meter" crossed a certain threshold, Lin Yuan's galgame wouldn't branch into the romance route.
It would hard-swap to the friendship route—and permanently seal the romance route.
Worse—if the "best friend meter" got too high, Lin Yuan might even refuse to accept the reality that she was a woman, and trigger the "old crooked tree" route.
Which was terrifying.
"You're building friendship, not romance," Texas concluded with a sigh. "Honestly, Exu—your relationship is already on thin ice."
"Not even friends?" Exusiai asked weakly.
"Yeah." Texas nodded immediately, as if it were obvious. "He really is that awkward and troublesome."
It all came from Texas' understanding of herself.
Like she'd said: the moment they met, Texas had a gut feeling—
They were the same type.
The kind who see each other's essence too clearly, and therefore can't stand each other.
"Then there's no other way?" Exusiai refused to give up. "Do I just… quit?"
Texas frowned, then finally said softly:
"There is a way. But I told you—it's hard."
"Here's an example. Let's say your 'best-friend relationship durability' with him is 100. If you keep interacting with him through 'cross-dressing,' that number will keep rising."
"And the 'attack power' of revealing your true female identity is 150—and it doesn't rise."
"Then you must reveal you're a woman before the best-friend relationship reaches 150."
Texas' voice turned serious.
"That breaks the existing relationship structure. Even if he doesn't want to, he'll be forced to reorganize his relationships."
"And then you have a chance to claim the lover position."
"So you have to control the temperature carefully. Moderate 'cross-dressing contact' is possible… but it's like walking a tightrope."
Exusiai mulled it over and summarized:
"So during this period, I need to keep affection from going up… while making his fear of women go down?"
Texas went speechless for a moment, but still answered:
"…Sure. If that's how you want to understand it."
"Pay attention and it can barely count as a plan. Right now, there isn't a better one. If you want to use it, go ahead."
Exusiai felt the pressure slam into her all at once.
"Man, hearing it like that makes it sound terrifying… I thought I'd pulled off genius-level wisdom."
Texas gave an exasperated look.
"You could also choose an easier method."
"You can take him out more. Let him gradually be around women. Push him to interact."
"With your current favorability, that shouldn't be hard. His gynophobia should weaken a bit."
"Then you can plant a few clues in the gaps, and everything will naturally fall into place."
When she finished, Texas looked at Exusiai and asked:
"So what are you going to choose?"
…
Yeah. What was she going to choose?
After work, Exusiai stood in front of her apartment again. Looking down at the feminine outfit she was wearing, she fell silent for a moment—
Then felt a faint tightness in her chest.
It had been so long since she'd worn normal women's clothes. Now that she put them on again, it even felt unfamiliar.
Even though the pressure was enormous…
Exusiai still chose to wear women's clothes.
Mainly because she was in a hurry.
The second method—slow grinding over time—was so long and so tedious it made her despair. She felt like if she actually succeeded, the flowers would've wilted ages ago.
And of course, there was another reason she was too embarrassed to admit:
Method two required "contact with other women," and Exusiai didn't like that.
Too many variables.
Still—
Would her current outfit be… too stimulating for Lin Yuan?
Exusiai looked down at herself, uncertain.
She wasn't wearing a skirt, but beneath black short shorts, her long legs were wrapped in black pantyhose.
Up top was a slightly tight outfit, with lace trim at the cuffs—barely emphasizing her rather modest figure.
This level of exposure was pretty normal in Terra, but in Exusiai's experience, if Lin Yuan saw someone dressed like this on the street, he wouldn't even dare look.
He'd keep his head down, stare at his toes, and practically run away—
Like he was terrified something might happen.
Sometimes she really didn't know what he was afraid of. Everyone else thought it was completely normal fashion, but he'd flee on sight.
But… hopefully it wouldn't be that bad.
Exusiai took a deep breath and unlocked the door.
With a creak, it opened.
Lin Yuan happened to be right behind it. He turned back and greeted her—
"Oh, Exu, you're back…?"
Then he saw what she was wearing.
His eyes jerked away almost reflexively, and his face went pale.
Exusiai didn't even have time to step inside—
BAM!
The door slammed shut.
Exusiai—left outside—stood there completely stunned.
Exusiai: ?
Wait—what the hell just happened?!
-------
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