Lin Ling looked at Lian and said, "By the way, tonight we're planning to go watch a movie. Nox wanted me to tell you. He's already out buying the tickets right now."
Lian raised an eyebrow. "Oh, nice. What movie are we watching?"
Lin Ling shrugged. "Nox said it's a surprise, but he guaranteed we'd love it."
Lian nodded. "Sure. Let's ask Sunny too."
Lin Ling scratched his head awkwardly. "Well… Sunny said he has something important to do, so he can't come."
Lian looked disappointed. "Did you at least ask him what could possibly be more important than watching a movie with us?"
Lin Ling let out a small cough. "He said it was something personal, so I didn't push any further."
Lian sighed.
"I doubt it. If it were Nox instead of you, he probably would've dragged Sunny there by force."
Lin Ling shrugged.
"Whatever. Just meet me after class ends. We'll head there together."
By evening, around sunset, the two of them arrived near the theater. Nox was already waiting outside.
The moment he spotted them, he looked around.
"Where's Sunny?"
"Apparently he had something important to do," Lin Ling answered.
Nox let out a tired sigh. "That simp is probably out simping somewhere right now."
Lian chuckled. "Yeah, honestly, I agree."
Lin Ling then looked at Nox suspiciously. "By the way… what movie are we even watching?"
Nox suddenly spread his arms dramatically.
"Behold!" he declared. "The greatest movie of the year! The absolute peak of cinema!"
He pointed proudly toward the giant poster behind him.
"The Dinosaur King: Part 1."
Lin Ling stared at him in disbelief.
"Dude… are you fucking kidding me?"
Nox looked confused. "Wait, what's wrong with it? It's literally the greatest movie of the year."
Lin Ling stared at him. "Greatest my ass. I've never even heard of it. And did you even look at the poster?"
"Looks fine to me," Nox replied confidently.
Lin Ling replied "It's not even CGI. It's literally just some dude wearing a dinosaur costume. You seriously spent seven hundred clads just to watch some grown men cosplay as dinosaurs?"
Nox crossed his arms defensively.
"Okay, but the story is actually good. It's about a scientist who creates a dinosaur in his lab, but then the evil government finds out about it, kidnaps him, and tries to build a dinosaur army for the military."
He kept going without stopping.
"But the scientist is actually a good guy, so he fights back and tries to free the dinosaurs. I mean, that's all they showed in the trailer, but the premise sounds pretty interesting."
Lian nodded thoughtfully.
"Honestly, I'm with him on this one."
Lin Ling looked betrayed.
Lian continued,
"The other movies airing right now are some boring romance film and another one that's basically government propaganda about some old war veteran. I mean, who even gives a fuck about that old guy? Compared to those, this sounds way better."
Nox nodded immediately. "Exactly. I'm not paying money just to watch some old geezer on a screen for three hours and listen to his lame backstory."
Lin Ling let out a long sigh before finally giving up.
"I guess Lian has a point…"
Lian looked at the time and said, "The movie starts in an hour. Let's go eat something first."
The other two agreed immediately.
They headed to a nearby café, and Lian started browsing through the menu.
Nox leaned over and said, "I'm getting ice cream."
"Same," Lian replied.
Lin Ling looked at the menu for a minute and replied. "I'd rather have coffee."
Lian nodded. "Alright, I'll order."
After placing the order at the counter, he walked back toward the table. But halfway there, his eyes suddenly narrowed.
At the other end of the café, Sunny was sitting with a girl.
Lian slowly walked back to the others and pointed toward the other end of the café.
"Hey guys, look over there. Let's go say hello."
A dangerous grin spread across Lians face.
Nox immediately understood and started grinning too.
"Yeah… let's go say hello."
Lin Ling looked at the two of them and sighed internally.
Poor Sunny. His luck really is terrible today.
Nox suddenly waved from across the café and shouted loudly, "Sunny!"
Sunny's face instantly stiffened.
Damn it. They're going to ruin everything.
The girl sitting across from him smiled softly. "Oh? Looks like those are your friends. Aren't you going to say hi to them?"
Sunny immediately replied, "Don't look over there. Let's just pretend we don't know them."
Unfortunately for him, it was already too late.
Lian and Nox casually walked over and sat down at the table right next to theirs, with Lin Ling awkwardly following behind them.
Lian looked at Sunny with a faint smile. "So this is where you were. I almost thought you were heading to a hospital or something when you said you had something urgent and personal."
Sunny forced out an awkward smile. "H-hey guys. Didn't know you were coming to the same theater too."
The girl looked at them curiously. "So, are you guys Sunny's friends?"
Nox smiled brightly. "Yeah, we are. Didn't he tell you about us yet? The four of us are basically best friends."
Sunny immediately leaned toward them and whispered through clenched teeth, "Guys, don't say anything weird. Either stay completely quiet or say something good about me for once."
The girl let out a small laugh before introducing herself.
"I'm actually your junior from the medical department. I got lost when I first came here, and he helped show me around both the academy and the city."
She glanced at Sunny and smiled warmly. "He's a really nice person. We became friends not long after that."
Lian nodded seriously. "Yeah, he's a really great friend. A few years ago, he carried me out of a burning building. I'm still grateful for that."
Nox immediately joined in. "Same here. He once saved my life by donating ten liters of blood. I'll never forget that day."
Sunny nearly choked from embarrassment and quickly tried to change the subject.
Unfortunately, the others had no intention of stopping.
Lian continued with a straight face, "He also arranged twenty-six kidneys for my entire class once."
Nox nodded solemnly.
"And whenever someone's going through a hard time, he generously gives them little bags of white powder for free. That's why everyone loves him."
Lian added, "He once saved me from a mosquito too."
Lin Ling adjusted his glasses. "He donates money to homeless people all the time as well."
Sunny looked like he wanted to disappear on the spot.
The girl blinked a few times before awkwardly asking, "So… where were you guys planning to go?"
"The Dinosaur King," Lian replied proudly.
She stared at them for a second before speaking carefully. "I honestly didn't think anyone was actually going to watch that movie."
Nox frowned immediately. "Hey, don't call it weird. It's Sunny's favorite movie."
Sunny nearly slammed the table. "Dude, when did I ever say that?"
Nox looked at him confidently. "You don't have to say it. We're your friends, so we already know the kind of stuff you like."
She glanced toward the theater outside. "The line for its tickets was basically empty when we were buying ours."
Then she added, "The romance movie line was packed, but most people were there for the old veteran memorial film. He's a really respected hero, after all."
Their order arrived, and the girl stood up slightly. "Wait a second, I'll go wash my hands and be back in a minute."
As soon as she left, Sunny turned toward them angrily.
"Didn't I tell you guys not to say anything weird?"
The three of them immediately burst out laughing.
Nox put on an innocent expression. "What do you mean weird? I was this close to telling her you breastfed me once while i was dying from thirst in a desert, but I decided that might sound too dramatic."
That only made the laughter even louder.
Sunny slumped back into his chair with a defeated expression.
"I knew everything was ruined the moment I saw your faces."
The girl returned a minute later, and surprisingly, the conversation became normal after that.
Sunny properly introduced everyone this time and even brought up how the four of them had scored a perfect 100 together in the battle royale. He also made sure to say a lot of good things about them, desperately trying to convince her that his friends weren't complete weirdos… just so she wouldn't think he is also a weirdo for hanging out with them every single day.
Lian told her about his older brother, who had graduated from the medical department a few years ago.
Meanwhile, Lin Ling told them about how much Class A sucked.
Later, Lian, Nox, and Lin Ling went to watch The Dinosaur King, and honestly, it wasn't as bad as they expected. The editing was simple—they basically filmed a guy in a dinosaur costume in front of a green screen, then scaled him up and layered it to make him look huge.
But when it came to the story, even Lian had to admit to himself it was kind of a hidden gem.
He raised his hands and said, "Absolute cinema."