Matthew Clark asked the driver to stop at the supermarket outside the neighborhood to pick up a few things.

As soon as he stepped out of the supermarket, rain started falling overhead.

The summer downpour came on fiercely; in less than half a minute, the rain was pouring down in sheets—

Strong winds whipped the treetops, making the branches and leaves rustle loudly.

Matthew Clark glanced at the not-so-short distance and simply ran all the way back.

By the time he arrived home, dripping wet, he realized James Bennett was already back. James Bennett glanced at him, then turned and brought over a dry towel from the bathroom:

“Uncle, dry yourself off.”

The dry towel landed in his palm, and the light from the living room spilled into the entryway.

Matthew Clark had lived alone for so long that, for a moment, he felt a bit dazed.

Like a snail boy...

“Thanks.”

His neck was damp, and his thin T-shirt clung to his body. After taking the towel, he casually set the canvas bag on the table nearby.

Clang... the strawberry-patterned lunchbox slid halfway out of the bag.

Matthew Clark didn’t notice, his head lowered as he dried his hair.

Halfway through, he suddenly heard James Bennett, leaning nearby, speak slowly, “Looks like I guessed wrong—”

He looked over from under the towel: ?

James Bennett propped his arm on the edge of the table. “The other day my classmate asked if you had a girlfriend, Uncle. I said probably not.”

His gaze followed James Bennett’s to the strawberry lunchbox.

Matthew Clark thought for a moment and realized the misunderstanding.

“No, I just went to help a colleague, and brought this back as a little reward.” He said casually, “How could I have a girlfriend?”

He said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

James Bennett followed up, “Why couldn’t you?”

Matthew Clark paused, remembering his own interests.

Just imagine: if he had a girlfriend, the two of them quietly reading BL comics together at sunset, laughing with tinkling, bell-like giggles...

He shuddered at the thought: wouldn’t that just make them girlfriends...!

“What are you thinking?” James Bennett helpfully reminded him, “Your pupils just contracted.”

“………”

Matthew Clark snapped back to reality.

He wasn’t sure if it was from being caught in the rain or something else, but he was starting to feel feverish. Normally, he might have just used his most tactful phrasing and said something like “I’m just not interested.”

But now, as he wiped off the water, he turned his gaze aside and said:

“Anyway, no one would want to date me.”

Chapter 5 Fever

Matthew Clark was really not feeling well.

He thought he was flushed from the awkward “romance” topic, but it turned out he actually had a fever.

The next morning, he woke up dizzy and lightheaded.

When he checked the department group chat on his phone, Evelyn Cooper was still using some elderly meme sticker he’d found somewhere to send a morning greeting.

[Editor-in-chief]: [Get up every day! Embrace your work!]

[Editor-in-chief]: If you’re awake, type 1!

Below was a messy string of “1111…” mixed with sleepy gibberish.

Matthew Clark took his temperature and casually typed: 37.8

He had work to coordinate today, so he still had to go to the office.

As soon as he entered, he coughed twice, “Cough, cough cough…”

Evelyn Cooper looked up, “Whose attention are you trying to get?”

Editor Little William chimed in, “Must be trying to get the editor-in-chief’s attention~”

“……” Matthew Clark sat down weakly. “Does that do me any good?”

His lack of cooperation quickly drew the whole office’s attention. Emily pushed up her glasses, glanced around, and finally realized:

“Deputy editor, do you have a cold?!”

“Yeah. Yesterday I went to Little Lucy’s place to review a manuscript, got caught in the rain on the way back.” Matthew Clark said listlessly as he methodically sorted the files on his desk,

“I’m going up to the marketing department first…”

He finished gathering the files, but as he stood up, the world spun. The papers slipped from his hands and scattered all over the floor, and he grabbed the edge of the desk, letting out a muffled “thud!”

“Whoa! Deputy editor—”

“Mingzhou!”

The editors rushed over, quickly grabbing Matthew Clark before he could fall, and set him back in his chair.

Matthew Clark slumped over the desk, eyes closed, breathing out hot air.

Emily said affectionately, “A fragile deputy editor, how rare…”

Evelyn Cooper waved away the crowd of editors who were using the commotion as an excuse to slack off, picked up the scattered files, and said, “I’ll deliver these for you later.”

He frowned and scolded, “Why didn’t you say you had a fever earlier?”

Matthew Clark let out a weak breath, “I typed 37.8 in the group this morning…”

Evelyn Cooper, “………”

He pushed up his glasses, “I thought that was just someone’s sleepy gibberish.”

Matthew Clark suddenly opened his eyes:

So you do know everyone’s really tired!

That pent-up frustration in his chest was forcibly dispelled by Evelyn Cooper, and Matthew Clark felt a little better. He sat up and asked,

“How are the upcoming conventions arranged?”

Evelyn Cooper kindly wrote a note for him:

“The ACC comic convention will have our authors attending, but another publisher is in charge. The joint signing event and your favorite themed doujinshi convention are organized by us, so we’ll need to coordinate with the venue manager then.”

…What do you mean, my favorite themed doujinshi convention.

Can’t even talk about work without sneaking in a jab!