Future Love Contract (GL) - Chapter 10

“How do we get to Base One?” Zhao Xinyun asked.

Gresya pointed to the north. “There are several dedicated conveyor lines between the two bases. But most of them are for transporting supplies. There’s only one for passengers, since neither base has any special attractions—so there’s not much tourism. As for company meetings, those are all held remotely. So there’s very little passenger demand; it’s mostly just used when friends want to visit each other.”

She put down her fork. “Speaking of which, how about we go watch the sunrise sometime?”

“Huh? Sure,” Zhao Xinyun agreed without thinking much about it.

Unlike on Earth, where you can see a sunrise every day, sunrises on Venus are incredibly rare—only visible once every hundred-something days. Aside from waiting inside the base, theoretically, there’s one other way to see it: “chasing the sun” by traveling to wherever the sunrise can be seen. But given Venus’s current conditions, no one’s ever actually tried it. The few vehicles capable of operating outside the base are strictly for scientific missions—not something you could casually use to impress someone.

Of course, for the residents of the base, it was technically possible to see two sunrises in a row—watch one at Base One, then rush to Base Two in time to catch another.

“But seriously, who would be that bored…” Zhao Xinyun muttered to Gresya.

Venus’s sunrises also had one major difference compared to Earth and Mars: Venus rotates in the opposite direction, so the sun rises in the west and sets in the east.

Guess you can’t say ‘unless the sun rises in the west’ around here, Zhao Xinyun thought to herself.

“So… you’ve been to Base One before?”

“I went once last year, just out of curiosity. It’s bigger than this place, but that’s about it. If we keep building here, this base will probably surpass it soon enough,” Gresya replied.

That night, the lights in Gresya’s room were already off. Zhao Xinyun was fast asleep.

In her dream, a faceless man appeared. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t see his face clearly—but a deep, instinctive fear gripped her. She turned and ran, while the man gave chase. She rounded a corner and hid in a building, but he didn’t give up. She ran until she was nearly exhausted, and just as he was about to catch her, she slipped into a crowd and jumped onto a bus. The man lost sight of her and stopped chasing.

She didn’t know where the bus was going, and panic began to set in—until a gentle, familiar female face appeared before her.

The dream ended abruptly.

Zhao Xinyun woke with a jolt, sitting upright and gasping for breath. She clutched her chest—her heart was pounding, as if she really had just finished a long, desperate sprint.

What was that dream about? She closed her eyes, trying to recall. Who was that man? Her instincts told her he was connected to the memories she’d lost. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t remember his face or figure. Why was he chasing me? What am I forgetting?

And that woman at the end…

She thought hard about the last scene of her dream, then suddenly covered her mouth in shock—she’d nearly screamed out loud.

“Gresya!”

Why had she seen Gresya’s face at the end of that dream? What could it mean? Was it a sign that Gresya would help her in the future?

Zhao Xinyun couldn’t fall asleep again. She lay in bed, replaying the dream in her mind over and over. But each time, she failed to recall anything new.

She barely slept that night. When she finally dragged herself out of bed, she had heavy bags under her eyes. Fortunately, it was still a rest day—no work. Still, when Gresya came in to wake her, she pleaded, “My head’s killing me this morning. I don’t feel like going out. I’m sorry I can’t fulfill my ‘girlfriend duties’ today, but please have mercy on me. If you want to go out and have fun, go ahead—just don’t worry about me.”

Seeing how pale and tired she looked, Gresya was surprised. “Oh no, what happened? Should I take you to a doctor? You should drink more water and get some rest.”

Zhao Xinyun waved her off. “Don’t fuss over it. I just didn’t sleep well. Let me nap a bit longer.” She thought back to the time-travel novels that were popular right before she crossed over—those heroines never had these kinds of problems. At most, they struggled with culture shock. Why am I the only one dealing with weird post-crossing side effects? Maybe the original owner of this body had unresolved issues, and she’d just been unlucky enough to land in it.

Still, she kept her composure. It’s not like I crossed into someone being hunted by the mafia. A bit of memory loss isn’t so bad.

Seeing her insist, Gresya nodded and left the room to prepare breakfast. Before closing the door, she reminded her gently to take care and call her if she needed anything.

Actually, part of the reason Zhao Xinyun didn’t want to see her was because she had just seen that same face in her dream. Although in the dream it had brought her comfort, now in reality it stirred up memories of that faceless man and the fear he brought.

She closed her eyes. I need to figure this out. What was the connection between the dream and her lost memories? I have to remember.

But after trying everything she could and still coming up blank, she gave up. Well, if I dreamed about it once, maybe I’ll dream about it again. Maybe after a few more dreams, she’d be able to piece it together.

She stopped dwelling on it and instead focused on calming herself, pushing aside the dream’s emotional aftermath. After sleeping for another half-hour, she woke to find a small screen at her bedside lighting up. Gresya’s face appeared on the display—and this time, she didn’t feel fear. In fact, she could even half-jokingly whisper to herself:

Gresya and I are just friends. Just friends. No feelings beyond friendship and gratitude allowed.

“I’m so sorry for keeping you waiting… I’ll be right there,” she said, pressing the answer button.

Soon enough, Zhao Xinyun was back to her usual energetic self, chatting with Gresya while eating breakfast. What surprised her was that Gresya hadn’t eaten yet either—she’d waited for her.

“Well, even if we’re not really a couple,” Gresya said, “I still think responsibilities like this should go both ways.”

“So this is what you meant by ‘fake relationship turning real’…” Zhao Xinyun sighed. She was starting to think that maybe Gresya really was developing real feelings. But if that were the case, why not just pursue her directly from the start? Why use such awkward, roundabout methods?

Then again, maybe it was because Gresya didn’t have any dating experience. And being a girl herself, she probably never had much reason—or opportunity—to learn how to flirt with another woman. Is that why she’s so clumsy about this? And why am I even defending her like this?

She glanced at Gresya again. Was it just her imagination, or did she look a little off? She had a slight frown, like she was caught between happiness and guilt.

“Anyway,” Gresya quickly changed the subject, “I heard the higher-ups are planning to convert all the roads in Base Two into conveyor belts. What a ridiculous waste of resources.”

Seeing her change the topic—and with that odd expression—Zhao Xinyun let it go. “What? All the roads? You’re kidding, right? It’s not like we’re connecting bases here. How much efficiency would that even add? Like you said, it’s a complete waste of money and materials.”

Their conversation gradually shifted to movies, Mars, and Earth’s culture. Meanwhile, a background process in Zhao Xinyun’s brain was still quietly analyzing the earlier topic—but it couldn’t make much progress. Her mental energy was mostly tied up with the active task of “recounting silly Earth stories.”

Eventually, she just shut down the background process. She knew it was pointless—unless Gresya came clean or she directly confronted her. And neither of those seemed likely for now.

—

And so, their cohabiting life continued, day after uneventful day. Peaceful. Boring. Apart from the occasional playful bickering, nothing major happened. Zhao Xinyun still occasionally wondered about Gresya’s true intentions, and kept reminding herself that they were just friends. Two or three weeks passed like that.

But of course, as a heroine in a time-travel novel, she couldn’t expect such uneventful days to last forever.

Before long, a series of events—awkward, exciting, even terrifying—would come crashing into her life.

The first one, though it was the smallest of them all—

She lost her first kiss.