What If I Ended Up Marrying My Enemy? - Chapter 39

Chapter 39: Escape Room

 

In the end, Yu Wenxuan still followed along. He stood to the side while Yu Zhixue took the gun handed over by the booth owner.

 

He pulled the bolt, squinted slightly through the scope—his stance was composed and standard.

 

Yu Wenxuan didn’t even need to look at the results to know he would hit the targets.

 

Yu Zhixue bent his finger, and a balloon immediately popped with a bang.

 

The booth owner gasped, “Hey, nice aim, kid. Have you trained before?”

 

Yu Zhixue didn’t reply. He simply adjusted his aim. When he fired the first shot, he noticed the bullets veered slightly to the left.

 

What followed was a series of rapid trigger pulls, and with each shot, balloons on the wall disappeared one after another.

 

Yu Zhixue’s focused side profile looked sharp and cold. His eyes locked onto the scope, exuding a chill with every flicker. He looked calm—completely different from how he usually was around Yu Wenxuan.

 

Actually, this might be closer to how he truly was. Yu Wenxuan thought to himself.

 

In the end, the booth owner didn’t even bother counting the number of balloons hit. He simply let Yu Zhixue choose a prize.

 

After glancing around, Yu Zhixue didn’t pick the biggest plushie. Though it looked nice, it was too big to carry around.

 

He chose a medium-sized dolphin plush and then stuffed it into Yu Wenxuan’s arms.

 

Instantly, all the bystanders’ gazes turned toward Yu Wenxuan.

 

“Wanna go now?” Yu Wenxuan asked.

 

Yu Zhixue shook his head. “Is there anything you want? I’ll win one for you.”

 

After all, Yu Wenxuan had always been the one to catch plushies for him. Now it was his turn to return the favor.

 

And just earlier, while he was pulling the trigger, he overheard someone say—

 

“Is he winning that for his boyfriend?”

 

“Boyfriend” didn’t feel quite right. If anything, it should’ve been “partner.”

 

Yu Wenxuan was briefly stunned.

 

By the time he realized what Yu Zhixue meant, he was already smiling slowly, lips pressed together. He glanced toward the prize area and pointed to a fox plushie.

 

He wanted to touch Yu Zhixue’s face but, mindful of the stares around them, ended up gently smoothing down his long hair instead and whispered, “I want that one.”

 

Yu Zhixue nodded. “Okay.”

 

Two minutes later, another plushie had joined Yu Wenxuan’s collection. The two toys looked rather harmonious side-by-side.

 

Yu Zhixue was quite satisfied with his efforts. He walked ahead, steps light and cheerful, and chatted casually, “When we get back, I’m gonna arrange these with the others.”

 

Yu Wenxuan replied, “The couch might be full.”

 

Yu Zhixue paused, thinking. “Then I’ll give them their own room?”

 

“Sure,” Yu Wenxuan said gently. “I’ll help you sort it when we get back.”

 

They wandered around aimlessly, stopping here and there.

 

Yu Zhixue also bought two trinkets he liked. He kept one in his palm and slipped the other into Yu Wenxuan’s pocket—just like before.

 

Yu Wenxuan could feel his pocket getting fuller. The items that wouldn’t fit anymore, Yu Zhixue simply shoved into his hands.

 

Looking at Yu Zhixue’s swaying hair ahead of him, Yu Wenxuan let out a quiet laugh.

 

They tried a few more attractions together. Before each one, Yu Wenxuan had to hand off all their belongings to the staff for safekeeping.

 

Eventually, one kind staff member offered them a bag. Once his hands were free, the first thing Yu Wenxuan did was pull out his phone and resume taking photos:

 

The stuffed toys inside the bag, their elongated shadows in the sunlight, and the pale fingertips of Yu Zhixue twirling the charm.

 

…

 

Wandering along, the next attraction they passed was an escape room.

 

It was busy inside, mostly groups of friends. Yu Wenxuan scanned the themes—most were designed for larger groups.

 

He lifted his eyes and asked, “Any for just two people?”

 

“The haunted castle theme is our most popular,” the staff explained. “There’s a group about to go in that’s short two people. Want to join?”

 

Neither of them liked playing with strangers. Yu Zhixue didn’t enjoy it, and Yu Wenxuan definitely didn’t want anyone else coming between them.

 

Unmoved, Yu Wenxuan repeated, “Any just for two people?”

 

Seeing his insistence, the staff relented. “There’s one. It’s empty now. You can go in immediately if you’d like.”

 

Yu Wenxuan booked it on the spot. He dropped off their things at the front desk and entered the escape room with Yu Zhixue.

 

Before entering, the staff gave some basic safety instructions—no damaging props, follow the story, avoid using violence to solve puzzles, and don’t attack the NPCs, even if you get scared.

 

They signed the waiver and stepped inside.

 

The room had low lighting—not too dark. It resembled a traditional Chinese ancestral hall.

 

To avoid any accidents, they stuck together rather than splitting up. There was no time limit, and the two of them were quick anyway.

 

Yu Wenxuan crouched to open a cabinet—and a bloodied, ghoul-like face popped out with a hiss.

 

He clicked his tongue and calmly closed the cabinet door.

 

“What happened?” Yu Zhixue asked, hearing the noise.

 

“There’s an NPC in the cabinet,” Yu Wenxuan said. “Probably part of the ghost bride storyline.”

 

Yu Zhixue thoughtfully reopened the cabinet.

 

The female ghost repeated her scare routine, only to find this new guy staring at her expressionlessly.

 

The cabinet stayed open, meaning she had to keep holding the scary pose.

 

Yu Zhixue analyzed her costume and hair. “Probably a maid or something.”

 

Yu Wenxuan took another glance and nodded in agreement.

 

Yu Zhixue closed the door again and even added politely, “Sorry for the disturbance.”

 

Ghost NPC: “…”

 

After retrieving all the clues, a hidden door opened with the rumble of machinery, revealing a long passageway.

 

The two exchanged a look and stepped inside.

 

The hallway grew eerily quiet, as if something might lurch out of the darkness at any second.

 

Yu Wenxuan, uneasy, kept scanning their surroundings. His fingers gripped Yu Zhixue’s tightly.

 

Thinking he was scared, Yu Zhixue let him hold on and said softly, “It’s okay.”

 

“Mm,” Yu Wenxuan replied but didn’t explain. He held Yu Zhixue’s hand and continued forward. There was some light ahead; it looked like they were almost through.

 

But the next second, a mechanical rumble erupted—the sound was familiar.

 

—It was the sound of a trap being triggered.

 

Yu Wenxuan immediately looked over and saw a pale, unnatural hand slowly stretching out from a crack in the stone wall near Yu Zhixue.

 

A classic escape room trope: isolate a player to trigger a solo mission. The rest must solve puzzles to bring them back.

 

He hadn’t expected a two-player room to have this element.

 

The hand was about to grab Yu Zhixue’s arm when Yu Wenxuan sprang into action, pulling him aside and switching places.

 

Yu Zhixue looked back, startled.

 

The icy hand now clutched Yu Wenxuan and was pulling him inward.

 

Even in that moment, Yu Wenxuan’s first thought was relief—he had managed to switch places in time.

 

Solo paths in these games often meant tight spaces—maybe even a coffin.

 

Cold. Cramped. Dark. Too similar to a hospital.

 

He couldn’t let Yu Zhixue be dragged in.

 

The pulling wasn’t that strong—Yu Wenxuan could break free. But if he did, the mechanical arm might break completely.

 

Half his body was already inside the crack. The wall began closing with another mechanical rumble.

 

In the noise, Yu Wenxuan heard someone calling his name.

 

Another hand grabbed his arm—it was Yu Zhixue.

 

Yu Zhixue’s arm wedged into the gap in the wall. The sensor detected the obstruction and reversed the closure slightly.

 

Seizing that gap, Yu Zhixue squeezed in beside him.

 

As soon as they were both inside, the wall shut behind them—and the floor beneath them dropped.

 

The sudden weightlessness engulfed them.

 

Yu Wenxuan instinctively shielded Yu Zhixue’s head and positioned himself below.

 

It wasn’t a long fall, and they landed on a soft, padded cushion.

 

Yu Zhixue’s head was still protected in Yu Wenxuan’s arms, their bodies pressed tightly together.

 

The hatch above slammed shut with a bang. Yu Wenxuan looked around—it really was a coffin.

 

Just two players, both now sealed inside. With no one left to solve the game, the staff would probably come soon and declare them as having failed.

 

As the lid closed, Yu Zhixue braced himself on Yu Wenxuan’s shoulder and lifted slightly.

 

The space wasn’t too cramped, but a tight fit for two. Yu Zhixue ended up kneeling over Yu Wenxuan.

 

His long hair, having come undone during the chaos, now spilled around them, brushing Yu Wenxuan’s face and shoulders.

 

“Are you hurt?” Yu Wenxuan’s voice echoed softly. His tone was unexpectedly low.

 

“No,” Yu Zhixue replied—then noticed something.

 

The hand under his palm was trembling.

 

He had noticed the shaking during the fall but assumed it was from the mechanism.

 

Only now, in the silence, did he realize—Yu Wenxuan was trembling.

 

“You’re shaking,” Yu Zhixue confirmed.

 

“Yeah. I’m a little scared,” Yu Wenxuan admitted easily, though his body was far less calm than his words.

 

“I kept thinking… what if that mechanism wasn’t responsive enough and didn’t retract in time?” He gave a self-deprecating laugh. “Just the thought of it makes me shake.”

 

He reached up and gently held a lock of Yu Zhixue’s fallen hair.

 

“I know you hate being alone. I’d never leave you like that.”

 

“If I fell in alone, I would’ve immediately called to stop the game and come find you.”

 

“So…” He finally exhaled, a little calmer. “Don’t ever take a risk like that again for me. I’ll come back to you. I promise.”

 

Yu Zhixue’s hand clenched slightly on his arm, then nodded—but after a moment, he softly disagreed.

 

“It wasn’t a risk.”

 

Now it was Yu Wenxuan’s turn to freeze.

 

In that split second earlier, Yu Wenxuan had let go of his hand to switch places. When Yu Zhixue turned back, he didn’t even see clearly—he just instinctively grabbed for him.

 

He hadn’t thought at all. It wasn’t calculated—it was pure, overwhelming instinct.

 

“I just didn’t want to let go of your hand,” Yu Zhixue said.

 

That’s all.