The Number One Star in the Interstellar Era

Chapter 824: OFFICIAL

WULFRIC looked down at the tent forming under his pajama pants and cursed under his breath again. Shit. Was he always going to get kicked out of VirtualNet every time he and Aster kissed? No, that was not right. They had been doing more than just kissing. His heart had been pounding so fast that the system flagged it as a health risk and threw him out. Again.

He took a deep breath and tried his best to calm down. He could not log back in until his heart rate went back to normal. Fuck. Maybe he should have the VirtualNet safety system overhauled. Why was he getting kicked out just because he was too turned on? The system should be able to tell the difference between a real medical emergency and a guy who just had a hard-on.

Now he wondered what would happen if he and Aster did this in real life. He would probably get a nosebleed. But that would still be better than VirtualNet. He was sure of that. Not only would there be no system to cock block him, he would also be able to feel Aster’s real warmth.

Closing his eyes, he let his thoughts drift to Aster. He imagined pinning him to a real bed, slowly undressing him, and pressing kisses onto every inch of newly exposed skin. He longed to feel Aster’s pulse beneath his lips, to hear the sexy sounds he would make. He wanted to hold him so close they were inseparable, to kiss him senseless and then kiss him again. The images in his head felt so real he could almost reach out and touch them. It was maddening not being able to have the real thing right now.

Wulfric shook his head. He would never calm down if he kept imagining Aster with no clothes on. So he took a deep breath and let it out. He did that a few more times until the tent in his pants finally went away and the pounding in his chest returned to normal.

After what felt like forever, he could finally log back into VirtualNet.

When he opened his eyes again, he was back inside the atrium. The first thing he saw was Aster lounging on the sofa bed, casually eating a slice of cake.

”Hey, welcome back,” he said.

Wulfric grinned back and quickly dropped onto the sofa beside him. He wanted to pull Aster into his arms and kiss him until neither of them could think straight. But he knew he should not, or the stupid system would kick him out again. So in the end, he just wrapped an arm around Aster’s shoulders and held him close.

Astrid set the plate of cake down on the snack table and leaned into Wulfric’s shoulder. ”So... are you going to tell me why you got logged out again? That’s what happened, right?”

He looked up and saw the awkward look on Wulfric’s face. Wulfric scratched his cheek and avoided his eyes.

”Just... some issue with the system.”

Astrid narrowed his eyes at him. It was clear Wulfric was not being honest. ”If you don’t give me the real answer, I’m logging out.”

Wulfric stared at the ceiling for a moment, then let out a heavy sigh. He was clearly embarrassed about what he was about to admit.

”It is... the VirtualNet system flagged my... excitement as a health risk. So it forcefully logged me out.”

Astrid blinked, not sure if he had heard correctly. But one look at Wulfric’s face told him that he had. So the reason Wulfric got kicked out was because he was too excited and the system thought he was having a medical emergency? He let that sink in for a few seconds. Then the laughter came bursting out of him, and he could not stop it.

”That—” he sputtered between laughs. ”That is so adorable.”

Wulfric buried his face in the crook of Astrid’s neck and let out a low groan. ”This is embarrassing. What’s so adorable about it?”

”It’s adorable because it means you’re crazy about me,” Astrid said once he finally stopped laughing.

”Damn right I’m crazy about you,” Wulfric said, his voice rough against Astrid’s skin as he pressed a kiss to the side of his neck.

Astrid chuckled as he felt Wulfric’s lips move from the crook of his neck down to his shoulder. ”Hey, don’t start that again. We don’t want you getting kicked out for the second time tonight.”

Wulfric pressed his nose against the back of Astrid’s ear and nuzzled. ”I can’t help it.”

A helpless smile crossed Astrid’s lips. ”What would you do if we did this in real life? Would you get too excited before we could even do anything?”

He felt Wulfric’s body go still, so he glanced back. Wulfric was staring at him, a hesitant look in his golden eyes. ”You... you’d let me do this with you in real life?”

Astrid found the question amusing. ”Yeah, I mean, there’s really no difference between doing this here or in real life. Aside from the physical reactions we would actually feel, of course.”

Wulfric stared at him, his golden eyes searching Astrid’s face. He opened his mouth, then closed it again. A moment passed before he finally spoke. ”What are we exactly, Aster?”

The question caught Astrid off guard. He had not expected Wulfric to ask that, at least not right now. But he also understood why he would. He looked at Wulfric’s expression, confused and uncertain, and felt a pang of guilt. They had been doing all of this with no real label. Wulfric had been open about his feelings from the start, while Astrid had not given him a straightforward answer. The more he thought about it, the more he realized it was not just close to stringing him along. It was exactly what he had been doing, even if he had not meant to.

Maybe it was time to give him an answer. No, not maybe. It was definitely time.

He reached up and placed his hand on Wulfric’s cheek. ”Should we make this official?”