Who’s the Dog Now? novel Chapter 213

It wasn't that Naomi was deliberately ignoring her family's messages.

She'd anticipated they would keep trying to contact her, so she'd silenced her phone.

Then she truly got lost in her work and forgot to turn the sound back on.

It wasn't until she got back to her dorm that she saw the flood of messages from her parents.

After a moment's hesitation, Naomi replied to her mother: [I'm staying at the dorm for a while. I'll come home if anything comes up. Don't worry about me. You and Dad take care of yourselves too.]

After sending the message, Naomi went to wash up. When she returned, she saw that her mother had already sent several replies.

She skimmed them. They were mostly explanations, ending with worries about her being on her own and urging her to come home.

Naomi declined, insisting she could take care of herself.

Sensing her daughter's coldness, Mrs. Gonzalez didn't push any further.

She sent one last message: [Naomi, sooner or later, you'll understand the sacrifices parents make.]

Naomi stared at the words for a long time.

Yes, she would know sooner or later. But right now, she didn't want to.

Because she was the one being sacrificed.

Parents could never truly empathize with their children, but in that moment, Naomi felt a deep sense of empathy for Lennon.

She found his chat window and, after some hesitation, typed out the question that had been on her mind: [Why did you design an easter egg like that in the game?]

She didn't expect a reply and felt a bit weird for asking, so she retracted the message. Just as she was about to type something casual, a reply from Lennon popped up.

[Because we all need a place no one else can find.]

[A place where we can just be ourselves.]

Naomi stared at the two sentences, lost in thought for a long time.

Finally, a soft smile touched her lips.

"I was just messing with you. Everyone at the studio gets a beta account."

Though the words were simple, Naomi listened to them over and over.

She replayed the phrase "just messing with you," and a smile unconsciously spread across her face.

[I know, but I still want a special serial number. Can you pull some strings for me?]

After sending it, she worried she was being too direct and followed up with a sticker of a cute, pleading bear.

She figured that would make it clear she was just joking back.

"Sure."

Lennon replied with another voice message.

The sound, filtered through her phone, was like the enchanting song of a siren. Naomi, mesmerized, listened to it several times before she couldn't help but let out a soft laugh.