His Naughty Lessons
Chapter 132: Happy Roasted Beans

Chapter 132: Happy Roasted Beans

** Harper **

"I’m honestly a bit surprised that you are finally bringing it up," Harper said. "It’s been a while since you found out about the side gig I’m doing, right?"

Wallace had the sense to wince. "I ... Right. But believe it or not, it wasn’t until today that I realized I might have ... handled it a little wrong." He tousled his hair seemingly nervously. "In my defense, it’s not like it happens every day that I get to see my favorite author turning out to be someone I know in real life! I never had any prior experience dealing with situations like this."

Harper’s steps slowed. "What do you mean?" she asked in puzzlement. "Since when am I your favorite author?"

"... Since the beginning?" Wallace stared back at her, apparently with equal puzzlement. "Oh wait, you don’t know that part yet. I haven’t told you — I’m HappyRoastedBeans. Does the name ring a bell? I’ve been following your book since the very first Chapter!"

Harper blinked at his fast sputtering of nonsense. Then, all too slowly, the brain circuit between two completely isolated parts of her thought process finally connected. "HappyRoastedBeans is you?!" she gasped in disbelief.

Of course she recognized the name. She had few readers in the early days of her web novel adventure, and HappyRoastedBeans was one of the first who continuously showered her with gifts and praises. But her top fan during literally the first day of her story ... was Wallace?!

"Yeah, that’s me! I’ll show you if you don’t believe it." Wallace fished out his phone from his pocket, bringing up the web novel app and scrolling quickly to his profile. "Secret Crush really is my favorite book! I started reading it months ago, even before your sudden change in style, and I liked it already back then. I know you mentioned in your author notes that a lot of readers left midway because of ... ah, the disappointment in certain scenes ... but I’ve always believed in the book’s potential despite that. It’s such a sweet and relatable story, and the dating scenes always make me smile."

Harper had stopped walking by then, her jaw lost on the floor. It was ridiculous, almost comical, to try to connect a fictional reader to someone standing in front of her in real life. But even without Wallace showing her his profile and activity history, she knew he wasn’t making it up. Who else except this coffee addict would name themselves HappyRoastedBeans anyway?

"How is this even possible?" she muttered. How could the world be so unbelievably small?

"See, that’s exactly how I felt!" Wallace exclaimed. "When I saw the notifications on your phone the other day, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I almost ran out of the conference room immediately to — I don’t know, give you a bear hug or something and tell you how much I love your story."

Uh, well thank goodness he hadn’t.

"But then I thought I might scare you if I did that," Wallace continued, "and I wasn’t sure if it’d be weird to bring up the book at work ... so I started getting you coffee and grabbing lunch with you instead. Which, I swear, was just my first thought to show how much I appreciate your existence! It wasn’t until Naomi made that comment earlier today that I realized ... Well, maybe I went a little overboard being a hotheaded fanboy and have caused some misunderstandings."

Harper was speechless at this point. When she promised Eli that she’d have a conversation with Wallace, the result she had been expecting wasn’t even remotely close to what was going on right now. "Geez, this is ... unthinkable for real life." She shook her dazed head and, belatedly, remembered to resume their walk to the dining hall. "Well, I suppose ... First, thank you? I really appreciate all my readers, especially those who stayed with me when the book was going through its most difficult time. I’m glad that I get to say thanks to one of my oldest fans in person."

Wallace grinned at that. And if Harper wasn’t mistaken — wow, he seemed to have blushed a little?

"But," she continued, "you should probably be a little more thoughtful in the future about ..." — did he say being a hotheaded fanboy? Harper didn’t dare repeat the same phrase — "about showing your enthusiasm. It’s very easy for anyone who doesn’t know the true reason to misinterpret your intentions."

Now the grin on Wallace’s face turned into a grimace. "I know, I’m so sorry about that. But please believe me, I truly wasn’t thinking in that direction at all! I wouldn’t want to come off as some kind of creep that approached you just because ... because of the kind of book you wrote. And honestly, I wouldn’t even dare anyway. Judging from your latest Chapters, you seem ... too kinky for my tolerance."

"..."

Yeah, this guy really had no idea how to talk to a female coworker within appropriate boundaries.

The idea of reporting him to HR was still tempting, especially after that last remark. But Harper was a softhearted girl, and considering HappyRoastedBeans was truly one of her longest-time readers, she didn’t want to make life hard for him. So she rubbed her temple and said in reconciliation, "I’d appreciate it if you can save that type of comment for the web novel app in the future ... instead of the office."

"Oh. Yes. Right. Sorry. Absolutely." Wallace grimaced again. "Makes perfect sense, especially considering what Naomi said. I don’t want to cause any trouble to whoever it is that’s actually interested in getting you coffee and drinks for ... um, the right reasons." He added a slightly awkward smile. "Will we find out who that is, by the way? Naomi seemed rather secretive about it."

Harper was debating between a laugh and a glare when, with the growing rustle of footsteps and idle chatters, she realized that they had just arrived at the dining hall. She looked up and scanned the room. From a table across from the foyer, Eli spotted her and waved, beckoning her to join him for the lunch she promised.

Then his face darkened visibly when he saw Wallace trailing in her wake.