#xiayizhou

Like, I wouldn't be able to resist the urge to rub it in their faces (to everyone who ever felt even slightly attracted to him, or tried to hit on him without knowing he's already in a relationship with the only person he has yearned for since childhood).

..."(Also: I would do all that with the most adorably mischievous smile on my face while i looked at them BAHAHA)"...

And I don't understand either how MC manages not to mark her territory on this specimen of a man, every time she has it in front of her and is the center of all the attention. I would give in instantly knowing that I'm the only one at a disadvantage right now, since being in a casual relationship with him and having a horde of people on both sides of the gender (cause if you've read his early cards, you'll know that Caleb had both genders crazy about him in his high school and college days) lining up behind me to be next.

...

And this whole idea for this post came about because, I always think about how it drives me crazy every time I remember how irrelevant extra characters (friends, acquaintances, enemies) appear in the middle of an important scene to ruin the romantic moment between Caleb and MC.

A "romantic moment" that is so hard to come by for us Applegirlies –because it seems the developers are allergic to our protagonists' happiness– cause the scenes intended to develop their romance are so few and so short (in Caleb's route) that they are almost nonexistent (Not that I'm complaining though. I like that things are developing slowly for both main characters, so the writers don't give us their entire "romantic story" all at once and make us lose interest quickly –I prefer that the writers "marinate" it slowly–. But I also wouldn't want to wait years until they finally formalize their relationship).

...“(Usually, the stages that go through my head, before and after the publication of any of his cards, are the following: When these "moments" don't happen in current or less recent cards, I pray that by some miracle they'll publish new future Caleb's cards (solo or in multi-banner) to continue helping with the progress of his romantic relationship; and when I do get these "moments", I pray with all my might that the romantic scenes aren't interrupted or ruined by other extra characters, or by problems in the story as often happens Lol)”...

...

It is precisely this situation of "ambiguous/informal relationship" that has been most frequently happening in Caleb's recent (and older) cards, whenever the protagonists try to take the next step and clarify their relationship to the other characters.

• For example, the first "problem categorizing their relationship" situation that appeared on Caleb's route was this:

Festive Blessing: Intertwined Gold (Event Story).

And you'd think, "Okay, fine. Maybe it's just a one-time thing. It's not something that will happen a second time. It's to be expected when they've just confessed their feelings and are starting to build a relationship that isn't based on a sibling complex" but Nooo.

• It happened a second time in this next card, and I feel like the developers did it as "filler" (to fill all those unresolved gaps in their romantic story for no reason):

Chasing Summer (free 4 star Memory).

..."(After that, I simply repeated to myself that this whole "not categorizing the relationship" situation was going to become a regular thing in their dynamic for the following cards, so it would be better not to have high expectations)"... And with that mindset, I waited for their next card as if nothing had happened.

By the time another one was published much later, I was just as excited and hopeful as the first few times.

I kept thinking that this would finally be the moment when Caleb would introduce MC as his "Girlfriend" to his friends (because if one doesn't make the first move —in this case, MC, as usually happens in most of the cards where Caleb gives her the power of clarifying their relationship to others for both of them—the other has to) but Nope.

• The clever one (seeing that MC was still acting insecure and confused about their relationship) decided to play it safe and call her "My Closest Person":

Indulgent Scheme (5 star Memory-Solo Card).

I MEAN, what is that, Caleb?! How can she be your closest person?! Does that even make sense to you after all the displays and words of affection you've shared together over time?! No, it doesn't! I mean, whyyy?! Ugghhh...

Anyway. If she's your Sister, call her sister; if she's your Friend, call her friend; but if she's your GIRLFRIEND, for God's sake, call her GIRLFRIEND! I don't know why they are going around in circles with this *sigh* (What a waste of time!).

...

Luckily, there still seems to be a glimmer of hope for us Applegirlies because at the end of this scene (in the same card) we see Caleb say a few final lines where he leaves open the possibility that in the very near future (and we hope that) the LADS writers will introduce both characters as a "couple" in his route:

Indulgent Scheme (5 star Memory-Solo Card).