Chapter 9 – Interactions
Translator: Xena
Editor: Vinny
Proofreader: Wint8
Confession?
Chen Xiangsui carefully rethought what he had just said. It did sound like that, and it was understandable that Cheng Yinian would misunderstand, but in fact, he was just expressing his own thoughts. He and Cheng Yinian had been roommates for over a year. They see each other every day and recently, they’ve been going to class together every day. How could these so-called normal friends on the internet compare to his sworn brother? Not even Age could compare.
But if he had to choose, Chen Xiangsui felt that Cheng Yinian should be closer to Age, at least that way, he could get to know Nian Gao better.
Chen Xiangsui: [What if I say yes?]
Cheng Yinian: [Gege, do you want to date me?]
Chen Xiangsui stared at the word “date” for a moment. He and Cheng Yinian were sworn brothers after all, so it was obviously unlikely that they could have a real relationship. But if such a relationship was limited to the internet, where two people just play games together and send gifts and photos, Chen Xiangsui was quite happy with that.
I probably didn’t come across as a female fan online, Chen Xiangsui thought. Cheng Yinian probably just cared about him so much because he felt they could get along well, just like how he treated Cheng Yinian in real life. Two grown men couldn’t talk about love.
Chen Xiangsui: [If you don’t mind, then yes.]
Cheng Yinian: [! Q///Q]
[From now on, we’re a couple]
Chen Xiangsui: [Hmm, okay.]
Despicable, frivolous man. Cheng Yinian looked at the chat window, and this sentence popped into his mind. He touched his cheek and realized it was burning hot, like it had been in a pot. In a way, he was now dating Chen Xiangsui.
At first, he just wanted to chat with Chen Xiangsui online, but before he knew it, things had developed to this point. It was his own fault for not being able to say no to Chen Xiangsui.
Chen Xiangsui was still as taciturn as ever online. Even though he had a new girlfriend, he didn’t seem to have much reaction during conversations.
Cheng Yinian: [So Gege, this means you’re my boyfriend now? QWQ]
Chen Xiangsui: [Hmm.]
[And you’re my girlfriend.]
Cheng Yinian: [QAQ… I’m so embarrassed]
[Hey boyfriend, wanna play with me this weekend ya~ I just bought a new game and I’ll give Gege a copy too O3O]
Chen Xiangsui: [Hmm, thank you.]
[Remember to come save me this time. I really need you. Have you made plans with anyone else besides me?]
Cheng Yinian: [QAQ No ya, I only have Gege this weekend~]
[Gege, are you upset that I didn’t tell you about playing with Little White Duck last time? T^T]
Chen Xiangsui: [A bit. But it’s okay, it’s in the past. Please remember to inform me next time.]
[Are you close with Little White Duck?]
Cheng Yinian: [ OVO Just ordinary friends. [Image]]
[Now you believe me, right~]
Chen Xiangsui enlarged the picture and realized that the photo Cheng Yinian sent to Little White Duck yesterday was just a game accessory, and the design was indeed very cute.
Chen Xiangsui: [Hmm. I believe you.]
[Is this all you’re sending me?]
As soon as he sent this message, the department head announced in the group chat that everyone should go to the activity room immediately. Chen Xiangsui hurriedly climbed down the bed ladder with the message “I’d like to meet your other friends” left unsent.
The gathering didn’t take much time. Chen Xiangsui signed the attendance and quickly returned to the dormitory. When he reached the door, he realized that he hadn’t closed it properly and left a gap. Before he could reach out to open the door fully, he noticed Cheng Yinian taking a light pink skirt out of the closet next to the table. He then began to take off his jacket and eventually unbutton his shirt to reveal a large expanse of thin, fair skin on his back. The shape of his shoulder blades was faintly visible. The groove of his spine extended to his lower back which was so slender it seemed as if it could be easily grasped with one hand.
Chen Xiangsui didn’t know where to look for a moment. Embarrassment instantly filled his chest and he forced himself to turn his head away.
“What’s wrong, Xiangsui? You’re here, but you’re not coming in?”
As soon as he looked up, Chen Xiangsui saw Lu Yan and Xu Zitang walking toward him in the distance. Lu Yan couldn’t stand seeing Xu Zitang spend all day in the library study room, so he dragged him out to go shopping. Earlier, they were the only two people in the dormitory.
Cheng Xiangsui immediately slammed the dormitory door shut, which produced a loud bang. “Nothing, I was just replying to a message. It was a bit urgent.”
“It’s so cold outside, let’s go back inside.” After saying that, he reached for his keys to open the door.
Chen Xiangsui stopped the other person’s action. “Wait. I just got a new set of keys and I want to try them out.”
“Why did you suddenly get a key made? Did you lose your key?” Lu Yan asked.
“Hmm.” Chen Xiangsui started pretending to search his pocket. “I borrowed Yinian’s key to get a copy made.” After saying this, he slowed down and opened the door.
After entering the dormitory, Chen Xiangsui’s gaze immediately fell on Cheng Yinian’s previous spot, but he was no longer there. He looked up but couldn’t see him on his bed, so he turned and walked to the balcony. Sure enough, there was a cubicle with its door locked.1Usual Chinese dorms have four upper deck beds with desks underneath and 2 cubicle bathrooms, one for the shower and one for the bathroom. My editor was confused why the bathroom was on the balcony, so here’s a dorm room tour. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we2FtkkKq6s
He silently returned to Cheng Yinian’s seat, picked up a black plastic bag, put in Cheng Yinian’s clothes that he had changed out of, and returned to the bathroom to knock on the door. “Yinian, are you changing clothes?”
“Ah… mmm.” Cheng Yinian’s tone sounded somewhat panicked.
“You forgot your clothes. I’ll pass them to you from the next cubicle.”
“……Okay.” Soon, Cheng Yinian saw Chen Xiangsui handing over a black plastic bag from above the partition. Although the partition between the two compartments was quite high, Cheng Yinian, who was 1.78 meters tall, was still able to reach it. “Got it, thank you.”
……
Cheng Yinian let out a heavy sigh of relief. When he heard the noise at the door just now, he was so flustered that he ran into the bathroom without even taking his clothes with him. If Chen Xiangsui hadn’t noticed his predicament, he wouldn’t know how long he would’ve remained stuck in the restroom.
His ears turned red for no apparent reason. He quickly changed into his clothes, stuffed the skirt neatly into the black plastic bag, and made sure nothing was visible before leaving the bathroom.
“Yinian, you’re here.” Lu Yan turned his head and saw Cheng Yinian. “Have you finished the PPT for the group assignment?”
“Not yet, I’ll do it now.” Having said that, Cheng Yinian sat down at his desk and turned on his laptop. He accidentally glanced at the time in the lower right corner and realized that it was almost time for dinner. Before he could react, Chen Xiangsui spoke up from the side, “What do you wanna eat? I’ll go buy it for you.”
“……Same as yours.” He didn’t expect Chen Xiangsui to go buy dinner so soon. Cheng Yinian hadn’t decided what to have for dinner, so he just copied Chen Xiangsui’s response from last time.
Lu Yan: “I want roast goose with rice.”
Xu Zitang: “I’ll have pickled fish soup noodles. Thanks in advance if that’s okay…”
“Hmm, okay.” Although he was forced to take on two extra orders, Chen Xiangsui didn’t complain. He just changed his shoes and left the dormitory. Soon after, he came back from outside with four plastic bags containing disposable lunch boxes.
“The smell is killing me.” Lu Yan couldn’t wait to rush over to Chen Xiangsui and say, “Thanks for the meal and for your hospitality, oh great one. I shall repay you next time.”
Xu Zitang also took his share, and finally, Chen Xiangsui personally delivered the meal to Cheng Yinian’s table. Cheng Yinian stopped what he was doing and opened it, discovering that it was steak with rice, and it looked like extra meat was added on purpose.
“It’s my treat,” Chen Xiangsui smiled as he said. He considered himself Cheng Yinian’s boyfriend online, so he should be nice to him in real life too.
Therefore, when Chen Xiangsui saw Cheng Yinian still busy controlling the keyboard and mouse to do the group assignment, he opened the lunch box lid, scooped a mouthful, and held it to Cheng Yinian’s mouth. “Here.”
“I can do it myself.” Cheng Yinian paused for a moment.
Chen Xiangsui moved the spoon closer to Cheng Yinian’s mouth. “But you’re busy, and it’ll get cold.”
“Then I’ll eat first.” Cheng Yinian was about to take the spoon, but his hand trembled slightly. Chen Xiangsui steadied it for him, but the plastic spoon remained on his hand. “Try this first.”
Cheng Yinian didn’t have the heart to refuse, so he opened his mouth and received the spoonful of rice into his mouth. Chen Xiangsui’s lips curled up and he handed the spoon to the other person. “Hold it tight.”
After saying that, Chen Xiangsui returned to his seat. After Cheng Yinian finished the PPT, he practiced the new game he had bought on his desk. He planned to take the game with him over the weekend to play it with Chen Xiangsui. When he shut down his laptop, his other roommates were already asleep.
Cheng Yinian crawled back to his own bed and waited a while before sending a message to Chen Xiangsui using his original account: [Did you see anything when you came back this afternoon?]
Chen Xiangsui: [What are you referring to?]
Cheng Yinian: [Ah, if there’s nothing then that’s good. It’s a bit personal, don’t worry about it.]
[Thank you for this afternoon.]
Chen Xiangsui: [It’s okay, you’ve already thanked me. But why aren’t you asleep yet?]
Cheng Yinian: [I can’t sleep very well.]
Cheng Yinian always had trouble falling asleep, tossing and turning in bed for quite some time every night. On top of that, the matter of confirming his relationship with Age was stirring up his emotions, making it particularly difficult for him to fall asleep tonight.
Chen Xiangsui: [Would you like to try some sleep music?]
[I’m at your place.]
Cheng Yinian pulled back the bed curtain, turned on the table lamp, and found Chen Xiangsui standing there as expected. Seeing that he didn’t resist, he climbed up the bed ladder and silently placed a Walkman in Cheng Yinian’s hand, then put the earphones on for him.
Chen Xiangsui picked up his phone and sent a message: [I listened to it to fall asleep the day before my college entrance exam, and it worked very well.]
[I hope it helps you too. Goodnight.]
Finally, Chen Xiangsui casually brushed away a tiny speck of dust from Cheng Yinian’s eyelashes with his fingertips and then stepped back from the bed.
Cheng Yinian felt that he would have an even harder time falling asleep tonight. He picked up his phone and replied to Chen Xiangsui: [Goodnight. Thanks for the Walkman.]
He lay flat on the bed, pressed play, and the soothing instrumental music flowed into his ears like an endless river under the night sky.
Maybe I’ll have a good dream tonight, he thought.
imo, the bathroom and sink being outside on the balcony makes sense for proper ventilation. Although it’ll be cold going there most of the time, you won’t hear your roommate taking the call of mother nature or when they’re showering. I’m surprised this is mostly popular only in China. How’s school dorms in your country?
