By the time they walked back to the dorm, the sweat in their palms had yet to dry. They had been holding hands the whole way, and it was hard to tell whose sweat it was. Yan Linjian pulled out a tissue and wiped his own palm, then stuffed the tissue into Qi Jingzhi’s hand.
They didn’t talk much along the way, but Yan Linjian could feel the other’s strong pulse against his palm, connected straight to the heart, their heartbeats gradually falling into the same rhythm.
Qi Jingzhi was nervous. So was he.
Yan Linjian’s feelings for Qi Jingzhi were like his wildly pounding heart, out of control. Even though it felt embarrassing, the fact that “his college roommate was his first love” didn’t seem that hard to accept after all.
Only Shen Yang was in the dorm. Seeing the two of them come back together, Shen Yang let out a “yo” and asked with a face full of curiosity, “Weren’t you going for the meetup? You’re back already?”
“Yeah.”
Yan Linjian let go of Qi Jingzhi’s hand. The two of them returned to their desks separately, both looking unnatural.
Shen Yang’s gaze went back and forth between them. “Why did you come back together?”
He thought to himself, could Qi Jingzhi really have interrupted the meetup?
Qi Jingzhi had gone out not long after Yan Linjian did. He and Miao Xin had even guessed whether Qi Jingzhi had gone out to drown his sorrows in alcohol or to steal the bride[mfn]Literally means to steal the bride away. In this context, it’s to interrupt their meetup by taking Yan Linjian away.[/mfn]. Judging by the situation now, had he actually succeeded in stealing the bride?
“We ran into each other, so we came back together.”
Yan Linjian’s answer was vague. Shen Yang shrugged and didn’t ask any further.
An odd silence settled over the dorm. The only sound was Shen Yang’s keyboard clicking away. On Yan Linjian’s desk, the cactus he’d snatched from Qi Jingzhi still sat right in the center of his view, its green spines tipped with white, bristling and showing off.
Yan Linjian stuck leftover foam board from unboxing packages onto the cactus’s spines and typed a message to Qi Jingzhi with his left hand:
【So are you still going to use your alt to text me?】
Qi Jingzhi: 【If you want, I can.】
【speechless.jpg】
【To be honest, chatting with God Yuè is way more relaxing than chatting with you.】
Yan Linjian sent the messages in a huff, then tossed his phone aside and continued putting a protective cover onto the cactus.
The sound of a chair scraping against the floor rang out. Not long after, a shadow fell to Yan Linjian’s left, followed by Qi Jingzhi’s slightly aggrieved voice. “Did I do something wrong?”
Yan Linjian jolted, and turned back nervously to glance at Shen Yang then whispered to Qi Jingzhi, “Are you crazy?”
Qi Jingzhi lowered his eyes, his expression growing increasingly desolate: “You said you didn’t mind other people knowing.”
“I don’t mind…”
Yan Linjian crushed the foam ball in his hand and irritably stuck it onto the back of Qi Jingzhi’s hand.
He didn’t mind other people knowing, but he did mind Shen Yang being the first to know. After being roommates for over a year, he knew very well that Shen Yang wasn’t someone he could truly be close to. Shen Yang also harbored a vague hostility toward both him and Qi Jingzhi. Normally, their playful bickering was fine, but when it came to something like this, he secretly didn’t want Shen Yang to be first to find out.
Qi Jingzhi didn’t understand him at all.
Points deducted!
Qi Jingzhi watched him in silence, letting Yan Linjian pluck the foam pieces off the cactus and stick them all onto the back of his hand. After sticking a few on, Yan Linjian suddenly peeled them all off and started sticking them on again.
His brows were tightly knit as he arranged the foam into a heart on the back of Qi Jingzhi’s hand.
Qi Jingzhi couldn’t help laughing. The sound drew Shen Yang’s attention, and Yan Linjian suddenly realized what he was doing. “No, I didn’t mean anything else!”
Qi Jingzhi quickly grabbed the hand that was about to destroy it and snapped a photo with his phone: “This is a gift from you. I have to treasure it properly.”
Maybe he should just not wash his hand at all and wrap it in cling wrap instead.
“What’s there to treasure? You’re way too easy to satisfy.”
“I can’t help it. I’ve always been easy to satisfy.”
Even a single glance or a faint smile from Yan Linjian was more than enough.
Qi Jingzhi didn’t say anything, but Yan Linjian still read the unspoken meaning in his silence. Thinking back on the way he usually interacted with Qi Jingzhi, he realized that when he hadn’t understood Qi Jingzhi’s feelings, those seemingly ordinary moments had been turbulent waves for Qi Jingzhi.
Yan Linjian had never experienced what it was like to have a crush in secret. When his friends found someone they liked, he would always urge them to confess. In his opinion, secret crushes were something dramatic and self-sacrificing that ended up only moving oneself. If the other person didn’t like you, then your feelings meant nothing to them at all.
Now that he was on the receiving end, he began to feel sorry for Qi Jingzhi. If he had realized it a little earlier, he could have responded sooner and spared Qi Jingzhi all that pointless waiting.
“You can be a little greedier,” Yan Linjian said.
Qi Jingzhi’s gaze flickered, and he asked, “What do you mean?”
“Don’t you understand? You blockhead.”
Yan Linjian shook his head, turned around holding the cactus, and continued dressing its spikes in “clothes” using the foam board.
Qi Jingzhi smiled and shifted a little closer to him. From behind, it almost looked like he was resting his head on Yan Linjian’s shoulder.
When Miao Xin walked in and saw the scene, he almost shouted, “Hey— Linjian, didn’t you go to meet your online friend?”
“I’m back.”
“Oh, okay.” Miao Xin circled the two of them once, a sly grin on his face. “You two came back together?”
So Qi Jingzhi really succeeded in stealing the bride?
Yan Linjian: “Yeah. We came back together.”
He turned his face to the side, looking as if he had something hard to say. In contrast, Qi Jingzhi beside him had a silly grin on his face. Miao Xin put two and two together: These two have something going on!
Miao Xin asked: “So how did things go with that online friend of yours?”
“We broke it off,” Yan Linjian said, shooting Qi Jingzhi a glare.
Broke it off? That’s good.
No wonder Qi Jingzhi was smiling so happily.
Miao Xin was genuinely happy for Qi Jingzhi, but he didn’t dare show it in front of Yan Linjian. He wiggled his brows and tried to comfort him: “There are plenty of fish in the sea. If this one didn’t work out, you can always find another.”
Qi Jingzhi met his eyes and smiled even wider.
“You’ve got a point.” Yan Linjian put the cactus back onto the desk, slung an arm over Qi Jingzhi’s shoulder, and said expressionlessly, “So I’ve decided to date Qi Jingzhi.”
“Holy shit?”
“Holy shit???”
Miao Xin had been joking around just now, but now both he and Shen Yang were stunned. Their mouths hanging open wide enough to fit two goose eggs.
Miao Xin: “You’re not joking, are you?”
Yan Linjian: “Nope. If you don’t believe me, ask him.”
Qi Jingzhi smiled and nodded: “We’re dating.”
“Then… congratulations?” Miao Xin was completely baffled now, feeling confused, annoyed, and happy all at once.
He was confused about why Yan Linjian would start dating Qi Jingzhi right after breaking things off with his online friend.
He was annoyed that Qi Jingzhi, that spineless idiot, was actually willing to go along with it just like that.
And he was happy that Qi Jingzhi had finally gotten what he wanted.
“Thank you, thank you.” The smile on Qi Jingzhi’s face never faded, making Miao Xin want to smack him a few times.
Bro, don’t be so whipped.
Everyone had their own thoughts. They chatted chaotically for a while before Yan Linjian checked the time and said: “We’re going to get dinner now. Let’s chat again when we get back tonight.”
Miao Xin was still in a daze and waved them off: “Go on.”
As soon as the two of them stepped out of the dorm building, Qi Jingzhi pulled Yan Linjian toward a quiet path behind the building, where hardly anyone passed by. He frowned and asked: “Why did you say it like that?”
“Then how else was I supposed to say it? That you’re actually Yuè-shen and that you pretended and lied to me for two whole months?”
“…”
Qi Jingzhi grabbed Yan Linjian’s wrist and asked with his eyes lowered: “Is it me or Yuè-shen that you like?”
Yo yo yo, so this day finally came for you.
Yan Linjian was laughing like crazy inside but said impatiently: “Aren’t they the same person?”
“…”
“Let go. We’re going to eat.”
Qi Jingzhi didn’t say anything but didn’t let go either. He stared at the ground, looking as if his tears might fall at any moment. He knew he was Moon God, but hearing Yan Linjian say that just now made him suddenly realize that maybe, in Yan Linjian’s heart, he and Moon God were two different people.
What Yan Linjian liked was the gentle and powerful Moon God in the game, not Qi Jingzhi the little liar in real life.
This wasn’t the first time Qi Jingzhi had been jealous of himself. After a moment of silence, he adjusted his mood and let go of Yan Linjian: “Let’s go eat.”
Yan Linjian froze: “You’re just letting it go?”
“Yeah. You said it yourself, they’re both me.” Qi Jingzhi curved his lips slightly, trying to make his smile look natural.
“You…”
Yan Linjian felt like he’d punched cotton. He knew fully well this was just Qi Jingzhi putting on a front and that he actually cared a lot.
Qi Jingzhi: “Let’s go.”
“Do you really not mind?”
“I don’t mind. Anyway, the one with you right now is m—”
Before Qi Jingzhi could finish speaking, Yan Linjian suddenly covered his mouth: “Qi Jingzhi, we’re dating. I already said you can be a little greedier in the future. I’m kind of dense. You can’t expect me to always notice your feelings, so if you’re unhappy about something, you have to tell me.”
