Desk-mate, Do You Like Me? - Chapter 65

Chapter 65

Xu Qing pulled open the door and met Yang Di’s eyes, which were filled with “curiosity.” The heat on his face hadn’t completely subsided, so he forced his expression to be taut, using his usual coolness to mask the inner turmoil.

“Let’s go,” Xu Qing said concisely, sidestepping past Yang Di, creating a slight breeze.

Yang Di quickly followed, leaning in to scrutinize him, his tone exaggerated: “Whoa, Brother Xu, why is your face so red? Is it hot in the room? But it’s already autumn…” He sniffed, as if discovering a new continent. “Huh? I smell… salt-baked chicken and milk?”

Xu Qing’s steps faltered, and the temperature in his earlobes, which had just cooled down, threatened to rise again. He stared straight ahead and quickened his pace: “Shut up. If you talk nonsense again, you’ll have to copy my physics notes yourself.”

Yang Di immediately made a zipping motion over his mouth, but his constantly darting eyes betrayed his fiercely burning gossip soul. He looked back at the closed door of dorm 318, his inner self already dancing wildly: Something’s happening! Definitely something’s happening! Brother Mo is awesome!

The two walked into the teaching building, one after the other. The echo of the evening self-study bell had long faded, and the corridor was so quiet they could hear their own heartbeats.

Xu Qing tried his best to look normal, but the lingering sensation on his lips and the force that still seemed to surround his waist constantly reminded him of how real and… heart-stopping everything that just happened was.

He pushed open the back door of the classroom and walked to his seat as discreetly as possible. Teacher Qi, the class teacher, was indeed already standing at the podium. Seeing them enter, she slightly frowned but didn’t say anything, merely gesturing with her eyes for them to sit down quickly.

As soon Qing sat down, the girl in the front row turned her head and whispered: “Xu Qing, Teacher Qi just asked where you and Yang Di went.”

Xu Qing’s heart tightened, but he remained calm: “Discussing a problem in the dorm, forgot the time.”

The girl nodded and turned back around.

Xu Qing took out his books, attempting to focus on his studies, but the familiar formulas and diagrams on the opened physics workbook seemed to lose their meaning. The only thing looping in his mind was Li Mo’s astonishingly bright eyes, his low, hoarse “Wait for me,” and that incredibly fervent kiss with the taste of milk.

He unconsciously touched his lips with his fingertip, where it still felt slightly numb.

“Idiot…” He cursed again in his heart, but this time with an unspeakable sweetness.

On the other side, Li Mo, who successfully climbed out of the school’s back wall, didn’t head home immediately.

His hands were in his pockets, and he aimlessly strolled along the sidewalk outside the school perimeter. The smile on his face hadn’t faded, and he occasionally couldn’t resist hopping a couple of times, drawing glances from passersby.

He felt light, as if he were walking on clouds, full of inexhaustible energy. His mind was filled with Xu Qing—his flushed cheeks and ear tips when he was shy, his eyes that were trying to maintain calm yet shimmering with moisture, his slightly trembling eyelashes, his soft, sweet lips, and his final words, a playful “retaliation,” “better think about yourself, Brother Mo.”

“Hehe…” Li Mo couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Xu Qing kissed him!

Xu Qing really kissed him!

It wasn’t a dream!

A massive sense of joy and contentment exploded in his chest like fireworks, dazzling and magnificent. He wished he could rush back to the dorm right now, tightly hug that person again, and confirm it a thousand, ten thousand times.

But reason held him back.

Besides, Xu Qing’s last sentence was also like a timely bucket of cold water, slightly cooling down his heated brain.

Yes, he wouldn’t turn eighteen until next month, and Xu Qing had to wait until March next year. These few months… he really had to be “well-behaved,” didn’t he? Li Mo scratched his head, a little troubled, but this little trouble was quickly washed away by the immense happiness.

Behave, then. The person was his anyway; he wouldn’t run away!

He pulled out his phone, opened the chat interface with Xu Qing, and quickly typed:

【I’m home! (Running puppy.jpg)】

Sent.

He waited for a moment, but there was no reply. He must be in self-study, with his phone muted.

Li Mo didn’t mind. He scrolled up the chat history, looking at the previous mundane, even slightly bickering conversations, feeling like everything was coated in honey. He carefully pressed the screen against his chest, like a child guarding a huge treasure.

The night wind blew, cool and refreshing, rustling the hair on his forehead. Li Mo inhaled the crisp air and looked up at the night sky. He couldn’t see many stars in the city sky, but he felt the moonlight tonight was exceptionally gentle.

Will a new life be good?

He recalled his previous uncertain answer, but now he held an unshakeable belief.

Yes.

Definitely.

Because Xu Qing was there.

Because they were by each other’s side.

He put away his phone, put his hands behind his head, and whistled, walking briskly toward home. His silhouette was stretched long by the streetlights, filled with a unique teenage vigor that seemed to illuminate the entire night.

…

Xu Qing struggled through the mountains of books and problems for two hours but felt little progress. His pen scratched on the scratch paper for a long time, but the answers he came up with made no sense. He irritably put down his pen and rubbed his temples.

Tang Dawei secretly passed a note from behind. It had a cheeky smiley face drawn on it, with the words: 【Brother Xu, did Brother Mo steal your soul?】

Their relationship was no secret in Dorm 315 anymore. Moreover, the four big men’s acceptance was surprisingly quick; they had fully digested the information within minutes.

Xu Qing expressionlessly crumpled the note and accurately tossed it into Tang Dawei’s half-open pencil case.

Tang Dawei: “…” Sigh, he was just being cranky out of embarrassment.

The end-of-class bell finally rang, like an amnesty. Xu Qing almost instantly started packing his things, moving much faster than usual.

“Brother Xu, wait for me!” Tang Dawei hastily shoved his books into his backpack, catching up with Shen Shuyi, hooking his arm around Xu Qing’s shoulder, and whispering, “Come on, confess honestly, how far have you and Brother Mo gone? You seem totally out of it!”

Xu Qing shrugged off his arm, his tone even: “Get lost. Don’t make me use force.”

Tang Dawei immediately zipped his mouth shut but the curiosity in his eyes was almost overflowing.

Shen Shuyi sighed: “Men in the honeymoon phase are scary…”

Lin Yi and Yang Di followed behind. Lin Yi whispered: “Speaking of which, do we need to figure out who’s the top and who’s the bottom? Who’s the one and who’s the zero for them?”

Yang Di shrugged: “I’m guessing Xu Qing. Also, I firmly do not support short tops.”

Lin Yi: “…”

The group walked toward the dormitories with the flow of people. The autumn night was already chilly. The wind on his face slightly dispelled some of the restlessness in Xu Qing’s heart. He subconsciously touched his phone in his pocket, resisting the urge to take it out immediately.

He parted ways with Yang Di and the others at the dormitory entrance. Xu Qing climbed the stairs, his pace involuntarily quickening. Pushing open the door of Dorm 318, the familiar scent of their shared space—his and Li Mo’s—wafted out. He could still faintly catch the residual scent of salt-baked chicken and Li Mo’s characteristic sunny vitality.

The dorm was empty. Li Mo’s bed was made… relatively neatly. The physics competition workbook was still open on the desk, precisely on the page he had taught Li Mo earlier that night.

Xu Qing’s heart inexplicably skipped a beat.

He closed the door, leaned against it, and then took out his phone. The screen lit up, showing one unread message from the pinned contact—【Li Mo (Idiot)】.

Seeing the nickname he had secretly set, Xu Qing’s ears felt warm again. He tapped to open the chat.

【I’m home! (Running puppy.jpg)】

The sent time was shortly after evening self-study had started. A few more messages followed:

【Qingqing, what are you doing? Do you miss me? (Winking cat.jpg)】

【These test papers assigned today are ridiculously hard! Absolutely inhumane! But I’ll push through so I can go to the same university as you!】

【(Image: A half-finished math test paper)】

【Are you done with self-study? Send me a message when you get to the dorm.】

The string of messages, carrying Li Mo’s unique, undisguised enthusiasm and clinginess, made it easy to imagine his excited expression when he sent them.

Xu Qing paused at the message “Do you miss me?” The heat that had just faded from his face threatened to return. He pursed his lips and typed a reply:

【I’m back.】

Almost the very second the message was successfully sent, the phone vibrated. Li Mo was calling a video call directly.

Xu Qing’s hand trembled, and he almost dropped the phone.

He took a deep breath, walked to his desk and sat down, adjusted his expression, and then answered the call.

The screen lit up, and Li Mo’s handsome, smiling face filled the entire frame. The background was his familiar bedroom.

“Qingqing~” Li Mo’s voice was joyful, his eyes sparkling like they were filled with crushed stars. “You finally got back to me. I’m so bored alone at home. I’ve been staring at my phone waiting for your message.”

Looking at his undisguised excitement, the awkwardness and forced composure in Xu Qing’s heart slowly melted away. He “Mhm’d,” his tone unconsciously softening: “Just got back.”

“I know, I know,” Li Mo leaned closer to the screen, as if studying him. “Is your face still red?”

Xu Qing: “…Get lost.”

Li Mo laughed on the other side of the screen, his teeth showing, smugly: “Hehe, not getting lost. Xu Qingqing, you look really good when you’re shy. Much cuter than when you have a poker face.”

Xu Qing couldn’t be bothered with his nonsense and changed the topic: “Finished your test paper?”

“Not yet…” Li Mo deflated slightly but quickly perked up again. “But don’t worry! I’ll definitely finish it! I have to finish it for you!”

Xu Qing felt a mix of speechlessness and amusement at his grand proclamation, which was akin to “risking everything for love.” He lowered his eyes, looking at Li Mo’s slightly flushed cheeks on the screen due to excitement, and said softly: “Mhm, study hard.”

Three simple words, but they gave Li Mo immense encouragement. His whole demeanor brightened.

“Mission accomplished, guaranteed!” He straightened his back, then leaned back onto the desk, resting his chin on his arm, looking at Xu Qing with eager eyes. “Qingqing, talk to me some more. Hearing your voice gives me motivation to study.”

Xu Qing looked at him, resembling a large dog begging for pets, and his heart softened like water. He picked up an English vocabulary book next to him and said faintly: “Then you study, and I’ll memorize vocabulary.”

“Okay!” Li Mo happily agreed, actually propping up his phone on the side and burying his head in the math test paper struggle, occasionally looking up at Xu Qing on the screen, letting out a silly laugh, and then continuing to write furiously.

The video call was not disconnected.

One was in the dorm, the other in his bedroom at home. Separated by the screen, they were doing their own things. They weren’t talking, but they could hear each other’s subtle sounds—the scratching of Li Mo’s pen on paper, the occasional rustle of Xu Qing turning a page, and their light breaths.

A quiet and warm atmosphere flowed in silence, transcending the physical distance, tightly connecting the two hearts that had just confirmed their feelings for each other.

Xu Qing memorized a few words, but his gaze kept drifting unconsciously toward the focused profile on the screen.

Watching Li Mo sometimes frown in thought, sometimes suddenly understand and do calculations on the scratch paper, Xu Qing’s heart felt full. An unprecedented sense of peace and a faint anticipation for the future quietly sprouted.

Maybe… that idiot Li Mo was right.

A new life really will be good.

He slightly curved the corners of his mouth, lowered his head, and continued reading the vocabulary book. This time, he was finally able to concentrate.

The moonlight outside the window gently poured in, enveloping the boy’s clear profile, and also shone through the phone screen onto the other boy’s silly but incredibly serious face.

The night was still long.