How I Accidentally Bent My Best Friend - Chapter 4

Chen Yushu didn’t have much to bring, so the two of them quickly finished packing. She wanted to help Lu Wei, but Lu Wei refused, suggesting she spend more time getting to know her roommates instead.

Before long, the other roommate returned. Just as Ye Chiwan had said, Xia Ke was shy and reserved, hardly initiating any conversation.

For a while, the dorm was filled only with the sound of Ye Chiwan and Jiang Yuran chatting.

As the sky darkened, Ye Chiwan suggested they all go out for dinner together. Being a local, she knew plenty of affordable and tasty restaurants. After confirming everyone’s preferences, they quickly settled on one.

Chen Yushu rarely attended such gatherings alone she usually went with Lu Wei. The moment the suggestion was made, she began thinking of ways to decline.

However, turning people down wasn’t exactly her forte. Left with no choice, she reached out to Lu Wei for help.

Lu Wei: [What’s the big deal? Just go eat with them.]

Not getting the response she wanted, Chen Yushu pouted slightly. [But I barely know them.]

Lu Wei sent a laughing-crying emoji. [That’s exactly why you should take this chance to get to know them better. Making more friends is never a bad thing, especially when they’re your roommates.]

Reading Lu Wei’s messages, Chen Yushu suddenly felt a pang of irritation. Just then, Ye Chiwan called out that it was time to leave.

She turned off her phone and reluctantly followed.

The temperature dropped at night, and the cool breeze made the walk rather pleasant.

Despite their differing personalities, the meal went surprisingly smoothly, far less awkward than Chen Yushu had feared. She let out a quiet sigh of relief.

After a long day, everyone returned to the dorm, either lying in bed or lounging in chairs, scrolling through their phones and occasionally sharing the latest campus gossip.

The moment Chen Yushu climbed into bed, her mother called.

Before she could even say hello, her ears were assaulted by her mother’s voice.

“I’ve called you several times, why did you only answer now? What were you doing?”

“Is Lu Wei with you? Why aren’t you saying anything?”

Chen Yushu put on her headphones and sighed silently, answering her mother’s questions truthfully.

“Hmm, your roommates seem alright. Listen, Yushu, the most important thing in college is still your studies. Don’t go mixing with the wrong crowd. Your older sister already gives me enough headaches don’t you start.”

Chen Yushu turned down the volume and stared blankly ahead. At one point, she frowned, opening her mouth to argue, but after a moment’s hesitation, she swallowed her words.

Once her mother had said her piece, her tone softened. “How’s the campus? Have you eaten? Is the dorm okay?”

Chen Yushu answered with the usual “It’s fine” and “Not bad.”

Her mother sighed. “How could it compare to the other two schools? Your grades were always good, why did you have to slip up at the crucial moment? Your second aunt’s daughter, the one in your year, got into Tsinghua, and her scores weren’t even that high. If it weren’t for Well, never mind. What’s done is done. Yun University is decent too. When it comes to finding a job…”

From the moment her college entrance exam results came out, Chen Yushu had heard this speech over a hundred times. Her mother always said “never mind,” yet the same lecture repeated every time. By now, Chen Yushu was used to it.

Chen Yushu pulled out one earbud and switched her phone screen to the WeChat chat interface. Just then, Chen Sinan sent her a message asking how her first day at school felt.

Chen Sinan was her full-blooded older sister, originally named Chen Sinan, the meaning of which was self-evident. Chen Sinan’s personality was the polar opposite of hers bold, rebellious, and unrestrained.

So, on the day she came of age, she took her household registration booklet and changed her name. When their mother found out, she made quite a scene. In the end, both sides compromised, and only one character was altered.

While listening to their mother’s words, Chen Yushu typed a reply: [A little unaccustomed.]

Chen Sinan replied instantly, [Figured as much. You’ll get used to it in a couple of days. Make more friends and whatever you do, don’t listen to Madam Chen’s nonsense about burying yourself in books. And don’t cling to Lu Wei all the time either. She has her own circle and can’t always be looking out for you.]

[She’s literally telling me all this right now.]

Chen Sinan: [Doraemon facepalming.jpg]

Chen Sinan: [Just let it go in one ear and out the other. Don’t take it to heart. Play when you want, date when you want. Otherwise, mark my words, the second you graduate, she’ll toss you straight into the dating market.]

Chen Yushu couldn’t help but laugh. That was undeniably true.

But dating?

She fell into thought. Before this, it wasn’t as if she’d never imagined what kind of person she’d like or end up with. No matter what, those daydreams had always carried a hint of sweet anticipation.

Yet now, the mere thought of it made a bitter taste rise in the back of her throat.

Still, compared to worrying about what would happen between her and Lu Wei, what was even harder to predict was how she’d react if Lu Wei started dating someone.

Just imagining it made her chest ache with jealousy and misery.

Her mother’s voice came through the phone: “Alright, study hard at school, stay safe, eat well, don’t just fool around… That’s it, I’ll hang up now.”

Chen Yushu snapped back to reality, murmured an acknowledgment, and ended the call.

Glancing at the time, she saw it was already nine o’clock. Her mother had talked for nearly an hour straight. Chen Sinan had also left by then, busy with her own matters.

With sudden silence in her ears, Chen Yushu exhaled and, as if possessed, opened her WeChat chat with Lu Wei, scrolling up from the bottom.

Even though the messages were utterly mundane, the corners of her lips curled up unconsciously as she read, able to vividly picture Lu Wei’s expression while sending them.

She knew Lu Wei far too well.

They’d met in second grade when Lu Wei transferred to her school and moved into the house across the street. Four years as desk mates, then middle school, high school, and now university together, she had no exact measure of how much time had passed, only that those countless little moments had piled up into over a decade’s worth of shared life, impossible to ignore or let go of.

In her mind, she and Lu Wei could never be separated.

Or perhaps it was more accurate to say, she didn’t want to be separated from Lu Wei.

At first, it had been the reluctance to part with a dear friend. But now, she’d grown greedy, and that only made the fear of separation even sharper.

The thought filled her chest with a suffocating restlessness. She exited the chat, then tapped back in, repeating the motion over and over.

Just then, a red notification dot appeared on the WeChat “Discover” tab. She tapped it and saw Wen Yan’s avatar next to the Moments icon.

They’d added each other during their first meeting, and ever since, Chen Yushu had been subjected to a steady stream of Wen Yan’s posts little snippets of life, often featuring Lu Wei. Sometimes one every couple of days, other times four or five in a single day.

Each one was a fresh stab to the heart.

It hurt, yet she could never resist looking.

Like now.

The first thing that caught her eye was the text above the video “After 667 days, reunited with my little wife again! [Celebrate][Celebrate][Celebrate]”

In the dimly lit video, multicolored lights flickered across the faces of the two people at the center. The shaky footage showed Wen Yan leaning against Lu Wei’s shoulder, seemingly whispering something into her ear. Lu Wei immediately pushed her away with a look of disdain, but Wen Yan leaned right back in, her face dangerously close to Lu Wei’s cheek.

Then the video abruptly ended.

A wave of familiarity washed over Chen Yushu, tightening her chest as if she were drowning in the sea. A whirlwind of complex emotions gripped her throat like an invisible hand.

It took an indeterminate amount of time for Chen Yushu to snap out of her daze. Her lips trembled uncontrollably as a sudden surge of panic welled up inside her. She bit down on the skin of her knuckles, over and over, desperately trying to suppress something.

Didn’t Lu Wei say she wasn’t going? Why didn’t she tell me?

She went back on her word!

She must’ve wanted to go all along, that’s why she was so eager for me to go out with my roommate.

Chen Yushu’s breathing grew rapid, an inexplicable sense of betrayal creeping in. Soon, her eyes grew hot and moist.

“Hey, do you want to shower? Uh, Chen Yushu?”

“Huh?” Chen Yushu snapped back to reality, realizing Jiang Yuran was calling her. “What’s up?”

Jiang Yuran, drying her hair, said, “Are you going to shower? The bathroom’s at the end of the hall. I heard the water gets cut off after 11 p.m., so if you want to go, you’d better hurry.”

“Yeah, thanks. I’ll go in a bit.”

Gradually pulling herself out of the emotional spiral, Chen Yushu calmed down a little and realized how irrational her earlier thoughts had been.

Lu Wei wasn’t hers. She had the freedom to make friends and didn’t owe Chen Yushu any explanations. What right did she have to be angry?

Where she went, who she hung out with, why should she have to report any of that to Chen Yushu?

Chen Sinan was right. Lu Wei had her own social circle. Chen Yushu couldn’t cling to her forever, getting in the way of her friendships or relationships.

Chen Yushu tilted her head back, exhaling slowly to dispel the heat in her eyes.

College really was different from before. They both needed their own lives now.

Doing her best to ignore the unease in her chest, Chen Yushu climbed down from her bed and gathered her toiletries. After a moment’s thought, she asked Jiang Yuran, who was sitting diagonally across from her, “Hey, what’s the bathroom like?”

“Oh, right you’re from the south,” Jiang Yuran immediately understood. “Don’t worry, they’re all individual stalls. And I heard we’re getting private bathrooms installed by sophomore year.”

How does she know everything? Chen Yushu thought to herself. Just like Lu Wei.

“That’s good. Thanks.”

Jiang Yuran flashed a sweet smile, her dimples deepening. “No problem!”

Chen Yushu grabbed her things and was about to leave when her phone suddenly rang. It was Lu Wei.

Her chest tightened at the sight of the name. Her finger hovered over the green answer button for a few seconds before she finally pressed it.

Instead of the expected noise, there was silence. Chen Yushu had planned to wait for Lu Wei to speak first, but when no sound came, she couldn’t help but ask, “Hello? What’s up?”

Her voice was deliberately cold.

“Mmm, Shushu… is that you, Shushu?”

Lu Wei’s voice came through the receiver, slightly hoarse and slurred.

Chen Yushu was instantly irritated and snapped, “Didn’t you call me? And now you’re asking who I am?”

There was a two-second pause on the other end before a disbelieving, aggrieved voice responded, “You’re yelling at me? I, how did I… mmm, Shushu…”

“What do you want? Spit it out. I need to go take a shower,” Chen Yushu said, her tone softening slightly but still laced with faint impatience or perhaps urgency would be more accurate.

This time, Lu Wei didn’t respond immediately. Only her shallow breaths could be heard through the phone.

Chen Yushu set down what she was holding and pressed urgently, “Lu Wei, where are you? Are you back in the dorm?”

“N-not yet, Shushu, I need Shushu to pick me up… little Shushu…”

At this, Chen Yushu’s irritation vanished entirely, replaced by concern. She moved to leave immediately, asking anxiously, “Where are you? Send me your location. I’ll be right there.”

“You’re leaving campus?” Jiang Yuran asked, noticing her hurry.

“Yeah, I need to pick someone up.”

Jiang Yuran reminded her, “Then you’d better hurry. The gates usually close at eleven, but who knows with the new student orientation these days.”

Ye Chiwan chimed in, “Don’t worry, security’s been lax these past couple of days. Go ahead.”

“Got it.” Before she even finished speaking, Chen Yushu was already pushing the door open and heading out.

By the time she found Lu Wei, half an hour had passed.

Lu Wei was sitting by the roadside, hugging a tree, with a red neon sign glowing behind her. At a glance, the scene looked like something out of another world.

Chen Yushu’s heart was in her throat, her focus entirely on Lu Wei, so she barely registered the surroundings.

Once she confirmed Lu Wei was unharmed, she walked over slowly and stood beside her, nudging her calf with her foot. “Let’s go.”

Lu Wei lifted her head sluggishly. When she recognized Chen Yushu, her previously dazed eyes brightened instantly. She wrapped her arms around Chen Yushu’s leg instead, pressing her face against it.

“Why’d you take so long?” Her raspy voice was thick with grievance, like a puppy that had been abandoned. Lu Wei lightly patted Chen Yushu’s calf, as if scolding her.