My Brother's Arranged Marriage Partner Is My Boyfriend - Chapter 53

“I say, if you miss him, why not just go to the dorms and see him? It’s only a few dozen meters away. No one would dare point fingers at you anyway; at most, they’d gossip behind his back about how he seduced you. Your personal reputation wouldn’t be affected at all,” Zhou Lin said while playing a game.

Seeing that Mo Leyang remained unresponsive while staring at his phone, Zhou Lin put his phone down and poked his head out from his bunk. “What are you doing? You look like a resentful husband from a wealthy family. He didn’t run off with someone else, so is the long face really necessary?”

Mo Leyang ignored him. His gaze remained fixed on the chat history from several days ago. He had sent Bai Nanxing several WeChat messages, but none of them even showed “Read.” They looked exactly as they had days ago.

This meant Bai Nanxing hadn’t looked at his messages at all.

It was intentional.

This made Mo Leyang feel inexplicably frustrated. Lately, the “little thing” was becoming increasingly bold in giving him the cold shoulder. If this continued, it might not be long before—just as Zhou Lin said—he actually ran off with some other wild man.

The person he set his sights on could only be his. He belonged to him alone! Anyone who dared to snatch him away was an enemy!

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Zhou Lin clicked his tongue. “The little junior is the one ignoring you, so go throw your temper at him! Is it reasonable to take it out on me? Besides, just because he hasn’t replied today doesn’t mean he’s actually run off with another man.”

Mo Leyang looked up and glared at him. “Say that one more time, and I guarantee I won’t beat you to death.”

Zhou Lin instinctively shrank back. Only after realizing Mo Leyang hadn’t actually gotten up did he dare to poke his head out again. “Seriously, if you miss him, just go to the dorm and corner him. It’s not like you haven’t done that kind of thing before. But there’s one thing I’ve been wanting to ask you: In your heart, what exactly is he to you? A lover, a ‘friend with benefits,’ or… just your prey?”

Mo Leyang’s thumb stopped scrolling. His eyes cast downward.

He had never thought about this question. He simply felt instinctively that whatever he took a liking to belonged to him. As for what the relationship was called, that wasn’t important.

Seeing his pensive expression, Zhou Lin knew Mo Leyang had definitely never considered it. He decided to give him a nudge. Zhou Lin sighed and said, “During the banquet, I asked him how he viewed your relationship. Want to guess how the little junior answered?”

“What did he say?”

“He said you’re definitely just interested in the novelty. He said once you meet someone better-looking, you’ll definitely lose interest and change your mind. So, he won’t put any real heart into it either. He just views you as an object for physical release—each getting what they need, a so-called ‘friends with benefits’ relationship.”

“And?”

“And, the little junior also said that since you don’t actually like him, he won’t put all his eggs in one basket. He said he’ll occasionally show his face around your older brother’s side as a precaution for the future.”

Mo Leyang knew immediately that Zhou Lin was talking nonsense. He understood the “little thing’s” personality too well; if Bai Nanxing had something on his mind, he would only muller it over privately. He would absolutely never reveal his thoughts to anyone else.

However, even if Zhou Lin was making it up, it didn’t mean Bai Nanxing didn’t feel that way. Otherwise, his attitude wouldn’t be so cold.

Could it be that the little thing actually did care about their relationship?

But if he cared, why hadn’t he replied to a single message in six or seven days?

So, he really didn’t care after all.

The deeper Mo Leyang thought, the darker his expression became. Resentment almost radiated from his eyes.

Thinking Mo Leyang was truly angry, Zhou Lin quickly changed the subject. “Actually, don’t overthink it. I believe in the little junior’s character. He definitely wouldn’t just run off with some wild man! Even if he did, it would be the fault of those wild men, certainly not his!”

Mo Leyang’s face turned even darker. He stood up, walked to the bottom of Zhou Lin’s bunk, and without a word, yanked Zhou Lin’s quilt off. He didn’t just pull it off; he dragged it off the bed and tossed it onto a nearby chair. Then, he sat down below, waiting. As long as Zhou Lin dared to step off that bed, he could forget about returning to it peacefully.

Winter was approaching, and the nighttime temperature was freezing. The dorms usually had the heating on full blast at night, so Zhou Lin wouldn’t freeze even without a blanket.

But Mo Leyang was in a foul mood today.

The little thing not replying to his messages was enough to make him angry; being mocked by a “dog” like Zhou Lin was just adding fuel to the fire.

Mo Leyang stood up to find the remote control.

Sitting on his bed and watching Mo Leyang busy himself below, Zhou Lin suddenly had a bad premonition. He asked, “What are you looking for?”

Mo Leyang raised the remote he had just found and stood there squinting with a smirk.

Seeing this, Zhou Lin knew he was finished. He scrambled to the edge of the bed to beg for mercy: “Yang-ge, I was wrong! Really, Yang-ge, I know I messed up! I’ll never run my mouth again! You and the little junior are the best match—you’re a match made in heaven, no one is more suitable than you two!”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, yes, yes! I’ll testify to it! Other than my handsome, suave, and dashing Yang-ge, absolutely no one is worthy of the little junior!”

Mo Leyang acted as if he hadn’t heard a word and pressed the button on the air conditioner.

Moments later, icy air began whistling in through every crack in the door.

Without thick clothes or a blanket, Zhou Lin began to shiver violently. Finally unable to take it, he scrambled down from the bed and grabbed Mo Leyang’s arm. “Yang-ge, I have elderly parents and young… well, I’m young! I still have so much life left to squander! I can’t die like this, I’m not reconciled!”

Mo Leyang pushed him away in disgust. Finding him too noisy, he grabbed a piece of bread from the table and stuffed it directly into Zhou Lin’s mouth. “I’ll give you one last chance. Do something for me. If you do it well, I’ll turn the heat back on when you return.”

Zhou Lin hugged himself pitifully and nodded immediately. “Yang-ge, just say the word! Your little brother will go through fire and water!”

Mo Leyang said, “Message him. Ask him where he is.”

Zhou Lin thought to himself, Are you serious? You need my help for something like this?

“That’s it?”

“Cut the crap. If I tell you to message him, message him. Or would you rather sleep outside tonight?”

Forced by tyrannical power, Zhou Lin had to bow his head. “I’ll send it, I’ll send it.”

Zhou Lin retrieved his phone from the bed, found Bai Nanxing’s profile, and sent: “Little junior, are you there?”

There was no reply.

Zhou Lin waited for a while, nearly freezing to death, but Bai Nanxing still hadn’t responded. Finally, unable to hold out any longer, he simply placed a WeChat voice call to Bai Nanxing.

But they waited for five minutes until the call automatically disconnected; Bai Nanxing never picked up.

Zhou Lin felt something was very wrong. He turned to Mo Leyang and asked, “How long has it been since he replied to your messages?”

Mo Leyang asked back, “What day is it today?”

Zhou Lin checked his phone calendar. It was already Friday. That meant Bai Nanxing hadn’t replied to Mo Leyang for at least seven days.

Under normal circumstances, this wouldn’t happen.

Although Bai Nanxing’s attitude toward Mo Leyang always felt lukewarm to Zhou Lin, Bai Nanxing usually replied to every message Mo Leyang sent and picked up his calls immediately. To not reply for so many days… unless he lost his phone.

But if the phone was lost, the voice call shouldn’t have gone through.

“That tag-along roommate of his should know what’s going on. How about… Yang-ge deigns to go and ask?”

Mo Leyang was thinking the same thing. After tossing the remote back to Zhou Lin, he threw on a jacket and headed out.

Realizing that the tag-along roommate seemed quite afraid of him, Mo Leyang turned back halfway. Without a word, he grabbed Zhou Lin, who had just taken a jacket out of the wardrobe and was about to put it on.

“Yang-ge, didn’t you say you were going to ask his roommate? Why are you dragging me!” Zhou Lin hissed through his teeth, shivering from the cold. “If you want me to come with you, just say so! Can’t you let me put my jacket on first? I’m going to freeze!”

Mo Leyang didn’t care and dragged him toward the upper floors. “Put it on while we walk. You won’t die.”

“If I do die, that’ll be a huge problem!” Zhou Lin scrambled to unfold his jacket. After fumbling for the sleeves, he managed to pull the whole thing on.

Because of the cold, there weren’t many people in the corridors; most were huddled in their dorms. The few they did see were just returning from outside.

Seeing him and Mo Leyang pulling and pushing each other, people cast strange looks their way.

Zhou Lin really wanted to explain that he didn’t swing that way—especially not for someone like Mo Leyang. Mo Leyang was highly toxic; one bite would kill you instantly, and not even your bones would remain.

He couldn’t afford to provoke him.

Before long, the two of them arrived at Bai Nanxing’s dorm door.

Mo Leyang gave Zhou Lin a sharp kick, signaling him to hurry up and knock.

The pain nearly brought tears to Zhou Lin’s eyes, but since he couldn’t win in a fight against Mo Leyang, he could only endure it.

Knock, knock, knock—

The dorm door was knocked.

Yan Mo was just about to get off his bed. Hearing the knock, he thought Bai Nanxing had returned. He excitedly ran to open the door. “Star baby, you’re ba—”

Before he could finish, he saw who was standing outside. Yan Mo choked back the rest of his words. “Oh, it’s Senior Zhou Lin and you guys. Is something the matter?”

Zhou Lin wanted to say a few words to ease the tension, but he was pushed aside by Mo Leyang, who asked directly: “Is he not in the dorm? Where did he go?”

Yan Mo wanted to say, “Shouldn’t you be the one to know that?” but he answered politely: “He’s not here.”

“Where did he go?”

“I don’t know. Star baby hasn’t been back to the dorm for a week.”

Mo Leyang’s face darkened instantly. “What do you mean?”

Yan Mo said sadly, “Star baby hasn’t been to class for a week.”

He looked up at Mo Leyang tremblingly. “After Star baby went to that banquet last Friday, he never came back to the dorm. He had me ask the counselor for a leave of absence…”

The implication was already very clear.

Mo Leyang didn’t say anything. He turned around and headed back to his own dorm.

Zhou Lin followed behind. “Looks like the little junior was locked up at home by Bai Yi. Are you going to the Bai house to snatch him back?”

Mo Leyang glanced at him. His face was expressionless, but Zhou Lin knew him well. Usually, when that expression appeared, it meant someone was about to be very, very unlucky.