My Hated Roommate Is Actually My Boyfriend?! - Chapter 1

In October, even though it was already the tenth month, City B was still as hot as a furnace. Walking outside for even a short while left one drenched in sweat, with a burning sensation spreading across the back.

Feng Xingyun returned to the dormitory after playing basketball. As soon as he opened the door, he saw his roommate, who looked over at the sound of the door opening. His dark, jet-black eyes had sharp inner corners and upturned outer corners, a pair of phoenix eyes shaped like parallelograms, as if painted in a traditional scroll, utterly captivating.

Despite the weather, the man wore a light gray shirt, its collar neatly buttoned all the way to the top, paired with a green tie threaded with silver patterns, refined and luxurious, modestly concealing his pale, prominent collarbones. He looked gentle and restrained, almost ascetic.

Even knowing that his inner self was hypocritical, calculating, and cold, like rotten fruit beneath a beautiful skin, Feng Xingyun couldn’t help but be drawn to his icy, jewel-like exterior, so stunningly gorgeous it bordered on the unreal. Instinctively, he pressed against the door and took a step back.

Liu Duanhe frowned at the sweat-soaked Feng Xingyun, who was carrying a backpack. His basketball jersey revealed bulging, sinewy muscles, with veins winding along his arms. His body radiated vigorous heat, just one glance made Liu Duanhe feel hot.

He relaxed his brow and smiled gently. “Did you go play basketball again today?”

Before Liu Duanhe could even voice his next reminder, Feng Xingyun cut in, “I’m heading to the bathroom to shower right now.”

Liu Duanhe’s expression grew even warmer. “Alright, go ahead.”

Feng Xingyun didn’t want to look at the smile on his beautiful face, a smile as fake as a mask. He quickly grabbed a change of clothes and went into the bathroom.

Liu Duanhe’s expression gradually faded. He lowered his eyes and continued studying the problems before him. When no one was around, he would let go of that gentleness he had grown weary of yet accustomed to.

Their dormitory faced south. The morning sunlight spilled lightly across the room, gilding his black hair with a layer of golden radiance. In the daylight, his deep, handsome features became hazy and dreamlike. It was a pity that only one person could see this scene, and now, no one was there to appreciate it.

The dormitory’s soundproofing was terrible. Even with the door closed, the sound of water rushing in the bathroom came through clearly. Liu Duanhe sat at his desk, previewing his major’s coursework while mentally simulating exactly what step Feng Xingyun was at.

Ten minutes later, the sound of rushing water stopped, followed by the rustling of clothes being put on. Liu Duanhe continued deriving formulas on paper based on theory as he thought.

“Click.”

The bathroom door opened, and a fresh wave of mint-scented steam spread through the dormitory. Feng Xingyun walked past behind him.

Liu Duanhe capped his pen, neatly placed the black gel pen back into its holder, and rapped his long, pale, slender fingers on the wooden desk, calling Feng Xingyun to a stop.

Based on his observations, Feng Xingyun was the type of young master who wouldn’t even bother to right a fallen soy sauce bottle in his own home. So after he came out,

Liu Duanhe, a smile on his face, dutifully reminded him, “Did you mop up the water on the bathroom floor?”

Even though he felt his attitude was already good enough, considering the young master’s inexplicable temper, Liu Duanhe softened his tone every time he reminded him of something, to the point of speaking to him the way he would to his cousin’s little nephew.

Feng Xingyun was pulled back to attention by his smile. His gaze traveled from those long, bony fingers up to his face, and his sharp brows arched slightly.

It was the same smile again, unchanging, identical every time.

He truly hated Liu Duanhe’s insincere attitude, that gentleness he showed to everyone alike, as if nothing in the world could make him angry.

Even though Liu Duanhe clearly disliked him, he could still smile and coax him with pleasant words. Even the harassment from that guy in the neighboring courtyard who couldn’t win him over was brushed off with a smile, wasn’t that just giving him hope and keeping him as a backup?

Feng Xingyun didn’t answer. Without a word, he set down his things, went back into the bathroom, and closed the door. With a nameless, inexplicable irritation burning in his chest, he began cleaning up the water on the floor.

In truth, the first time he’d seen Liu Duanhe in the dormitory, he’d been stunned speechless, rooted to the spot. Even his straight sexual orientation had felt its foundations shaken.

It wasn’t that he was shallow or hadn’t seen handsome people before, it was simply that Liu Duanhe was too good-looking.

He’d attended plenty of extravagant banquets. Some hosts who liked a lively atmosphere would hire celebrities and singers to warm up the crowd. At his cousin’s birthday, she’d spent tens of millions to book a boy band touted as having “godlike visuals.” They were indeed handsome, Feng Xingyun had thought at the time that they were only slightly less good-looking than himself.

But compared to Liu Duanhe, everyone else seemed flawed. Eyes not bright enough, noses not straight enough, mouths too small, noses too big, skin too dull without that fair glow, lips not red and full enough, everyone could have a laundry list of shortcomings picked out.

Standing among a crowd, Liu Duanhe was truly a devastating comparison, like a crane standing tall among a flock of chickens.

His skin was so pale it seemed to glow, his eyes dark and bright like stars, his thick, long black brows like bold strokes of ink in a painting, his nose straight and well-formed, and his lips red, full, and luscious, the very thing that drew the most attention from those buzzing around him like moths to a flame.

Feng Xingyun grew angrier the more he thought about it, his face turning colder by the second. After scrubbing the bathroom until it gleamed, he rinsed the mop, then came back out and mopped the entire dormitory floor three times over, until his face was clearly reflected in the ceramic tiles. Only then did he rinse the mop again and put it back on the balcony, satisfied.

Liu Duanhe sat in his chair, watching in astonishment as Feng Xingyun charged out of the bathroom and proceeded to clean the dorm without pause. He had no idea what had gotten into him, but even though he wasn’t particularly keen on talking to him, he couldn’t help but praise him generously: “Even though it’s Zhao Hao’s turn to clean tonight, you’re absolutely amazing.”

He would mop the floor once more after his shower before the midday break, and the more times it was mopped, the more comfortable Liu Duanhe felt.

Usually, though, he restrained himself and was considerate of his roommates’ lack of his own cleanliness obsession. The person assigned to clean that day would mop once in the evening, he himself would clean once before morning classes, and he’d clean again after his midday shower.

He rarely felt this gratified, thinking to himself that although Feng Xingyun had plenty of quirks, at least he was obedient and could even extrapolate beyond what was asked.

Liu Duanhe decided to raise Feng Xingyun’s standing in his book from negative to slightly better. Even though he always came back to the dorm drenched in sweat after basketball or other sports, played games until one or two in the morning with his phone screen glowing, and even unconsciously tossed and turned, his hundred-plus pounds shifting causing their connected beds to shake, which his light sleep always registered, at least Feng Xingyun had some self-awareness.

He even washed his own socks and underwear right after showering every day, which could be called clean. Not like the other two roommates, who always tried to hoard a basinful and needed him to reach his limit and remind them before they’d wash.

Feng Xingyun grunted in acknowledgment, nudging the mop with his hand, aligning it back and forth until it was perfectly straight, making sure that the first thing the dorm supervisor would see upon entering was an immaculate balcony.

As Liu Duanhe turned a page, a thought struck him, had Feng Xingyun’s ears been red just now? Or was it just the light from the balcony playing tricks?

It was a while before Feng Xingyun came back in from the balcony, sitting down at his desk to preview the afternoon’s coursework.

His phone buzzed, a message from a friend he knew well on the basketball team.

[Wang Kong: You and Liu Duanhe still have to live together for at least another year. It’s best not to let things get so tense between you. Besides, he’s such a great guy, so mild-tempered. What exactly is your problem with him?]

Feng Xingyun was unmoved by all the praise people at school heaped on Liu Duanhe.

He let out a scoff and typed back [Feng Xingyun: He’s just a smiling tiger who says one thing and means another. You’re all just blinded by his pretty face, that’s why you’re so clueless.]

His friend took offense and fired back immediately [Wang Kong: That’s all personal bias on your part. The internship I wanted last time? Liu Duanhe helped me get it, and we’d only met a few times. How many people are that loyal?]

Feng Xingyun replied coldly, [Heh]

[Wang Kong: Honestly, Captain, are you jealous of the campus heartthrob? I mean, the guy’s got family money, looks, good grades, and more admirers than he knows what to do with. The people chasing him could form a whole battalion.]

He was speechless. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to date, he’d never dated at all, and while he might not be as handsome as Liu Duanhe, he wasn’t ugly either. In high school, he’d been the best-looking guy around with no shortage of people interested in him, and his family wasn’t short on money either. What was there to be jealous of?

He simply couldn’t stand Liu Duanhe, plain and simple. Even if his first impression had been good, he felt his own temperament clashed with someone so slick and polished. After all, he was a blunt-spoken man with a bad temper, and what he hated most were those glitzy, decadent occasions where everyone wore a mask, speaking only insincere words, not saying what they disliked outright, leaving you unable to push back or argue, like punching cotton, endlessly frustrating.

Liu Duanhe was the epitome of that type.

[Feng Xingyun: Think whatever you want. I’m studying now, don’t bother me.]

Their dorm was a four-person room with beds above and desks below. The other two roommates had only one class that morning and had gone out to play together. Their relationship was average, and aside from at home, Liu Duanhe wasn’t in the habit of eating meals sitting together with others.

At 11:30, Liu Duanhe went to the school gate to pick up the lunch his family’s housekeeper had prepared and the driver had delivered. After eating, he took his usual half-hour walk around the track to aid digestion, then returned to the dorm to shower and take his midday nap.

No matter how tight the schedule, even if it meant skipping his nap entirely, Liu Duanhe would never tolerate getting into bed carrying the dust, bacteria, and contact with people from a day of classes in public spaces.

Fortunately, since today’s class was in the afternoon session, he had plenty of time.

When Liu Duanhe returned to the dorm, Feng Xingyun was nowhere to be seen.

He breathed a sigh of relief. If the school hadn’t prohibited renting off-campus before junior year, Liu Duanhe wouldn’t have had to endure communal living despite his cleanliness obsession. An empty dorm was the best possible scenario.

He placed his phone on the desk, first went to wash his hands with hand sanitizer, then took out a disposable bath towel and a change of clothes from the wardrobe, separating them in a laundry basket.

Then, with lowered eyes, he carefully checked the items he needed before Liu Duanhe picked them up and went in, closing the bathroom door to shower.

Feng Xingyun had just gone to their class monitor’s dorm to submit materials. Since they were due at the administrative building immediately and the deadline was urgent, he hadn’t even had time to eat, he went straight to the print shop to print them out and submit them.

Because the dorm walls were thin, Feng Xingyun heard the sound of rushing water as soon as he entered. He instinctively glanced toward the bathroom. In their dorm, only Liu Duanhe had the habit of showering at noon. Feng Xingyun didn’t nap, so he merely glanced at the door before turning back to sit at his desk and play games.

The intense game soundtrack gradually drowned out the sound of the water. He was pushing the tower with his teammates, the base reduced to a sliver of health. Just as he was about to land the final auto-attack, a sudden “bang!” came from the bathroom.

It sounded like someone falling.

Feng Xingyun shot to his feet, hesitated for a moment, and asked, “Liu Duanhe, are you okay?”

A faint cry of pain came from inside, but Liu Duanhe didn’t hear Feng Xingyun’s question from outside.

Blood flowing from his head trickled steadily into the floor drain. The dizziness from blood loss and the head injury left him feeling as if the world was spinning around him.

Feng Xingyun asked again, “Are you alright?”

Still receiving no response from Liu Duanhe, his expression changed instantly. Given his meticulous and considerate nature, he would never fail to respond if someone called out to him.

And he had called out twice. Given the dorm’s thin walls, if Liu Duanhe hadn’t had an accident in the bathroom, there was no way he wouldn’t have heard either call.

He strode over, twisting the handle in an attempt to open the door, but the lock wouldn’t budge, Liu Duanhe had locked it.

Feng Xingyun didn’t hesitate. He stepped back and kicked the door hard with all his might. The sound was loud, but he didn’t care if the neighboring dorms or the dorm supervisor came knocking.

The door shook but didn’t open. Feng Xingyun stepped back again, and with a thunderous bang, the door burst open. He could already hear people in the hallway opening their doors and asking, “Who’s fighting in there? Why is the door banging so loud?”