My Online Date is My Roommate - Chapter 14

After a flurry of bandaging, Jiang Mingbo finally escaped from Fei Wenxu’s grip. He rubbed his right arm, noticing a large red mark likely left behind during his earlier struggle. He glared up at Fei Wenxu with indignation.

As if sensing the gaze, Fei Wenxu looked up and let his lips curl into a faint, unapologetic smile.

Jiang Mingbo narrowed his eyes, then turned sharply to sit in his chair. “Rui, how much was it? I’ll transfer you.”

Tan Rui waved it off. “It’s fine, don’t worry about such a small amount.”

Jiang Mingbo shook his head, insisting, “You guys helped a lot by buying the medicine. I have to pay you back.”

Seeing his serious expression, Tan Rui stopped refusing. He swiped open his payment history. “38 yuan.”

Jiang Mingbo quickly opened WeChat, only to realize his phone was still logged into his alt-account. His scalp went numb. He instinctively locked his screen and used his peripheral vision to check on Fei Wenxu, who had just sat down nearby. A wave of lingering fear washed over him.

Fei Wenxu, however, didn’t notice the abnormality. He was opening his idle game interface. The dungeon mission had ended long ago, but the results were ugly. Fish was the only one left in the party; everyone else was in the guild channel, chatting up a storm.

He scrolled up through the logs, which seemed endless.

Party: Zhumi Needs to Lose Weight: [Seriously, we can’t beat him! Send help!]

Party: Guanshan Nanyue: [Fish, go support Zhumi’s side.]

Party: Can’t Wake Up at 8 AM: [Wait, has no one noticed our Leader hasn’t moved in forever?]

Party: Xiao Paomo: [Holy crap, the Leader is the one leading the slacking? Leader, where are you?]

Party: Guanshan Nanyue: [Stop chatting, the Boss is coming.]

Party: Xiao Paomo: [Why is this Boss chasing me? I’m just a healer!]

Party: Guanshan Nanyue: [Block him! He’s heading for Fish.]

Party: Can’t Wake Up at 8 AM: [I can’t block him, he’s too aggressive! We have no DPS!!!]

Party: Xiao Paomo: [Leader, help!]

Party: Zhumi Needs to Lose Weight: [Leader, save us!]

Party: Guanshan Nanyue: [Fish, I dare you to open your eyes and look at us!]

System: Young Hero “Zhumi Needs to Lose Weight” has been killed in action.

Party: Xiao Paomo: [Zhumi, I’ll miss you~]

System: Young Hero “Xiao Paomo” has been killed in action.

Party: Xiao Paomo: [Great, I’ve come to join you.]

System: Young Hero “Guanshan Nanyue” has been killed in action.

“Can’t Wake Up at 8 AM” was a tank with high HP and was the last to fall. Fish had stood like a statue from the start of the fight until the end. The whole team sat by their screens, watching as the Boss slowly hacked their Leader to death.

Party: Xiao Paomo: [The Leader probably got tied up with something. Let’s head back to the guild.]

Guild: Zhumi Needs to Lose Weight: [Everyone, remember this shameful defeat today. Doesn’t the Leader owe us a few red envelopes?]

Guild: Xiao Paomo: [True. He’s gotta send some!]

Guild: My Sword is Very Sharp: [Eh? You guys finished that fast?]

Guild: Zhumi Needs to Lose Weight: [Heh, we’re all dead. Do not disturb!]

Guild: Xiao Paomo: [Do not disturb!]

Fei Wenxu finally began to reply.

Guild: Fish: [Sorry, something came up.]

Guild: Zhumi Needs to Lose Weight: [Oho~ the culprit is back.]

Guild: Xiao Paomo: [Oho~ the culprit is back.]

Guild: Guanshan Nanyue: [Fish, tell us, shouldn’t you reflect on yourself?]

Fei Wenxu smiled, feeling no regret. The sight of Jiang Mingbo being teased earlier was worth it; he was in an excellent mood.

Guild: Fish: [My apologies. I’ll send some red envelopes to make it up to everyone.]

Guild: Fish: [🧧 Happy New Year! (Best Wishes)]

Fei Wenxu dropped a 1,000-yuan red envelope into the guild chat. Accustomed to their leader’s generosity, the members cheered and snatched it up instantly.

Guild: Xiao Paomo: [Long live the Leader!]

Guild: Zhumi Needs to Lose Weight: [Long live the Leader!]

Fei Wenxu scanned the chat. Xiao Yuer wasn’t among them. He checked his friends list and found her icon was gray.

Jiang Mingbo had slowly climbed back into bed, switched his WeChat account, and transferred the money to Tan Rui.

Tan Rui accepted it, though he sometimes found Jiang Mingbo hard to read. He was cheerful with everyone, yet he kept clear boundaries, as if terrified of owing anyone a favor right down to the price of a single sausage.

Jiang Mingbo winced as he found a comfortable position to lie down, cursed Fei Wenxu under his breath, and re-entered the game.

Guild: Xiao Yuer: [Long live the Leader! I don’t know why we’re saying it, but long live!]

Guild: Xiao Paomo: [Yuer, you’re here! You missed the Leader’s massive red envelope~]

Jiang Mingbo gritted his teeth. What bad luck scalded and missed out on the compensation money.

Guild: Xiao Yuer: [Aw, what a shame. I was only offline for a little bit.]

Guild: My Sword is Very Sharp: [Yuer, what were you doing?]

Guild: Xiao Yuer: [Since I couldn’t play with you guys anyway, I thought I’d wait until you were done. Who knew you’d finish so fast?]

Guild: Xiao Paomo: [It wasn’t supposed to be fast, but something went wrong. Our Leader made the most serious mistake since the guild was founded!]

Jiang Mingbo played dumb: [Huh? What happened?]

Guild: Guanshan Nanyue: [He started the bus and then abandoned his passengers, leading us all to our deaths.]

Guild: Xiao Yuer: [That’s serious. What happened? @Fish]

Guild: Fish: [It’s nothing. I got delayed. Don’t listen to their exaggerations.]

Guild: Xiao Paomo: [Tsk tsk. Look at that tone. Do you guys, sense something?]

Guild: Zhumi Needs to Lose Weight: [Sister, I’m a total shipper. I feel you!]

Jiang Mingbo noticed Fei Wenxu had stopped typing in the public channel and switched to a private message.

Xiao Yuer: [Beep-beep. What’s wrong? Is everything okay?]

Fish: [It’s fine. A roommate…]

Fei Wenxu stopped. Remembering the connection between Xiao Yuer and Jiang Mingbo, he deleted “roommate.”

Fish: [It’s fine. A friend had an accident.]

Jiang Mingbo’s teeth were nearly grinding to dust. Fei Wenxu is such a fake. To a netizen, he calls him a “friend”? He felt like snapping the guy’s other arm.

Xiao Yuer: [Oh? Are you okay then?]

Jiang Mingbo almost gagged at his own sweetness.

Fish: [I’m fine.]

Xiao Yuer: [That’s good. If something happened to you, who would I play with? You can’t abandon me~]

Fish: [Don’t worry.]

Xiao Yuer: [Hmph, who’s worried about you? You didn’t even wait for me to get online before sending red envelopes. Heartless! I hate you!]

Xiao Yuer: [Angry.jpg]

Fei Wenxu chuckled. Did she want him to send her a personal one?

Fish: [Do you want a red envelope?]

Actually, seeing her bring up money made him feel a strange sense of regret, though he didn’t lack the funds.

Xiao Yuer: [Pah! Who cares about that? Get lost!! I don’t play with heartless people!]

Jiang Mingbo cursed him out internally. A few red envelopes? Not enough. He was going to make Fei Wenxu “drunk” on the wine of love.

Fish: [I’m heartless?]

Xiao Yuer: [Obviously.]

Fish: [Someone didn’t help me draw aggro and almost let the Ghost King take me out in one hit. I wonder who the little heartless one really is.]

The phrase “little heartless one was so cringey Jiang Mingbo’s teeth ached.

Xiao Yuer: [Hmph, I knew you were mad. See? You let it slip.]

Fei Wenxu realized he’d been childish to bring it up again. He frowned at his own message. He wasn’t actually mad; he was just teasing.

Xiao Yuer: [I really learned my lesson. It won’t happen again. We knew each other first, after all how could I forget to shield you for some outsider? Last time was truly an accident.]

Fei Wenxu didn’t reply immediately, lost in a thought he couldn’t quite define.

Xiao Yuer: [Aw, forgive me? How about I build you a coffin too? Phoebe zhennan wood!]

Fei Wenxu’s frown deepened. Why the coffin again?

Fish: [No need. I really wasn’t mad.]

Xiao Yuer: [Hmph. Do you want the wood or not?]

Fish: [I want the wood. Not the coffin.]

Xiao Yuer: [Heh, depends on my mood. If I make a coffin, you’re taking it whether you like it or not.]

Fish: [Forced terms?]

Xiao Yuer: [So? You have no right to refuse.]

Fei Wenxu sat at his desk and let out a soft laugh. He genuinely found this girl interesting more so than anyone he’d met before. He also couldn’t deny that his interest was partially fueled by her superior looks (based on the photos he’d seen).

Jiang Mingbo, feeling the sting in his back, heard the laughter from below and rolled his eyes. Laugh now. You’ll be crying later.

He sent a flurry of “beaten up” panda emojis, wishing his fist could travel through the screen to pummel Fei Wenxu. After venting, his mood improved.

Fish: [Done punching me?]

Xiao Yuer: [Roll-eyes.jpg] [Not yet. Are you going to stick your head out and let me kick it?]

Fish: [🧧 Happy New Year! (Best Wishes)]

Fei Wenxu had forgotten his earlier annoyance. He sent a red envelope to smooth things over.

Jiang Mingbo didn’t care for the money. He didn’t want to owe Fei Wenxu a single cent of moral leverage.

Xiao Yuer: [Drop dead.jpg]

He sent two more angry emojis and logged off quickly, afraid he’d start hurling actual insults.

A WeChat notification popped up.

Fish: [?]

Xiao Yuer: [I’m not ready to forgive you. You may leave my presence.]

Fish: […]

Xiao Yuer: [Unless…]

Fish: [I’m all ears. Unless what?]

Xiao Yuer: [Unless you carry me through dungeons tomorrow.]

The smile on Fei Wenxu’s face grew. He noticed it was past 11:30 PM. He usually washed up at 23:00 sharp, but he’d lost track of time chatting.

Fish: [Deal. I’ll carry you. But you need to grind the main quest. You won’t be able to enter the high-level multiplayer dungeons otherwise.]

Xiao Yuer: [Hmph, depends on my mood.]

Fish: [Alright, I have to go. I haven’t showered yet.]

Xiao Yuer: [Oh? Showering?]

Jiang Mingbo decided to turn up the heat. He smirked wickedly.

Xiao Yuer: [Hehehe, I heard you have a great body.]

Xiao Yuer: [Slobber.jpg] [Pervy-stare.jpg]

Fei Wenxu froze. He instinctively assumed Xiao Yuer had been talking to the “real” Jiang Mingbo about this. Otherwise, why would a girl randomly know about his physique?

Had she and Jiang Mingbo discussed his body? How did that even start?

Fish: [Who did you hear that from?]

Jiang Mingbo’s mind went blank. He couldn’t say he saw it every day.

Xiao Yuer: [Before I added you! Plenty of girls said you have a great build.]

Fish: [Is that so? It wasn’t Jiang Mingbo who told you?]

Jiang Mingbo nearly fell off the bed. That narcissistic dog! Would I ever say that?

Xiao Yuer: [Of course not. Why do you keep bringing him up?]

Knowing they hadn’t been discussing him that way made Fei Wenxu feel strangely relieved.

Fish: [I just figured he was the only person we both know.]

Jiang Mingbo wanted to laugh. The ego on this man.

Xiao Yuer: [Hey, don’t change the subject. Is your body good or not?]

Fish: […It’s late. I’m going to wash up. Talk later.]

Xiao Yuer: [Tsk, boring.]

Jiang Mingbo heard the movement below and knew Fei Wenxu was heading to the bathroom. He carefully rolled over to avoid his injury and started grinding the main quest. Aside from the mission to ruin Fei Wenxu, Looking East was actually a great game.

Suddenly, another WeChat message appeared.

Fish: [Goodnight.]

Jiang Mingbo stared at the message, a smirk tugging at his lips. He could almost picture Fei Wenxu smiling as he sent it.

That easy? Fei Wenxu, you’re not all that!

His fingers flew across the screen.

Xiao Yuer: [Goodnight.] [Mwah.jpg]

Downstairs, Fei Wenxu stood by his chair, gripping his phone.

Tan Rui shut down his PC and prepared to climb into bed, but was startled by Fei Wenxu standing there motionless. “Fish-ge?”

Fei Wenxu snapped back and locked his screen.

“What are you standing there grinning at?”

Fei Wenxu’s expression returned to normal as he shook his head. “Just going to wash up.”

Tan Rui nodded thoughtfully. Washing up? What’s so funny about that?