My Roommate is a Gloomy, Sensitive Guy Who Cries Over Everything - Chapter 24

Chapter 24: Coming to See You

Inside the abandoned research building, there had been no sign of life for a long time. The air and the old furniture emitted a damp, rotting smell, and the stairwell entrance was particularly narrow and cramped.

Outside, the sunlight was intense; here, it was empty and silent. It wasn’t just physically cold; it was a sinister, lifeless chill.

To Lin Zhiyu’s eyes, the pitch-black environment was total darkness. If it weren’t for the fact that someone was standing right in front of him speaking, he would have suspected this was a dream of falling into an abyss.

“I called you, why aren’t you saying anything?” It was truly so dark he couldn’t see his own hand. When the other person remained silent, Lin Zhiyu felt a surge of panic.

“Baby.”

The other person spoke suddenly amidst Lin Zhiyu’s anxiety, like a warm spring breeze brushing over his heart.

Lin Zhiyu’s cheeks flushed slightly. Usually, over voice chat or text, being called “Baby” seemed normal. Why did it feel so embarrassing to hear it face-to-face?

Standing there like this was too strange. Lin Zhiyu tilted his head back—though he couldn’t really see anything—but he could still smell the faint scent of tobacco drifting in the air.

“Have you been watching my events the whole time? Are you there?”

“Yes. I’ve been here the whole time.”

It was different. The voice was different from the one on the phone, yet there was also a strangely familiar feeling.

Lin Zhiyu instinctively reached out his hand to test the space in front of him, but felt nothing, proving the other person was a certain distance away.

“Are you going to wait until my events are over before you leave?”

“Yes. I’ll leave after watching them.”

Lin Zhiyu nodded. Meeting in person was so awkward; he couldn’t be as free-spirited as he was online, and he didn’t know what to talk about.

So he blurted out: “Do you want to grab a meal together after the competition?”

The other person actually let out a light laugh: “How would we eat?”

It was a magnetic chuckle that vibrated in his chest. Lin Zhiyu felt embarrassed and a bit annoyed. After this back-and-forth, he was definitely a bit shaken. He looked up, glaring toward the other person even though he couldn’t see a thing: “Isn’t that your problem? You’re asking me? If you’re so capable, come out and meet me properly.”

“I’m not that capable.”

“…”

The two were quiet for a few seconds. Then, the other person’s phone rang. The screen emitted a weak glow. Lin Zhiyu followed the light, but it was extinguished as quickly as a candle flame.

However, that brief light allowed him to judge the distance between them. Lin Zhiyu took two steps forward, reaching out to touch him, but his wrist was grabbed to restrain his movement.

Lin Zhiyu jumped: “Sorry.”

But the person didn’t let go. He was wearing gloves leather ones. His grip was firm. Lin Zhiyu quietly turned his wrist, curling his fingers inward to grasp the man’s thumb.

“Since it’s our first meeting, let’s shake hands.”

Lin Zhiyu shook his hand up and down a few times and couldn’t help laughing. “I really do want to get to know you, Senior-Brother.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Huh?”

“You won’t want to know me.”

His tone was certain, carrying a faint trace of despair, as if he had done something unforgivable to Lin Zhiyu but wasn’t seeking atonement, only resolutely continuing down the “wrong” path.

This caused Lin Zhiyu to start imagining: Was he a former classmate or friend I offended, pretending to be an online friend to get close to me and seek forgiveness?

“Don’t decide my thoughts and choices for me. If I say I want to meet you, I mean it—unless you never show your face to me for the rest of your life.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Zhiyu sensed the person across from him move. A gust of wind followed. Lin Zhiyu guessed: “Are you turning around? Are you turning your back to me?”

After saying that, he laughed first.

Lin Zhiyu reached into his pants pocket. This time, grabbing the other person’s wrist was much more casual and easy. He pressed something into the man’s palm.

The Senior felt it for a moment. It was two Zhenzhi lollipops.

The kind sold in large jars next to the cash register at the convenience store—twenty cents a piece, very cheap.

“I bought them at noon. They’re my favorite flavors. I didn’t prepare anything for our first meeting, so these are for you.”

The other person’s voice suddenly changed slightly, becoming deeper and raspier, with a hint of muffled emotion: “I didn’t prepare anything for you.”

“It’s just two pieces of candy. It’s fine, it’s nothing. Besides, I wanted to give these to you; I’m not asking for a return gift.”

As Lin Zhiyu spoke, he quietly moved a bit closer. His senses told him they were very near now. But suddenly, the other person turned around and reached out to cover his eyes.

Lin Zhiyu’s shoulder and back pressed against the man’s body. His nose was filled with the faint scent of tobacco mixed with agarwood perfume. He had smoked, though probably not much.

There was also the faint fragrance of his body wash a scent Lin Zhiyu was very familiar with because it often appeared in their bathroom.

Lin Zhiyu instinctively tilted his face up toward him. The hand covering his eyes was large, almost covering half of his face. No matter how Lin Zhiyu moved, he couldn’t break free from the hand shielding his eyes.

That hand very gently rubbed his cheek, signaling him not to move. Lin Zhiyu swallowed nervously.

“I’ll walk you out.”

He spoke almost right against his ear. Half of Lin Zhiyu’s face went numb. His lips parted slightly: “Will we… meet again next time?”

“We’ll see.”

Lin Zhiyu pursed his lips in slight disappointment. His eyelids were suddenly rubbed a few times. He unsteadily leaned into the man’s palm, like a well-behaved small animal making a subconscious movement of discomfort.

“Close your eyes. It’s very bright outside; you won’t be able to adjust. You must close your eyes.”

Lin Zhiyu followed his instructions. His sense of hearing and touch were amplified infinitely; every tiny sound felt ten times louder than usual. This also expanded the dark emotions in the depths of his heart. Fear and unease made him exceptionally reliant on the man behind him.

The door creaked open. Sunlight poured down directly. Lin Zhiyu instinctively shrunk back, but the palm remained over his face.

A pinky finger brushed across Lin Zhiyu’s lower lip—soft and pale red. The slightly parted shape was an invitation to be tasted.

The round collar of his tracksuit was very neat, showing traces of dampness, clearly outlining his thin, exquisite collarbone and neck.

He carried a clean, youthful aura of a boy, reminding the man of his posture while running freely—like a gust of free wind whistling past the Senior.

After the competition ended, Lin Zhiyu was surrounded by people, sharing the joy of taking first place under the sun.

In the dark corner, that obsessed gaze remained glued to the brightly smiling Lin Zhiyu, unknown to anyone.

He could only stand there in this moment, alone, slowly savoring the essence of the youth.

Lin Zhiyu couldn’t see anything. He stumbled along, giving all his trust and reliance to the person behind him. The Senior gripped Lin Zhiyu’s hand tightly, his knuckles turning white. With their backs pressed together, the Senior’s feeling of being cherished by the boy reached its peak.

Finally, they sat down. What they touched below was an open-work wooden bench in the small woods outside the playground.

The hand was removed.

Lin Zhiyu opened his eyes, but was stung by the light and closed them again.

The Senior took off his gloves, wiped his hands, and once more massaged Lin Zhiyu’s eyelids, stroking his entire face.

“I’m leaving.”

Lin Zhiyu’s eyelashes fluttered. He wanted to say something, but the warmth surrounding him suddenly vanished. He knew the person was gone.

He sat there, motionless, reliving everything he had just experienced in his mind.

This was the scene of their first meeting—bizarre and thrilling, exploding in his mind.

Lin Zhiyu, who had lived a conventional life since childhood, had done something that overturned his worldview, even if it was just a brief meeting.

His fingers curled on his lap. His heart was beating abnormally fast, like a marble in a rolling tray, experiencing a violent shaking.

“Xiao Yu!” “Xiao Yu!” “Lin Zhiyu!”

The blurred calls from afar became clearer until his shoulder was shaken. Yu Hechang was scared to death by his closed-eyed, listless state: “Your blood sugar isn’t low, is it? Are you okay?!”

Lin Zhiyu frowned, struggling to lift his eyelids before partially closing them again. He really couldn’t adapt to the stimulus of the bright light.

Yu Hechang was frantic: “Are you okay?!”

Lin Zhiyu lowered his head and covered his eyes. After a few seconds of silence, he revealed one eye, looking at him through the gaps in his fingers: “What’s wrong?”

Seeing he was fine, Yu Hechang breathed a sigh of relief, then immediately started cursing: “You’re asking me what’s wrong? Did you forget you still have a competition? Go check in! You bastard, my god!”

Lin Zhiyu was standing in line to check in, his eyes downcast, constantly scanning the hands of the crowd passing by the cordon. No one was wearing gloves.

It made sense. Who would wear gloves in this heat? Especially non-breathable leather ones—they’d be asking for heat rash.

As he was lost in thought, Lin Rangchuan suddenly stood in front of him. Lin Zhiyu blinked and finally just gave him a polite smile.

Lin Rangchuan’s complexion was cold, pale, and bleak. He expressionlessly took a photo of him.

I get it, testing parameters again.

Lin Zhiyu subconsciously glanced at his hands. Lin Rangchuan’s fingers were slender and well-proportioned. The camera was black, making his hands look even colder and whiter. However, there was a wound on the back of his hand where the skin was turned out, as if it had been repeatedly picked at.

For the high jump competition, Lin Zhiyu had changed into shorts. He bounced in place a few times, waving to Jiang Xinran and Yu Hechang.

Yu Hechang said to Jiang Xinran: “Xiao Yu has a great vertical jump. He can take first in this event.”

Sure enough, Lin Zhiyu flipped over the bar very easily, leaping like a carp. His form was beautiful, and his landing was steady.

However, every time Lin Zhiyu lay on the mat, his heart would beat a few seconds faster than usual. Looking at the white clouds and blue sky above, he squinted and blocked his eyes with his arm.

During halftime, Yu Hechang brought water over: “I feel like you’re a bit distracted. Where did you go this afternoon? You went to the bathroom for an hour. Are you constipated?”

Lin Zhiyu glanced at him and silently turned his head to drink water.

Yu Hechang: “…?”

Although Lin Zhiyu didn’t say it explicitly, Yu Hechang knew there was definitely something going on. As for what it was, he wasn’t sure.

And Lin Zhiyu knew Yu Hechang’s personality as well. After all, they were childhood friends who grew up together. Someone like Yu Hechang would dig to the bottom of any doubt, and Lin Zhiyu just happened to not be very good at lying…

“Don’t let me find out…” Yu Hechang pointed at him.

Lin Zhiyu tilted his head slightly, his face incredibly red: “What could I possibly have going on?”

“Then explain that one hour to me.”

“…………”

“Last time, my roommate suddenly went out right before the curfew and came back an hour later. Do you know what he wanted to do?”

Lin Zhiyu instinctively felt he shouldn’t follow his lead, but he asked anyway: “What did he do?”

“He went to the woods for a date! He was even locking lips with someone!”

“…”

The last round of the competition was about to start; it was time for the finals. Lin Zhiyu tightened his water bottle and handed it back. Yu Hechang gave a small “tsk” and continued watching the race with Jiang Xinran.

When the competition ended, Lin Zhiyu was the undisputed first place. Another prize was in the bag.

The first day of the sports meet thus ended, but Lin Zhiyu’s performance made him stand out again on the school forums and even the “confession wall.”

However, for some unknown reason, these posts were quickly taken down; the original posts couldn’t even be found. Some heard they were reported, while others said they were taken down due to a cyber-attack.

As night fell, Lin Zhiyu went out to eat with some classmates. In the computer lab, someone was still working.

The Publicity Department had borrowed this place to upload photos. Besides Lin Rangchuan, there was another girl doing photography.

She had eaten a bit slowly. When she went over, she happened to pass the storage card Lin Rangchuan had opened. If she wasn’t mistaken, it was 3.98GB.

She sat back at her computer, her whole person dazed for a moment. He shot that much on the first day?

The material for the Publicity Department would definitely be more than enough this time. She was still uploading when, before long, Lin Rangchuan handed over a USB drive. “The materials are all in here. Turn them in together when the time comes.”

The girl nodded and opened it to check. She thought she had seen wrong; there were only ten photos lying quietly in the folder.

Just as she was about to ask something, she saw Lin Rangchuan standing to her front left, slowly tearing open the wrapper of a lollipop. With the same posture as if he were smoking, cold and indifferent, he didn’t even glance her way once.

“Something wrong?”

The girl was startled, her hand holding the mouse trembling physiologically: “I just wanted to confirm… are there only ten photos?”

“Yes. Only ten.”

Lin Rangchuan left with his camera bag, leaving behind one sentence as he walked out.

“Tell them I’m not coming tomorrow. I’ll be back the day after.”

“Ah… oh, okay, I understand.”

The girl spaced out for a few minutes before her soul gradually returned. She clicked on those ten photos and found that the skill, composition, parameters, and angles were all extremely professional. Almost every single one could be used directly; there were no wasted shots.

…

Lin Zhiyu had no competition tasks tomorrow, but as a member of the Publicity Department, he needed to be on-site. Actually, there wasn’t much to do, as the Publicity Department was in charge of managing activities, promotional posters, and maintaining the school’s public social media account.

The team sent him a few photos for the posts to be uploaded tomorrow. He could actually distinguish which ones were taken by Lin Rangchuan because the personal style was very distinct.

He asked the girl if he could post them on his Moments.

She replied: “Sure, they’re public anyway. Just don’t use them for profit.”

After Lin Zhiyu posted on his Moments, likes and comments started trickling in. After eating and drinking his fill, he scrolled through his phone. He found that the first person to like it was Brother Lin, and the second was the Senior.

…

While Lin Zhiyu wasn’t back yet, Lin Rangchuan put on gloves and an apron to clean every corner of the house. He also replaced Lin Zhiyu’s toiletries and bedsheets.

When he first arrived, the brands of toothpaste, towels, and other daily necessities Lin Zhiyu used were different; now, they were all uniform.

Finally, he returned to his own room—to this room filled with warmth—and exported all the photos, developing the film one by one.

He replaced all the dozens of secret drawings he had made previously. Nothing was more refreshing than fresh photos of the real person.

After finishing all this, Lin Rangchuan checked the time. The atmospheric pressure in the room suddenly dropped by half, and his dark eyes grew even more intense.

…

Lin Zhiyu had a bit to drink tonight iced beer. The alcohol content wasn’t high, but it was very thirst-quenching in this sweltering summer.

He only dared to drink a little and even reported it to the Senior.

[Senior: Why drink?] [Xiao Yu: I wanted to.] [Senior: Then drink. (Yellow smiley face)]

For some reason, after meeting today, the Senior had become much more lenient with him. Lin Zhiyu sent a message tentatively.

[Xiao Yu: Are you coming to drink?] [Senior: Baby isn’t afraid I’m a bad person?] [Xiao Yu: You aren’t.] [Senior: Oh, I’m not.]

These words were out of nowhere, but Lin Zhiyu understood. He knew the man wouldn’t come out, even though the evening would have been a great time to meet.

Those who had to compete tomorrow couldn’t drink, while those who had finished were feasting. Lin Zhiyu drank until he lost track of time. He wasn’t drunk, just excited. The alcohol stimulated his nerves, triggering a tsunami of shadows deep in his mind.

He sat on the side, frowning slightly.

After a while, the phone vibrated. Someone was calling him an unfamiliar number with no label.

Lin Zhiyu didn’t pick up, fearing it was a scam.

But if it called a second or third time, he would assume it was some emergency and pick up.

“Hello?”

“Why aren’t you back yet?”

It was Lin Rangchuan’s voice.

Lin Zhiyu froze. He checked the time and didn’t even have time to reply to him. Instead, he said to several people: “Is it the dormitory curfew time?”

“Holy sh*t, I forgot!” “It’s over, can we still get back?”

The group was in a state of chaos.

“Check out, check out! Don’t forget to pay! Let’s go back.”

The few remaining people were staying off-campus, like Lin Zhiyu—they didn’t want to squeeze into a sixteen-person dorm.

Just after hanging up Lin Rangchuan’s call, a WeChat message arrived. It turned out Lin Rangchuan had sent a message first, but he hadn’t seen it. Then, not even a second apart, the Senior had also messaged.

23:58 [Brother Lin: Not coming back?]

23:58 [Senior: Not back yet?]

Lin Zhiyu felt confused over this small matter. It was as if something flashed before his eyes before returning to calm.

I was just being silly. How could I think Brother Lin and the Senior are the same person?

This place wasn’t far from the rental. It was about a ten-minute walk. Lin Zhiyu treated it like a stroll to catch the breeze and clear his head.

The pomegranate tree at the entrance of the alley, once flaming red and vivid, now had falling leaves as autumn set in. When the wind blew, connecting the entire dark alley, there was a sense of chill and a struggling feeling of having nowhere to escape.

It was time for the nightly “emo” hour again. Lin Zhiyu simply opened NetEase Cloud Music and randomly picked a playlist. A mournful piece of instrumental music played.

He took out his key, opened the door, and pushed it open. Only a floor lamp was on. Lin Zhiyu stood there frowning. Combined with the music in his ears… it was particularly creepy.

He turned on the light, took off his jacket, and hung it over his arm.

Passing through the living room, his footsteps paused. He suddenly looked toward a pair of leather gloves hanging on the balcony rack.

Water was dripping from them right before his eyes.

A click came from the kitchen. Lin Zhiyu turned around. Lin Rangchuan was bringing a glass of honey water over. Seeing that the other person wasn’t taking it, he asked: “What is it?”

“The gloves…”

Lin Zhiyu’s eyelashes trembled. Before he could finish his sentence, his wrist was grabbed. That instant contact made his skin crawl. Lin Rangchuan placed the water glass in his palm.

“Drink it. You won’t have a headache when you wake up tomorrow.”

His actions were both gentle and forceful.