My Roommate is a Gloomy, Sensitive Guy Who Cries Over Everything - Chapter 27

Chapter 27: Come Meet Me That Day

In theory, he had only had two glasses last night, but the alcohol content was so high that he passed out immediately after drinking them.

When he woke up, he was already on the sofa in the rental house. Lin Rangchuan’s eyes were inches away, and the warmth in his nostrils was Lin Rangchuan’s breath. They were so close that Lin Zhiyu had no idea what happened afterward.

This explained why he had felt so guilty during the check-in earlier, but Lin Rangchuan seemed characteristically silent and had no intention of pressing the matter.

He’s so docile…

Lin Zhiyu was lost in thought until a student behind him nudged him to sign in. He stumbled slightly, regained his balance, and went over to register his number.

Jiang Xinran noticed his expression and asked worriedly, “Is this a hangover symptom?”

Qin Rui, however, was quite satisfied: “He should be fine. He’s in good shape.”

The area was surrounded by people, and volunteers had already begun clearing those crossing the track.

Lin Zhiyu stood on the track facing the cool breeze, waving a greeting to Qin Rui and the others. Then, he saw Lin Rangchuan pointing a “big cannon” (telephoto lens) right at him.

He looked away in a panic and started warming up. He got into position, and the moment he heard the starting gun, he controlled his speed. He didn’t push as hard as he did during the relay; he moved forward at a steady pace to save energy for the later laps.

The 3,000-meter race required seven and a half laps. Lin Zhiyu saw Qin Rui running alongside him. He began to pant, but Qin Rui remained steady. Under Qin Rui’s lead, Lin Zhiyu’s competitive desire was actually piqued.

What about Lin Rangchuan?

He didn’t think much further and kept running.

The muscles in Lin Zhiyu’s thighs began to ache, and his speed gradually slowed. Watching people overtake him one by one made his heart sink a little.

Before the race, he had comforted himself saying it didn’t matter if he didn’t get first place—he wasn’t good at long-distance running anyway—but the desire to win had nothing to do with being good at it.

Losing focus for a second, someone crossed the track. Lin Zhiyu’s pupils dilated. To avoid a collision, he swerved sharply, causing his whole body to stagger. He didn’t fall, but the person was scolded by the volunteers.

Lin Zhiyu didn’t care much and kept running.

Lin Rangchuan, who had been invisible just moments ago, suddenly appeared in his line of sight. Compared to the fiery, excited expressions of the people around him, Lin Rangchuan appeared cold and calm.

He wasn’t pointing the camera at him anymore; he was just watching. His dark eyes were fixed on him. Although he wasn’t running, his gaze was constantly anchored to Lin Zhiyu.

A few members of the Student Union were talking nearby. It wasn’t very quiet, and since Lin Zhiyu was running in the inner lane, he could catch the gist of it.

“Why is Senior Lin suddenly angry?”

“No idea. I feel like he’s usually cold, but now he’s even colder.”

Lin Zhiyu didn’t hear everything, but he was curious. What is he angry about? He suddenly knitted his brows, forcing himself to concentrate on the run.

The faster he ran, the more obvious the dull pain in his ankle became, as if it would shatter with a bit of force.

Damn it, did I sprain it? When?

Was it just now?

He hadn’t felt anything then, but now, after just a few steps, his whole foot felt like it didn’t belong to him.

Lin Zhiyu ran slower and slower until someone by the track reminded him he was in last place.

Qin Rui noticed the abnormality but didn’t ask, fearing he would disrupt his state. However, Jiang Xinran, who had just taken a call, rushed over: “We have to go. The manager is rushing us; her hand can’t take it anymore.”

“…”

Qin Rui: “Let’s wait for Xiao Yu to finish first.”

Jiang Xinran put her phone away: “Right, but Xiao Yu’s running posture is very strange.”

Qin Rui panted heavily: “He must be tired.”

For the final stretch toward the finish line, Lin Zhiyu practically hopped on one foot. Exhausted and weak, he was about to sit down when his arm was suddenly yanked up.

He looked up to see the “angry Senior Lin” the students had mentioned, now looking at him expressionlessly.

Lin Zhiyu was so tired he couldn’t say a word. He practically hung half his body weight on the man, leaving Yu Hechang standing behind them in a daze.

Jiang Xinran rushed over: “Congratulations, congratulations! Successfully finishing is a victory!”

Lin Zhiyu smiled and high-fived her. Qin Rui also patted his shoulder: “Not bad. Three thousand meters—you’ve got grit.”

Finishing was one thing, but for Lin Zhiyu: “I just don’t know if I placed.”

Jiang Xinran: “Finishing is enough; placement isn’t important. By the way, Qin Rui and I have to go first.”

Lin Zhiyu’s back was soaked in sweat. He nodded while enduring the pain: “Okay.”

Perhaps because the pain in his foot was so intense, Lin Zhiyu felt a bit short of breath. He clutched his chest and looked down, saying, “I’m going to walk around.”

Just as Yu Hechang was about to say “I’ll go with you,” someone beat him to it and grabbed Lin Zhiyu’s arm. The other person’s strength was so great it lifted Lin Zhiyu into a daze. He tilted his neck up and saw Lin Rangchuan’s “deadpan” face.

“…”

Lin Zhiyu gave a sheepish smile. Yu Hechang’s gaze shifted between the two of them but saw nothing. He gave a weak call: “Senior Lin…”

“I’ll take him for a walk.”

Yu Hechang felt relieved.

Lin Zhiyu didn’t say a word the whole time. His right arm was almost entirely lifted, meaning his right foot didn’t have to exert any force. He was simply pulled along.

He didn’t know where they were going until the crowds thinned out. Only then did Lin Zhiyu lower his guard slightly: “Brother Lin, I can…”

Lin Rangchuan still didn’t speak. After a glance at him, he squatted down and rolled up Lin Zhiyu’s pant leg.

Lin Zhiyu closed his eyes slightly. Well, so much for faking it; I was still found out. Yu Hechang and the others hadn’t noticed a thing.

It wasn’t that he was acting tough; he just didn’t want to be injured in front of so many people. It felt like being a monkey in a zoo being gawked at.

Lin Zhiyu looked left, right, up, and down. Finally, the moment Lin Rangchuan touched his ankle, he resignedly looked down at Lin Rangchuan’s shoulders and his clean-cut back of the head.

“Can you walk?” Lin Rangchuan asked.

Lin Zhiyu couldn’t help but lean on his shoulder: “I’ll try.” Saying so, he hopped a few times on one foot and said seriously, “I can walk.”

“You call that walking?”

“…”

Lin Rangchuan placed Lin Zhiyu’s arm around his own neck with one hand and put his other hand around the boy’s waist, lifting him easily.

Being so close reminded Lin Zhiyu of the scattered fragments from his drunkenness. Although blurred, the scent and temperature were real.

Lin Rangchuan asked tonelessly: “Do you want me to carry you on my back, or hold you?”

“Can’t we just walk like this?”

“No. It affects the aesthetic.”

“…”

In the end, he was carried on the man’s back. Lin Zhiyu was so afraid of being seen that he buried his face in the nape of Lin Rangchuan’s neck the whole time. The softness of his cheeks and lips was practically pressed against him.

Lin Zhiyu instantly felt the stiffness in Lin Rangchuan’s back, and it was getting stiffer.

Bad back? Or am I too heavy?

During the sports meet, the school infirmary was packed. There wasn’t even a place to sit. Lin Zhiyu was prepared to stand on one foot, but somehow Lin Rangchuan managed to get him a seat.

Not long after he sat down, Lin Rangchuan brought a school doctor over. After a cursory check of the sprain—not knowing where exactly it was twisted Lin Zhiyu suddenly sat bolt upright, his face a “mask of pain.”

Lin Rangchuan frowned deeply.

He walked over and pried Lin Zhiyu’s hands apart. “Don’t grab yourself. Grab me.”

Lin Zhiyu didn’t even hear him clearly; he only felt as if his whole body was under attack by pain. The doctor gave him some simple treatment and suggested he go to a major hospital for an X-ray to check for fractures.

As the doctor left, Lin Zhiyu felt like he’d lost half his life. He sat on the chair, his breathing quickening. Lin Rangchuan squatted in front of him and stroked the area a few times.

It felt a bit itchy. Lin Zhiyu looked down. Lin Rangchuan’s hand brushed over the injury. “It looks very painful.”

His tone made Lin Zhiyu feel as if it were Lin Rangchuan who was injured, not himself.

“It’s okay.” Now it didn’t feel that painful; perhaps the worst hadn’t kicked in yet.

Lin Zhiyu wanted to pull his foot back from the man’s palm, but he couldn’t move. He could only take a deep breath to make himself look less flustered.

Just as Lin Rangchuan looked up to say something, someone behind them called out.

“Senior Lin?”

Lin Rangchuan was easy to find—the handsomest, tallest, most melancholic one in the crowd. A girl walked over joyfully, but as she saw the scene before her, her eyes slowly widened.

The surrounding noise faded away, replaced by a dead silence.

Lin Rangchuan stood up. As his palm left, his fingertips brushed over Lin Zhiyu’s calf, making the muscle twitch slightly. Why are his fingers so long? They can even reach there.

Lin Rangchuan asked: “What is it?”

The girl’s gaze shifted between the two of them. Suppressing her gossip-hungry heart, she remembered the business at hand: “Um, the next event is about to start. Xiao Xuan can’t find you. We need to shoot some footage.”

Xiao Xuan was the girl from the photography department they were collaborating with.

Lin Rangchuan didn’t move. He stood in place, his hand gripped tightly by Lin Zhiyu, as if he were on a leash.

Lin Zhiyu only then realized that when the pain was at its peak, Lin Rangchuan had pried his hand open and let him squeeze the area between his thumb and forefinger; it was red now.

No wonder the girl’s look was so ambiguous. Lin Zhiyu tried to let go, but Lin Rangchuan held on even tighter.

“You go,” Lin Zhiyu said, seeing him unmoved. “I’m fine. I can handle it alone.”

“You need to go to the hospital.” Lin Rangchuan stood there straight as a pillar.

“I can go by myself. It’s not like I can’t call a cab. Go do your work.”

Lin Rangchuan’s grip was so tight his fingers were turning white. Lin Zhiyu saw the girl’s difficult expression and reasoned with him good-naturedly: “You promised someone; how can you quit halfway?”

Lin Rangchuan remained unmoved, his expression suggesting he couldn’t care less about other people’s problems; it was just a verbal agreement.

The girl was caught in the middle: “Senior Lin, if you don’t go, it’ll be hard for me to explain to the department head. We can’t find a replacement at short notice. The closing ceremony is this afternoon. Please!”

Lin Zhiyu was exasperated by the girl’s soft attitude and Lin Rangchuan’s rock-solid stubbornness. In a rare moment of urgency, he blurted out: “Just listen for once!”

Lin Rangchuan looked down at him. After a moment of silent eye contact, he let go: “Then I’ll go.”

Lin Zhiyu was stunned for a second: “Oh, okay. Then go.”

Once the two vanished from sight, Lin Zhiyu moved his stiff fingers. He leaned back somewhat uncomfortably; his foot really hurt.

After resting for a while, he called his counselor to ask for leave, saying he felt unwell and couldn’t attend the closing ceremony. He then reminded the class monitor to help him collect his prize money. Then, limping, he took the school shuttle out.

He took a cab to the hospital and got an X-ray. No bone damage, just a sprain. After all the fuss, Lin Zhiyu looked at his right foot, which was wrapped up like a zongzi (rice dumpling).

Perhaps it was psychological, but when he stood up and walked a few steps, it didn’t seem to hurt that much. Lin Zhiyu had been mischievous as a child and was prone to injury; sprains and scrapes were common.

It was just that today he had endured it for too long, and with Lin Rangchuan… it made him a bit unaccustomed.

[Brother Lin: Where are you?] [Xiao Yu: I caught a cab and I’m heading back. No need to come to the hospital.] [Brother Lin: Okay.]

Lin Zhiyu exited the chat and clicked on the Senior’s tab.

[Xiao Yu: I fell today.] [Xiao Yu: Did you notice at the scene?] [Xiao Yu: I thought you’d be worried about me, but I guess not.] [Senior: Isn’t there already someone by your side?]

The car arrived. Lin Zhiyu didn’t dare look at his phone for fear of getting motion sickness. He muttered, “So annoying.”

Unable to play on his phone, he could only watch the scenery outside the window and let his thoughts wander. The dim, hazy streetlights flickered across Lin Zhiyu’s clean face.

The window reflected his features. He thought about how every time Brother Lin was mentioned, the Senior would get quite unhappy.

Including this time.

He had heard of the theory of “exclusivity in friendship,” but his best friend since childhood, Yu Hechang, didn’t seem to have it, likely because Yu Hechang was a social butterfly.

It seemed the Senior was not a normal person.

This also provided a full explanation for his behavior during this period. Regardless, Lin Zhiyu didn’t think in the direction of him being gay; it seemed too unlikely.

And if Qin Rui found out… the consequences would be unimaginable.

Lin Zhiyu shuddered.

The taxi couldn’t turn into the alley of the rental house, so the driver dropped him off on the main street. Lin Zhiyu got out. He didn’t know when the streetlight in the alley had broken.

It had been flickering for the past few days, but now it was officially dead.

He could only take a flashlight out of his backpack a spare Lin Rangchuan had given him a few days ago.

It seemed Brother Lin was quite self-aware, knowing this trash streetlight would break sooner or later.

Lin Zhiyu’s night vision was poor. The broken light was dim enough as it was, and now with a sprained ankle, a five-minute walk was forced to feel infinitely long.

Lin Rangchuan had told him the flashlight’s highest setting could light up an entire road. Lin Zhiyu had tried it in the courtyard, and a neighbor in the other building opened their window and asked what was going on, thinking it was dawn.

After that, he only dared use the second setting. It was just right, but the range wasn’t large; it felt a bit like using a cane for the blind.

He leaned against the wall and walked carefully. He didn’t notice a huge black trash bag at his feet. As he passed, his foot got caught. His right foot couldn’t take the weight, and he panicked, his center of gravity shifting forward.

Snap. Someone grabbed his arm, preventing Lin Zhiyu from eating dirt.

He took a few deep breaths to steady himself. Just as he was about to turn his head, he smelled a familiar scent of tobacco—this time mixed with a slightly complex, unpleasant smell he couldn’t quite name.

But in this familiar aura, Lin Zhiyu felt an inexplicable sense of safety.

“Senior? Is that you?” Lin Zhiyu’s tone was full of surprise. He didn’t turn around, knowing the other person didn’t want to be seen.

The human heart reflects what it desires, so at this moment, Lin Zhiyu decided he was who he thought he was.

The grip on his arm tightened slightly. Lin Zhiyu didn’t turn back; he even turned off the flashlight. The person behind him then supported him as they moved slowly through the darkness-swallowed alley that seemed to have no end.

“Why are you here? Were you waiting for me? You haven’t been following me all day, have you?” Did the Senior see him almost get taken out by a trash bag and decide to walk with him?

No response.

Lin Zhiyu assumed he was just embarrassed.

He also gradually stopped speaking, walking slowly with the other’s support. This alley, which usually felt long, suddenly showed light—it was actually so short.

“Are you going back to the dorm? It’s past curfew. Do you want to…” Lin Zhiyu was about to ask if he wanted to stay over, but he remembered it wasn’t his house; he had no say.

At the door, there was no light. Usually, Lin Rangchuan would leave a light on in the courtyard. Had he not returned? There was no light coming from the windows either.

Getting no response, Lin Zhiyu felt a bit stifled. He turned around, and his eyes were covered. It was the texture of fine skin, with rough calluses on the palm.

From the other’s perspective, the faint moonlight outlined the contours of the lower half of Lin Zhiyu’s face—soft and exquisite. His lips were a pale red, and his Adam’s apple bobbed slightly.

“Did you finish your painting?”

“No.”

Lin Zhiyu pursed his lips, looking very unhappy. He pressed his lips so hard that a dimple appeared: “Christmas is my birthday. You know that now, right?”

The Senior looked down at him.

“Let’s set that as the day.”

The Senior gradually lowered his hand. Lin Zhiyu kept his eyes closed, his Adam’s apple bobbing nervously.

“Come meet me,” Lin Zhiyu said.