My Roommate is a Gloomy, Sensitive Guy Who Cries Over Everything - Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Idiot

Seeing that Brother Lin didn’t need help, Lin Zhiyu went back to his room to chat with the Senior.

He was a person with a strong desire to share. Before long, he had filled an entire page with chat bubbles—a long string of green boxes, all him talking.

【Senior: You’re so cute.】

Lin Zhiyu’s cheeks suddenly flushed. Wait, he typed so many words, and all the Senior said was “you’re so cute”???

【Little Fish: What do you mean?】

【Senior: You don’t even fight back when you’re bullied.】

【Little Fish: I just think fighting is wrong. Besides, making a scene in someone else’s shop is unethical. You have to pay for damaging public property. 「Clenched little fist.jpg」】

That last bit about paying money was the real point.

【Senior: Such a good boy.】

【Senior: You won’t have to do the fighting in the future.】

【Senior: I can protect you.】

Lin Zhiyu curled his lips. They hadn’t even met, yet he was talking about protecting him. Still, seeing such heartwarming words made him very happy.

【Little Fish: Then thank you in advance, Senior! (fist bump)】

The Senior replied with a yellow smiley face emoji.

Lin Zhiyu often felt the Senior was someone who knew how to be sarcastic, but later realized he might just simply like using that yellow smiley face.

Since knowing the Senior, Lin Zhiyu had never seen him post on his Moments—it was just a single horizontal line—and he rarely talked about his own affairs.

But Lin Zhiyu didn’t mind. He was a chatterbox; once he started, he could jump through two or three different topics in a row.

【Little Fish: So, the Senior didn’t come to see me today. Are you busy?】

【Senior: A little.】

【Little Fish: What are you doing right now?】

【Senior: Getting ready to shower.】

Lin Zhiyu nodded at the screen, then realized something wasn’t right. His smile gradually faded as he got up and peeked through the crack in his door. From this angle, he could see the bathroom door—it was closed, and the light was on.

Ah? What a coincidence.

But Lin Zhiyu still didn’t think too much of it. Instead, he thought of another issue.

【Little Fish: Brother Lin’s hand is cut.】

【Senior: I know.】

【Little Fish: It’s inconvenient to do anything with a hurt hand.】

【Senior: It’s convenient.】

Lin Zhiyu wanted to say more.

【Senior: You care about him a lot.】

【Little Fish: Of course, he got hurt protecting me and my friend.】

【Senior: Then take care of him for me.】

Lin Zhiyu held his phone and thought for a moment. He felt like Brother Lin didn’t really need his care—he still wasn’t allowed in the kitchen—but he still typed back a dry “Okay, I’ll try my best.”

The topic jumped again.

【Little Fish: You can chat while showering?】

【Senior: Haven’t started yet, just preparing myself.】

Oh~ Understood.

Shower procrastination. Lin Zhiyu had those moments too—even after stripping, he’d have to play with his phone for a bit before slowly getting into the shower.

【Senior: Are you getting along well with your roommate?】

【Little Fish: Pretty well.】

【Senior: I thought it was ‘especially’ well.】

Lin Zhiyu felt caught in the middle. He wasn’t sure what the extent of the relationship between the Senior and Brother Lin was.

【Little Fish: I can work on being better friends with him.】

He thought this was a perfect answer, but unexpectedly:

【Senior: Don’t. I’ll get angry.】

【Senior: You can only be good with me.】

Lin Zhiyu’s eyelashes fluttered. Confused, he asked why.

【Senior: I don’t like other people.】

【Senior: You’re different from others. Even your sweat is fragrant.】

“…” Where is the logic in that?

Lin Zhiyu laughed at the nonsense. He remembered back in high school, coming back from PE class—when the boys gathered and the windows were closed, that smell… no human could stand it.

【Little Fish: No, no, no. You’ve never smelled me, how would you know?】

【Senior: yellow smiley face.jpg】

Lin Zhiyu: “…” Every time this emoji appeared, the chat atmosphere instantly turned into Silent Hill. He really wondered if the Senior’s social life in the real world was particularly bad.

【Little Fish: Aren’t you going to shower yet?】

【Senior: It’s almost over.】

Lin Zhiyu didn’t know what “almost over” meant, so he just replied casually.

【Little Fish: School is starting soon. Have you been busy lately?】

【Senior: A bit. I’ve taken on a few commissions recently.】

【Little Fish: Are you a graphic designer?】

【Senior: An artist.】

【Little Fish: Wow, you’re amazing! You can draw! What type of art do you usually take on?】

【Senior: Anything. I don’t take them if I have no inspiration.】

【Senior: I have a lot of inspiration when chatting with you.】

【Senior: So you have to talk to me more.】

【Little Fish: Sure, I’ll talk to you~】

Since moving into the rental, the Senior had become increasingly dependent on him. Reporting his whereabouts wasn’t enough; he wanted to chat every day.

Lin Zhiyu suddenly felt very busy. He had to help take care of Brother Lin, chat frequently with the Senior, and he still had his part-time job…

…

The next morning, with only one day left before school started, Lin Zhiyu jumped out of bed and drew a circle on his calendar. It was a New Year’s edition calendar; he couldn’t bear to throw it away, so he kept using it.

He changed clothes and headed out, carrying his cleaned uniform apron. He saw Brother Lin already sitting at the dining table with breakfast that was likely bought from outside.

Lin Zhiyu bit into a piece of toast and said indistinctly, “Brother Lin, it’s the end of the month. Let’s settle the food expenses for the past half month, and I’ll send you the rent together with it.”

Lin Rangchuan watched him put on the apron and tie the bow. His narrow waist was suddenly cinched, and his small belly showed a slight curve in the front.

He kept staring.

Receiving no response, Lin Zhiyu turned around. Lin Rangchuan gave a faint reply.

As he was about to leave, remembering the Senior’s instructions, Lin Zhiyu tucked his keys into his apron pocket. The caterpillar-shaped keychain poked out, dangling and swaying.

“Brother Lin, try to order takeout for lunch, don’t cook.” Lin Zhiyu felt the apron was too tight and gave it a shake. “Tell me what you want for dinner, and I’ll go buy it.”

Lin Rangchuan stared at his face, feeling like he was drowning. “Your waistline is very nice. It fits the golden ratio.”

It was especially seductive.

Lin Zhiyu froze. Hearing the first part, he thought the guy was being a creep, but the second part sounded very formal.

He gave a forced laugh. “It’s alright, I guess.”

…

Arriving at the shop today, only Jiang Xinran was there. Lin Zhiyu naturally took over the work. “Is Qin Rui not here?”

“He was picked up.” Jiang Xinran had an expression full of pink bubbles. “He probably won’t be back until tomorrow.”

Lin Zhiyu didn’t understand. Before he could ask anything, the door was pushed open and someone walked in.

Yu Hechang poked his head in cautiously, his face full of frustration. “I’m saying, it’s one day. There’s only one day left before school starts. Is this really necessary? You still have to come to work today.”

He had originally wanted to find Lin Zhiyu to wander around the neighborhood and enjoy the last of their free time, after all, military training was about to start.

“Why wouldn’t I come? I’m very free today,” Lin Zhiyu clearly didn’t understand.

“You could sleep last night?” Yu Hechang had lived his whole life in an era of peace. Honestly, he had been scared by the scene last night and hadn’t slept much, but that didn’t stop him from coming to play with Lin Zhiyu.

Aren’t college students supposed to be like this?

Lin Zhiyu: “At this age, I can sleep.”

“…” This was exactly why Lin Zhiyu could always maintain high energy. His sleep quality was incredibly good. He wasn’t picky about beds either; he could fall asleep within five seconds of touching the pillow, unless he was sick.

So if he didn’t do some work during the day, he would actually suffer from insomnia.

With this endless “ox-like” energy every day, Yu Hechang felt he was like a certain breed of dog.

“You’re a born workhorse; you’re meant to earn money.” Yu Hechang sat down heavily and made eye contact with Jiang Xinran, who was wiping tables. The two fell silent for a moment.

Lin Zhiyu sharply introduced them. Jiang Xinran was older than both of them and said with a smile, “Oh, so you’re Little Fish’s friend. Let me treat you to a milk tea. We don’t have much of anything else here, but we have plenty of milk tea.”

Yu Hechang became shy. “Thank you, Big Sister.”

Lin Zhiyu saw him acting all polite and felt like rolling his eyes.

The morning was busy with food prep. By noon, orders started trickling in. Yu Hechang just sat there playing games until lunch. Jiang Xinran ordered takeout for herself, while the two boys went out to eat—Lin Zhiyu’s way of making up for not being able to hang out with Yu Hechang.

When the dishes were served, Yu Hechang was about to move his chopsticks when Lin Zhiyu blocked him. “Let me take a photo to report to the Senior.”

Yu Hechang put down his chopsticks in exasperation. “Do you know? I feel like you’re reporting to a girlfriend right now.”

Lin Zhiyu looked at him.

Yu Hechang quickly corrected himself. “No, wait. A boyfriend.”

“Why are you two internet friends being so ambiguous? What’s going on?”

Lin Zhiyu argued righteously, “This isn’t ‘ambiguity.’ This is called giving the Senior ‘inspiration’.”

Yu Hechang: “?”

But Lin Zhiyu didn’t say anything more. He had to protect the Senior’s privacy, even from his childhood friend.

In the afternoon, Yu Hechang was called back to handle some business. Since he had arrived early, he was caught by the counselor—even as a freshman, it was unavoidable.

Lin Zhiyu watched him leave with deep sympathy.

In the late afternoon, Qin Rui returned, his face as black as ink. It was unclear what had happened.

Jiang Xinran raised an eyebrow slightly. “I thought you wouldn’t be back until tomorrow.”

Lin Zhiyu didn’t even give him a glance until Qin Rui came out in his apron, suddenly looked at him, and let out a long sigh of relief.

“It’s so good to be a straight man.”

Lin Zhiyu: “…”

Jiang Xinran explained from the side, “A guy is chasing him. So, it’s a ‘he chases, I flee’ situation. Young Master Qin can only suffer by coming to the countryside to ‘experience life’.”

Lin Zhiyu: “……………” Okay, my ‘straight man’ persona must be locked in tight.

Because school started tomorrow, many students showed up. The shop was very busy and understaffed. The three of them were so tired they didn’t even want to talk. The shop manager eventually came over and told them to get off work early.

Lin Zhiyu was tired but fulfilled. After work, he drank milk tea while heading to the wet market. He bought some cooked food and went to the pharmacy to buy some common medical supplies and gauze. That was about enough.

The walk from the market to the rental was short. There were no shared bikes in this area, so walking was the most convenient way.

On the way, Lin Zhiyu received a message from Yu Hechang.

【Our class is having a freshman gathering. Can you come?】 【I’m all alone, I don’t know anyone. Please accompany me.】 【Little Fish: Is it okay if I don’t go?】 【Shitting Smoothly: It seems not great… the counselor is here, and some other seniors. There are quite a lot of people.】 【Little Fish: Fine, then you have to wait for me.】 【Shitting Smoothly: OK.】

By the time he got back, it was already dark. However, when Lin Zhiyu entered the house, he found the lights were off. He could vaguely see a small spark on the balcony and smelled a faint scent of cigarette smoke.

Lin Zhiyu turned on the light with one hand. With a snap, the room was instantly brightly lit. He looked at Lin Rangchuan, who was standing there catching the breeze, with a confused face.

The two stared at each other in a tacit, quiet moment.

“I thought you weren’t coming back.” Lin Rangchuan turned around and walked over. The light swept across his eyes—a bottomless black.

Like the mouth of an abyss, it seemed to swallow the beautiful, startled young boy before him.

“Why is your apron loose?” His tone sounded regretful.

Lin Zhiyu felt his scalp tingle under that locked-in gaze. “Got off late, and buying things took up more time.” He tugged at the apron.

Lin Rangchuan didn’t say anything, just walked closer and took the heavy plastic bags from his hands—he had bought a lot of groceries.

Suddenly being so close, Lin Zhiyu saw his exposed collarbones. His heart skipped a beat. He looked up and noticed the corners of Lin Rangchuan’s eyes were a bit red.

There was still a faint smell of cigarettes on him. Maybe he hadn’t smoked much, so it wasn’t unpleasant. Lin Zhiyu rubbed his palms and followed him into the kitchen.

“Brother Lin, I’m not eating here tonight. Xiao He has a gathering, and I have to go with him.” Lin Zhiyu leaned against the kitchen door like a gecko. “Remember to eat tonight. You don’t really have to cook; there’s cooked food. Put the leftovers in the fridge and wait for me to come back.”

For some reason, after Lin Zhiyu finished speaking, he felt the air freeze. Lin Rangchuan didn’t say a word, but Yu Hechang was already nudging him on his phone.

“Then I’m… leaving.”

Just as Lin Zhiyu turned around, his apron was suddenly caught by a finger. His waist was pulled tight. He turned back, stunned.

Lin Rangchuan’s eyes were dark, his voice low and cold. “My hand hurts.”

He was using his injured hand to pull on the clothes.

The worry in Lin Zhiyu’s eyes couldn’t be hidden. He instinctively said, “Then let’s go to the hospital. I won’t go to the gathering.”

The moment he turned around, the curve at the corner of Lin Rangchuan’s mouth couldn’t be concealed. He then coldly darkened his expression.

Idiot. An idiot who gets moved by just a few words.