Roommate Won't Spoil His Pretty Boyfriend? Fine, I'll Do It - Chapter 9

The issue with the model was basically sorted out. Even if Qin Quan could pull strings within the modeling circle to make things difficult for him, it was impossible for him to bribe every single qualified amateur.

Planning to head home and sort out the model audition process, he prepared to leave.

Ye Qinfan pulled him back, acting coquettishly once more, “Niannian, can’t you sleep here? I’ll hold you, we’ll squeeze in and there’s enough room.”

Mu Nian’s mouth twitched. He wasn’t out of his mind; how could he possibly abandon his two-meter-wide bed at home to squeeze into such a tiny hospital bed with Ye Qinfan? “Is your brain damaged? This is a hospital, not a place for flirting. Pay your own discharge fees tomorrow and check yourself out; I’m leaving first.”

Ye Qinfan had no choice but to bid Mu Nian an extremely reluctant farewell.

Mu Nian drove home, scanned his fingerprint, turned on the lights, and changed his shoes as usual. After casually tossing his bag onto the sofa, he grabbed the edge of his clothes and pulled off the wool sweater he was wearing.

The apartment door gave a crisp click. Bai Shijin was standing at the guest room doorway, taking in the entire process of Mu Nian undressing.

Mu Nian’s skin possessed a soft, pale pink hue, the exposed flesh glowing faintly with fine down under the light. His waist and abdomen were slender and narrow, with well-defined lines.

Bai Shijin’s breathing instantly grew hot and chaotic, marking the very first time he found a man’s body so attractive.

Being a gay man himself, Mu Nian felt somewhat uncomfortable being stared at with such intense focus by a handsome guy, so he quickly slipped into his loungewear. “Sorry, I’m used to being alone and forgot there’s someone else at home. Did I wake you up?”

“No.” Bai Shijin lowered his eyelashes and gave a soft cough. “I couldn’t sleep.”

In truth, he had been waiting for Mu Nian to return.

With such a prime opportunity to be alone with Mu Nian, how could he possibly waste it on something as useless as sleeping?

Mu Nian let out an oh, took out his phone, and said, “That’s perfect then. I haven’t eaten yet. Are you hungry? Should I order some takeout for us to share?”

“Do you usually just eat takeout?”

“Yeah, takeout is delicious,” Mu Nian said with a smile, “and convenient.”

Bai Shijin was quite domineering. “We’re not eating that today. Is there anything in the house? I’ll cook for you.”

Mu Nian blinked. “You know how to cook? Qinfan doesn’t even know how.”

That boyfriend of his, Ye Qinfan, really was useless and completely incompetent.

Bai Shijin pressed his lower lip together, his tone nonchalant. “Yeah. Want to try?”

“Alright.” Mu Nian pointed him toward the kitchen. “Use whatever you want in there. I’ll be waiting.”

“Okay.”

Bai Shijin rolled up his sleeves and headed to the kitchen. Meanwhile, Mu Nian opened his laptop on the sofa to handle some work. From his angle, a single glance allowed him to see the frosted glass silhouette outlining Bai Shijin’s deeply reassuring back.

An idea struck Mu Nian. He picked up the second edition of the un-cut clothing design drafts, holding them up against the light to overlap with Bai Shijing’s silhouette.

It was a seamless fit.

His breathing paused for a moment. Before him stood what seemed to be a ready-made model.

Bai Shijin cooked quickly, clearly doing it often. Even in an unfamiliar kitchen, he managed to whip up three dishes and a soup.

He placed the bowls and chopsticks on the table while Mu Nian was still busy.

Afraid the food would get cold, Bai Shijin called out, “Mr. Mu, come eat.”

Mu Nian snapped out of his trance from the computer screen, replied with an okay, and picked up his iPad as he walked over to the dining table. Just a few steps in, he caught the appetizing aroma.

“This is amazing. Just these dishes would take me three days to figure out.”

Without stinting on his praise, Mu Nian scooped a spoonful of tender tofu into his mouth.

Watching him take a bite, Bai Shijin asked nervously, “How is it?”

Mu Nian nodded in appreciation. “Delicious. When I was your age, all I knew how to make was instant ramen. Who taught you all this?”

“I taught myself,” Bai Shijin said. “My mom was very busy. I learned to cook by myself when I was in elementary school.”

“That’s so tough.” Mu Nian let out a slight sigh. “Being sensible at such a young age is no good thing at all; it’s a failure on the parents’ part.”

Bai Shijin listened quietly. What Mu Nian said differed somewhat from the upbringing he had received since childhood.

His mother had always nagged at him, telling him he needed to be more obedient and mature than other children, and that he had to grow up quickly so he could shoulder the burden of the family, as she was depending entirely on him.

Yet Mu Nian was saying that becoming sensible too early was not a good thing.

He attributed this cooking skill of his to parental failure rather than praising him for being more capable than his peers.

Bai Shijin smiled faintly and picked up a piece of meat, placing it in Mu Nian’s bowl.

The gesture was so natural that Mu Nian failed to notice anything amiss for the moment.

As he sipped his soup, he tilted his head to write and sketch on his iPad.

Sitting across from him, Bai Shijin couldn’t make out what was on the screen, but his heart ached in waves.

Did Mu Nian always live like this? Having no time to cook, forced to rely on takeout, handling work while eating, and then giving all the hard-earned money to that useless boyfriend, Ye Qinfan?

Mu Nian, what was the point of it all?

Bai Shijin raised his hand, his well-proportioned fingertips entering Mu Nian’s field of vision before pressing the screen of the iPad to turn it off.

“Mr. Mu, eat your food.”

“Oh, right.”

Mu Nian set the iPad aside and chewed the porridge in his mouth carefully. “Stop calling me Mr. every other word; it sounds too distant. Just call me Brother Mu.”

Bai Shijin nodded, looking very well-behaved. “Okay, Brother Mu.”

Mu Nian was trying to figure out how to tactfully bring up the idea of having Bai Shijin come to the company for an audition. Choosing a relatively smooth opening, he asked, “By the way, Shijin, how long are you?”

Bai Shijin was slightly taken aback. “I’ve never measured.”

“Never measured?” That stumped Mu Nian. Weren’t boys their age extremely concerned about their height? Bai Shijin looked like he was approaching 190 centimeters, and he had never measured?

“Just estimate it then. Roughly how long?”

The tips of Bai Shijin’s ears turned red. He felt quite awkward, but still answered, “Nineteen to twenty-one, I guess.”

“Nineteen to twenty-one?” Mu Nian knitted his brows in confusion, not understanding what that numerical value had to do with height.

Just as he swallowed a mouthful of porridge, he suddenly froze, the food getting stuck in his throat. “Cough, cough, cough! Cough, cough, cough!”

Panicking slightly, Bai Shijin pulled out a few tissues and stood up to wipe the corner of Mu Nian’s mouth. “Brother Mu, are you alright? Drink slowly.”

Mu Nian took the tissues from Bai Shijing’s hand and said softly, “I’m fine, sorry.”

With a reddish tint blooming near his temples, he explained, “When I asked how long, that’s just slang from my hometown. It means how tall.”

The living room fell into a sudden silence. Bai Shijin wished he could dig a hole and crawl into it.

He must have been out of his mind to say something like that.

Even using his toes to think, he knew Mu Nian wouldn’t ask him such a private question.

Pressing his lips tightly together, Bai Shijin took a long moment before answering, “One hundred eighty-seven centimeters.”

“Oh, oh.”

Mu Nian laughed awkwardly.

The atmosphere suddenly turned bizarre. Both of them felt rather awkward and stopped speaking.

After Mu Nian finished eating, Bai Shijin proactively washed the dishes and wiped the table. Watching Bai Shijin’s busy figure, Mu Nian felt a warmth in his heart as drowsiness began to take over.

Bai Shijin deliberately observed Mu Nian for a moment. Seeing that he had left both his laptop and iPad in the living room before heading into the bedroom, he finally let out a sigh of relief.

It was already four in the morning. If he kept working, he wouldn’t be sleeping at all tonight.

Before entering his room, Mu Nian heard Bai Shijin say in a deep, low voice, “Brother Mu, goodnight.”

It was only after lying down in bed that Mu Nian remembered he had forgotten to ask if Bai Shijin had time to come to his company for an audition.

He opened the class schedule Ye Qinfan had sent him earlier and took a look. A sophomore’s schedule was quite packed; even if Bai Shijin passed the audition, he might not necessarily have time for fittings, site scouting, or rehearsals.

Mu Nian sighed and dismissed the thought.