Once the friendship of dining companions was established, it was hard to turn back.
For more than a month afterward, whenever there was class during the second period in the morning, Xie Heng would have lunch with Ji Mian, occasionally joined by Jia Wenbo.
By November, Xie Heng had completely grown accustomed to having Ji Mian around. The main reason was that Ji Mian always had a way of making those around him feel relaxed.
On this Tuesday, a message popped up in the family group chat of the Xie family.
【Listen to Dad】: It’s getting colder lately; are you dressed warmly enough?
Xie Heng was still in class.
He glanced at his thin shirt, which was the only one he had, and shamelessly replied:
【Xie Heng】: It’s quite warm.
【Listen to Dad】: Have you found a place to live?
Upon seeing this message, Xie Heng’s fingers paused, and he suddenly remembered something. He opened the chat history from September and found the message asking, “Are you just going to stay for one month?”
That was a message from mid-September, and now it was already November.
Since his mother had mentioned letting him stay for another month, it had already been more than two weeks past the original date.
Xie Heng: …
Living in the dorm was quite comfortable, which led him to forget about the matter of renting a place.
Now Xie Heng felt that living in the dorm wasn’t bad at all, especially since he had been assigned a very nice one.
In terms of hygiene, Ji Mian had a cleanliness obsession, and Xie Heng also liked to keep things tidy. The whole dorm was just a bit messy due to Chen Xu, but under the influence of the others, he would keep his own area organized.
As for their living habits, with Ji Mian acting like a caring "mom," the dorm’s order was quite good. Chen Xu had previously played games loudly at night, but after Ji Mian couldn’t stand it anymore and pulled his hair out of frustration a couple of times in the middle of the night, he had been much more restrained.
But good as it was, having personal space was still different from communal living.
【Xie Heng】: Still looking. It’ll be soon.
...
Xie Heng had a strong sense of initiative. Once he decided to do something, he would immediately start preparing with high efficiency.
After deciding to move out, he contacted several landlords that very night to schedule viewing times.
In the following two days, he went off-campus to look at several places when he had no classes, and after comparing them, he settled on a two-bedroom, two-living-room apartment.
That Friday, Xie Heng didn’t return to the dorm for lunch and instead went straight out to sign the rental contract.
After finishing his last class around six o'clock, he returned to the dorm.
There was no evening self-study on Fridays, so while his roommates were present, Xie Heng announced that he would be moving out.
Everyone had already heard him mention this before, so they weren’t particularly surprised by the news.
“Do you need help with the move?” Chen Xu casually asked.
In light of Ji Mian's overly enthusiastic character, “Do you need help?” had become one of the top five common phrases in their dorm.
“No need, I don’t have much stuff,” Xie Heng replied, adding, “Thank you.”
Since Ji Mian often sat next to Xie Heng in class, he had learned about his house-hunting from a few days ago and was the first in the dorm to know that Xie Heng would be moving this week.
Even so, hearing Xie Heng formally announce that he was leaving still made him feel a twinge of reluctance.
“...You’re leaving tomorrow?” he asked, sitting sideways, arms resting on the back of the chair, knowing the answer but asking anyway.
In the dorm, Chen Xu was already on a voice chat playing games, while Jia Wenbo was listening to music with headphones.
Though there were four people, at this moment, only Ji Mian’s voice could be heard by Xie Heng.
The sense of loss in Ji Mian's tone felt like a secret meant only for him.
The atmosphere suddenly became strange.
Despite having only spent two months together, there was an inexplicable sense of melancholy, as if a senior had vacated his bed and left the dorm for good.
Xie Heng pressed his lips together and quietly replied, “Mm.”
After answering, he suddenly realized that his response had been light, muffled, and... a bit too gentle.
Xie Heng: …
He disdainfully cursed himself in his mind, cleared his throat, and explained, “I’ll keep the bed for now; I might come back to stay sometimes.”
“Oh...” After the change in phrasing, Ji Mian immediately felt less reluctant.
The feeling of returning occasionally was different from the sense of leaving forever.
He said, “If you’re keeping the bed, won’t you have to pay extra accommodation fees every semester?”
Xie Heng replied, “Let’s keep it for now. Having a bed in the dorm is convenient; if it doesn’t work out, I can always cancel next semester.”
The accommodation fee at A University wasn’t expensive; it was four hundred yuan per semester, which wasn’t much for Xie Heng’s financial capacity. Moreover, he didn’t want to leave the dorm immediately.
At eight o'clock, Ji Mian, as usual, got up and went out to play basketball.
Xie Heng had packed up half of his things when he noticed this and stopped.
He shoved his headphones and phone into his pocket. “I’m going for a run. Want to come?”
The two went out together.
When they reached the entrance of the playground, Ji Mian spotted a slow-moving figure walking by the roadside. The person was wearing a thick beige coat, but as the late autumn evening breeze blew in, he shivered and pulled his neck into the coat.
Song Yu had a distinctive aura that was easy to recognize.
Ji Mian had been coming out to play basketball every night for the past two or three months since the semester began, and this was the first time he had seen Song Yu in the evening.
He wanted to catch up with him, but he was also worried that Xie Heng beside him would find it annoying.
【Affection Level +30, Contributor: Xie Heng.】
Ji Mian turned his head and met Xie Heng's gaze.
Before he could think of something to say, Xie Heng spoke first: “I’m going in first.”
“Oh... okay.”
Ji Mian watched as Xie Heng entered the playground, then put on his headphones and headed directly to the track.
He averted his gaze and jogged to the small path on the other side of the playground.
Song Yu was walking very slowly, and Ji Mian caught up to him in less than half a minute.
When he was about three or four meters away, Ji Mian stopped to catch his breath before calling out to the person in front: “Song Yu.”
Song Yu turned around, and a look of confusion transformed into a hint of surprise upon seeing Ji Mian.
Ji Mian took a few steps forward and walked alongside him. “Out for a walk?”
“Mm.”
“I rarely see you around here.”
“I don’t really like... exercising,” Song Yu admitted, feeling a bit embarrassed.
He had been somewhat diligent in his studies but was quite lazy at other times. Because of his lack of physical activity, he hadn’t done well in gym class during high school.
In the months leading up to the college entrance exam, he fell seriously ill due to a lack of exercise and the stress of preparing for the exam.
Afterward, it was He Chang who dragged him to the playground every night, leading him to run laps on the track, which finally improved his physical fitness a bit.
But once the exam was over, and he broke up with He Chang, his true nature returned.
Ji Mian felt regretful; the main character didn’t like sports, which meant they had one less common topic to talk about.
He asked next, “What about video games?”
“I don’t play them either.”
“What do you usually do then?”
“Read books or watch movies,” Song Yu replied.
The reason he was out tonight was simply that he didn’t want to stay in the dorm.
On Fridays, there was no evening self-study, and He Zhikai had been playing games loudly in the dorm since he got back from class, cursing a lot when he got frustrated.
At the beginning of the semester, He Zhikai had been very focused on his studies, going to the library on weekends and even asking the other members of the dorm to keep quiet during non-rest hours because it would affect his studying.
But just over two months had passed, and he had turned into the lazy version of himself, even starting to skip classes.
Ji Mian nodded but couldn’t help but add, looking at Song Yu's somewhat fatigued face, “Staying cooped up can easily make you feel down.”
This was advice born from experience. In his previous life, he had been stuck in a hospital room or his bedroom due to health issues, making it hard for him to lift his spirits.
Song Yu forced a smile.
He wasn’t feeling down because he was cooped up; on the contrary, he wanted to stay in the dorm because he was feeling down.
After breaking up with He Chang, various emotions had been bottled up inside him, which over time had turned into a blade that tortured him.
He looked up and saw the warm expression in Ji Mian's eyes, the earring in his left ear glinting softly, suddenly feeling an inexplicable sense of trust, even he couldn’t explain.
“I... just broke up with my ex.” As soon as he said it, Song Yu was surprised by his own impulsiveness.
Fearing that Ji Mian would look at him strangely, he chose the term “ex” instead of “ex-boyfriend.”
Ji Mian was momentarily stunned, surprised that Song Yu would take the initiative to bring it up.
“When did it happen?”
“About two months ago.”
Ji Mian paused for a moment.
After a while, he softly said, “Breaking up is really hard. It’s like... quitting smoking? The first little while is always tough, but over time, once you get through the withdrawal symptoms, it gets much better.”
“Is that so? Can you forget about him after some time?”
Ji Mian smiled and gave a vague answer: “Maybe.”
For some reason, hearing his answer made Song Yu feel oddly calm.
“Do you want to play some basketball? It’s a great way to heal from a breakup.”
Song Yu bit his lip, unable to respond.
Seeing him hesitate, Ji Mian added, “We don’t have to play with others; just us. I’ll teach you.”
This wasn’t a tactic to pursue Song Yu; Ji Mian genuinely wanted to help him out.
He heard Song Yu reply:
“Okay.”
—
Xie Heng had been running for quite a while that night, and it was almost 9:30, near the closing time of the playground.
He wasn’t sure if Ji Mian had gone into the playground later on, but after a moment of thought, he decided to check at the iron fence between the basketball court and the track.
Xie Heng quickly spotted two people in front of the far-right hoop. It wasn’t hard to find them; most of the people in the open-air court had dispersed, leaving only Ji Mian and Song Yu, with seven or eight senior boys still gathered in the middle playing.
The boy with Ji Mian clearly hadn’t played much basketball, appearing a bit clumsy while shooting. Ji Mian would occasionally help him correct his form, patiently and tirelessly.
Finally, the boy named Song Yu managed to sink a shot and smiled brightly.
Men, with men.
Watching this scene, Xie Heng felt inexplicably uncomfortable.
He frowned.
Sure enough, it was still hard to get used to seeing two guys being so close.
He thought to himself, but his gaze didn’t leave, peering through the iron fence at the spirited youth on the court.
【Affection Level +100, Contributor: Xie Heng.】
Ji Mian paused his dribbling and turned to look towards the iron fence, and as expected, he saw a vague tall figure in the darkness outside.
Checking the time again, he realized it was quite late.
“Are you leaving?” Seeing Ji Mian checking his watch, Song Yu asked.
“Mm, it’s time.”
After exiting the court, Ji Mian walked towards Xie Heng. “Have you been waiting long?”
“No, I just finished running.”
Ji Mian nodded and said, “This is Song Yu. Song Yu, this is Xie Heng, my roommate.”
Xie Heng met Song Yu’s gaze behind Ji Mian, giving a slight nod as a greeting before slowly shifting his gaze away.
【Affection Level +60, Contributor: Xie Heng.】
Ji Mian's expression faltered slightly, feeling something was off.
How was it so easy to gain Xie Heng’s affection points...?
The playground's administrator came over to kick them out, saying it was time to close, so they all left the court.
Once outside, Song Yu awkwardly said, “I’m going to the supermarket. You guys can head back.”
After saying that, he discreetly glanced at Xie Heng, who was standing at the edge.
Being with Ji Mian made him feel relaxed, but this person... had too strong of a presence. It felt somewhat pressuring.
“Ah,” Ji Mian replied, “I want to go too. What about you, Xie Heng?”
“Not going.” Xie Heng lowered his eyes, uninterested.
“Then I’ll go with Song Yu?”
“Mm.”
Ji Mian followed Song Yu, but after a few steps, he suddenly turned around and made a gesture of praying for forgiveness with his hands toward Xie Heng, who he felt he had abandoned. The action seemed oddly cute coming from him.
A fleeting hint of a smile crossed Xie Heng's eyes, barely noticeable.
Wasn’t it normal to choose to walk with someone you liked, regardless of whether Ji Mian was buying something?
Moreover, they hadn’t agreed to go back together in the first place, so it couldn’t be said that Ji Mian prioritized romance over friendship.
As Xie Heng pondered this, he suddenly raised his foot and lightly kicked a stone at the edge of the road.
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