Chapter 22

Zhu Yu had something to say again.

Those bright, round eyes couldn’t hide anything. He sat across from Bai Chen, occasionally glancing up at him, as if he wanted to speak but held back.

His dark pupils shimmered with hesitant light.

Bai Chen said, “Xiao Yu.”

Zhu Yu looked up, “What is it?”

“This question should be for you,” Bai Chen replied, his face unchanged, with the same gentle warmth in his eyes, “Is there something you want to tell me?”

Zhu Yu lowered his long lashes. After a few seconds, he raised his head again and met Bai Chen’s gaze, “Senior Brother, I’m about to make an unreasonable request.”

“You have to bear with it,” Zhu Yu said, his tone serious.

Bai Chen set down his chopsticks.

He decided to act first, “Xiao Yu, let me make one thing clear, we’re not sleeping in the same bed.”

It seemed that what Zhu Yu had said in the morning about their relationship being close enough to sleep in the same bed had made an impact on Bai Chen.

Zhu Yu waved his hand, speaking seriously, “No way! I won’t force you into a ‘locked-in’ situation!”

“Then go ahead, I should be able to bear it,” Bai Chen said calmly.

Zhu Yu lowered his voice, “Is your room big?”

Bai Chen replied with certainty, “You still want to sleep with me.”

Zhu Yu felt like his mouth was working against him. He had to speak upfront, but then his words were quickly followed by explanations.

He also felt like, compared to when they first met, Bai Chen seemed to have developed more of a playful side.

“No!” Zhu Yu slammed his chopsticks down on the table and quickly stood up.

His face was filled with a sense of being wrongly accused, and he explained, “I’m an upright, good young man!”

Bai Chen chuckled, not saying anything. As soon as Zhu Yu heard him laugh, he realized Bai Chen was teasing him on purpose.

Zhu Yu hurriedly sat back down, “I don’t want to sleep with you.”

“You know I can’t wake up in the morning, right?” Zhu Yu continued, “I’ve thought of a solution.”

“I’ll sleep on the floor in your room, and when you get up, you can just call me…”

“If you’re not used to us sharing a room, I can sleep on your couch!” Zhu Yu raised a finger, then added, “This is the only way I can think of to wake up early.”

After hearing this, Bai Chen sighed.

He could tell that Zhu Yu must have been at a loss and had come up with this idea as a last resort.

“I won’t make a mess in your house,” Zhu Yu promised.

Bai Chen’s voice was gentle, “If this is the solution you’ve come up with, I’ll cooperate with you.”

“Really?!” Zhu Yu’s eyes lit up, his dark pupils sparkling brightly.

Undoubtedly, Zhu Yu was happy, but as his joy settled, he began to feel strange about it. This feeling started when Bai Chen seemed to agree with everything Zhu Yu asked or thought.

Bai Chen seemed like someone who wouldn’t refuse.

So, whatever Zhu Yu said, thought, or requested, Bai Chen would agree to.

It wasn’t just with Zhu Yu” this was likely a result of Bai Chen’s personality.

Ever since that afternoon when Zhu Yu discovered that Bai Chen had done the entire group assignment by himself, Zhu Yu began to have doubts.

Zhu Yu bit his lip, thinking that Bai Chen should consider it carefully before agreeing.

Maybe at night, he would talk in his sleep, snore, grind his teeth, or even sleepwalk.

But before Zhu Yu could speak, Bai Chen said, “Really.”

“Don’t you want to think about it?” Zhu Yu asked.

Bai Chen didn’t expect Zhu Yu to ask such a question, so he paused to pretend to think for a moment, then nodded, “I’ve thought it through. I agree.”

No sooner had he spoken than his phone rang.

He stood up and walked over to the kitchen door to answer the call. Zhu Yu picked up his chopsticks and continued eating his noodles.

With his head down, Zhu Yu’s ears twitched slightly, and he vaguely heard Bai Chen talking about some project or something.

—

In the evening, Zhu Yu ran into Han Geonju after class.

The two of them walked toward the apartment together.

Zhu Yu told Han Geonju about the issue that had been troubling him all morning.

“So, you think your senior seems like someone who can’t say no to others?” At times like this, Han Geonju didn’t want to practice speaking Chinese with Zhu Yu, so the two of them switched to English.

Zhu Yu nodded, his tone dull, “Yeah, and he even told me he doesn’t seem to have any friends.”

Han Geonju was puzzled, “From what you’ve said, he should be a very capable, gentle person. How could someone like that not have any friends?”

“You feel the same way, don’t you?”

Han Geonju: “So what’s bothering you?”

“I don’t know,” Zhu Yu replied.

Han Geonju: ?

Zhu Yu sighed and said, “It’s not that I’m unhappy. It’s just that I feel like I haven’t been able to help him with anything, but he’s helped me so much.”

Han Geonju: “Like what?”

Zhu Yu: “For example, I’ve been mooching food and drinks at his place for a month, he helped me look after Liu Bo, and he even took me to work on my fitness…”

“Too many things…”

Han Geonju clicked his tongue, “That’s indeed a lot.”

Then he immediately added, “To put it in your Chinese way of saying it, you’re left with nothing to repay him, so the only thing you can do is offer yourself.”

Zhu Yu punched him.

When Zhu Yu got home, he habitually checked the dormitory across the hall and noticed that the lights were off.

So Bai Chen hadn’t come home yet.

His phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated. Zhu Yu took it out, and two messages popped up on the screen.

They were from Bai Chen.

【Bai Chen: Xiao Yu, I might be home late today.】

【Bai Chen: I made some cheese ham baked rice when I left this afternoon. Just heat it up in the microwave.】

Zhu Yu frowned and replied: 【Senior Brother, are you busy with something?】

A few minutes later, Bai Chen replied: 【There was a data issue with the previous group assignment, so I need to stay and fix it.】

Zhu Yu pursed his lips and typed: 【Okay.】

When Bai Chen left at noon, he gave Zhu Yu a spare key.

So Zhu Yu could go directly to Bai Chen’s place.

The cheese ham baked rice was only one portion, Bai Chen hadn’t prepared any for himself.

Zhu Yu took a large portion out and put it in the microwave.

He ate only the remaining half himself.

Then he sat at the coffee table, revising his sketch.

It was already nine o’clock in the evening by the time he finished.

Zhu Yu got bored while waiting and lost the mood to revise his sketch. He suddenly realized that ever since he met Bai Chen, he hadn’t been watching his works or live stream replays much anymore.

He used to watch Bai Chen’s works because he would often stay up hungry, unable to sleep.

But after meeting Bai Chen, Zhu Yu hadn’t gone hungry.

Bai Chen’s work update frequency had slowed down a bit, now only three or four works a week, and basically, every work had already been eaten by Zhu Yu.

Zhu Yu caught up on the missed works. He used to leave comments, but since meeting Bai Chen, he stayed up late and deleted all his previous comments.

He was afraid Bai Chen would find out he had watched his live streams early on.

He looked through a few comment sections and noticed something odd in the latest two episodes.

“I’ve noticed that Teacher Bai Ze’s portions are bigger these past few episodes!”

“Could it be that he’s in a relationship? After all, two people would need more food.”

“Yeah! And did you watch the live stream on Mid-Autumn Festival? I really heard someone else’s voice in his house.”

“Was it a cat meowing? But I definitely heard a guy’s voice calling out ‘Liu Bo.’“

“Huh, someone really called out Liu Bo?”

“Maybe the cat was calling Liu Bo?”

“A cat calling Liu Bo? That’s pretty tacky.”

Zhu Yu, who had sworn not to leave any comments in Bai Chen’s comment section, couldn’t help but reply to this person:

【The cat calling Liu Bo is cute, just like how a dog calling Long Aotian would be cute.】

A few minutes later, the person replied: “A dog calling Long Aotian would also be pretty tacky.”

Zhu Yu angrily turned off his phone.

However, Zhu Yu didn’t expect that he still had an impact on Bai Chen’s live stream from that day.

At the time, Bai Chen had said it was nothing, so Zhu Yu didn’t think much of it.

But now it seemed that it wasn’t just nothing—there was a bigger issue.

In the latest episodes of Bai Chen’s works, there were comments asking him if he was in a relationship.

Zhu Yu felt guilty.

He heard some rustling sounds by the door, then the sound of keys jingling. His eyes lit up, and he hopped over to open the door.

A cold breeze rushed in, and Bai Chen, wearing a trench coat over his arm, was about to open the door with the keys. Zhu Yu, dressed in his pajamas, opened the door to greet him.

“Senior Brother, you’re back?!” Zhu Yu said excitedly.

Bai Chen had been busy for a long time and was feeling a bit dizzy from it.

The living room was lit with warm light, the warm glow casting a golden hue over Zhu Yu, making him look especially cozy. When Bai Chen saw him, he suddenly remembered that he had given him a spare key earlier that day.

“Sorry, you’ve been waiting for a while,” Bai Chen said, handing over the laptop bag that Zhu Yu had taken from him.

Zhu Yu pulled his hand and walked him into the room, saying as they walked, “It wasn’t long.”

“Senior Brother, I saved some food for you, it’s in the microwave, still warm,” Zhu Yu placed his laptop bag on the shoe rack by the entrance and led him to the dining table.

Zhu Yu’s actions now seemed as if he were the one in charge of the home. Bai Chen didn’t find it presumptuous, in fact, he thought Zhu Yu was cute.

As he watched Zhu Yu walk over with a large portion of cheese and ham baked rice, he couldn’t help but ask, “Did you only eat that?”

“No, no,” Zhu Yu replied, already expecting the question. He sat down across from Bai Chen and added, “I bought some jam cookies and corn chips.”

“They’re on the coffee table. Do you want some?” Zhu Yu asked. “If you do, I can get them for you.”

Bai Chen shook his head, “You keep them for yourself.”

Bai Chen didn’t eat puffed snacks.

“Alright,” Zhu Yu muttered in response.

Bai Chen lowered his head to eat, while Zhu Yu rested his face on his hands, quietly watching him.

“Xiao Yu, did you bring your blanket for tonight?” Bai Chen decided to break the strange silence, as Zhu Yu’s stare was making him feel like he had nowhere to hide.

Zhu Yu gasped, “I was just about to tell you about that! I got so caught up watching you that I completely forgot.”

“I haven’t brought it over yet because I’m still deciding whether to sleep on the floor or the couch. I’ll bring the right blanket once I decide.” If he was sleeping on the floor, he would bring a thick blanket and comforter, but if it was the couch, he only needed the thick comforter.

Bai Chen chuckled softly, “You’re really planning on sleeping on the floor or the couch?”

Zhu Yu looked at him with innocent eyes, “Why not?”

Bai Chen straightened his lips and said, “You’re not well. I’ll take the floor. Just turn on the heating at night.”

He instinctively took care of Zhu Yu, who was a few years younger than him.

Zhu Yu didn’t understand, “Why? You’re the host.”

“But you said we’re friends, so it’s nothing,” Bai Chen replied, not seeing this as an issue. He took care of Zhu Yu because he deserved it. He liked Zhu Yu as a friend.

To be honest, in over twenty years of Bai Chen’s life, he hadn’t had a friend as sincere as Zhu Yu.

He had been lonely, no doubt about it.

He had lived in ^[1]Sichuan (四川): A province in southwestern China, known for its spicy cuisine (like hotpot), pandas, and historical sites. Guangxi (广西): An autonomous region in southern China, famous for its … Continue readingSichuan, Guangxi, and Hunan, eventually moving to Beijing, but in those four cities, he didn’t have a single friend, not even contact information for his classmates.

So after meeting Zhu Yu, he decided to cherish this friendship, and naturally, he took care of Zhu Yu.

But was it really just because they were friends?

Bai Chen himself hadn’t figured it out.

“Senior Brother, are you this considerate to everyone?” Zhu Yu furrowed his beautiful brows and asked.

Bai Chen wanted to say, “Only you,” because the only true friend he had was Zhu Yu. But he felt that saying that might be misunderstood, so he quickly changed his answer: “No, just to friends.”

Zhu Yu pouted, “Do whatever you want.”

Bai Chen sensed that Zhu Yu was upset. Even when they both lay down in bed that night, Zhu Yu still had his brows furrowed.

Bai Chen sat on the floor, while Zhu Yu sat on the bed. Bai Chen felt like Zhu Yu had something he wanted to say.

So when he turned off the lights, he made sure to leave on the bedside lamp. The warm, soft glow of the light enveloped them both, and even the air seemed to become subtly intimate.

“Senior Brother, I’m not very happy,” Zhu Yu’s voice was muffled as he got straight to the point.

Bai Chen nodded, his voice soft and gentle, “Xiao Yu, can you tell me why?”

Zhu Yu pouted, “I feel like you’re not kind to yourself at all.”