That evening, Jing Tian unexpectedly had trouble falling asleep.

He tossed and turned, occasionally picking up his phone to check, then putting it back down.

He repeatedly opened the conversation window with Zheng Xunqian. The last message on the screen was sent this morning, with Zheng Xunqian asking how he was feeling, if he had breakfast, and if he wanted him to bring something over.

He treated him so well.

Not only that, Jing Tian could almost be certain that Zheng Xunqian was only good to him.

Anyone who saw it would make the same guess.

Jing Tian had also thought so. His self-doubt and hesitation made him cautiously add a question mark to the conclusion he had reached, probing repeatedly, seeking a more definitive result.

As it turned out, he wasn’t overly cautious, but rather quite self-aware.

Zheng Xunqian seemed to be a real oddball, with thoughts and behavior patterns that were completely different from normal people, unpredictable.

Jing Tian knew that good female friends would sometimes hold hands, and two people who only sought physical satisfaction from each other could also have sex. But they not only held hands and had sex, they also hugged each other’s bodies and kissed each other’s lips.

Shouldn’t that be considered a romantic relationship?

What did Zheng Xunqian really want from him? After gaining physical release and emotional dependence, did he also want freedom without constraints?

Jing Tian wanted to ask, but he lacked a position.

After all, without confirming the relationship, he always let Zheng Xunqian have his way, seemingly not dissatisfied with this situation.

If he did speak up, would Zheng Xunqian laugh at him for not being able to handle it?

Staring at the phone screen for too long in the pitch-black dorm room made his eyes uncomfortable.

Jing Tian squinted, repeatedly editing messages and then deleting them one by one, eventually choosing to switch windows.

The “Eat, Drink, Play, Fun” group was still active at this moment.

Ah Chen lamented the goddess’s cold attitude towards him, posting several screenshots of their chat records, seeking advice from online girls. After reading them, Cai Cai boldly asserted that the goddess was extremely annoyed with him and advised him to give up early. Since being dumped was his daily routine, he might as well withdraw in time to find the next spring, why bother with unrequited love.

Jing Tian also carefully looked at the chat screenshots. Ah Chen blabbered on about a bunch of stuff, from poetry to philosophy, while the girl occasionally replied with standard vague words like “haha,” “really,” “impressive,” and “not bad,” extremely perfunctory.

Anyone with discerning eyes knew what this meant. Jing Tian also wanted to advise Ah Chen to give up, but couldn’t be as straightforward as Cai Cai, fearing that being too indirect wouldn’t be effective, and being too direct would hurt feelings.

Ah Chen was still struggling, unwilling to accept reality. Cai Cai cursed a few times and then couldn’t be bothered to deal with him.

Jing Tian sighed at his phone, rubbed his eyes, and told himself it was time to sleep. Just then, a new message notification appeared at the top of the screen. Jing Tian was surprised and switched to the chat window, where Zheng Xunqian’s profile picture displayed a small number “1” in the corner.

He quickly clicked on it and saw three words.

“Are you asleep?”

Almost without thinking, he immediately replied.

“No.”

After sending it, he realized that his heart was beating a little fast, and the slight fatigue he had just developed had completely disappeared.

He widened his eyes, staring intently at the prompt “typing” at the top of the conversation box, unconsciously holding his breath.

Why would Zheng Xunqian suddenly find him in the middle of the night like this? He couldn’t know, but finally receiving a message from Zheng Xunqian instinctively made him feel excited.

About ten seconds later, a new message appeared on the screen, and Jing Tian immediately frowned.

“Why aren’t you asleep yet? You should rest well when you’re sick.”

What’s this about? Sending messages in the middle of the night, just to check up on me? Fishing for something?

Jing Tian was both annoyed and amused. He clicked on the reply box, but couldn’t figure out what to say for a while. After staying like this for a while, he suddenly realized that if Zheng Xunqian was also staring at the conversation window like him, he might see the continuous “typing” prompt.

He hurriedly backed out and continued to stare blankly.

After not getting a response for a while, Zheng Xunqian couldn’t hold back.

“Are you asleep?”

Jing Tian finally replied, the content extremely simple, just one word.

“No.”

After sending it, he smiled.

It was such a nonsensical conversation, yet he felt secretly pleased, as if he had just played a trick on Zheng Xunqian.

He knew it was childish, but he still felt proud.

Zheng Xunqian, who had just accused him of not sleeping, quickly protested again.

“Wake up.”

This man, who had just hurt his heart not long ago, now, even though he hadn’t done anything, still made him so happy.

Jing Tian put on a cold look.

“What’s up?”

“I have a question for you,” Zheng Xunqian said.

Jing Tian looked at the line of text, and the somewhat calm heart he had just regained began to beat fiercely again. He didn’t know what Zheng Xunqian wanted to ask, but his intuition told him that it must be a very important question. Zheng Xunqian might be having trouble sleeping because of this, just like him.

“Okay, go ahead,” Jing Tian said.

This time, Zheng Xunqian took a long time to type, and the text that finally appeared in the window surprised Jing Tian greatly.

“What kind of person can become your boyfriend?”

Before thinking about how to answer, Jing Tian couldn’t help but speculate on the reason why Zheng Xunqian asked.

Holding his phone, he flipped back and forth in his bed many times, causing the whole bed to creak. Yang Yue, who was already asleep on the opposite side, was disturbed by this movement and turned over, grinding his teeth a few times.

He hesitated for a long time without answering, so Zheng Xunqian urged him again.

“Wake up.”

Text messages couldn’t disturb people, and Zheng Xunqian knew he was reading.

Jing Tian pursed his lips tightly, nervously clicked on the conversation box, and carefully gave his answer.

“I like someone who likes me back.”

This was almost a meaningless sentence because it was so obvious.

But the answer to this question should have been so obvious. If two people like each other, it’s only natural for them to date.

After waiting nervously and anxiously for a long time, Zheng Xunqian finally replied.

“Oh.”

Jing Tian’s vision darkened.

Before he could recover, this annoying word disappeared from the conversation box, leaving only the system’s prompt that the other party had deleted the message.

After a few seconds, Zheng Xunqian sent a new message.

“Got it.”

Jing Tian stared blankly at the screen of his phone.

Zheng Xunqian quickly sent another message.

“Good night, go to bed early.”

Jing Tian’s insomnia worsened.

In the repeated cycle of thinking, questioning, confusion, and analysis, his brain gradually slowed down, and his emotions became restless. As dawn approached, he closed his eyes, cursing Zheng Xunqian in his heart.

When he finally fell asleep and woke up again, the strong light shining in from the window quickly made him realize that something was wrong. He groggily picked up his phone, looked at the time displayed on the screen, and stared blankly for a few seconds before suddenly sitting up straight.

He had class at 8:30 a.m. today, but now, it was already 12:08 p.m.

Jumping up with shouts, there was a slight noise from the bed opposite. Jing Tian turned his head to look, and Yang Yue was sleeping soundly, even smacking his lips.

He quickly jumped off the bed, climbed up the ladder to Yang Yue’s bunk, and vigorously shook Yang Yue’s blanket: “Get up! Get up quickly! Wake up now!”

Yang Yue, still half asleep, murmured as usual, “Just five more minutes… sleep for another five minutes…”

If it were an ordinary day, Jing Tian would go wash up first and then come to wake him up after he was done.

But today was different. He stretched out his hand and shook Yang Yue vigorously: “Hurry up! Didn’t you agree to have lunch with Shu Ziqin! It’s running late!”

Yang Yue blinked blankly a few times and turned his head. “Huh?”

“It’s past twelve!” he yelled. “Why aren’t you awake yet?”

Yang Yue, still half asleep, sat up and rubbed his face hard, still looking groggy.

He didn’t play games after reviewing last night and went to bed early. He should have woken up by now.

“You must be tired from yesterday’s rehearsal,” Jing Tian said helplessly. “Hurry, contact Shu Ziqin!”

Yang Yue finally regained some consciousness, picked up his phone, and soon looked surprised. “Didn’t you wake me up for class this morning?”

After saying this, he glanced at Jing Tian and found that Jing Tian was still in pajamas with messy hair, becoming suspicious again. “What’s going on? Did you oversleep too?”

Jing Tian awkwardly jumped off the stairs. “Quick, call Shu Ziqin. He doesn’t seem like the type to be late.”

When Jing Tian returned to the dorm after washing up, Yang Yue was still sitting on the bed, just putting down his phone.

“He’s already downstairs,” he told Jing Tian. “I told him to come up first.”

“Where did you agree to meet?” Jing Tian asked.

“At the second teaching building. He couldn’t wait for me and couldn’t contact me, so he came over. But he didn’t know which room I lived in, so he could only wander downstairs,” Yang Yue climbed down from the bed, looking embarrassed. “I just apologized to him. If it were me, I would have scolded him already. Fortunately, he has a good temper.”

Jing Tian smiled, “You’d better hurry!”

Just as Yang Yue entered the bathroom, there was a knock on the dorm door.

Sure enough, Shu Ziqin was standing outside the door.

“Have a seat for a moment,” Jing Tian greeted him. “Sorry, he overslept. I should have woken him up, but I overslept too.”

“It’s okay,” Shu Ziqin looked around awkwardly. “As long as everything’s okay, take your time. I’m not in a hurry!”

Jing Tian pointed, “There are only two of us in this dormitory, so you can sit on any of those chairs.”

Just as Shu Ziqin sat down, Yang Yue, who had just finished washing up, rushed out of the bathroom.

“Two minutes,” he said, holding up a finger to Shu Ziqin as he walked, “I’ll get ready soon!”

Shu Ziqin was about to speak, but he saw Yang Yue come to the closet and quickly take off his pajamas with a heroic and rapid motion.

“Do you know what you want to eat later?” Yang Yue asked as he turned around, bare-chested.

Shu Ziqin stared blankly at him and swallowed. “Um, I… um…”

“Hurry up,” Yang Yue threw his pajamas onto the bed and bent down to take off his pants, “I’m already hungry!”