Zheng Xunqian quickly left, leaving Jing Tian sighing at his bowl of porridge and Yang Yue with an oily mouth from eating.

“This guy isn’t as weird as I imagined,” Yang Yue licked his fingers and sighed. “He actually has some common sense.”

Jing Tian was puzzled. “What do you mean?”

“I always thought he was a pure oddball, living in his own world and clueless about social norms,” Yang Yue gestured with the barbecue pastry in his hand. “But it turns out he’s quite knowledgeable.”

Jing Tian thought, perhaps it was because Zheng Xunqian wasn’t clueless about social norms all along, but rather just didn’t care.

He knew how to give face, but most of the time, he didn’t want to.

Now, he was polite and considerate to Yang Yue. Was he doing it to give face to Yang Yue, or to himself?

Jing Tian pitifully drank his porridge amidst the aroma of the barbecue pastry in the air, lost in thought.

“Hey, hey,” Yang Yue kicked his leg and winked, “Tell me honestly, what’s going on between you two now?”

Jing Tian paused in his actions.

“Oh, blushing now,” Yang Yue dragged a chair over, looking eager for gossip. “Come on, spill the beans!”

Jing Tian dodged to the other side. “Don’t come over, don’t come over, the smell from what you’re holding is too strong, and I’m hungry.”

Yang Yue quickly stuffed the remaining half of the barbecue pastry into his mouth, covering it with his hand as he spoke unclearly, “No more! Come on, tell me, don’t try to fool me!”

Jing Tian put down the bowl and went into a daze.

What exactly was the relationship between him and Zheng Xunqian now? He also wanted to know.

All the various things that happened while drunk were all disregarded, but now, they held hands, kissed, and even hugged while sober.

Those weren’t things ordinary friends did.

But taking it a step further seemed to be lacking something.

There was no confession between them, no formal confirmation of each other’s feelings. To become a closer and more special relationship, there should at least be a little ceremony.

It didn’t have to be grand, just a word of agreement would suffice.

But there was none of that.

Yang Yue took a sip of water, finally swallowing what was in his mouth, and asked again, “What’s wrong? Why is it so hard to say… it can’t be a friends with benefits situation, right…?”

“How is that possible!” Jing Tian quickly denied.

Even though it was indeed the case.

The more he thought about it, the more awkward he felt, and his face grew redder.

“He couldn’t be the kind…” Yang Yue hesitated.

Jing Tian immediately asked, “What?”

“Passive, non-committal, irresponsible,” Yang Yue said, “playing with emotions, commonly known as a scumbag.”

“…”

Yang Yue chuckled. “But on the other hand, If he didn’t care about you, with his personality, how could he possibly try to please even me?”

Jing Tian pursed his lips, not saying anything.

“But even if that’s the case, I won’t agree to him staying here,” Yang Yue pointed at Jing Tian’s bed. “And please, don’t let me see that kind of scene again.”

Jing Tian felt extremely guilty and buried his face in the bowl.

After finishing the meal, Jing Tian quickly returned to bed.

Being sick was very exhausting. Despite having slept enough, he still couldn’t shake off the fatigue. He felt unenergetic and powerless.

But when he closed his eyes, his consciousness became fuzzy, and he couldn’t sleep soundly.

He tossed and turned, occasionally opening his eyes to check his phone. After a while, he received a message from Zheng Xunqian.

—You still haven’t told me, what exactly do you remember.

This sentence wasn’t funny at all, and it even made Jing Tian feel a little embarrassed and awkward. But looking at the words and the sender’s name, Jing Tian couldn’t help but want to laugh uncontrollably.

After thinking for a while, he replied.

—A lot, but I won’t tell you.

After a moment, seeing that Zheng Xunqian still hadn’t replied, he added another sentence.

-“Don’t try to trick me so easily in the future.”

After waiting for at least five minutes, he was almost sleepy, and Zheng Xunqian finally replied.

-“Oh.”

Jing Tian frowned.

He somewhat understood the feeling of discomfort that Yang Yue had mentioned before. He silently encouraged himself and decided that if Zheng Xunqian replied “oh” again, he would bravely complain and tell him that he didn’t like it.

After waiting for a while, Zheng Xunqian sent another message.

—Some of it was a misunderstanding, don’t overthink it.

Jing Tian secretly speculated that this person might be feeling guilty.

After all, many of the scenes he recalled had parts that made him sad and depressed. And now he could confirm that when recounting certain experiences, Zheng Xunqian not only downplayed them but also lied.

For example, their so-called first date.

Zheng Xunqian described that experience as romantic and sweet, as if it were a classic idol drama scene of love at first sight, full of heartwarming details.

But in reality, Zheng Xunqian himself had a gloomy expression the whole time, looking completely unhappy.

No matter what Jing Tian said to him, he was in a bad mood, and his responses were no more than five words.

Afraid that he was cold, Jing Tian took off his coat and gave it to him. He took a look at it and then threw it back, telling Jing Tian, “It’s not necessary.”

Remembering that scene, Jing Tian also remembered his embarrassment and anger at the time. He had held the coat in his hand and shouted at Zheng Xunqian with irritation, “It’s my fault, I’m sorry. Should I walk with you and freeze together?”

Zheng Xunqian looked at him expressionlessly and said, “I don’t want you to.”

He had also mustered up the courage to want to apologize for his usual recklessness and offense, afraid that he couldn’t say it face to face, so he wrote it seriously on paper.

But unfortunately, Zheng Xunqian didn’t even look at it, and just threw it away.

After that, when the two met unexpectedly in the corridor, Zheng Xunqian saw him from afar and chose to turn around and take a detour.

Angered, Jing Tian cursed at him in front of Yang Yue.

Jing Tian wondered, what kind of misunderstanding could there be to explain Zheng Xunqian’s words and actions at that time?

He didn’t want to demand an explanation.

What he cared more about now was what had happened afterwards that caused Zheng Xunqian’s attitude towards him to change.

Being so clumsy, irrational, and blunt in love, how did he manage to impress this seemingly completely unsentimental weirdo?

Jing Tian flipped over with his phone in his arms, and suddenly felt a little uneasy in his heart.

Yang Yue’s voice came from under the bed. “If you don’t want to sleep, just get up. It’s uncomfortable lying there stiffly.”

Jing Tian shook his head, “I’m tired, but I can’t sleep.”

“Feeling unwell?” Yang Yue asked.

“No, yesterday when I had a fever, I remembered a lot of things,” Jing Tian said. “Just now, after thinking about it, there’s a… sudden feeling of clarity, like recovering from an illness, and my mind is much clearer.”

Yang Yue was very excited and immediately asked, “What did you remember?”

Jing Tian turned over and leaned over the edge of the bed, looking down, “… You’re really good.”

Yang Yue was stunned, blinked twice, and then showed a rare hint of shyness, turning away, but his mouth was as usual, “Of course, I’ve always been good. Looks like you’ve finally remembered something important.”

Jing Tian nodded and chuckled secretly.

The subconscious couldn’t be fooled, no wonder he still trusted and liked Yang Yue even after losing his memory.

“So, we didn’t talk much when we first moved in together,” he said.

“I wanted to talk to you,” Yang Yue smiled, “But you kept your head down and couldn’t make eye contact, so there was no chance.”

Initially, the dorm room was full, and the other three roommates, including Yang Yue, quickly became acquainted, but Jing Tian, just like in high school, never quite fit in.

The first time he had a proper conversation with Yang Yue, he was crying.

He was sitting alone in the dorm room, took off his glasses, bowed his head, and quietly shed tears, wiping them away with his sleeve repeatedly.

Until Yang Yue suddenly opened the door and walked in.

He hurriedly put on his glasses to avoid him, but he, surprised, relentlessly chased after him.

Many details of that day were still unclear to Jing Tian at this moment, but he knew that he finally cried out in the face of Yang Yue’s concern and comfort, and even confided some things on his mind.

After that, Yang Yue took off his glasses and pushed back his long bangs that were covering his forehead, forcing him to reveal his complete, tear-stained face.

“In fact, you look quite handsome,” Yang Yue squatted in front of him, looking up, and earnestly told him, “I think you should tidy yourself up and let everyone see you.”

“The only good thing that Chu guy did was bring us closer,” Yang Yue said.

Jing Tian was surprised, “Because of him?”

Yang Yue turned his head back again, even more surprised than him, “Haven’t you remembered yet?”

“…Not the part about him,” Jing Tian said.

He only remembered that Yang Yue was really good. As for why he was so sad and upset back then, it was all a blur.

At that time, he was clearly crying as if the sky were falling, but in the blink of an eye, the reasons seemed trivial.

“It’s okay, just throw it all away and empty the recycle bin,” Yang Yue said, “Out with the old, in with the new. Now that the new one has been in your bed, let’s just cremate the old one.”

Jing Tian blushed and turned over, curling up, “I’m going to sleep!”

….

The next day was a day off, no classes.

Yang Yue was dragged away early in the morning to participate in the school anniversary rehearsal, leaving Jing Tian alone in the dorm room. Zheng Xunqian heard about it and naturally brought him food, accompanying him.

Seeing that Jing Tian still had no energy, Zheng Xunqian advised him not to rush into studying and to rest first.

Both of them sat reading quietly, but the atmosphere was different from before.

Jing Tian couldn’t calm down at all.

Every move Zheng Xunqian made made him overly conscious. When Zheng Xunqian raised his arm, he thought Zheng Xunqian wanted to hold his hand. When Zheng Xunqian looked at him, he couldn’t help but purse his lips, replaying in his mind the scene of them kissing yesterday.

When Zheng Xunqian spoke first, he was even startled.

“Are you feeling unwell again?” Zheng Xunqian asked.

Jing Tian stiffened all over and shook his head quickly.

There was nothing wrong with his body, just that there were some bad things in his mind.

“Don’t force yourself,” Zheng Xunqian sounded a bit worried. “Have you taken your temperature since you got up today?”

“I did, it’s normal,” Jing Tian said, touching his stomach. “My stomach doesn’t hurt either.”

He was starting to feel hungry, indicating that he was recovering well and had a good appetite. This morning, he bravely ate a vegetable bun for breakfast and now felt fine, considering having some fish soup for dinner.

“Is that so,” Zheng Xunqian approached him, raised his hand, and placed it on his forehead. After a moment, he said, “Seems like you still have a bit of a fever.”

“…No, it’s just that your hand is too cold,” Jing Tian said.

Zheng Xunqian withdrew his hand and looked at him.

“I don’t, don’t trust you… you…”

I don’t trust you. Measure it with something else. Last time when you were sick, you clearly forced me to put my forehead against yours.

Jing Tian muttered in his mind, but couldn’t articulate it properly.

Is Zheng Xunqian a fool? Why isn’t he reacting?

While feeling quietly disappointed in his heart, Jing Tian suddenly remembered what Yang Yue had said yesterday.

Passive, non-committal, irresponsible, playing with emotions, commonly known as a scumbag.