18

 Song Yu thought that his dark character, which could be called a villain, would allow him to refute Xie Zhiyan with the most favorable language, but—

he was always tongue-tied.

He couldn't swear or say anything malicious, and could only stare at the other person with an incredulous expression, his face flushed.

This wouldn't do, it was too embarrassing. Song Yu tried his best to save face, so he had to return the other person's words.

He pretended to be calm and used his lips, which were red from the steam, to utter the most shameful and strange words for him at the moment.

"You're not that great either."

"If it were me, if it were me..." Song Yu still couldn't say that word as easily as Xie Zhiyan, and even got a light laugh from the other person.

He was being mocked.

Song Yu was embarrassed and annoyed, his eyelashes trembling as if they had some kind of switch installed, and he didn't want to pursue the matter of the clothes anymore: "If you like them, I'll give them to you! I'm going back."

After saying that, he pushed the other person away, leaving only the back of his head that said "Very fierce, don't mess with me".

That

evening, Song Yu brought all the clothes down from the balcony, folded them neatly, and noted their quantity.

Exhausted, he could barely lift his arms and lay on the bed sending Xie Zhiyan a breakup text.

However, just as he finished typing and was about to send it, an OOC warning sounded in his head.

Song Yu: "..."

009: [The plot has deviated, but according to the character setting, you have a crush on the protagonist and cannot initiate a breakup.]

Song Yu: [Can't break up... then what should I do?]

009 suggests: [You can let Xie Zhiyan initiate the breakup.]

Song Yu: ...Oh.

Why didn't he think of that?

[I've checked for you, and the most suitable thing for your character is to ignore him and let him initiate the breakup himself.]

009 swore it had absolutely no ulterior motives.

Although doing so would be unfair to Xie Zhiyan, it wasn't the first time Song Yu had wronged him like this; he'd get used to it. Besides, the plot would eventually return to normal.

Song Yu was prepared to ignore him, but this tactic seemed to have no effect on Xie Zhiyan. The other person continued to buy him breakfast, wait for him in class, highlight key points for him, and buy him small gifts, just like always… even afraid of upsetting him, they didn't dare kiss him for too long.

Perhaps because Xie Zhiyan was always by his side, the harasser stopped texting him.

Life was too comfortable, and Song Yu didn't feel the passage of time; a month passed quickly.

On a weekend afternoon, Zhou Yanming sent a message saying he would be back today, and Song Yu planned to tidy up his dorm room in advance.

Just as he finished making his bed, Xie Zhiyan came over: "I've finished organizing my thesis assignment. You just need to revise the order. If you don't understand anything, send me a message, and I'll reply when I see it."

Song Yu hummed in agreement.

Xie Zhiyan was going to participate in an English competition in a few days, which was an important plot point in his career. Song Yu was afraid of affecting the progress, so he didn't dare to leave too long and got out of bed.

Before he could get down a few steps, he was picked up by the waist.

Xie Zhiyan held him in his arms, rubbing against the boy's earlobe and whispering, "Is there any reward?"

Song Yu felt numb and itchy from the heat, and he perfunctorily rubbed his cheek against Xie Zhiyan's.

Xie Zhiyan was naturally unwilling; he would be gone for at least a week this time. A whole week, plus Zhou Yanming and Lu Xing's return—wouldn't all these people swarm around Song Yu like stray dogs seeing a bone?

Thinking of this, the emotions in Xie Zhiyan's eyes became even more obscure and profound: "Not enough."

The usually aloof boy started to act like a rogue: "This way, I have no motivation to get first place."

009 had said that Xie Zhiyan won first prize in this competition, and only then did the Xie family begin to pay attention to him, and he smoothly became the heir.

To influence the plot, Song Yu gently pressed his lips against Xie Zhiyan's: "Okay, okay, alright?"

Of course, Xie Zhiyan wouldn't be satisfied with just that.

During this time, to allow Song Yu to get used to their intimate relationship, he had only kissed him lightly, not daring to even try anything else. This was the first time he had hugged him like this.

The boy leaned close to the boy's small earlobe and softly asked for a reward.

Song Yu was stunned for a moment, then looked at him incredulously.

Xie Zhiyan's expression was serious: "If I do this, I'm sure I can get first place."

Song Yu: "..."

But sitting on his lap is too weird.

Isn't his persona supposed to be dominant?

Song Yu hesitated for a moment, but still didn't agree. He broke free from Xie Zhiyan's embrace and went to the bathroom to get a basin of water.

When he was messaging Zhou Yanming earlier, Song Yu specifically mentioned that he would help him wipe the table so that some dust would remain on it to earn some task points.

—His progress hadn't increased much in the past month, and he could only earn points by messaging Zhou Yanming and Lu Xing.

But these points were only a little bit.

"What are you doing?" Xie Zhiyan saw Song Yu bring the water over and reflexively reached out to take the basin from him, but Song Yu dodged him.

Song Yu shook his head: "I'll clean it myself."

Xie Zhiyan was a clean freak and would probably wipe Zhou Yanming's table spotless.

That way, he wouldn't even get this little bit of credit.

When Xie Zhiyan saw him bring the basin directly to Zhou Yanming's table, his face darkened. Jealousy made his voice sound stranger than usual: "You're going to wipe Zhou Yanming's table?"

"I'll wipe everyone's." Since the water was already collected, he couldn't just wipe one table, so Song Yu decided to wipe his two roommates' tables as well.

Hearing that it wasn't just for Zhou Yanming, Xie Zhiyan's expression relaxed considerably. He didn't want to forcefully deprive Song Yu of his personal choice, but he also didn't want the boy's beautiful fingers to get wet.

So, after Song Yu finished wiping, he helped with the rest of the work, then led Song Yu to the sink.

The boy's fingers were slender and shapely, his skin was snow-white and smooth, and his nails were clean and a healthy pink. Water droplets scattered as the water flowed over them.

Xie Zhiyan gradually drifted into a daze.

He wouldn't ask Song Yu to do anything for him with his hands, but that didn't mean he wouldn't think about it.

Sometimes he even dreamed about it.

"Bang bang"—a

knock on the door broke the silence.

"Xiao Yu, are you in there? I'm back! Open the door for me." A slightly excited voice came from outside.

Song Yu paused; he hadn't expected Zhou Yanming to be back so early!

"What, what should I do..."

Song Yu wiped the water off her hands haphazardly and pushed Xie Zhiyan away: "You...you should find a place to hide first!"

Xie Zhiyan: "..."

His usually cold face twitched for once, and his voice was stiff: "Why should I hide? I'm your boyfriend."

Being alone in the dorm with Xie Zhiyan wasn't a big deal, especially with the excuse of working on his thesis. But Zhou Yanming was the seme, and if he realized anything, things would get messy. Song Yu's cheeks flushed with anxiety, and he didn't have time to explain. He called out towards the door, "Wait a minute!" Even

through the door, he could feel Zhou Yanming's delight: "Hurry up, I haven't seen you in so long! Xiao Yu."

"I missed you so much."

Inside, Xie Zhiyan's expression grew even more irritated. He was about to respond deliberately when he suddenly remembered something.

He leaned close to the boy's ear and whispered.

Song Yu froze.

Xie Zhiyan stepped back a little, looking at him with an expression that said, "This is the bare minimum. If you don't agree, there's nothing I can do."

Song Yu bit his lower lip, hesitated for a few seconds, and then slowly released it.

His sunken lip slowly swelled up.

Perhaps from too much struggle, a deep red tooth mark appeared on his lip.

"I know..."

"Hide quickly."

Xie Zhiyan didn't say anything more and nimbly climbed onto Song Yu's bed.

As the blanket was pulled over him, the familiar scent, like tiny feathers, eagerly stirred Xie Zhiyan's taut nerves.

He tilted his head back slightly, burying his face in the blanket.

Once he was safely hidden, Song Yu finally opened the door. As soon as

the door opened, Zhou Yanming pounced on him, hugged him, and then spun him around twice in the air.

"..."

Song Yu was still a little dizzy when he was put down and didn't notice Zhou Yanming secretly brushing his chin against his collarbone.

This special training seemed to have been very effective; Zhou Yanming was a bit darker, more upright, and more muscular—Song Yu had felt a sharp pain when he was lifted up earlier.

Having not seen each other for so long, relying solely on their phones to stay in touch, Zhou Yanming had endless things to say as soon as they met. He affectionately put his arm around Song Yu's shoulder: "Have you eaten? Want to go out for dinner?"

Thinking of Xie Zhiyan still hiding in his bed, Song Yu awkwardly replied, "No, I'm not going."

Then he asked, "Aren't you going to check on the team?"

"Why would I go see them?" Zhou Yanming smiled, staring at Song Yu for a moment before changing his mind, "Never mind, I'll go see them."

He finally managed to get rid of him.

As Song Yu closed the door, Xie Zhiyan got off the bed.

The boy's movements were somewhat hurried, his gaze fixed on her, looking like he wanted to devour her.

She couldn't go back on her promise.

Knowing she couldn't escape, Song Yu could only grit her teeth and hope it would end soon.

Xie Zhiyan let out a low chuckle.

"So beautiful." He stared ahead, his eyes dark and mesmerized, "Xiao Yu."

*

After putting his suitcase back in the dorm, Lu Xing tidied up a bit and couldn't wait to go to Song Yu's dorm.

Upon reaching the corridor, he saw Zhou Yanyan standing there, leaning against the railing, his eyelids slightly lowered.

After that fight, both of them tacitly realized that their relationship had transformed from friends to rivals. Lu Xing knew he was falling behind in competitiveness, so he texted Zhou Yanyan frequently during training.

Although Song Yu rarely replied, it didn't stop him from sending messages.

Lu Xing never imagined that one day he would become the kind of person he despised the most.

The thought irritated him, and he ignored Zhou Yanming, intending to knock on the door directly. Suddenly, the other person spoke—

"Don't go in."

Lu Xing turned to look at him.

Zhou Yanming's lips were tightly pressed together, his face frighteningly ugly.

After a moment of silence,

"Xie Zhiyan is inside.

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