New roommate

"Xuxu, I'm heading out too!"

Zhou Zhou walked to the door with a black backpack on his back, a mischievous smile on his delicate face. "Don't get scared all alone in the dorm. If you really do get scared, call me."

Holding his clean pajamas, Duan Xu said helplessly, "I'm not scared."

"All right." Zhou Zhou sounded rather disappointed. He waved. "I'm off, then! Bye~"

"Bye." Duan Xu waved too. Once the door closed, he turned and went into the bathroom.

He turned on the shower, and water began to patter down. Duan Xu washed his hair first, his thoughts wandering as he worked up a lather.

Just three days ago, he had passed out from heatstroke while standing at attention during military training. While unconscious, he had had a dream-an incredibly lifelike dream.

In the dream, the world he lived in was a novel, and he was a disposable side character. Someone gave him a hard time at his part-time job, and the bottom protagonist saw it and stepped in to help. He fell for the bottom protagonist because of that, but knowing the bottom protagonist and the top protagonist were already together, he silently wished them well.

But one day, he discovered that the top protagonist was very close to another girl, a cute one, and had even stroked her head. Thinking the top protagonist was cheating, he ran to tell the bottom protagonist, who refused to believe him, realized he had feelings for him, and firmly rejected him.

He was heartbroken and unwilling to give up, so he followed the top protagonist, hoping to get proof of his cheating. Then the bottom protagonist would believe him.

But he was caught following the top protagonist and got into an argument with him. Realizing that he liked the bottom protagonist, the top protagonist warned him coldly. He paid no attention and followed the top protagonist again. When he was caught a second time, the top protagonist beat him up.

After that, the top protagonist learned the whole story from the bottom protagonist and gave him one final warning. Yet he seemed to have lost his mind, insisting on going against the top protagonist. In the end, he infuriated the top protagonist, who used his family's power and connections to leave him and his parents with no way to make a living, forcing them to move abroad.

But they got into a car accident on the way to the airport. None of the three survived.

When he woke up, his mind was a complete blank. Everything that had happened in the dream remained vivid, as though he had experienced it himself, and his heart pounded with dread.

Click.

The dorm room door opened, and a handsome young man with a composed air walked in, wheeling a black suitcase.

His alluring eyes swept over the room. There were four beds, each with a desk underneath, and the room was fairly spacious. The only empty bed was on the right, near the door.

The young man closed the door and took two steps forward, then suddenly stopped. His eyes shifted toward the balcony at the far end.

Someone was in the bathroom.

The running water drowned out the sound of the door opening. Still lost in his thoughts, Duan Xu had no idea that someone who would affect his entire life had entered the room.

After his shower, Duan Xu put on his pajamas, gave his hair a couple of careless wipes, and opened the bathroom door with his dirty clothes in his arms.

As Duan Xu stepped inside, he stopped dead, his pupils trembling as he stared at the unexpected person in the room.

The young man, who was unpacking, turned to look at him. Their eyes met, and everything suddenly went quiet.

Fresh from the shower, Duan Xu's fair, delicate face was flushed from the steam. Droplets fell from the ends of his still-wet hair, trickling down his pale neck and disappearing beneath his collar.

A pair of light brown, almond-shaped eyes stared at him in shock, like those of a startled fawn. Yet there seemed to be other emotions mixed into that shock.

The young man paused, then nodded to Duan Xu. His voice was low and pleasant. "Hello. I'm Shen Yanlang, your new roommate."

Duan Xu's breathing quickened. Shen Yanlang! The top protagonist from the dream! He looked exactly the same!

Panic rose in him. The scene of the car accident replayed involuntarily in his mind, and he stared at Shen Yanlang in utter terror.

Seeing this, Shen Yanlang frowned slightly and said in a low voice, "Sorry. I thought there was no one here."

He had thought the room was empty before coming in, only realizing afterward that someone was in the bathroom.

"It's... it's fine." Duan Xu finally came to his senses, but his expression remained strained.

Shen Yanlang had actually appeared!

Shen Yanlang found it strange, but could not figure out why, so he took the initiative to speak. "I just got back from abroad. The adviser said this mixed-major room was the only one with an empty bed left."

"Oh. Yeah." Duan Xu turned his back, still holding his clothes, and said quietly, "We're all in different majors."

What do I do? Am I going to end up as cannon fodder?

"Right. I'm in software engineering." Shen Yanlang continued unpacking his luggage and asked Duan Xu, "What about you?"

"Visual communication." Duan Xu took a deep breath and turned toward the balcony.

I don't want to die! I don't want to die! Mom and Dad can't die either!

Shen Yanlang looked up at him, unsure whether Duan Xu was always like this or felt resistant because of his sudden arrival. In any case, he could hear the distance in Duan Xu's voice, as though he did not want to speak to him at all.

He sniffed his clothes. He had not let any pheromones leak out, and the other young man was clearly a beta. He really could not understand why he was acting this way.

Whoosh-

Duan Xu turned on the faucet to wash his clothes. His hands moved purely on muscle memory, his mind filled with that dream and the Shen Yanlang who had actually appeared in his dorm room.

Over the past two days, he had managed to put it behind him. But Shen Yanlang's appearance forced him to believe that the dream was real.

His entire understanding of the world crumbled, leaving him in a daze.

Even after hanging up his clothes, he had not snapped out of it. He walked mechanically back inside, failing to notice the water he had tracked out earlier. His foot slipped, and he toppled backward.

"Careful!" Shen Yanlang had just finished unpacking and turned around in time to see Duan Xu fall. He lunged forward and barely managed to catch him.

Startled, Duan Xu fell into Shen Yanlang's arms. One hand instinctively gripped Shen Yanlang's arm with considerable force, while the other caught the edge of the desk.

"Are you okay?" Shen Yanlang helped Duan Xu upright.

[So thin, and so light.]

Only after finding his footing did Duan Xu realize that the person holding him was Shen Yanlang. He instinctively shied away and did not respond to the remark about whether he was thin, saying only, "Thank you."

How mortifying. Absolutely mortifying!

"You're welcome." Shen Yanlang withdrew his hand as though nothing had happened, a faint flicker in his eyes.

"Mm," Duan Xu murmured, his head lowered.

Please don't talk to me. Thank you!

Seeing that Duan Xu was deliberately avoiding him, Shen Yanlang did not push. He said evenly, "I have something to do tonight. I won't be staying here."

"Mm," Duan Xu responded again, turning his back on Shen Yanlang and pretending to tidy his desk.

Just leave! Just leave!

[Did I do something to make him dislike me?]

Unable to make sense of it, Shen Yanlang picked up his phone and keys and prepared to head out.

Just then, Duan Xu's hands paused, and he felt a little embarrassed.

His attitude just now really had not been good, and Shen Yanlang knew nothing about his dream. It was only natural that he would get the wrong idea.

He turned around to say something, only to find that Shen Yanlang had already opened the dorm room door and walked out, closing it behind him.