My straight roommate is so good

Cheng Yuan was true to his word; he really spent over half an hour just taking out the trash.

When he returned to the dorm, he was pleasantly surprised to see that both Qiao Song and Ling Jianshu had changed into shirts. They were both wearing plain-colored short-sleeves—one in black, one in white—complementing each other perfectly.

He couldn’t help but feel delighted, wishing he could capture the moment and save it on his phone to relish over and over.

“Ling Brother, Qiao Qiao, I’m back!”

Ling Jianshu glanced at him and gave a faint “Mm” in acknowledgment.

Qiao Song also turned to him with a smile. “Thanks for running the errand.”

“No trouble at all! I’d gladly run my legs off for a clean and tidy dorm!” Cheng Yuan said with a grin, noticing that Qiao Song’s bed was already made. He could vaguely guess what had happened.

He purposely remarked, “Qiao Qiao, you’re amazing! I just went downstairs to throw out the trash, and you’ve already managed to make the bed all by yourself?”

Qiao Song wasn’t an ungrateful person. He glanced at Ling Jianshu, who was now on his computer, and said to Cheng Yuan, “It wasn’t just me.”

Just as Cheng Yuan had guessed, he asked knowingly, “Ling Brother helped you?”

Qiao Song nodded gently. “Yes.”

Cheng Yuan was pleased with the answer and moved closer to Ling Jianshu. Just as he reached out to pat his shoulder, Ling Jianshu stopped him with a look.

Cheng Yuan wasn’t bold enough to act recklessly in front of his imposing presence, so he quietly withdrew his hand and spoke instead.

“Ling Brother, you’ve been cleaning and now helping Qiao Qiao with the bed. How could you be so…” Cheng Yuan, an engineering student, took a moment to come up with an appropriate phrase, “so maternal?”

Qiao Song: “…Engineering students use idioms like this?”

Ling Jianshu’s laptop had switched from the startup animation to the Windows desktop. He moved the mouse and opened the programming environment, responding to Cheng Yuan in a detached manner, “If you can’t think of a better word, then be quiet.”

Cheng Yuan had lived with him for two years and was used to his blunt style of speaking. He wasn’t offended and chose not to pursue the matter further.

Cheng Yuan was good at picking up on social cues and noticed that the atmosphere between Ling Jianshu and Qiao Song seemed somewhat unnatural. Since his arrival, they hadn’t exchanged a word.

Qiao Song seemed relatively normal, at least looking back at Ling Jianshu with a calm expression. But Ling Jianshu had been so helpful to him and now acted as if he didn’t know him at all… This was a bit peculiar.

Cheng Yuan didn’t know what had happened in the past half-hour when he was absent, but his curiosity was wisely restrained.

The dorm atmosphere was unusually quiet. Cheng Yuan, returning to his desk, took a sip of water and decided to take on the task of breaking the silence.

“By the way, Qiao Qiao, Ling Brother, what are your plans for today?”

Qiao Song was about to organize some piano scores when he heard Cheng Yuan’s question. He instinctively looked at Ling Jianshu.

Ling Jianshu also looked back at him. 

Their gazes met, creating a unique magnetic field that seemed to block out the presence of the other roommate.

Cheng Yuan, who was effectively ignored, felt a flutter of excitement. He thought he must have done something good in a past life to witness this divine pairing.

He hoped in his heart—ignore me, ignore me, really, as long as you two are happy. Please continue to gaze into each other’s eyes until the end of time!

Just as he wished, Ling Jianshu and Qiao Song were indeed too absorbed in each other to pay him any mind.

Qiao Song waited for a moment and, seeing that Ling Jianshu didn’t speak, took the initiative to ask, “What about you?”

Ling Jianshu glanced at Cheng Yuan and said to Qiao Song, “He asked you first.”

“…” Qiao Song realized this was indeed the case, so he answered honestly, “I’ll stay in the dorm in the morning to organize things and sort out the piano scores. In the afternoon and evening, I’ll practice the piano.”

He waited for a moment and then asked him, “What about you?”

“I’ll do my homework in the morning and go to the gym in the afternoon.”

Ling Jianshu, while responding, picked up his phone to send a message to his coach.

Ling Jianshu: [Sorry coach, I have something urgent this morning. Can we move today’s training to the afternoon?]

Coach: [OK.]

Cheng Yuan, who had been lazily observing, immediately perked up when he heard “homework.”

He straightened up and begged Ling Jianshu, “Ling Brother, can you lend me your homework for reference? Please, I’m desperate! This problem is so complicated, I’ve been racking my brain for half the night and still can’t figure it out…”

“Mm.” Ling Jianshu responded absentmindedly.

Cheng Yuan had never seen him directly lend his homework for copying. Usually, he would ask what the problem was and give guidance.

This time, the help came too easily, leaving Cheng Yuan stunned, thinking he must have imagined it.

Not just him, but Ling Jianshu himself felt a bit bewildered. He hadn’t really listened to Cheng Yuan’s problem, his mind had been preoccupied with trying to align his schedule with Qiao Song’s. In his moment of distraction, he had agreed to something he usually wouldn’t.

Now that he came back to his senses, he didn’t feel much regret, just found it a bit absurd. He couldn’t understand why he cared so much about Qiao Song—they had just met and weren’t even friends.

The silence stretched for a few seconds until Cheng Yuan broke it, “Ling Brother, you’re not acting right! You actually agreed to my unreasonable request?! I’m starting to doubt my hearing.”

Ling Jianshu gave him a flat look. “You heard correctly.”

“…No, I can’t have heard right! I definitely heard you agree.”

“Then stop talking nonsense.”

Cheng Yuan nodded repeatedly. “Okay, Ling Brother, you are my hero. I will listen to you. I won’t say another word! Are you starting your homework now? Do you need me to get you anything?”

Ling Jianshu: “No need. You’re too noisy.”

Qiao Song listened to their conversation and couldn’t help but smile slightly.

The interaction between the engineering students was different from what he had imagined—far from being stiff and boring, it was quite interesting.

He could see that Ling Jianshu, despite his seemingly distant demeanor, had a good relationship with his roommates. Cheng Yuan wasn’t afraid of him at all.

He liked the relaxed atmosphere in the dorm and believed that Ling Jianshu wasn’t a bad person. He just wished things were different.

If he wasn’t homophobic, they might have had a chance to become friends.

As he daydreamed, he didn’t notice Ling Jianshu’s lingering gaze.

Ling Jianshu knew that staring at someone was impolite, yet he couldn’t control himself. His eyes were fixed on Qiao Song, unable to look away.

Qiao Song sat properly on his chair, holding a thick stack of piano scores on his lap, looking perfectly well-behaved. He had his head slightly lowered, and his long, curled eyelashes cast a shadow on his cheek. His lightly colored lips were curved into a gentle smile.

The sight of him smiling was like the soft wind of early spring, unexpectedly stirring Ling Jianshu’s heart and making his pulse quicken.

After a moment, Qiao Song sensed something and looked up.

The moment their eyes met, Ling Jianshu, with a cold face, quickly looked away.

“…” Qiao Song was taken aback, not understanding what he had done to provoke the campus heartthrob.

But he didn’t dwell on it and quickly turned his attention back to Cheng Yuan. “Cheng Yuan, what about you? What are your plans for later?”

Cheng Yuan, quick-witted, replied, “I have something to do in the morning, but I’ll come back after lunch to copy the homework.”

A brilliant move to avoid the peak hours! He was determined to create some private time for his ideal pairing.

He praised himself in his mind while quickly getting up and heading towards the door.

Before leaving, he thought of something and, leaning against the door frame, said to them, “By the way, just a friendly reminder—your post is going viral. It’s now the Top 1 on the forum.”

He left hurriedly, leaving Qiao Song and Ling Jianshu to look at each other in silence.

Qiao Song tentatively asked, “Do you know what he was talking about regarding that post?”

Ling Jianshu shook his head. “Not really.”

Qiao Song secretly sighed in relief. He set the piano scores on the desk and took out his phone, saying to him, “Then you start on your homework. I’ll check the forum and let you know.”

Ling Jianshu noticed Qiao Song’s relieved expression and felt puzzled. But he didn’t ask further, simply nodding and agreeing to his plan.

Some things might seem puzzling to straight guys, but they are quite obvious to gay people.

For example, a post about two men being featured prominently on the forum. Qiao Song could easily guess what the post was about just by closing his eyes.

What else could it be? It’s probably about shipping them.

He felt a bit anxious, worried that some homophobic straight guy might get angry after seeing the post and might end up causing trouble for him, possibly even tossing him and his suitcase out of the dorm.

He glanced discreetly at Ling Jianshu to confirm he was seriously working on his code before logging into the forum.

As expected, the top post was exactly what he anticipated. The highlighted title read:

《【Shipping CP】Campus Heartthrob LJS and Piano Department Star QSS in a Century-Long Encounter! Click to Enter the Paradise of Face Fans!》