Don’t Pretend to be Poor with Me - Chapter 25

How would you know whether or not you like someone if you don’t seriously try it out?

Your family’s Xiao Yan?

Interested?

Xia Zhiye was first dissatisfied with the first half of the sentence, then realized what the second half meant.

He asked: “What do you mean ‘interested’?”

Shen Jiayan mysteriously said: “You know, that meaning of ‘interested’.”

“What meaning?”

“Just that meaning that you’re thinking of.”

“You really mean the meaning I’m thinking of?”

“Right, just the meaning of the meaning that you’re thinking of.”

The two faced each other and took turns saying a tongue twister.

Xia Zhiye was silent for three seconds: “Why would you ask that?”

Shen Jiayan was angered into putting his hand on his hips: “You still have to ask that?!”

Xia Zhiye: “……”

“Clearly, the three of us were shopping around together, but did the either of you acted like I exist? It was as if your eyes were stuck on his body, and you kept looking at him and laughing. Also, when you play games you have a double standard. You ignore little girls, but when the player switched to Song Yan, you directly flashed over to block a big move for him. Is this really just a regular friendship between straight men?!”

Shen Jiayan interrogated the other righteously, as if the answer was clear.

Meanwhile, Xia Zhiye was unexpectedly unsure of the correct answer himself, and could only silently ponder over it.

Shen Jiayan saw the other didn’t refute himself, then squinted his eyes and sneakily added: “Also I think Xiao Yan might be interested in you.”

Xia Zhiye raised his eyebrow slightly: “How so?”

Shen Jiayan once again put his hands on his waist: “I have to explain this too?”

Xia Zhiye: “……”

Shen Jiayan felt the other couldn’t be saved, then raised his fingers to count each one out for the other: “Look at this. Last time, Xiao Yan asked me for the learning materials, wasn’t it to give to you?”

Xia Zhiye: “……Yeah.”

“Yesterday when you and that girl came out to eat and you posted a Moments, didn’t he call you and scold you?”

“……Yeah.”

“Didn’t he take the initiative to buy a couple’s bracelet with you tonight?”

“……Yeah.”

“See.” Both of Shen Jiayan’s hands were spread, as if it all converged on a single answer, “You guys are definitely in a two-way unrequited love.”

“……”

Xia Zhiye who hadn’t completely confirmed whether or not he liked Song Yan yet, heard Shen Jiayan’s analysis, and unexpectedly felt what the other said made some sense.

He began to think about the things that had happened since meeting Song Yan.

Song Yan’s temper was cold, but specifically helped print out learning materials for himself.

Song Yan didn’t like getting close to others, but the first time they ate together, Song Yan gave him a piece of his favorite food, pig liver.

Song Yan usually didn’t like paying attention to others, but whenever Song Yan bought something, he would buy a share for himself. The same pen, the same book, the same bottle of milk, and today he even bought the same couple’s bracelet.

The most unfathomable thing was that when Song Yan saw the photo of him and his female cousin, he said something like ‘you should stay away from girls with unknown background’.

Even though he had explained that it was his sister, Song Yan’s attitude was still a bit strange. At that time he felt it was a bit inexplicable, but thinking about it now, it actually felt like Song Yan was acting jealous and throwing a tantrum.

So could it be that Song Yan may perhaps really……be secretly in love with him?

Shen Jiayan saw the other’s face submerged in contemplation yet seemingly unsure of the answer, and hated iron for not being steel: “Forget it, I should just go and directly ask Xiao Yan.”

The moment he twisted open the door handle, Xia Zhiye turned his head to look over, and calmly reminded: “What do you think would happen if you directly ask Song Yan that question?”

Shen Jiayan’s movements stilled, then he righteously answered: “At this time next year, the grass at the head of my grave will be two meters high.”

“So are you still going to ask?”

“Forget it, thanks, I’ve bothered you.”

Shen Jiayan loosened his hand and shut the door, then silently walked back a few steps. A minute after his near death experience, he raised his head to look at Xia Zhiye: “Then what now?”

“Nothing.” Xia Zhiye seemed to have no care in the world, “Anyway, don’t say anything to Song Yan for now, just let nature take its course.”

He didn’t think there was any problem with a boy liking a boy, and since he was young, he’d always had a generous disposition. He did whatever he wanted, liked whatever he liked, and never cared what other people thought.

But he cared about Song Yan.

If Song Yan couldn’t accept a boy liking a boy from the start, or if Song Yan didn’t like him, then what if they couldn’t even be friends because of this matter?

But what if Song Yan really did like him……

The bottom of Xia Zhiye’s eyes were filled with a hint of laughter that even he didn’t seem to realize.

Shen Jiayan who had been watching him from one side felt it was baffling: “What are you suddenly laughing about?”

Xia Zhiye slightly raised his eyebrows: “I laughed?”

“……”

You laughed.

Not only did you laugh, but your laugh was even like a spring breeze1.

Shen Jiayan stared at Xia Zhiye’s face full of longing for love, yet remaining completely unaware of it, and knew this handsome asshole was unsalvageable. After sighing with exasperation, he took out his skincare and face wash: “Fine, I’m going to shower first. You think it over yourself then.”

“Hm, okay.”

The bathroom door shut, and the room regained its quiet.

Xia Zhiye walked to the balcony, wanting to get some air and calm down. But he turned his head and saw the neighboring balcony covered in the pale yellow light from the room next door.

Seems that when Song Yan sleeps alone he doesn’t turn off the lights at all.

He also didn’t know if Song Yan would be afraid if he wasn’t there to accompany the other?

Just as he was thinking this, he suddenly heard a bang from the neighboring room, as if a heavy object had fallen down, and was even accompanied by the drizzling sound of water. At that moment, Xia Zhiye didn’t think, just directly turned to run in the direction of the neighboring room.

The door wasn’t locked, and he was able to open it. Then he directly pushed open the bathroom door: “Song Yan, Are……you okay.”

Song Yan was fine.

His upper body was bare, and was only wearing a pair of silk pajama pants. He was holding a big, heavy, bottle of body wash, and it seemed he had just picked it up off the floor.

The shower head next to him was already turned on, and hot water drizzled down. The steam lingered in the air under the warm, yellow light, soaking the hair on Song Yan’s forehead, as well as his skin.

His skin appeared white and smooth, like foggy porcelain, and his muscles appeared delicate and exquisite, leading into a thin and narrow waist.

It was so thin, but didn’t make others feel as if it were excessively soft. Instead it appeared tenacious, and he really wanted to try and see how far that waist could bend.

You could even vaguely see two small back dimples exposed under the black cloth, and underneath the back dimples were……

“Do you want to die?”

A cold sound interrupted Xia Zhiye’s intention of continuing to look downwards.

Xia Zhiye immediately snapped out of his lovely dream and guiltily realized his dirty thoughts. He fought to remain unperturbed, and coughed: “Um, I heard something and thought you fell, so I came to check.”

“So now that you’ve checked, can you leave?”

Song Yan originally wanted to directly kick Xia Zhiye out, but upon hearing the other’s reasoning, he reigned in his temper, and very politely chased him away.

Xia Zhiye also didn’t dare to look at him again: “Okay, it’s good that you’re fine. Then I’ll go first, if you need anything, just call me.”

He strove to keep his voice calm, then quickly ran out of the room as soon as he finished speaking, his departure flurried and panicked.

He just happened to bump into Shen Jiayan who had just finished showering, and upon seeing his appearance, the other bewilderedly blinked: “Why are your ears so red?”

“Oh, no reason. The heating is just too high and it’s hot. I’ll be fine after showering.” Xia Zhiye’s face remained the same, and his heart stayed calm. After speaking, he walked to the other bathroom, and locked the door.

Shen Jiayan, who had been left behind in the living room, raised his eyebrows. Was the heating too high? Perhaps Xia Zhiye couldn’t stand the heat, so he smoothly lowered the central heating to the lowest temperature.

Meanwhile, Xia Zhiye in the bathroom had just raised his hand to support himself against the bathroom countertop, and lowered his head to take deep breaths, in a great attempt to calm the rush of blood surging through a certain part of his body.

But despite spending a long period of time to calm himself down, his entire head was still filled with the scene he had just witnessed. Other than that skin as pale as snow, as well as that exquisite waist, he also pictured the delicately curved yet slender pair of legs below the exposed pair of back dimples. The more he remembered, the more he felt his throat become drier, and tighter.

Xia Zhiye felt he was probably done for.

If he felt something for someone for the first time, it could be considered an accident. The second time could be considered a coincidence. But if he didn’t acknowledge the truth by the third time, then it really was inexcusable.

Of all people, that someone was his own roommate.

Xia Zhiye thought back to him saying he was perfectly straight a month ago, and felt his face hurt a bit.

But what else could he do.

As an honest youth in puberty with normal physiology and psychology, he couldn’t control himself just by saying ‘control yourself’.

He could only resign himself to his fate, turn on the faucet and take a shower to force himself to calm down. Once he regained calm, he finally changed into the pajamas provided by the hotel and walked out of the bathroom.

Shen Jiayan had already laid on the bed and had fallen asleep. There was an empty spot as well as an entire blanket, left next to him for Xia Zhiye.

But Xia Zhiye felt sleeping on the same bed after meeting for the first time was awkward, and he was also eighty to ninety percent sure he was bent, and thought it wasn’t good to sleep in the same bed as another boy.

So he simply pulled out a heated blanket from the closet, and walked out to the living room.

He had just laid down on the sofa when he heard a creak, and the door to the single room opened.

The light from the room cascaded out the door frame, cutting out a distorted ray of light into the dark living room that just happened to envelope Xia Zhiye’s figure on the sofa.

Song Yan stood outside the boundary of the light, knitting his eyebrows: “Why are you sleeping in the living room?”

Xia Zhiye didn’t even blink as he lied: “Shen Jiayan snores too loudly, I can’t sleep.”

Song Yan: “?”

Shen Jiayan snores?

How come he didn’t remember that.

Seeing Song Yan’s skeptical expression, Xia Zhiye continued putting on a show, and pulled the blanket around him tighter: “It’s fine, sleeping in the living room is also pretty good……Ah-choo!”

Xia Zhiye hadn’t finished speaking yet when he turned his head to the side, covered his face, and lightly pretended to sneeze.

Only then did Song Yan realize the temperature in the living room was quite low, and Xia Zhiye only had a thin heated blanket.

Also, while the sofa wasn’t quite narrow, it wasn’t wide either. After all, Xia Zhiye was 1.87meters tall, and he couldn’t completely stretch out on the sofa. He could only bend his long legs, and just looking at him made Song Yan feel uncomfortable.

Xia Zhiye kindly agreed to be a free tour guide for them, and there was no reason for them to be unable to provide him with a good night’s rest.

Song Yan believed he wasn’t feeling distressed2 for Xia Zhiye, and was only doing the bare minimum as a guest and host, so he coldly said: “If you think it’s cold in the living room, come in and sleep.”

After saying this, he entered his room, but didn’t close the door behind him.

From Xia Zhiye’s angle, he could clearly see a bed that wasn’t that big inside the bedroom.

So Xia Zhiye continued to act, coughed twice, and helplessly said “Ay, there’s no helping it, it’s just too cold outside”. He then hugged his blanket with a smile that couldn’t be concealed, and unhurriedly followed behind Song Yan to enter the room.

See, Song Yan loved him dearly.

Would normal boys be so distressed for other boys?

No.

Therefore, reasonable exploitation of one’s roommate’s sharp-tongued, soft-heartedness was a necessary and useful skill for contemporary single male high school students.

After all, how would you know whether or not you like someone if you don’t seriously try it out?

.

TN: not xzy having a gay awakening after seeing some back dimples

1. Spring breeze is a metaphor for romantic feelings.

2. Author uses 心疼, which generally translates to feeling sorry for someone out of love. Something like ‘i can’t bear seeing the person I love suffer’.