I Treat You as a Brother - Chapter 32

32 – Ordinary Friendship for an Ordinary Straight Guy

Xu Xiran couldn’t help but feel a bit embarrassed.

After returning to his dorm from that day, he had tried to explain to his roommates, but it was inconvenient to explain some of the details clearly, so he ended up sounding vague. They were skeptical and then became all the more keen to use Fang Mo to make fun of him.

They started saying “your wife” here and there, and Xu Xiran had spoken up about it, but it was unfortunate that none of it was taken seriously. Hearing it all the time, before he knew it, Xu Xiran grew used to it.

At least it was “wife” and not “husband”, so he didn’t suffer any real losses.

Although he didn’t choose this title, to have it exposed in front of Fang Mo made him a little guilty.

“They’re just joking around.” He smiled stiffly and dryly explained.

Fang Mo frowned slightly and pursed his lips, with an innocent and bewildered expression.

He often had this similar expression on his face, and he looked a bit tangled and hesitant, while seemingly deep in thought. His lips were slightly pursed with a hint of grievance. It didn’t look like he was angry, but he was definitely unhappy.

If any other guy had this expression, Xu Xiran would probably feel uncomfortable, and if it was serious, he would feel like he deserved a beating. But when it appeared on Fang Mo’s face, it was an unexpected fit. Good looks were a marvelous gift, and even if it was a weird look, he could make it look cute.

“When I go back, I’ll talk to them.” Xu Xiran looked away, “They all have no filter.”

Fang Mo lowered his eyes and sighed, “It’s fine, I know they just like to mess around.”

“They need a beating.” Xu Xiran scratched his hair, “When I head back, I’ll beat him up so he won’t shout nonsense anymore.”

~

Once he returned to his dorm, as soon as he opened the door, the roommate who had just called him poked his head out of bed.

“Your wife let you back?”

“Mn,” Xu Xiran sat down in front of his writing desk, “What did you want me for?”

“This, is this yours?” The roommate held up a large package of roasted seaweed, “I’m eating it, is that okay?”

“The fuck,” Xu Xiran was speechless, “You’re already eating it, why did you call me for this?”

“It’s pretty good,” the roommate took out another piece, tore open the individual package, and took a big bite. “I can’t find any Chinese on the package, so I wanted to ask where you bought it.”

“My relative brought it back abroad, and I don’t know where they bought it from,” Xu Xiran said as he took the big package of seaweed from him, and grabbed a piece, “Is it good?”

He didn’t eat snacks much and had put the package in the cabinet after they were sent to him, and he usually never thought of touching it. Now that he had opened and tried a piece, it was indeed not bad. The texture was much crispier than ordinary seaweed, and it had a hint of sweetness, which was very unique.

As he ate, he took out his phone and typed a text message to Fang Mo.

[“You don’t eat seafood, but do you eat seaweed?”]

Before Fang Mo had responded, the roommate stretched out his hand again, “Another one!”

Xu Xiran held the seaweed package close and pulled back, “Later!”

“When did you become so petty?” The roommate was dissatisfied.

Xu Xiran ignored him because his phone vibrated. Fang Mo sent a reply.

[“I do, I really like it!”]

“Hurry up, give me another slice!” The roommate crawled down from the bed, reaching out to Xu Xiran.

Xu Xiran knocked his hand off, “No more.”

After saying that, he stood up with half a bag of seaweed, “I’ll be out for a bit and will come back later.”

“You just came back, where are you going?” the roommate asked.

Xu Xiran didn’t look back,  “301.”

“Damn, we can’t even keep you from leaving this dorm anymore,” the roommate yelled, “You might as well get married.”

Hearing this, Xu Xiran suddenly stopped and turned around.

The roommate immediately made a defensive posture, “What are you doing!”

Xu Xiran walked up to him, “From now on, don’t shout out nonsense in front of him anymore, do you understand?”

The roommate let out a mischievous smile, “What nonsense, is he not your wife?”

“Tch,” Xu Xiran clicked his tongue and frowned, “He’s not familiar with you guys, so he won’t be happy to hear that.”

In response, the roommate suddenly lowered his voice, and his expression became a bit more vulgar, “Seriously, is there anything going on with you two?”

“You’re mental,” Xu Xiran was exasperated, “Didn’t I explain this already? We were only joking around that day. If we were really doing something, there’s no way we would scream and shout in the hallway where everyone can see us, right?”

The roommate looked him up and down and nodded, “I understand now. You couldn’t handle him.”

Xu Xiran was speechless, and didn’t bother to continue arguing with him, so he turned around and walked out again, “You’re a moron. This is a waste of time.”

However, his roommate got excited and refused to let it go, “If you don’t want to be with him, why are you being so proactive? You’re even holding the seaweed like it’s treasure.”

“No, I just think it tastes good, what’s wrong with sharing it with a friend?” Xu Xiran didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, “Didn’t you eat it too?”

“Yeah and I want more!” said the roommate.

The dissatisfied Xu Xiran hid away his remaining half bag of seaweed.

“It’s not for you to eat,” Xu Xiran said, “Just take a picture and search for it on Taobao yourself, you should be able to find it.”

The roommate was startled, “Are you human?”

“Hurry up,” Xu Xiran urged, “I don’t have much time.”

~

Once he was at 301 again, when he opened the door, Fang Mo was no longer the only one in the room. The extra person made him feel rather unpleasant.

Liu Xiaochang, who opened the door for him, had a natural and friendly attitude, and greeted him proactively with a smile on his face.

Xu Xiran casually greeted him back, then walked to Fang Mo’s bed. He found that Fang Mo was a bit of a lazy person, and that as long as he was in his room, he would collapse on the bed as if he had no bones.

“Seaweed,” he handed the remaining half package of seaweed to Fang Mo, “It’s delicious, try it.”

Fang Mo looked awkward for some reason. While reaching out to take a piece, he glanced several times past Xu Xiran to the other corner of the room.

Xu Xiran also looked back and then immediately understood. He moved half a step to the side, making sure that he was standing right between Fang Mo and Liu Xiaochang so that he was completely blocking their sight, and then gestured to Fang Mo with his mouth.

“What did this person do now?”

Fang Mo shook his head slightly and reached out his hand but didn’t take the seaweed. He held Xu Xiran’s arm and pulled him over to bend down while he himself leaned up a little, and put his lips next to Xu Xiran’s ear.

“He thinks… that you’re my boyfriend.” He whispered.

Xu Xiran was stunned for a moment.

Fang Mo immediately sat back, his face red, then took the seaweed and lowered his head to take out a piece, and began to open the individually-wrapped packages.

Xu Xiran couldn’t help but become nervous. He wasn’t the best at acting, and especially if he had to purposely act intimate with a friend in front of someone gay, it was hard to not feel stressed.

Just a few hours ago, he had deliberately had a jealous rival fight with Fang Mo’s friend. However, compared to pretending to be a lover, there was still a difference after all.

But since it had come to this, he had to bite the bullet.

Xu Xiran licked his lips, coughed dryly again, and then asked in as gentle a voice as possible, “Is it good?”

“So good!” Fang Mo nodded vigorously with a look of astonishment on his face, “It’s so crispy, this is the first time I’ve eaten seaweed with this texture.”

Xu Xiran immediately smiled, “I think so too…”

Before he finished speaking, Fang Mo gasped suddenly, then frowned and touched the corner of his mouth.

“What’s wrong?” Xu Xiran asked.

“I cut myself,” Fang Mo said bitterly, “The edges are so sharp…”

This seaweed was thicker than the normal kind, and a single piece was a bit large and hard. Fang Mo bit down on it, and accidentally cut the corner of his mouth by the edge. It was probably the same as accidentally getting a paper cut on the finger.

“Let me see,” Xu Xiran leaned over, “Where’s the cut?”

Fang Mo raised his neck and brought his face closer to him.

Xu Xiran haven’t even had a chance to look at it carefully when there was a very deliberate cough not far away.

Before the two of them even had time to put on a show, their only audience already couldn’t stand it anymore.

Fang Mo lowered his head and snickered, and just as he curled the corners of his mouth, he let out a hiss of pain.

“The wound is not big, so I can’t see it very well.” Xu Xiran stared at the corner of his mouth for a while, “But I found…”

“What?”

“Your skin is so fair.” Xu Xiran said.

He said those words to purposely let Liu Xiaochang hear.

Fang Mo probably guessed what he was thinking, and then sneaked a glance at Xu Xiran before shrugging, “I’m just a natural beauty.”

He was amused by himself, and just as he was about to grin, he gasped again in pain.

“Calm down,” Xu Xiran didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, “Don’t eat the rest if you’re in pain.”

“No,” Fang Mo shrank back, “I’ll just be careful and it’ll be fine.”

He cautiously took another bite. Xu Xiran sat on the side, tilted his head, and looked at him with a smile.

“It’s really good, where did you buy this from?” he asked.

“Someone else gave it to me, I’ll go back later and search online to see if they sell it,” Xu Xiran said, raising his hand, “Ai, don’t move.”

“Mm?” Fang Mo raised his eyebrows slightly.

“It fell.” Xu Xiran carefully removed a small piece of seaweed from his chin, “This falls apart easily. Don’t eat it on the bed, you’ll get it dirty. Come down.”

“Oh.” Fang Mo was very obedient, and after nodding, he immediately climbed down from his bed.

“You can break it apart to eat it,” Xu Xiran told him, “Be careful, don’t cut yourself again.”

Fang Mo sat at the table, looked up at Xu Xiran, and continued to nod, “Okay.”

There was another movement not far from the two of them. Liu Xiaochang, who had been silent for a long time, finally couldn’t take it anymore, and stood up and walked out of the room.

After the door closed, Xu Xiran lowered his head and looked at Fang Mo, and both of them burst out laughing.

“Hahahahaha,” Fang Mo slapped his thigh, “I’ve been annoyed by his constant calm appearance for a while! That was so satisfying!”

Xu Xiran also laughed, “We weren’t even that excessive were we?”

“Exactly.” Fang Mo lowered his head and touched his nose, “I didn’t expect his heart to be so fragile.”

He then happily took a big bite of the seaweed. It was a pity that extreme joy turned to sorrow, and he wailed again.

“Did you cut yourself again?” Xu Xiran stretched out his hand to raise Fang Mo’s chin, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, “Let me see.”

Just as he bent down, the dormitory door behind him opened again.

Xu Xiran subconsciously turned around and found Fang Mo’s other two roommates standing outside the door.

“…What are you two doing?” one of them asked in a daze.