Chapter 43
That night, Su Bin was shocked by the incident with the lubricant, so he retreated to his room and didn’t come out until it was time to sleep.
The next morning, since he didn’t have to prepare breakfast for Allen, Su Bin immediately called his girlfriend as soon as he woke up.
In the past, Su Bin would find it extremely unbelievable not to meet Chen Xiaotian for a day. But now, they had unintentionally gone three days without contact!
However, when he called Chen Xiaotian, she didn’t show any resentment about their lack of contact. Instead, she casually asked, “Are you out with friends for the weekend?”
Su Bin admired Chen Xiaotian’s maturity and thoughtfulness for being so understanding and non-clingy. Although he sometimes felt a bit lonely because he didn’t feel valued, most of the time he admired her.
Of course, Su Bin didn’t tell Chen Xiaotian about picking up trash at the stadium or about Allen taking him shopping for clothes. These were surprises he planned to share with her in the future!
So he vaguely replied on the phone, “Yes, I’m out with friends to watch a game.” He did watch a bit of the game while picking up trash, so it wasn’t entirely a lie. “I’ve been busy these past few days.” That part was true too. He was busy preparing breakfast for Allen yesterday and didn’t have time to call Chen Xiaotian.
“It’s good to be busy and fulfilled,” Chen Xiaotian acknowledged his busyness. “Just take care of yourself and don’t overwork.”
Su Bin was deeply moved and couldn’t help but share his thoughts with his girlfriend. He was easily swayed when it came to the person he loved and longed for their touch and comfort. He wished he could fly to Chen Xiaotian right now, expose his vulnerable side, and seek solace. He said, “Xiao Tian, I miss you~”
Chen Xiaotian on the other end of the phone fell silent for a few seconds and softened her voice, saying, “Su Bin, I’m also very busy. I recently found an internship as a translator. I have to work as a translator for people when I’m not in class. Although I don’t earn much, it’s good for personal development… Sometimes I also worry about you, whether you’re doing well there alone or not. Whether you miss me or not, we know it in our hearts. When you always say that, it makes me feel, feel guilty…” At this point, her tone on the phone changed a bit, as if she was choking up.
Su Bin was a bit bewildered because Chen Xiaotian had never shown this side in front of him before. Was she feeling guilty because she had pressured him to go abroad for an exchange?
Nervously sitting up from his bed, he quickly said, “I’m sorry, don’t blame yourself, don’t feel bad. I’m doing fine alone, really.”
Chen Xiaotian took a deep breath, adjusted her emotions, and finished her words, “When you say you miss me, it always makes me feel… especially tired…”
Su Bin instinctively wanted to comfort his girlfriend and blurted out, “I won’t say that anymore in the future.”
After saying it, he was stunned. He was now abroad, unable to see his girlfriend when he missed her, and now she was saying not to say it over the phone. Wasn’t that suffocating him?
But before he could take it back, Chen Xiaotian said, “Let’s talk less on the phone in the future. Once it becomes a habit, people become particularly vulnerable, and they seek someone to confide in over trivial matters. I don’t like it.”
“…Okay,” Su Bin responded, although he felt quite confused. He didn’t call Chen Xiaotian every day as if it were a task; it was more of an instinct… Hearing the other person’s voice was the only way he could feel at ease… Maybe as Chen Xiaotian said, it had become a habit.
What Chen Xiaotian said made sense. With dependency, one becomes weak. Thinking about how he, a man, wasn’t as strong as a woman, Su Bin felt a little guilty.
“In that case, I won’t call every day anymore. Don’t feel bad, it’s my fault… Also, this weekend B country will switch to winter time, so our time difference will be even greater… I’ll only call you if there’s something special, is that okay?”
“Okay… As long as you’re doing well, I’ll feel relieved.”
“I will, you have to believe me!”
“…”
When he hung up the phone, Su Bin almost said, “I’ll miss you,” but he remembered that he had just promised not to say it, so he forcefully held it back.
Be strong, be strong… Su Bin clenched his fists and told himself.
One minute later…
To hell with being strong! You won’t even let me say “miss you”! It’s suffocating!
…Ah, but once words are spoken, like releasing a fart, how can you take them back?
It was three days later that Su Bin encountered Allen.
Before that, two or three times he heard sounds coming from the bathroom around midnight. Because Su Bin’s bed was against the wall next to the bathroom, although the soundproofing of this house was good, he could still hear it when he pressed his ear against the wall.
The first time, he nervously checked the duration of the water sound, which lasted about ten minutes, just like that night when Allen bit him. Su Bin thought that such a short duration would only be enough for taking a shower.
Since Su Bin didn’t notice any decrease in the lubricant during those three days, he stopped suspecting Allen’s inhuman abilities in that aspect and simply assumed that Allen mistook the lubricant for laundry detergent…
Although Su Bin didn’t believe this idea himself, just like when Allen bled so much but claimed it was only a minor cut, he had learned not to question it.
That evening, after taking the dog for a walk, Su Bin returned home to cook dinner and also made some rice balls for the next day.
While he was focused, he suddenly caught sight of someone standing beside him, and he was so startled that he almost knocked over the lid of the pot… It seemed that even though Su Bin knew Allen wasn’t a vampire, it was useless because Su Bin’s reflexes had already conditioned him to “jump” when he suddenly appeared.
Allen smiled as he looked at him, realizing he hadn’t seen Su Bin for three days, and he quite missed the guy. He found perverse pleasure in seeing Su Bin startled by his sudden appearance.
“What are you doing?” Allen asked, looking at the food in the pot.
He didn’t mention the incident of seeing himself outside the red-brick building that day! Su Bin breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that he pretended not to know, otherwise he would have felt like he was being silenced.
“Uh…” Su Bin was about to explain the dish “Braised Pork with Fermented Bean Curd” to Allen, but he was stuck on how to translate “fermented bean curd.” When he carefully thought about the process of making fermented bean curd, which involved allowing tofu to become moldy and grow hair, then salting and preserving it, he found it even more disgusting… Well, it seemed that Chinese people could be quite twisted when it came to inventing delicacies.
Allen extended his finger and lightly tapped Su Bin’s head, saying, “You make some strange things, like a little wizard.”
“…” Su Bin noticed that ever since Allen bit him that day, the guy always seemed to get hands-on when he saw Su Bin. Was it common for B-country people to act like this once they became familiar with their roommates?
But we’re not that close yet, right? Su Bin glanced at Allen, thinking that it was just a bite, after all.
Suppressing his discomfort, Su Bin said, “This is a famous dish from our hometown, a special tofu product (…), braised pork.”
Allen sniffed it and said, “But it smells good, worth a try.”
“…” (⊙_⊙) Does that mean he wants to eat together? Su Bin quickly seized the opportunity and asked, “Shall we eat together later?”
Allen smiled and nodded, saying, “I’ll go upstairs to change clothes and come down later.”
“Okay!” I’ll make some money now (☆_☆)!
Su Bin quickly opened the refrigerator door and took out a few potatoes. He planned to add a side dish, stir-fried sour and sweet shredded potatoes.
In fact, these few days, Su Bin had been busy looking for a job on the student part-time job website. However, his good luck seemed to have been depleted after last week’s cleaning incident. He hadn’t found a suitable job since then, and he had also applied for some jobs that didn’t fully meet his requirements, only to be mercilessly rejected by the employers.
During dinner, Jin Fei also joined them. The gluttonous fly, facing the bowl of braised pork with fermented bean curd, transformed into a meat-eating dog, gobbling it down.
Su Bin looked at Jin Fei in astonishment. Although he and Allen were probably on par in terms of financial strength… well, in terms of food, maybe Jin Fei was a bit wealthier. But looking at his eating habits, compared to Allen’s elegance, the difference was like night and day.
After dinner, Jin Fei let out a satisfied burp and said to Su Bin, “Su Bingzi, you can open a restaurant. Brother will invest in you.”
“Hahaha,” Su Bin laughed, “Fly, I think you can be on a food show. I’m sure the audience will have a huge appetite after watching you!” He teased Jin Fei back, not taking his words seriously.
To be honest, although Su Bin knew how to cook, he had never thought about making a living from it. Allen’s proposal to pay for his meals was just an exception.
Like many traditional Chinese university students, Su Bin believed that if you study a field, you should work in that field. He studied finance and would inevitably be involved in finance in the future. Cooking was just a life skill.
Seeing that Su Bin didn’t have that intention, Jin Fei only teased him with a comment like, “Picking trash can earn a few cents, silly kid,” and didn’t continue the topic.
Today, Su Bin was wearing a shirt that didn’t cover his neck, which reminded Jin Fei of the morning incident he hadn’t inquired about.
“Is your allergy better?” Jin Fei asked with a smirk, changing the subject.
Su Bin instinctively reached up to cover his neck, and his ears turned slightly red. “Yeah, it’s… better.”
Jin Fei pointed at Su Bin with his index finger and threatened, “You hid it from me!” Then he looked at Allen and said, “You live next to him, you must have heard some noise, right?”
“…” Su Bin nervously looked at Allen, thinking that Allen would cover for him, after all, he was someone who disliked homosexuality. If he mentioned being bitten on the neck by a same-sex roommate, Jin Fei would definitely misunderstand!
Initially, Allen had planned to remain silent, but seeing Su Bin’s expression, he suddenly changed his mind and smirked, “Hmm.”
Su Bin saw a familiar mischievous glint in Allen’s eyes, and he felt completely doomed…
Jin Fei became interested and pestered Allen for the truth. After enjoying enough of Su Bin’s embarrassed and fearful expression, Allen leisurely said, “I only heard him making some kind of… sounds, similar to… mmm…”
Jin Fei: “By himself?”
Su Bin’s face was burning at the realization of what Allen meant by his “mmm” sound—groaning. Damn it, Allen, his roommate was such a jerk, not explaining anything!
No matter how Jin Fei thought about it, he couldn’t understand how Su Bin managed to bite his own neck red. He wasn’t a snake… Wait, did he twist it himself?
Jin Fei’s gaze towards Su Bin completely transformed into pity… Tsk tsk tsk, who would have thought Su Bin was into masochism in bed!
Su Bin no longer had the energy to decipher the meaning behind Jin Fei’s creepy gaze. He felt tired and just wanted to kneel in a corner for a while! Q_Q
After taking a shower in the evening, Su Bin wrapped a towel around his waist. In his haste, he forgot to bring fresh underwear and clothes to change into, so he had to wait until he finished brushing his teeth before going to his room to change.
Halfway through brushing his teeth, Allen came out!
…Damn, this guy doesn’t follow the schedule. The note clearly stated that the bathroom was to be used from 9 to 10, and now it’s already 11!
Su Bin silently complained in his mind and couldn’t help but feel annoyed at Allen’s behavior of “selling his roommate” in front of Jin Fei tonight.
By the way, Allen should have been able to hear the noise from the bathroom in his room, right? Why did he have to come at this time? Did he still want to have a goodnight chat?
“Done with your shower?” Allen crossed his arms and looked at Su Bin, who was only wearing a towel.
“Uh…” Su Bin spat out the foam in his mouth, “Almost done!” He quickly rinsed his mouth and wondered if he should let Allen use the bathroom first and then clean up later. But before he could decide, Allen walked in.
This time, Allen didn’t turn to the mirror sideways like last time to squeeze toothpaste. Instead, he faced Su Bin directly, who had his upper body exposed, with an intense gaze.
Before Su Bin could react, Allen took a step forward and reached out to touch his neck.
“…” Damn it! Su Bin couldn’t avoid it, and his whole body was feeling a bit creepy. He couldn’t help but wonder if Allen was planning to take another bite. Oh no, last time there was still a scarf covering, but this time he had nothing. Su Bin instantly became nervous, and his hair stood on end.
“Shedding,” Allen said casually.
“…” Of course, it’s been four days, so obviously it’s shedding! Do you think you have tattoo teeth?
With a deep gaze, Allen smiled and let go of Su Bin, stepping aside to let him leave.
Su Bin felt grateful and quickly said, “Goodnight,” before running away like his life depended on it… Damn it, who the hell said that B-country people don’t like physical contact? Come out, I promise not to kill you.
Dang, nothing happened. Lol.
Definitely feeling that infamous line, “I already have my pants down and this is what you show me?!”