Chapter 2781 The Online Game Master's "Straight Male" Roommate 25

The lights were on in the living room, and the atmosphere was somewhat quiet.

Cheng Lang walked to the sofa and sat down, moving a little to the side. This was Jin Chen's usual spot, where he would snuggle up whenever he watched TV, played games, or simply wanted to be close to him.

Jin Chen stopped by the sofa, glanced at it, and then walked to the single sofa and sat down.

Cheng Lang stretched out his legs, and the arm that was originally going to hug the person next to him stopped and stiffly withdrew. With nowhere to put it, he could only grab a pillow and hug it to his chest.

Silence spread between the two.

“Xiao Chen,” Cheng Lang broke the silence, trying to force a reassuring smile, but he couldn’t manage one. He lowered his eyes again, staring at the pattern on the pillow in his arms, and continued, “I don’t blame you.”

No wonder he revealed his feelings so suddenly.

"Kiss me..." he continued with difficulty, his ears burning, the words seeming hot to his lips, spoken indistinctly and slowly, "Also..."

"It's alright, isn't it?" Jin Chen picked up where he left off, her gaze tracing Cheng Lang's furrowed brows and evasive eyes.

"I thought you would be an exception for me, but you weren't. It's not like I haven't tried to test you, and it's not the first time you've run away from me."

Cheng Lang wanted to refute, to say that he wasn't running away, that he just hadn't thought it through yet, but when the words reached his lips, he couldn't bring himself to say them with conviction.

Jin Chen was right. After the team building event that day, he chose to maintain the status quo and keep things quiet so that no one would expose him.

But he saw the disappointment in Jin Chen's eyes, like a tide known only to them, leaving behind a damp, salty, and suffocating pain.

Cheng Lang wanted to reach out and smooth away the sadness in his eyes.

But halfway through reaching out, he stopped in despair.

I feel guilty.

What right does he have to comfort, and in what capacity, a brother who can't offer a response, or a friend who enjoys closeness but can't reciprocate with equal affection?

“But I don’t want to upset you,” Cheng Lang pleaded, “can we… still be like before, okay?”

Just like before, they were inseparable, giving and taking, hugging and cuddling, everything remained the same, as long as they didn't mention liking each other, as long as they maintained the fig leaf of being called brothers.

"Even knowing I like you?" Jin Chen chuckled softly. "I don't know whether to say that you're too generous or too good at avoiding the issue."

He tilted his head slightly. "So, your answer to me, senior, is still that you only want to be brothers and friends, right?"

Cheng Lang wanted to nod and say yes, we are the best brothers, the best friends, isn't that good?

"...Is that alright?" Cheng Lang asked dryly.

If Jin Chen says yes, everything can go back to the beginning, and he won't have to face this nerve-wracking choice anymore.

Jin Chen stared at him for a long time.

So long that Cheng Lang almost thought he would give in and, like countless times before, lean back against him again, saying in that coquettish tone, "Okay, I'll listen to you, senior."

But all he saw was Jin Chen shaking his head.

"But senior, we can only be ordinary friends now."

We pushed them too hard today.

As expected, Hua Yu is still very unreliable. We need to cause him some trouble, big trouble.

Jin Chen sighed inwardly, then raised his eyes, his smile revealing a distant gentleness, "How about we try to be ordinary friends again? What do you think, senior?"

Cheng Lang's mind was buzzing.

He vaguely sensed that something was wrong, and a voice in his mind was weakly protesting, shouting that this was not how it was supposed to be, and that it shouldn't be like this.

But his thoughts were in turmoil. Jin Chen's proposal sounded reasonable, and it seemed to be... the answer he wanted.

Amidst the chaos and impulse to give up, Cheng Lang nodded, "Okay."

Jin Chen stood up. "Goodnight, senior."

"Don't worry about those posts on the forum, I'll have them deleted, they won't affect you."

The door to the second bedroom closed, once again separating the two spaces.

Cheng Lang sat alone on the sofa, head down in a daze. It took him a long time to come to his senses before he slowly put the cushion aside.

But with her arms empty, it felt like a piece of her heart was also empty.

A chilly wind crept in from somewhere, making his fingertips feel cold.

What's gone?

He belatedly realized, oh, that's it.

In the past, Jin Chen would linger with him for a long time before going to bed every night.

Sometimes she's sleepy and insists on being held, burying her face in his neck and rubbing against him; other times she seems to have some oral urge and insists on holding him and biting him a few times, leaving wet marks.

He's even gotten used to it; if he gets bitten too hard occasionally, he just covers it up.

But tonight... well, tonight's situation is indeed inappropriate.

Cheng Lang finally stood up and said to himself: Let it be, it's fine to be just ordinary friends.

At least, Xiao Chen is still by my side; she didn't leave because she was rejected.

He believed he had sorted out this mess and found a path that, while not entirely satisfactory, at least allowed him to continue moving forward.

-

And so, they lived like ordinary friends for several days.

Cheng Lang tried his best to adapt to this new way of getting along.

He continued working on his graduation project, spending time in the library, and going to the gym as usual.

That afternoon, he came back from the gym, took a shower, and changed into his pajamas.

It started raining again outside. The winter rain was cold and damp. Remembering that Jin Chen was afraid of the cold, he made a special trip to the supermarket to buy some fresh beef and mutton slices and vegetables, planning to cook a hot pot for dinner to ward off the chill.

Because of Jin Chen's previous habit, Cheng Lang did not change into thick pajamas after taking a shower. Relying on the heating, he only wore a thin cotton loungewear that was easy to button up from the chest, with a low neckline.

He picked up his phone and sent a message to Jinchen: Xiaochen, what time does get out of class end today? It's raining. I bought groceries and we're having hot pot tonight.

After sending the message, he stared at the screen, a faint sense of anticipation in his heart.

Hot pot is something they all really enjoy. Sitting around a steaming hot pot together should help ease the tense atmosphere of the past couple of days.

Jin Chen replied quickly, saying he was having dinner with classmates today and thanked them, saying he didn't need to wait for him.

Cheng Lang stared at the line of text, stunned for a moment.

How come he didn't know that Jin Chen had classmates with whom he could go out to dinner and were so close?

Didn't Jin Chen say that she wasn't very familiar with her classmates and didn't have many friends?

Ah, that's true. This semester is almost over. Someone like Jinchen, even if she's a bit aloof, will always have people willing to get close to her. How could she really not have any friends?

An indescribable feeling welled up in my heart.

Cheng Lang could only reply: Okay, when will you be back?

Jin Chen: Don't worry, senior, it will be a little late today.

Cheng Lang took out the hot pot ingredients he had bought one by one, sorted them and put them into the refrigerator. He had lost his appetite, so he simply cooked a bland fitness meal and ate it hastily.