Never separate

“Are you sure this is all the food you want to buy?”

Yang Yuan and Su Dai Dai walked back to the dorm, carrying the takeout they had just packed.

“What’s wrong? If it’s not enough… I still have some money to buy more.”

“That’s not what I mean. I’m asking if these are all your favorite dishes.”

Originally, Yang Yuan wanted Su Dai Dai to pick some of her favorite dishes.

Unexpectedly, the few she chose were all Yang Yuan’s usual favorites.

“Of course I love them. A’Yuan, you don’t need to worry about that. Our tastes are pretty much the same anyway.”

In fact, it wasn’t just that their tastes were similar; Su Dai Dai was basically not a picky eater at all.

Coupled with the fact that she had grown up with Yang Yuan since childhood, their dietary preferences had gradually converged.

Returning to the small dormitory, a wave of warm air greeted them.

While Yang Yuan was arranging the food on the table, Su Dai Dai quietly slipped over to the wardrobe.

A black hole appeared in her palm, and she secretly placed the freshly washed, clean T-shirt back into Yang Yuan’s closet.

After doing all this, Su Dai Dai’s gaze shifted to the clothes Yang Yuan had just changed out of and tossed at the foot of the bed.

With her somewhat mischievous little hands, she sucked all the worn clothes into the void.

‘This is the last time! I absolutely can’t do this again.’

Su Dai Dai solemnly warned herself in her heart, but perhaps this kind of behavior was always a matter of zero times or countless times.

“What are you doing over there?”

Yang Yuan’s voice suddenly came from behind her.

He had already set the food out and, at some point, had come up behind Su Dai Dai, just in time to see the girl’s sneaky appearance.

“No… nothing!”

“I was just seeing how well you tidied up, A’Yuan, and wanted to help you organize.”

“I’m not a child anymore. Are you still worried I don’t know how to organize things?”

Yang Yuan found her guilty-as-a-thief expression rather amusing.

“Come and eat first.”

Su Dai Dai responded with an affirmation and walked over, feeling a little scared in her heart.

‘That was close… luckily, I wasn’t discovered.’

Not long after the two sat down, the weather outside the window changed abruptly. Bean-sized raindrops began to hammer against the window, quickly merging into a curtain of rain.

“Rumble!”

A low roll of thunder passed, and the sky completely darkened.

Yang Yuan got up and walked to the bed, looking at the harsh weather outside, and said to Su Dai Dai.

“It looks like this rain won’t stop for a while. Why don’t you just stay here until it stops before going back?”

“Mhm!”

Su Dai Dai nodded in agreement while shoveling rice into her mouth. She couldn’t have been happier to spend more time alone with Yang Yuan.

Looking at the downpour outside the window, Su Dai Dai even prayed silently in her heart.

‘Please, please don’t let this heavy rain stop.’

Time ticked by, and soon it was time for bed. The rain outside not only didn’t stop but grew even heavier.

“What should we do? Should I walk you back, or will you stay the night here?”

“It’s too much trouble to walk me back. I’ll just stay here for the night!”

Su Dai Dai was ecstatic. She felt that she would soon be able to sleep in the same bed with Yang Yuan.

But the next second, Yang Yuan took out a spare set of bedding from the closet and began to make a pallet on the floor.

“A’Yuan, what are you doing? We can just sleep on the bed together!”

The moment the words left her mouth, Su Dai Dai realized it was too blunt. She quickly covered her mouth, afraid that Yang Yuan would think she was a shameless pervert.

Just then, a startling clap of thunder boomed, “RUMBLE,” making the whole window seem to vibrate.

Su Dai Dai had a flash of inspiration and immediately pretended to be terrified, shrinking her body and leaning closer to Yang Yuan.

“I… I’m a little scared of thunder. In this kind of weather, I won’t be able to sleep alone.”

“A’Yuan, can you… sleep with me?”

Looking at her pitiful appearance, Yang Yuan felt a little suspicious.

“I’ve never seen you so scared of thunder before.”

“Because… because I’m only scared at night!”

Faced with the girl’s coquettishness, Yang Yuan’s heart softened for a moment, and he could only agree to her request.

Sleeping in the same bed with a beautiful girl like Su Dai Dai was indeed a challenge for him.

****

The night grew deeper. Su Dai Dai lay expectantly in bed, turned on her side, and looked at Yang Yuan next to her.

“What, you’re not scared anymore?”

“I’m… I’m still a little scared.”

Su Dai Dai deliberately answered this way, snuggling closer to Yang Yuan, bringing the distance between them even closer.

The softness of the girl’s body kept Yang Yuan from feeling sleepy, so he started a conversation with her.

“Dai Dai, do you have any thoughts about the future?”

“The future?”

Su Dai Dai thought for a moment and answered seriously: “I don’t have any special plans. I just hope I can always have enough to eat, then work hard to earn money, buy a house of my own, so I can have a home!”

Although that’s what she said on the surface, what she was thinking in her heart was: ‘As long as I can be with A’Yuan in the future, anything is fine.’

“What about you, A’Yuan?” Su Dai Dai asked in return.

“For me, just being able to live well is enough.”

After hearing this answer, Su Dai Dai let out a “pfft” of laughter. She hadn’t expected Yang Yuan to want such a future.

“Why are you so laid-back, just like me, A’Yuan?”

“Lying flat and letting things rot is the normal state of life, okay?”

“Besides… who knows what we’ll become in the future. Maybe we’re friends now, but in a few years, we’ll be like strangers.”

Yang Yuan recalled the little stories he had seen online, where many childhood friends grew up to become strangers.

“A’Yuan and I will definitely not be separated!”

The words “like strangers” suddenly made Su Dai Dai emotional, and her voice rose several notches.

“You scared me. I was just expressing a thought, I didn’t mean that we would separate in the future.”

“Expressing a thought is not allowed either!” Su Dai Dai said stubbornly.

“You can’t even think about that kind of thing!”

Su Dai Dai once again fell into that paranoid, obsessed state.

Yang Yuan’s words had shown her the future she feared the most, the one she never wanted to see.

“Alright, alright, let’s not think about these things.”

“We are both alone, and we have no other family in this world. When we enter society in the future, we will definitely have to support each other. How could we possibly separate?”

The older he got, the more Yang Yuan discovered that Su Dai Dai could easily break down over some unknown little things.

Under his comfort, Su Dai Dai’s mood eased a little. She looked at Yang Yuan and asked seriously.

“Then can you answer me, will you… will you always be by my side in the future?”

This question was a bit heavy, and Yang Yuan didn’t dare to answer it casually. After all, as a transmigrator, what if he suddenly transmigrated back one day?

But looking at Su Dai Dai’s eyes, full of pleading and unease, his heart ultimately softened.

“I will.”

After getting the reply she wanted, a smile finally appeared on Su Dai Dai’s face, and she then pushed her luck by continuing to ask:

“Then… if there’s this kind of weather in the future, can I come here again and sleep with you?”

“If I say no, would you not come?”

“I’d still sneak over,” Su Dai Dai replied righteously.

“Anyway, A’Yuan definitely wouldn’t have the heart to lock me out.”

“Then why did you ask?”

Yang Yuan couldn’t help but reach out and flick her on the forehead. He was finding it harder and harder to manage this Su Dai Dai, who used to be very obedient to him.

“Alright, we have to get up early tomorrow. Hurry up and sleep.”

“Hehe… goodnight, A’Yuan!”

“Goodnight.”

Outside the window, the sound of rain pattered on, while the room was dim.

Before falling asleep, Yang Yuan reached out and tucked the corner of the blanket for Su Dai Dai.

The girl seemed to sense Yang Yuan’s movement and unconsciously moved closer in his direction.

Only when her forehead gently rested against Yang Yuan’s shoulder did Su Dai Dai seem to fall into a contented, deep sleep.

In her sleep, the girl spoke unclear dream words.

“We will never be separated… ever.”