A Dream’s Awkward Awakening

Lu Xingyan had never anticipated this. Barely after beginning university, he had a nocturnal emission, triggered by a dream of his roommate.

‘No, no, it should be Xiao Yi,’ Lu Xingyan strenuously corrected himself in his mind. Though it had been Xu Yi’s face, he had clearly been fantasizing about Xiao Yi.

Perhaps it was because both names shared a character that he’d connected them.

Lu Xingyan hadn’t felt this awkward in years.

Especially since the person in his dream was none other than his detested roommate.

He lay in bed, waiting for Li Yuan to return to his sleep, and only after confirming Xu Yi showed no signs of waking did he carefully slip out from under his covers.

Masking his inner turmoil, Lu Xingyan retrieved a clean pair of trousers and his water card from the cabinet, then calmly headed to the restroom.

As he stared at the trousers soaking in the basin, Xu Yi’s face involuntarily surfaced in his mind.

In the dream, Xu Yi’s lips had appeared so pink, so soft.

Yet, he hadn’t even touched them. He blamed Li Yuan’s alarm.

Before anyone else woke, Lu Xingyan hung his washed clothes and trousers to dry.

With both roommates still asleep, Lu Xingyan decided to catch some more rest, returning to his bed and drawing the curtains closed.

Though morning had broken, the curtains offered surprisingly good blackout.

The dim environment was conducive to sleep.

Half-asleep, Lu Xingyan heard a creaking sound from the adjacent bed, as if someone was getting up.

He frowned and rolled over, attempting to ignore the grating noise.

However, his phone suddenly vibrated faintly.

Lu Xingyan instinctively glanced at the avatar on the pop-up notification.

It was Xiao Yi.

He fought through his drowsiness and unlocked the screen.

[Xiao Yi: Will you play this afternoon?]

Lu Xingyan felt a pang of disappointment.

She hadn’t replied all night, only to immediately change the subject and ask if he wanted to play a game.

She had flirted with him, then vanished.

Truly a scummy girl.

Lu Xingyan couldn’t resist replying.

[Starfall: Am I just one of your rank-climbing tools?]

No sooner had the message been sent.

Lu Xingyan heard Xu Yi’s phone ring beneath the bed.

Such a coincidence? This was the second time.

Moreover, he had received a reply just as Xu Yi was getting up.

A powerful impulse suddenly seized Lu Xingyan.

He impulsively initiated a WeChat call, keeping a close eye on Xu Yi’s movements.

However, the call rang for a few seconds before being disconnected, and Xu Yi’s phone fell silent again.

‘Perhaps it’s just a coincidence,’ he mused.

[Xiao Yi: ?]

[Xiao Yi: Are you sick? Play if you want, but why call?]

[Starfall: Sorry, baby, I just woke up and pressed the wrong button.]

[Starfall: I’ll come play with you this afternoon after I’ve registered, okay?]

Lu Xingyan stared at the text, a sudden wave of relief washing over him.

‘It truly was just my imagination,’ he thought.

‘How could they be the same person?’

Lu Xingyan didn’t realize he was smiling rather sweetly.

[Starfall: Baby, I dreamt of you last night.]

[Xiao Yi: ? A sweet dream or a nightmare?]

[Starfall: Both, I suppose.]

‘Dreaming of kissing Xiao Yi was certainly sweet.’

‘But with that detestable face attached, it became a bit of a nightmare.’

Xu Yi only planned to appease Lu Xingyan after he had fully woken up.

He had assumed Lu Xingyan was still asleep, so he hadn’t bothered to check his phone’s do-not-disturb mode, which had automatically turned off at the scheduled time.

He hadn’t expected such an immediate reply.

Moreover, just as he heard the notification and quickly turned on silent mode, Lu Xingyan had actually called him directly.

‘Could the other party already be suspicious?’

Xu Yi nearly broke into a cold sweat.

Yet, seeing the other’s meek, appeasing messages, his suspicions waned.

‘Given Lu Xingyan’s utterly crappy attitude towards him, there was no way he would try to appease him.’

‘It must just be a coincidence.’

‘Still, what was that about both a nightmare and a sweet dream?’

‘Utterly inexplicable.’

Xu Yi planned to go to an internet café that afternoon. If he played games in the dorm, his gaming account would surely be exposed.

While he was contemplating this, he went to wash up. When he returned, he found both Li Yuan and Lu Xingyan awake.

Given their limited familiarity, Xu Yi felt a flicker of awkwardness.

He walked towards the door, his face devoid of expression.

“Xu Yi, how about we go for brunch together? After that, we can get ready for registration.”

Xu Yi paused, his steps faltering, as he remembered having friends in the past.

However, those relationships had almost always ended poorly.

Those who disliked him often accused him of feigned purity.

In middle school, he had confided his sexual orientation to a trusted friend, only for the entire class to know about it shortly after.

There had been countless people eager to kick him while he was down.

Since the outcome was always the same, Xu Yi had ceased to be close to anyone in high school, and at least he had spent those years in peace.

He intended to do the same in university.

“No need, I…” he said flatly.

Before he could finish, Li Yuan enthusiastically clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t be shy, Xiao Yi! We’re roommates; we’ll have plenty of time together in the future.”

Leaning against his own bed, Lu Xingyan naturally noticed the flicker of discomfort in Xu Yi’s eyes when Li Yuan extended the invitation.

Truth be told, Lu Xingyan didn’t like seeing such a hint of melancholy on Xu Yi’s face.

He still found Xu Yi’s arrogant demeanor far more agreeable.

“Some people don’t even say thank you,” Lu Xingyan said.

Arms crossed, his tone held a teasing edge, “I almost thought they were planning to treat me to a meal as repayment.”

Xu Yi knew he was referring to the bed curtains he’d helped install yesterday, and a spark of irritation flared within him.

‘He’d transfer thousands to his online girlfriend, yet then ask his roommate to pay for a single meal.’

‘What kind of person prioritizes romance over friendship so brazenly?’

‘But perhaps this was fine.’

Xu Yi suddenly cast a triumphant glance at Lu Xingyan.

He was going to use Lu Xingyan’s money to treat Lu Xingyan to a meal.

‘This feeling, it seemed, was quite satisfying.’

“Then let’s go together,” Xu Yi agreed. He tidied his belongings, then sat in his seat, waiting for the other two to finish.

Lu Xingyan, surprised by how smoothly things had gone, raised an eyebrow and gathered the documents needed for registration.

About ten minutes later, the trio traversed half the campus, finally arriving at the most luxurious cafeteria.

It was an outsourced cafeteria, offering dishes like grilled fish and hotpot.

Xu Yi glanced at the menu display and asked them what they wanted to eat.

Without a second thought, Lu Xingyan chose hotpot.

Xu Yi looked at Lu Xingyan’s face and was inexplicably reminded of a WeChat Moments post he’d made a few days prior.

The one about eating hotpot alone.

His original intention had been to ‘fish’ for attention, to highlight his lonely persona and entice his online boyfriends to spend money on him.

‘Forget it, that’s highly unlikely,’ he thought.

Xu Yi decided he was overthinking things.

Lu Xingyan probably hadn’t scrolled past that particular post.

Xu Yi ordered hotpot, and then the three of them began selecting dishes from the side.

Li Yuan, despite his carefree nature, was still a newly acquainted friend and felt too shy to choose too many items.

Lu Xingyan, on the other hand, ordered a substantial amount of meat dishes without any hesitation.

Xu Yi quickly scanned the selections, noting they were coincidentally all to his liking.

Since it was Lu Xingyan’s money anyway, he felt not a single pang of guilt.

After buying drinks, the three found a corner table and sat down.

With Li Yuan present, it was difficult for the conversation to grow stagnant.

Halfway through their meal, Li Yuan suddenly remembered something. “Yan Ge, why haven’t you called your girlfriend today?”

“Girlfriend?” Xu Yi questioned instinctively.

‘Lu Xingyan has a girlfriend, yet he’s still flirting with me?’

‘He’s not a good person either, then.’

“Yeah, it’s not convenient since she’s started school,” Lu Xingyan replied.

“Tsk, tsk,” Li Yuan shook his head in surprise. “Before, Yan Ge used to walk around on the phone with her constantly. Now that school’s started, no calls? How can you stand the loneliness?”

Lu Xingyan smiled indulgently, seemingly acknowledging the truth of it.

And that he had a good relationship with his girlfriend.

This realization made Xu Yi seethe with unspoken anger, not out of jealousy, but simply because he disliked such behavior.

He himself had dated many, but they all understood it was casual; he knew what those people were after.

‘Someone with a proper girlfriend acting like this? Isn’t that a bit disgusting?’

A wave of disdain washed over Xu Yi, and he couldn’t resist retorting, “I actually thought someone like you would be dating several people.”

Li Yuan’s expression froze in an instant of awkwardness. ‘You can’t say things like that! Yan Ge will get angry.’

“Just one,” Lu Xingyan said, giving him a somewhat puzzled look. “My first love.”

‘His first love? So, ‘just one’ means he doesn’t acknowledge our flirtatious relationship, does it?’ Xu Yi thought.

Xu Yi suddenly lost all desire to speak.

‘Perhaps I shouldn’t play games this afternoon. Just thinking about this makes me sick.’

“After registration, I still have to go to the internet café to play games with my girlfriend,” Lu Xingyan added.

Seeing this, Li Yuan quickly changed the subject. “What game do you two play? Is it that popular ‘Glory’ game?”

“That’s right,” Lu Xingyan confirmed.

Li Yuan grew excited. “Yan Ge, what rank are you? Can you carry me? Do you want to play together this afternoon? I promise not to be a third wheel.”

After speaking, he seemed to recall something else and looked at Xu Yi. “Xiao Yi, you should join too! The three of us from the dorm would be unstoppable.”

“Ah,” Xu Yi snapped out of his thoughts.

He was still caught up in Lu Xingyan’s mentions of his first love and playing games this afternoon.

‘So, the ‘first love girlfriend’ Lu Xingyan keeps talking about… is him?’

‘No, they aren’t even together yet, and he’s talking about it so openly.’

‘It turns out I misunderstood earlier.’

At this thought, Xu Yi felt his face flush, likely from embarrassment.

‘Who knew Lu Xingyan was so innocent?’

“Huh? Xiao Yi, why is your face so red?” Li Yuan asked, concerned. “Are you feeling unwell?”

“I just accidentally ate some chili,” Xu Yi said, rubbing his face. “I have something else to do this afternoon, so you two go ahead.”

“Alright…” Li Yuan said, a hint of regret in his voice.

He couldn’t shake the feeling that Xu Yi was deliberately keeping his distance from them, and he had hoped to bridge that gap through a shared hobby.

Xu Yi was actually in quite a good mood now.

He needed many ‘tools,’ but he didn’t want any of them to be scumbags.

However, Lu Xingyan saying his ‘Xiao Yi Princess’ was his first love might just be an illusion or a perfunctory excuse he gave to his new classmates.

Xu Yi quickly pushed the matter to the back of his mind.

After finishing their meal and completing registration together, the three parted ways.

No sooner had they separated than Xu Yi received a voice message from Lu Xingyan.

[Husband: Are you free to answer a call, baby?]

Xu Yi had already exited the school through a side gate, and with no one else around, he accepted the call.

The other party quickly called.

“Baby, I’m almost at the internet café.”

Xu Yi, needing to avoid them, decided to take a longer route to a more distant internet café. “I’m almost there too. Why do you keep calling me ‘baby’? We don’t have that kind of relationship.”

Xu Yi didn’t actually mind having another online dating partner; he felt he could handle it.

Lu Xingyan’s voice was quite pleasant, much gentler than his usual tone in the dorm. “Because you’re very cute, baby.”

“My roommate is coming along too, so let’s just keep the phone call connected.”

Xu Yi had no objection. However, when he arrived at the internet café and started his computer, he made sure to turn off his microphone.

He had specifically booked a private room, knowing that a male emitting a distinctly female voice would easily attract attention.

Xu Yi walked through the main hall, searching for his private room, the smoky air of the internet café making him feel a little nauseous.

“Baby, why aren’t you saying anything?”

Wearing headphones, Xu Yi felt as if the other person was speaking right in front of him.

…Wait, why did it sound like two voices?

Xu Yi suddenly realized something and glanced around.

He quickly spotted Lu Xingyan and Li Yuan, who were supposed to be at the internet café near the school gate, sitting right in front of him.

They appeared to have just arrived and were still logging into their games. His detour through the side gate had made him a little late, thus preventing a direct encounter.

Upon realizing this, Xu Yi swiftly moved away from the area.

Fortunately, the lighting in the internet café was quite dim, making it difficult to be seen.

‘How could this be such a coincidence?’

‘Didn’t they go to the one by the school gate?’

…Oh, right. Xu Yi remembered seeing an opening promotion at the internet café entrance earlier, and the one by the school gate was probably already packed.

‘Do rich kids like to participate in these kinds of promotions too?’

‘And they even like to play in the main hall.’

Xu Yi quickly found his private room, pushed open the door, and stepped inside.

The moment he closed the door, he felt a gaze on him.

Xu Yi’s heart quickened for a moment. Without thinking, he quickly shut the door.

‘No way, was I seen?’