My straight roommate is so good

In the evening, Qiao Song, as usual, went to the piano room to practice.

Because he had played “June Barcarolle” well before, he recently received a more challenging new piece from sister Bo: Chopin’s Étude in C Major.

This étude is nicknamed the “Revolutionary Etude” by later generations largely because its performance speed is as fast as a fleeing escape.

At first, he practiced slowly while following the sheet music, occasionally glancing at his phone.

But as he became more familiar with the music, his practice speed increased.

When he began playing at the tempo indicated on the sheet music, his brain had to operate at full capacity.

Even with his focus entirely on the black-and-white keys, he still made occasional mistakes—sometimes he would pay attention to fingering but forget to control the dynamics; other times, his dynamics were correct, but the emotional expression was off.

After two hours of such intense practice, he felt a dizziness similar to low blood sugar.

When he stood up from the piano bench, his body swayed uncontrollably, and he quickly reached out to steady himself on the piano, giving himself some time to recover before leaving.

At that moment, someone entered the room with large strides and quickly walked over to him.

His vision was still blurry, and his ears were ringing.

It was in this state that Ling Jianshu’s voice reached him.

“What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?” Ling Jianshu asked gently.

Hearing the familiar voice, he instantly felt more at ease.

He kept his head down and replied softly, “Maybe I practiced too long and got tired. Standing up suddenly made me a bit dizzy. I’ll be fine after resting for a moment.”

Ling Jianshu raised his hand and gently supported his shoulder, pulling him closer. “You can lean on me.”

Qiao Song rationally shook his head, declining the offer. “No need, I’m not dizzy anymore.”

Ling Jianshu’s eyebrows furrowed slightly, his expression turning a bit cold.

Qiao Song noticed this and knew exactly what was going on, so he discreetly took half a step back, moving his shoulder out of his grasp.

Without the physical contact, he thought, *This time he should feel less uncomfortable, right?*

Holding onto that thought, he glanced up at him.

Unfortunately, things didn’t go as he hoped—Ling Jianshu’s expression looked even worse than before.

“…?” he was confused, unsure of what he had done wrong.

Ling Jianshu was equally puzzled.

Staring at his now empty hand, he couldn’t understand why Qiao Song had pulled away. He thought about it for a while but couldn’t figure out what he had done to upset him.

After leaving the arts center, the two walked side by side toward the dorm, both silent, lost in their own thoughts.

The warm glow from the streetlights cast their shadows on the ground, stretching long and merging together, sometimes overlapping and sometimes drifting apart.

Qiao Song walked with his head slightly lowered, his eyes focused on the shadows of himself and Ling Jianshu.

The two shadows seemed to mock the complexity of their relationship—sometimes close, sometimes distant, difficult to describe.

After a while, Ling Jianshu broke the silence first.

“Qiao Song, do most art students tend to date within their own circle?”

“…Hmm?” Qiao Song was momentarily stunned, then shook his head.

“There’s no such thing,” he explained to him. “Art students tend to be more sensitive, and when two sensitive people get together, it’s easy to run into problems. So generally, art students don’t really like dating other art students.”

Ling Jianshu turned to glance thoughtfully at him. “So, you and Shen Qiuyuan are an exception?”

Qiao Song frowned at the mention of Shen Qiuyuan: “Shen Qiuyuan? I have nothing to do with him.”

Ling Jianshu clarified, “I meant, he likes art students, and so do you.”

“…” This time, he was speechless.

What could he do? It was his own lie, so he had to accept it, even if it was painful.

Reluctantly, he accepted Ling Jianshu’s statement and mumbled, “I guess…”

Ling Jianshu was quiet for a few seconds and was just about to ask more questions when Qiao Song interrupted him.

“Ling Brother,” he couldn’t hold it in any longer and voiced the doubt in his heart, “do you really mind that I like guys?”

Ling Jianshu didn’t look at him, pursing his lips before responding, “Not really. I wouldn’t say I mind.”

But Qiao Song didn’t believe him.

Staring at Ling Jianshu’s sharply defined profile, he pressed further, “If you really don’t mind, why do you keep bringing it up?”

Ling Jianshu turned to meet his gaze, but hesitated to speak.

Seeing his hesitation, Qiao Song encouraged him gently, “It’s okay. You can tell me whatever’s on your mind. I want to hear the truth.”

Under the night sky, his light-colored eyes shimmered, as if filled with the glow of moonlight.

It was as if Ling Jianshu was bewitched. Unable to resist Qiao Song’s innocent gaze, he finally gave in with a sigh and admitted, “What I care about isn’t that you like guys, but… what kind of person you like, and how much you like them.”

“…?” Qiao Song was momentarily stunned, a feeling of absurdity suddenly washing over him.

If he remembered correctly, this was the same person who had once openly admitted that he was “not interested in gay relationships.” And now, with this self-contradiction, what was he even trying to do?

Moreover, why would a homophobic straight guy care about what kind of person he, a gay man, liked or how much he liked them?

Was this even logical?

If it had been someone else, he might have thought they secretly had a crush on him and were subtly expressing jealousy through these probing questions.

But when it came to Ling Jianshu, such a conclusion seemed utterly irrational.

He couldn’t make sense of it, no matter how hard he tried.

In the end, he decided to stop overthinking it for now and simply respond to Ling Jianshu’s remarks.

He said, “I don’t know if something I said earlier made you misunderstand, but actually, my relationship with that person… isn’t what you think.”

Ling Jianshu raised an eyebrow. “Then what is it?”

“Well…” he hesitated for a while, then sighed and said, “How can I put it… the other person doesn’t even know I like them, so there’s no ambiguity when I interact with them. It’s purely friendship.”

Ling Jianshu didn’t immediately react to his explanation, but he did repeat, with a hint of amusement, “Purely friendship?”

Qiao Song thought Ling Jianshu was pretty good at honing in on key points.

After all, in the series of lies regarding Xia Zhe, the only truth was the part about “pure friendship.”

He nodded lightly, acknowledging that point.

At the same time, he silently apologized to Xia Zhe in his heart.

*Sorry, brother! I didn’t want to ‘secretly like’ you either, you understand, right? This is all Ling Jianshu’s fault…*

After that conversation about “pure friendship,” he noticed that Ling Jianshu rarely brought up the topic of his “crush” again.

The subtle topic of feelings seemed to be temporarily shelved, and he felt much more at ease.

For the next few days, the two would eat together in the cafeteria. In the evenings, after Ling Jianshu finished his boxing practice, he would head straight to the arts center to wait for Qiao Song to finish his piano practice, and they would walk back to the dorm together.

The day before Christmas Eve, they were leaving the arts center when they happened to run into Shen Qiuyuan.

He had seen them from afar.

Two tall and lean boys walking side by side, the distance between them never exceeding fifty centimeters. They were chatting and laughing as they walked, looking completely at ease with each other.

*How could this be?*

Wasn’t Ling Jianshu homophobic? How could he know that Qiao Song was gay and still be so calm around him?!

He couldn’t believe it, and his emotions were mixed—he felt awkward and like a complete fool for his previous actions.

As they approached, he called out, “Qiao Song!”

Qiao Song had been discussing what to eat for Christmas Eve with Ling Jianshu, but hearing his name called, he stopped in his tracks.

He turned and saw Shen Qiuyuan, and immediately, a trace of impatience appeared on his face.

Ling Jianshu followed his gaze, saw who had called them, and his handsome face darkened instantly—he looked even more displeased than Qiao Song.

While he never had much tolerance for gay people, he had never encountered someone like Shen Qiuyuan, who he found disgusting at just a glance.

Every time he saw him, he couldn’t help but remember that day.

In his mind, it was this person who had tried to sow discord between him and Qiao Song, which had caused unnecessary tension between them.

The more he thought about it, the more sense it made, and he decided to blame all his recent frustrations on him.

Stepping forward, he positioned himself protectively between them and spoke haughtily, “Shen Qiuyuan, didn’t I tell you not to bother Qiao Song again? If you do, you’ll face the consequences.”

Under normal circumstances, Shen Qiuyuan wouldn’t dare confront Ling Jianshu directly.

But at that moment, his emotions were in turmoil, and instead of backing down, he angrily retorted.

“Ling Jianshu, are you faking your ‘homophobic’ image? How can you get so close to a gay guy without feeling disgusted? Or is it that you’re actually gay too?!”

Before Ling Jianshu could respond, Qiao Song couldn’t hold back anymore.

He stepped around him and got right in Shen Qiuyuan’s face, pointing at his former roommate and cursing, “Shen Qiuyuan, are you out of your mind?! I don’t care what you say about me, but what the hell are you doing coming at him?!”

Qiao Song, typically a graceful person, had probably sworn fewer than five times in his entire life.

Today was an exception.

Even he didn’t know why he was so furious.

He couldn’t explain it, but he couldn’t stand hearing Shen Qiuyuan speak to Ling Jianshu that way!

Maybe it was because of his influence, but even Ling Jianshu, who usually never cursed, broke character and said to him, “Don’t waste your energy on idiots. It’s not worth it.”

The way they defended each other only fueled Shen Qiuyuan’s frustration.

Feeling wronged and angry, he blurted out, “I get it now—you two are together, right?! Otherwise, why would you—”

Before he could finish, Ling Jianshu’s commanding presence silenced him.

His gaze was sharp like a hawk’s, exuding a dangerous aura. He glanced coldly at him and said, in a chilling tone, “Get lost.”