After waiting downstairs for a few more minutes without feeling any aftershocks, Qiu Ye finally felt relieved and followed Bai Yao back to the dormitory.
However, just as they returned and he was about to climb into bed to nap for a while longer, Qiu Ye felt as if his world was collapsing.
“Damn! The coke spilled all over my quilt.”
He must have knocked over the drink bottle leaning against the wall when he was rushing out earlier.
“That’s what you get for not putting the cap back on.”
“It’s not convenient with one hand. It was leaning against the wall and seemed stable enough.”
Although half a bottle of coke wasn’t much, it was still a sugary drink.
It had spilled onto the bedding and mattress, leaving a prominent stain and a lingering smell.
It looked like it had already soaked into the cotton filling.
If left for too long, it would likely start to stink and attract bugs.
The summer quilt was quite thin, so it could probably be thrown into the washing machine.
However, there wasn’t much he could do to clean a mattress soaked in soda.
“Catch this.”
Qiu Ye stood on the bed, bending his head to avoid hitting the ceiling, and tossed the summer quilt down.
Bai Yao caught the quilt with both hands, separated the cover from the core, rolled them into two large bundles, and placed them on the desk.
He asked, “Are you going to wash it now? Will it be dry by tonight?”
“We’ll see.”
Qiu Ye then tossed the mattress topper down.
“If it doesn’t work out, I’ll just sleep with you tonight.”
“Uh… I guess that’s fine.”
Bai Yao agreed somewhat reluctantly.
They were both men anyway, so squeezing together for a night was no big deal.
Back in junior high, he had accidentally broken his bed and squeezed in with a roommate for two days…
‘It’s definitely because the bedboard was already broken! I only weigh about 100 pounds, how could I have broken a bed?’
Back then, his sense of personal boundaries wasn’t so strong.
Besides, he was the one with nowhere to sleep, so he had to accept it regardless of his boundaries.
“Help me wring out a rag. I need to wipe down the bedboard.”
“No way!”
Qiu Ye froze and looked down.
He saw Bai Yao’s face suddenly turn bright red as he issued an uncharacteristically firm rejection.
“It’s just wringing out a rag?”
Bai Yao shook his head vigorously.
“I’m used to sleeping alone. Why don’t you go find Combat Bro?”
He didn’t want to give the system any chance to issue a task! He hurriedly rejected Qiu Ye’s idea.
Things were different now compared to high school! Back then, he was as thin as a bamboo pole and had plenty of acne.
He was just a short, somewhat delicate-looking boy.
Now, his chest had developed to an A-cup, and his body had gained the graceful curves of a woman.
His physique was essentially that of a young girl who had been through a year or two of puberty.
Under these circumstances, sleeping with a man? What if something happened?
And there were many things on his bed that shouldn’t be seen by others!
Qiu Ye was full of questions.
“I’m not even that close with Combat Bro…”
In comparison, although he had known Bai Yao for the shortest amount of time, he felt most comfortable with him.
“What about Brother Long?”
“Brother Long is a big guy. It would be too crowded.”
As everyone knew, dormitory beds were usually only eighty or ninety centimeters wide.
A big guy like Qiu Ye, who was over 180 centimeters tall, found it cramped even sleeping alone.
Seeing the confusion in Qiu Ye’s eyes, Bai Yao suddenly felt like he was thinking too poorly of the guy.
It wasn’t like he was gay or anything.
It was all the system’s fault for warping his mind! Now he saw everyone in a dirty light!
Would such a harsh rejection make Qiu Ye feel hurt?
They were on good terms, and yet he wouldn’t even help with such a small favor…
He still hadn’t learned how to refuse unreasonable requests without overthinking everything!
“I’ll…”
Feeling awkward, Bai Yao took the rag and escaped to the balcony.
**[An invitation from your Ambiguous Object! Share a bed!]**
As expected…
Bai Yao soaked the rag in water on the balcony, wrung it out, and sighed with a look of utter despair.
‘Just sleep on the bedboard without a quilt, or use half of mine? Why do you have to sleep with me?’
He didn’t want to test his own limits, and he knew he couldn’t resist temptation, but the system had still found an opportunity to issue a task.
**[Tonight will definitely be a wonderful night! You have been looking forward to this for a long time~]**
**[Although you are a veteran of a hundred encounters, the system is still obligated to remind you… Please prepare in advance to avoid injury. Use safety measures to avoid disease and pregnancy. Please do not get too carried away and play too rough, or you might scare them—certainly do not end up in the hospital from overdoing it.]**
**[Enjoy a wonderful night. Quest Reward: 100 cash]**
“Screw off.”
Bai Yao cursed softly.
He returned to the dorm with the wrung-out towel and handed it to Qiu Ye.
Qiu Ye was sitting cross-legged on the bedboard.
Seeing Bai Yao’s preoccupied expression, he took the towel and wiped the soda stains off the wood.
“Should I just squeeze in with Brother Long then?”
“Yeah.”
Why did it feel like Qiu Ye was actually a bit sad?
Bai Yao sat back at his computer awkwardly, resting his chin on one hand as he stared blankly at the long video he hadn’t finished.
He really wanted to stay in the same state of mind he had when he took Qiu Ye to the hospital and looked after him.
Back then, he was too busy to think about anything else, acting decisively like a man.
Although it was tiring, it gave him a sense of accomplishment.
Unfortunately, once he left that environment and atmosphere, he reverted to his original self.
“Damn it! I was wondering why I didn’t see you two in PE class!”
Wang Zuhao had also snuck back.
He was swearing as soon as he entered the room, and the quiet dormitory instantly became much noisier.
“There was an earthquake, right? My social media feed is blowing up.”
The two people in the room turned their heads in unison, then both lowered their heads to continue their own business, completely ignoring Wang Zuhao.
“Hey! Bai Yao, didn’t you feel the earthquake?”
“Qiu Ye? Apparently, it was a magnitude 7 undersea earthquake that reached us.”
Qiu Ye finished wiping the bedboard and turned around.
“Since you seem so free, help me throw my quilt in the washing machine?”
“Go ask Bai Yao. What’s it got to do with me?”
Wang Zuhao sat at his computer and continued scrolling through earthquake news on his feed.
Bai Yao finally opened his own social media.
Sure enough, his feed had exploded with news.
His relatives and friends were all posting about the earthquake.
However, rather than being scared, everyone seemed more panicked and excited…
Qiu Ye got off the bed and checked the mattress.
The soda stain had spread over a large area.
“I’ll probably have to buy a new mattress.”
He planned to buy one online with next-day delivery.
Although the school supermarket sold them, they were expensive and the quality wasn’t necessarily good.
Holding the quilt and cover with one hand, Qiu Ye headed out to the laundry room on the first floor.
Watching Qiu Ye leave, Bai Yao slumped onto his desk.
‘Why didn’t he ask me for help? I was already prepared.’
He suspected that Qiu Ye was actually quite sensitive and didn’t dare ask for help again after being rejected once.
But that couldn’t be right? The guy was usually quite thick-skinned…
**[You actually rejected an invitation from your Ambiguous Object?]**
Had the quest failure notification popped up already?
**[For a legendary ‘hundred-man slayer’ like you, there’s actually a day when you’d reject a handsome guy? And he’s so big! Aren’t you tempted? Could it be that the traces of your past still remain? Is your low self-esteem preventing you from being honest with the person you love?]**
**[Your body has returned to the tenderness of puberty!]**
“What?!”
Bai Yao sat up in shock.
“What are you making a fuss for?”
Wang Zuhao turned to look at him, only to see him rushing into the bathroom.
As soon as he entered, Bai Yao frantically pulled at his waistband and looked inside.
The little guy, which was already clean and fair, now looked even more delicate…
The areas where melanin usually accumulated had become as soft and pink as a baby’s skin.
“Damn you!”
He would have preferred the reward to be 500 cash instead!
Looking in the mirror, the few acne marks remaining on his face had disappeared.
At least that part was nice!