The Coveted Gloomy Beta Roommate Chapter 64

Chapter 64: Confession: “You Like Me?”

Ji Chen’s gaze rested on the phone screen. He didn’t speak.

So things could actually get worse.

Tang Xingye didn’t know how he would react if someone cursed him to die right to his face, but he had never forgotten the words that had hurt him, nor had he forgotten those mocking, arrogant faces.

Tang Xingye hadn’t mentally simulated this scenario of getting caught. Time couldn’t be reversed. If the fact that he was a despicable, petty person was discovered and spread, how would others see him?

What was the worst outcome? Would he be expelled?

Standing on the edge of a cliff, the gravel under his feet was crumbling and falling.

He felt Ji Chen’s intense gaze on him. He pursed his lips and looked back, staring dead at Ji Chen without backing down.

The Alpha stood with his back to the light, his brow bone cast in shadow. His eyes were bottomless, emotions indistinguishable, like the treacherous surface of the sea before a storm.

Oppressive silence.

With his adrenaline spiking, Tang Xingye’s brain was unusually calm. The fear receded like a tide, becoming somewhat distant.

Ji Chen was a madman, but he had a bottom line. Unless offended, he wouldn’t casually attack people.

Now Tang Xingye had crossed the line. Many excuses flashed through his mind: accidental touch, hacked account, virus glitch…

Then use sweet words to please Ji Chen and dispel his doubts? The excuse rolled around on the tip of his tongue before he swallowed it back.

Another thought, dormant for a long time, suddenly popped up. Isn’t this better? No need to pretend to have a plastic roommate relationship of “hello, I’m good, you’re good.”

Fight each other, let the other vent, and cut ties directly. Ji Chen’s reputation hadn’t been good lately anyway. Who would believe accusations made by someone notorious?

Completely tear off the mask, make the injuries severe, and portray Ji Chen as a violent maniac? Tang Xingye bit his lip until it turned bright red. If there was still room to maneuver, he didn’t wish to use this method…

Ji Chen turned off the phone screen, brushed away the dust, and took a step toward Tang Xingye.

This was the signal for an attack.

Tang Xingye clenched his hands, alert for Ji Chen’s move, waiting for the release of the Alpha’s spiritual power and pheromones.

But the anticipated attack didn’t come.

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Ji Chen stopped, placed the phone on the table to the side, and then stepped back.

Seeing that cold gaze emerge with a mist-like fragility, carrying a sense of resolve, he smiled. “Let’s go. Let’s eat dinner.”

With that expression on his face, Ji Chen was starting to suspect he had done something excessive.

All emotions suddenly vanished. Tang Xingye fell into a bewildered blankness, like throwing a punch with full force only to hit cotton. His high-speed processing machine suddenly jammed; having analyzed a hundred possible countermeasures, not one applied to the current situation.

Ji Chen seemed to dislike the dust on his hand. He took out a tissue, wiped his hand, crumpled it into a ball, and accurately tossed it into the trash can.

Tang Xingye frowned, scrutinizing Ji Chen tightly. “You didn’t see it?” He began considering the possibility that the Rut period affected an Alpha’s vision.

“I’m not blind.” Ji Chen blinked and hooked his lips.

Tang Xingye looked incredulous, searching Ji Chen’s face for suppressed anger. “Do you have anything you want to say?”

“Hungry. Want to eat.” Ji Chen looked down and rummaged through his pockets; he had finished his candy.

“Or if you want to fight me first, that’s fine too.”

This careless attitude was like a spark falling into a barrel of oil. Tang Xingye suddenly realized something. Dawn broke in his understanding, and his eyes held a faint self-mockery.

“Ji Chen, are you pitying me? Just like those people.”

Tang Xingye looked up slightly. With dark hair and pale skin, his lips stained a vivid red, the tear mole at the corner of his eye looked like a black raindrop—dangerous and gorgeous.

Ji Chen was tolerating him; Tang Xingye could only find this reason to explain it.

Ji Chen put away his lazy expression, leaned forward slightly in a listening posture, and spoke slowly. “Let’s talk. Stop biting your lip.”

He pulled out a tissue and handed it to Tang Xingye.

Tang Xingye brushed his hand away. “I don’t want to talk.”

“Then we’ll talk when you want to.” Ji Chen didn’t force him. His gaze fell on the clenched fist, fingertips turning white. He grasped the slender wrist and pried open the curled fingers one by one.

Four crescent-shaped red marks were starkly visible on the palm. Ji Chen’s eyes darkened.

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Warm body heat transmitted through the wrist, feeling like comfort. A bit of emotion flowed into Tang Xingye’s eyes as if he were falling into a memory, his voice slow and low.

“Those people looked at me with pitying eyes, as if I were a pitiful pet.”

“Every time they came, they would shed tears, lamenting my background, giving me sympathy and ‘love,’ but never helping me solve any substantive problems.”

“They required me to love them equally in return, otherwise I was… an ingrate.”

Tang Xingye looked at Ji Chen, a fragile shimmer appearing in his eyes like a lotus drenched in rain.

He asked softly, “Do you think that way too?”

Ji Chen didn’t move a muscle. “You don’t need pity.”

Tang Xingye reined in his expression and leaned back. Suddenly, his mood cleared up; he was very happy.

This was exactly why Tang Xingye couldn’t completely hate Ji Chen.

Tang Xingye’s emotions settled a bit. Unable to gauge Ji Chen’s attitude, he lowered his eyes. “But I’m jealous of you.”

“Why aren’t you angry? I wrote in the diary for you to go die…”

Even saying those two words, Tang Xingye felt their heavy weight.

He suddenly somewhat hoped Ji Chen would get angry, furious, or scold him a few times.

“It’s not like you really want me to die.”

Ji Chen smiled. He saw through Tang Xingye’s true thoughts.

Besides, the malice he faced was far more viscous and disgusting than this. He even thought Tang Xingye’s petty thoughts were cute.

“Even if you really thought it, it doesn’t matter.” There wasn’t a trace of blame in Ji Chen’s words.

A massive amount of guilt welled up. Tang Xingye tensed his snow-white face and pursed his lips, looking like a child who had done something wrong.

“…Sorry.”

The voice was very light.

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Ji Chen looked a bit surprised, as if he had seen a wonder of the world, and let out an exaggerated tone: “Wow.”

The mood of guilt was broken. Tang Xingye: “…”

Suddenly, he wanted to punch Ji Chen a little.

“No need to feel guilty; I’m not that easy to kill.” Ji Chen laughed. If Tang Xingye really harbored thoughts of killing him or hurting him, for Ji Chen, that would also be a twisted kind of surprise.

“If you really feel bad and want to compensate me, just cover my candy supply for the future.”

Tang Xingye knew Ji Chen was teasing him, giving him a way out.

He said pragmatically, “That’s a huge loss for me.”

Tang Xingye calmed down and didn’t continue the previous topic. He looked at Ji Chen with calm eyes. “You answered so quickly just now. Did you think the story I told was made up?”

Ji Chen answered instantly: “No.”

Tang Xingye lowered his eyes. “Oh.”

“You’re really like a bitter melon, so many worries.” Ji Chen couldn’t help raising his hand to ruffle his hair, soothing the little bitter melon’s emotions. His voice was gentle, but a deeper meaning could be heard. “You wanted to hit me just now, didn’t you?”

Tang Xingye: “…”

Guessed right. Ji Chen was truly hard to fool.

His inner thoughts exposed, Tang Xingye knew he wasn’t really angry.

The first pat on the head was Tang Xingye’s compensation for guilt.

But at the second pat, Tang Xingye got unhappy. He lifted his eyelids, giving a silent warning.

Ji Chen saw his look, then patted him a third time without pausing.

Tang Xingye, unable to bear it, slapped his hand away and glared at him. “I won’t grow tall!”

Tang Xingye still had a childish side. Ji Chen laughed dumbly.

Ji Chen looked at Tang Xingye. Without forcing him, he stated a fact: “You assumed I would hurt you, never thinking of other possibilities. The you in my eyes is more confident and firm.”

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“What makes you feel unsafe?”

“…” Tang Xingye remained silent. How to explain? Growing up against the thorns of poverty and disdain, he had developed a habit of suspicion and sensitivity.

“Suffered too many losses, swallowed too many grievances?”

Ji Chen had learned about Tang Xingye’s past from those stalkers. Without mentioning too much, he felt Tang Xingye had his own pride. But he didn’t believe Tang Xingye felt no grievance; growing pains were simply unspoken.

“No, I took revenge for everything.” A hint of smugness appeared in Tang Xingye’s eyes. “For example, I secretly burned someone’s favorite coat to retaliate for them tearing my book.”

He didn’t care about them, but they used his pain as a footnote for their happiness, so Tang Xingye did many things to make them all pay the price.

Ji Chen didn’t stingy with his praise. “You did very well.” In his heart, he truly thought so.

“The courage to resist deserves a reward.” He took a handkerchief from his pocket and opened it to reveal an exquisite hollow pendant necklace. “This is a late reward for the little friend.”

The pendant was made of jade, translucent and soft throughout.

Ji Chen concealed that this was a return gift for the Moon Laurel Festival. If Tang Xingye refused, that reason would be superfluous.

Tang Xingye fell silent, raising an eyebrow at Ji Chen. “Are you coaxing a child? I’m not in elementary school anymore.”

“Then consider it payment for medical fees.” Ji Chen didn’t take it back. He noticed Tang Xingye’s gaze lingered for two extra seconds. “Keep it; it’s always useful. Even if you don’t need it now, maybe you will later.”

For Ji Chen, necklaces had always been cumbersome things. The expensive, beautiful jewelry hanging on them was no different from roadside stones to him.

He didn’t understand why anyone would like such flashy, useless things. But at that auction, led by some strange impulse, he bid for this jade pendant.

He couldn’t say why at the time. He just suddenly remembered a fleeting moment passing by, seeing Tang Xingye unconsciously rubbing a pendant—though that one was a knockoff.

Tang Xingye’s brows and eyes were dyed with a vivid smile. This time, he accepted it readily. “Thanks, Boss.”

Seeing him not bristling like a hedgehog, Ji Chen smiled a little.

“How did you know the chain broke?” Tang Xingye observed it for a moment, then fished out the pendant from his neck. It was a cheap one he bought; the edges of the chain had already oxidized.

Ji Chen said without changing his expression, “Telepathy.” Deliberately using an ambiguous phrase to hide that passing glance.

Tang Xingye showed an expression of ‘Lame’: “…”

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After a moment of silence, Tang Xingye put away his phone, organized the materials, and gave Ji Chen a light elbow to the chest. “Move.” He put the materials into the drawer.

Ji Chen pretended to be in pain and fell back into the chair, but the corners of his lips still held a smile.

Tang Xingye turned around. Backlit, his silhouette was plated with a golden edge, the tips of his hair dyed the color of the sunset glow. He looked at Ji Chen and suddenly asked, “Ji Chen, do you have anything you want to say to me?”

“No,” Ji Chen paused slightly, then quickly denied it. “Nothing.”

“Oh.”

Tang Xingye gazed into those pitch-black eyes, which clearly reflected his own cold face.

Tang Xingye was silent for a moment, then asked steadily, “You like me?”