Chapter 15 - Shower (1/2)

Chapter 15: Shower

No one knew that there have be some earth-shattering changes occurring in Qin Xu’s mind.

For the past few days, he had been trying to understand what Jiang Yang’s strange behaviours meant and whether it had a hidden meaning. He obviously wouldn’t accept the idea of Jiang Yang doing those things on a whim and he was certain that he had a reason for it. At the very beginning when he helped cover him with a blanket, he was initially surprised and couldn’t help but think that he wanted to hurt him. Afterwards, he sensed that there was gentle concern in his actions which only confused him even more.

However, Qin Xu is a very stubborn person. If he couldn’t figure something out, he wouldn’t be able to let it go. The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to understand. In the meantime, he had been acting uninterested while secretly observing Jiang Yang.

Occasionally, Jiang Yang would feel his gaze and couldn’t help but feel a numb sensation on his scalp. He turned his head around to check and when their eyes met, Qin Xu wouldn’t evade his gaze out of guilt and, instead, continue maintaining his gaze for a few more seconds before looking back down to his textbook or turning to talk to someone else.

Acting so naturally like that, Jiang Yang also couldn’t say anything about it.

One day, they returned back to their dormitory after dinner and prepared to take a shower.

Jiang Yang bent down to change his shoes and when he stood back up, his butt bumped into something hard and slightly warm. Looking back, he realised that it was Qin Xu who had been standing there without his knowledge. Qin Xu looked down at him with dark eyes.

He suddenly felt annoyed: “What are you doing?”

Qin Xu quickly recovered his usual mocking smile and rolled his eyes, “What else can I do? Of course I’m waiting for you to change your shoes. With you here, you’re completely blocking the way.”

Jiang Yang heard the familiar rude tone in his voice and internally felt a little relieved. Earlier he had inadvertently moved backwards and slammed into him, closing their distance drastically. Although it was only for a very short period of time, he could clearly feel the body heat. His butt also happened to collide with the root of Qin Xu’s thigh earlier and an inexplicable sense of danger led him to subconsciously move away in an instant.

After readjusting his mood, his expression returned to his usual cold look. He proceeded to ignore Qin Xu, grab his clothes from his wardrobe and go to take a shower.

Coming back out about ten minutes later, Jiang Yang hung a towel around his neck while casually drying his hair with one hand. He sat down onto Xiao Yuxin’s bed and pulled his phone out to check the time.

When he looked up, he naturally saw Qin Xu who sat opposite him with his two legs raised while playing a game looking very handsome. After just glancing at him, the other party keenly sensed his gaze and looked back at him. The moment their gazes met, he froze for a second before continuing playing on his phone as if nothing had happened.

Jiang Yang also retracted his gaze. He pondered over whether or not he should remind Qin Xu to go take a shower. It was just a casual sentence and was usually said when one finishes showered to urge the next one to hurry. There wasn’t much time between classes; only one hour, and if they don’t hurry it is easy to be late.

But whenever it was Jiang Yang or Qin Xu’s turn to remind the other, they act very awkwardly. They preferred not saying a word and just leaving it up to the other to go whenever then wanted to.

Usually when this happens, the other roommates would remind the other person or they would notice themselves and take the initiative to go shower.

Jiang Yang hesitated for a second but eventually decided to keep quiet. He just focussed on drying his own hair.

Qin Xu continued playing his game and didn’t seem like someone who was preparing to leave.

Finally, Huang Shao who was surfing through funny videos laughed while looking in the direction of the bathroom. Seeing that it was vacant, he said: “Xu brother, aren’t you going to wash up? You’ll be late if you don’t.”

Qin Xu hummed in response, played for a little longer before throwing his phone down and entering the bathroom with his clothes.

The moment he entered, there was still mist in the air and he could smell the faint scent of grapefruit in the air. His lips curled while he said in a small voice: “It’s still this smell. You really don’t change.”

After ridiculing Jiang Yang’s taste, he took off his clothes and stood under the shower. Small streams of water fell onto his body and washed away the stickiness and dirt that he had accumulated during the day. With the heat enveloping him, he gradually became more refreshed and comfortable.

Only when he was completely refreshed and covered in water droplets did he wipe away the water from his face and turned off the faucet. He stretched out to grab his towel only to find himself empty handed.

He had actually forgotten his towel!

Qin Xu frowned. He looked at the dirty clothes in the basket covered in sweat and then at the clean school uniform that sat on the shelf. He then turned to the door and shouted: “Is someone there? Help me get a towel!”

In the dormitory room, Jiang Yang who was playing on his phone heard his voice. Looking up, he wanted to get someone else to go but he suddenly remembered that he was the only one in the room. Xiao Yuxin had already left earlier to study and Huang Shao had gone to the canteen. Now, apart from him, there was no one else.

Should he pretend that he didn’t hear anything and just slip out?

Jiang Yang frowned.

Qin Xu in the bathroom continued to shout, “Anyone there? It’s the one with the blue stripes.”

Probably because he had shouted twice and had received no response, Qin Xu thought that there was no one outside. He said to himself: “Forget it. I’ll just go and get it.”

At this moment, alarm bells went off in Jiang Yang’s mind. What does he mean that he would just go and get it? Does he not plan on wearing even his underwear?

Just imagining this made Jiang Yang feel like he was about to go blind. He immediately stood up and headed to the balcony while shouting, “Wait!”

He grabbed the blue towel and knocked hard on the door but he didn’t expect that Qin Xu had already opened the door. With his hard knock, it pushed the door wide open.

The two people standing inside and outside the door froze.