Qi Zhi’s dormitory was on the fifth floor, Room 502. There were four residents in total. Two of them, Qi Ran and Zhang Dong, had already returned, and Qi Zhennan was keeping them company.
The last roommate, Zhuang Yuexiang, was out at the moment.
Seeing Lan An carry the injured Qi Zhi back, Zhang Dong instinctively opened his mouth to toss out a sarcastic remark. However, the moment he locked eyes with Lan An’s eerie heterochromatic eyes one blue, one black he shut his mouth in a dither.
Qi Zhennan stood up, looking like he wanted to say something, but the words wouldn’t come. He had stayed behind specifically to wait for Qi Zhi, wanting to see how bad the ankle injury was.
Qi Ran, who was lying in bed resting, had been watching Qi Zhennan closely. He didn’t miss the man’s fleeting look of anxiety. His fists tightened at his sides, but he immediately masked it with a tone of concern, asking Qi Zhi:
“You’re back? What did the doctor say? Is the injury serious?”
“Honestly, Zhi-er, if you’re unhappy, you can scold me or hit me, but why would you do something like this? You’ve gone and hurt yourself.”
“…”
Qi Zhi rolled his eyes. Even at a time like this, Qi Ran didn’t forget to splash dirty water on him. He patted Lan An’s shoulder, gesturing for the man to set him down in a chair, and said teasingly, “How about I change Tang Mianmian’s character to be more like him? You’d definitely like that, wouldn’t you?”
Both were equally “green tea” bches experts at putting on a fake, innocent act.
Lan An didn’t speak. He just stared quietly at Qi Zhi, a cold glint seeming to flash within his mismatched eyes.
Qi Zhi looked up and met his gaze. He suddenly shuddered; a wave of pure dread crept into his heart, sending goosebumps crawling over his skin.
Had he lost his mind? How did he dare to tease Lan An so casually?
Qi Zhi had created Lan An. He knew exactly how twisted this person was. Regardless of his peerless, handsome face and his seemingly romantic, wandering spirit, he was actually a possessive, high-functioning sociopath.
In the book, just because Tang Mianmian ate a piece of cake bought by the male lead, Lan An had locked him in a dark room for seven days. During that time, he constantly manifested illusions of the Tang family’s tragic deaths to psychologically torture Tang Mianmian.
It wasn’t until Tang Mianmian could take no more and knelt to beg him promising never to see the male lead again that he was finally released.
Luckily, readers preferred “pure” leads. To ensure the protagonists remained “clean,” Qi Zhi hadn’t written Lan An as a sexual predator; instead, because of the last shred of love deep in his heart, Lan An couldn’t bring himself to force him.
Otherwise…
I can’t afford to mess with him, definitely can’t afford to mess with him.
Coming back to his senses, Qi Zhi forced a smile. “Just kidding, just kidding.”
He immediately pulled his laptop over and flipped it open, desperate to show he still had “utilitarian value” so Lan An wouldn’t do something terrible to him out of irritation.
Only then did Lan An withdraw his gaze.
Just as Qi Zhi was about to click on the document, he thought of something and looked at Lan An cautiously. “It’s very long, and I can’t finish the rewrite all at once. Is it okay if I show it to you once I’ve fixed it?”
Furthermore, writing novels was his secret a secret even Qi Zhennan didn’t know. He couldn’t bring himself to edit under Lan An’s watchful eye; he would be so embarrassed his toes would curl enough to dig out a three-bedroom apartment.
Lan An knew it wouldn’t be finished in a few minutes. He wasn’t in a rush. He gave a low “Mhm” and turned to leave.
The moment Lan An was gone, Qi Zhennan could no longer restrain himself. He stood up and demanded, “Who is he?”
Qi Zhi didn’t want to deal with him. He shut his laptop, intending to crawl into bed and rest.
“Is he a new friend of yours?” Qi Ran asked, following suit. “I’ve never seen him before. Is he a freshman?”
Qi Zhi tossed his laptop onto the bed first. Standing on one leg, he grabbed the bed railing, trying to figure out how to climb up without using his injured leg.
Their dorm had a “loft” setup bed on top, desk underneath. The only moveable furniture was the chair.
Should I crawl up using my knees?
It might look a bit pathetic, but at least he wouldn’t need help. His only fear was that if he pressed down too hard, the bed might tip over. These single loft beds weren’t very heavy and could easily capsize.
“That’s enough, A-Ran,” Zhang Dong snorted, seeing Qi Zhi ignore them. “Don’t go looking for a snub. He clearly thinks he’s too good to talk to us.”
“It’s all my fault,” Qi Ran said with a dejected expression, looking heartbroken by Qi Zhi’s silence.
Qi Zhennan didn’t notice Qi Ran’s act. He stepped forward to help Qi Zhi, bending down to roll up his pant leg. “How is your leg? Let me see.”
“What are you doing?” Qi Zhi shoved him away, hiding his injured leg behind his good one.
“Still throwing a tantrum?” Qi Zhennan’s patience wore thin. He shoved Qi Zhi down into the chair and forced his way to the pant leg.
“What do you think you’re doing? Don’t touch me!” Qi Zhi was fuming. He kicked out wildly with his uninjured leg while grabbing a book off the desk to smack Qi Zhennan.
I’ll beat this profit-driven bastard to death!
After being struck twice, Qi Zhennan’s temper flared. He stood up, grabbed Qi Zhi by the throat, and hissed, “Do you have to force me to get rough before you’ll behave?”
“…”
A furious Qi Zhennan was terrifying a side of him Qi Zhi had never seen before. He was startled, his face turning pale with fright.
Suddenly, the dormitory door was pushed open. Lan An had returned.