The Nth Day of Being Able to Read Minds

Since Jiang Yu Heng doesn’t usually come back during lunch break, the dorm room was all for Tao Ran alone.

He felt extremely relieved because of that since he really enjoyed his alone time. Furthermore, he had no afternoon classes so he could take this huge chunk of free time to write.

He placed his laptop on the table and started browsing that male-oriented story he previously just finished writing.

Still four bookmarks, nothing changed.

Aside from himself, the other two readers who bookmarked the story never left any comments, let alone showed any appreciation for it. He almost thought one of them was a bot too.

The reason why he thought it was only one was because the other user’s name was really obvious. It was called, ‘A real person, not a bot’. With a series of messy suffixes after that.

This user followed only him, and only bookmarked all his stories. Every time he clicked into his profile, that never changed.

It wasn’t as if Tao Ran never suspected that the person behind this account actually knows him in real life. But he had only ever told his childhood friend about him posting stories online. And Wu Hao doesn’t even know his username, what does he even write about, and he definitely wouldn’t spread that info out.

But no matter how you looked at it, his only reader ‘A real person, not a bot #6&%4123’ really didn’t feel like a real person.

Tao Ran felt deflated, sighing in defeat before diving into coding again. He intended to write an extra chapter to that story.

Jiang Yu Heng wasn’t in the room. The more he typed, the faster he could hear the keyboard tapping sounds echo throughout the room.

It was until Tao Ran heard a pounding sound from the toilet, so loud that even his noise-reducing headphones couldn’t cover up, that he had no choice but to pull himself out of focus.

Tao Ran got off his bed and rushed straight to the toilet, finding Jiang Yu Heng inside. When did he return?

He was washing his shoes.

And it was that expensive, 20,000 yuan pair too. The limited edition one he had made fun of before.

Is this normal?

Such expensive shoes should be given to the professionals to clean. He was only using soap. At the very least, use some proper laundry detergent?

Tao Ran forced himself to shift his thoughts away from the shoes to Jiang Yu Heng. Only then did he realize he wasn’t acting normal either.

Jiang Yu Heng took off his padded thick jacket when he entered the room. Now. he was only wearing a simple white t-shirt inside. His sleeves were rolled up, showing his big, muscular arms that appeared really firm.

If this was before, Tao Ran would think ‘Is he crazy? What is he up to so late at night?’ or perhaps ‘Why are you acting as if you’re so poor?’.

But anyhow, it should be anything but his current thoughts now, ‘Damn, that sure is a really great body. Looks slim when clothed, but fit when undressed’.

Tao Ran felt that it was either brainwashed by his fans into joining their cult, or all the pondering about switching to writing BL had gotten to him. He must have just acted upon occupational diseases earlier, that’s all. It has to be.

Jiang Yu Heng took his hand out of the basin, still stained with bubbles and foams all over. He noticed the bizarre gaze Tao Ran was giving him and hesitated for a moment before asking, “Do you…want to pee?”

Tao Ran instantly felt like all the air in his chest had nowhere to go, “W-Who wants to do that. It’s you!”

Jiang Yu Heng looked back down at the basin caught between his feet, replying in an unsure tone, “I’m washing my shoes.”

Tao Ran’s brain was a muddled mess. He finally remembered the initial reason he got off the bed for. “Why are you washing your shoes so late in the night? Don’t you know people need rest and sleep too!”

[Isn’t this thanks to someone who stepped on me really hard at noon? There’s such a big, black footprint on my shoes that I had to wash it now.]

Tao Ran immediately shot back, “What are you trying to imply?”

[Did he find out he stepped on the wrong person at noon?]

Jiang Yu Heng frowned a little before his expression returned to a calm one, “Go to bed now then.”

Tao Ran was so angry that he was about to stomp his feet, “Explain clearly what you meant first. Don’t push everything on me.”

[I didn’t say anything. Why is he angry so suddenly?]

[Ah…did he get angry out of embarrassment? Cute.]

Tao Ran felt like he was bound to have a fight with Jiang Yu Heng if it kept on going like this. He never used to think Jiang Yu Heng spoke in such an indirect way before, so why was he speaking in this disgustingly annoying tone today?

Saying he was cute too? Cute, his ass. It was such a waste that he wasn’t involved in politics.

But soon, Tao Ran’s face alternated between blue and red as he started realizing what was wrong.

His eyes got wider and wider as he noticed that Jiang Yu Heng didn’t even open his mouth.

Then who was the one talking earlier? Was their room haunted?

At this time, what happened at noon resurfaced in his mind clearly. He had stepped on “Wu Hao’s” feet, but he didn’t even flinch.

Tao Ran wasn’t in the mood to argue with Jiang Yu Heng anymore. His voice was a bit shaky as he asked, “Jiang Yu Heng, have you learned ventriloquism before?”

Tao Ran didn’t believe he had, even though he was the one who asked.

Jiang Yu Heng seemed a bit puzzled, falling silent for a while before finally replying honestly, “No. Why?”

[What is he trying to say? Is this…a new way of bickering?]

Tao Ran couldn’t stand it anymore. He covered his face and pointed at Jiang Yu Heng, “Stop. Wait a moment. Don’t move!”

Jiang Yu Heng was very obedient. He really didn’t move an inch at all.

Tao Ran ran to the dorm next door as if he was truly being chased by a ghost this time. He wished he could fly over even.

Wu Hao was lying in his bed, on all fours while playing games, completely unaware of Tao Ran’s arrival.

Tao Ran poked him and asked expectantly, “Wu Hao, do you remember when he had lunch today?”

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“What?” Wu Hao was focusing in a team game, “Fuck! Go in! Tao Zi, wait a little. I’m almost done.”

Tao Ran pinched Wu Hao so hard that he gasped, “I really can’t wait anymore. Let me ask you, did I step on your foot this afternoon?”

Wu Hao was baffled, thinking this was such nonsense. He touched Tao Ran’s forehead and then put his hand on his own forehead. He wondered, “No, what are you saying? When did you step on me?”

Tao Ran’s heart instantly grew heavy.

Yeah…what was he saying…

This was so fucking…

Tao Ran’s brain became a jumbled mess. He sat on Wu Hao’s chair and stared at his table as his mind wandered and embarked on the most confusing journey in his life.

His thoughts went from that pair of shoes to hearing Jiang Yu Heng spout a bunch of nonsense. He really thought he was hallucinating then.

It was after twenty minutes had past that Wu Hao finished his game and came down from the top bunk.

He stared at Tao Ran for a while first before waving a hand in front of his eyes. After noticing the lack of response, he finally got worried.

Wu Hao asked carefully, “Tao Zi, are you in a bad mood? Did you fight with Jiang Yu Heng?”

Tao Ran still did not respond.

Wu Hao scratched the back of his head and suggested, “There are lots of extra beds in your dorm room. How about I stay over there for one night? Or you can stay over at mine—”

Tao Ran grabbed Wu Hao’s hand in a swift manner and nodded frantically.

That’s right! He can’t stay in his dorm room anymore. Jiang Yu Heng…He…He!

Wu Hao patted the back of his hand soothingly and patted his chest. “Alright, alright. It’s not a big deal. I’ll tell him in your stead. You can just stay here.”

Tao Ran never felt so glad for this friend of this before. He was really touched, clutching his hand and said, “My good bro, truly, you’re such a great bro.”

But Tao Ran definitely did not expect this good bro of his that he entrusted such an important task with, to not have returned alone.

Wu Hao came back with his “good roommate” following behind.

Tao Ran’s grip of the table tightened so much that the blood flow was starting to get cut off.

Wu Hao winked somewhat apologetically at Tao Ran. Jiang Yu Heng had insisted on coming over and it wasn’t really nice to stop him from doing so.

When he went over to inform him that Tao Ran will be sleeping over, Jiang Yu Heng’s reaction was hard to describe and understand.

Jiang Yu Heng was clearly still smiling but his voice was colder than usual, “Are you saying he’ll be sleeping on your bed tonight?”

He then explained and also asked if the two had fought or something.

Jiang Yu Heng wondered as well, thinking it was strange, “Perhaps my existence itself annoys him.”

How would Wu Hao understand this confusing, vague situation between the two. All he knew was that these two adult men should just talk it out openly. If not, just have a fist fight and settle it with that. Wouldn’t that work out?

Tao Ran is now terrified at the mere sight of Jiang Yu Heng. He even stuttered, “W-What are you doing here?”

Jiang Yu Heng pulled on his wrist and walked away, “Let’s go back and talk.”

Tao Ran was in such a shock that he didn’t even think of resisting a little. He was dragged back just like that without a word.

It was just a few steps away, but the path back to their room felt extra hard to walk on.

Fortunately, once the door was closed, Jiang Yu Heng let go of his hand.

He looked back at Tao Ran and even though they weren’t that close, it still felt like he was almost cornering him against the back of the door.

[Why is he suddenly avoiding me? Could it be the sounds of me washing my shoes were so loud that it annoyed him?]

Here it goes again.

Tao Ran had no way of hiding from those dark, magnetizing eyes of his. He could feel a cold chill rise up his spine straight to his skull too.

He glared hard at Jiang Yu Heng who was blocking his way, “What are you doing? Move out of the way!”

Jiang Yu Heng’s back was against the light, so it was hard to see how his face looked like. He said, “Why did you go over?”

Tao Ran couldn’t stop trembling. He tried ignoring how his legs were going weak and squeezed through the gap between Jiang Yu Heng and the wall and said, “I’m going to sleep, leave me alone!”

Jiang Yu Heng shifted sideways a little, responding just a bit later, “Okay.”

Tao Ran flew into his bed, curling up his body under the blanket. He quietly listened to the movements out there.

He wasn’t a fool.

He could assume that it was just hallucinations if it was just once or twice. But everything that happened today was so absurd, it was completely out of his imagination.

That was definitely Jiang Yu Heng’s voice. He was definitely not hearing things.

But this also pointed at the problem.

Tao Ran felt like the world was going crazy.

He heard Jiang Yu Heng’s thoughts. Does that mean he could read minds?