25 The Heng Family (III)
Teng, confused, chose to ignore them and knocked on the door, wondering if his roommate was already inside. Although he could just unlock the door with his key, he didn't want to seem rude and just barge in.
He waited for a bit and knocked again. Those two guys from Room 510 were still watching him.
'Please open up,' Teng prayed as he began to feel very uncomfortable because of the piercing gazes those guys were sending his way.
As he was about to knock again, the door abruptly opened, revealing a tall red-haired guy wearing a black vest and jeans.
The redhead looked down to see that it was the boy he had met earlier in the elevator.
"You.." the guy said and stared into Teng's mesmerizing gray eyes.
"Ah," Teng looked flustered, "H-hi, I'm y-your roommate, Heng Teng."
"Roommate?" the red-haired guy asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Poor guy," Teng heard the one guy from Room 510 say.
"Yeah," the Nagaaki fellow agreed, "It sucks that he has that fag as a roommate."
(T/N: Argh! I hate these two already \ (> _ <) )< p>
"Let's just hope he won't get eaten since he looks like a girl," Nagaaki's roommate stated with a contemptuous laugh.
Teng stared at them, confusion written all over his cute face.
'What the hell are they talking about?' he wondered.
His red-haired roommate clicked his tongue in annoyance, causing Teng to look away from them and stare at him. He noticed the guy had an irritated expression.
"If I were you," Nagaaki suggested to Teng, "I'd ask the dorm manager to allocate a different room."
"Or assign him a different roommate 'cause that one ain't right in the head," Nagaaki's roommate added, earning a chuckle from Nagaaki.
Teng was utterly confused. Why were they so mean to his roommate?
'What did they call him?' he thought, 'A fag? Isn't that offensive?'
His roommate sighed and stepped out of the room and into the hallway.
"Are you two fuckers done with your yapping?" his roommate asked them, cracking his knuckles.
This caused the guys to flinch. Teng's roommate clicked his tongue and grit his teeth in irritation.
The guys cleared their throats and stepped inside their room, closing the door quickly and locking it. Teng's roommate clicked his tongue again.
"Darn bitches," his roommate mumbled.
He turned to face Teng.
"Ah, sorry about that," he rubbed his neck anxiously, "Not a good first impression, huh?"
Teng blinked a few times as he got to see his roommate up close and fully. The guy was way taller than him, probablyby 30 centimeters. He was muscular with a fit body.
His red hair was slightly long, reaching just below his ears. He looked like he had been listening to music as his light blue headphones were around his neck.
"It's okay," Teng said to which his roommate smiled in relief.
"I'm Zhou, by the way," the guy said, "Feng Zhou. An architecture student. Please come in."
Zhou ushered Teng inside.
"Ah, your side is on the right," Zhou said, pointing at the empty bed and shelves, "Unless you want to change it, I guess I wouldn't mind."
Teng waved his hands dismissively.
"No, no," he said, "I'm fine with taking the one on the right. You're older than me too, so I'd let you choose first without any complaints."
Zhou smiled, feeling fascinated by him.
"I see," he said, standing in front of Teng, "You're really nice."
Teng scratched his cheek shyly as he looked at the floor.
"I g-guess so," he softly said.
'More like a pushover,' he instantly thought, internally cursing his introverted personality.
Zhou felt the urge to ruffle Teng's hair at that moment as the little guy looked awfully cute and adorable. However, he held himself back as that would make things awkward between them.
"About those guys..." Zhou began, not knowing what to say, "If they ever bother you, just let me know. I'll deal with them."
Teng looked up at his roommate.
"They were pretty mean," he said, shaking his head and furrowing his brows.
"Well, there are people like that," Zhou said, a sad smile on his face, "but I'm used to it now. I don't try to hide the fact that I'm attracted to men, so if you feel uncomfortable, you can change ro-"
(T/N: No, don't get used to that kind of toxic and biased behaviour. They are just mean. My poor baby (T~T) )
Teng was pained by his roommate's words. He reached out his hands and grabbed Zhou's left hand, catching the roommate by surprise.
"Don't worry," Zhou heard Teng say, cutting him off.
Teng's brown eyes twinkled under the summer light seeping through the open windows.
"I'm not like them. I won't be judgemental or call you awful names. You're free to love who you want and be what you want," he added, a soft blush creeping across his face.
"Uh, f-feel free to talk to me about anything that's on your mind...i-if you wanna talk," Teng bit his lip and let go of his roommate's hand, "I am not that great at giving advice, b-but I'm a great listener."
The redhead could feel the sincerity in his voice, which almost brought him to tears. Almost. He smiled and raised his right hand, placing it on Teng's head.
Teng flinched in surprise and looked up into Zhou's green eyes.
"Thanks a lot," Zhou said, patting Teng's head, "Bunny Teng."
Teng blinked multiple times in surprise as his roommate continued to pat him.
"B-bunny Teng?" he stared in confusion.
Zhou nodded and placed both his hands on Teng's shoulders. For a guy, Zhou noticed that Teng was relatively thin and pale. He was cute.
He was really, really cute.
"Yeah," Zhou said with a smile, "You remind me of a cute bunny, so..."
Teng stared at Zhou, and they stood like that for a minute. He began to laugh, his laughter catching his roommate by surprise.
"I-I see," Teng said with a closed-eye smile.
When Teng went home, he told his mother and siblings that his roommate was really nice and that he was going to be okay.
They were all relieved. When the day came for Teng to live in the dorm, his mother was bawling her eyes out.
"No, don't go!" his mother cried, rubbing her cheeks on his cheek, "All my babies are growing up too fast! They are all leaving me."
"You still have me, mother," Xieran said.
"It's not the same," their mother immediately replied, shaking her head.
Teng sighed as his mother kept hugging him affectionately and crying. They had arrived at the university and stood in front of the gate.
She didn't want to let go of her son. He knew this would happen. After all, Lang already lived in the dorms at a university in another city.
With Lang and him gone, their mother would be left with Xieran only. Zhou had gone to meet him as he wanted to help him with his luggage.
He smiled when he saw Teng waiting by the gate, his mother clinging to him for dear life.
"Ah, this is my roommate," Teng told his family, "Feng Zhou. Zhou, this is my family. My mother, older sister Xieran, and younger brother Lang."
Teng's mother shook Zhou's hand and smiled.
"Nice to meet you, Zhou," Teng's mother smiled, tears running down her cheeks, "You can call me aunty Hua. If it's not too much to ask, please take care of my son."
"Yeah," Xieran added, "He's a little introverted, so we're worried about him."
"He's a great cook, though, so you're in for a treat!" Lang said proudly with a thumbs up.
Zhou smiled and nodded.
"I'll do my best," he assured Teng's family.
"Geez," Teng sighed, "Why do y'all sound like y'all are marrying me off?"
His family laughed, and they all gave him a hug.
"Bye!" they waved in unison as Teng and Zhou waved back, watching as the car drove away.
"Sorry about that," Teng told Zhou with an exasperated sigh, "My family is overly affectionate and ah...dramatic."
Zhou smiled and patted Teng's head.
"It's nice to see that you have a loving family," Teng heard him say, a hint of heartache in his voice.
And that was how Teng and Zhou became university roommates studying at Waterfalls University. As the two years passed, they grew used to each other.
Zhou began to spoil Teng because he found the little guy very cute.
Teng also became a bit reliant on Zhou. As for the two homophobic guys in Room 510, Zhou had beaten them up one day when they got into a fight.
They laid low for a while and avoided bumping into Zhou.
