I Can Still Salvage It

Pei Zhiyi sat in the training dormitory and didn’t go to sleep as quickly as he had promised Shen Mian. It was because his roommate was making a phone call.

The training assigned dorms for two people, and it was Pei Zhiyi’s first time living with someone other than Shen Mian. Fortunately, his roommate was very quiet. After entering the dorm, he hardly spoke at all, and Pei Zhiyi almost forgot that he was around.

But just as a phone call rang, Pei Zhiyi witnessed a great change in his roommate’s personality.

That person, who had previously been as unnoticeable as a plant, suddenly came to life when the phone rang. His expression became lively, and his voice when he answered the call was particularly gentle, even a bit sticky.

“Yeah, I’ve arrived. How about you? Are you done with your makeup classes?” he said, going to the balcony on his own accord. However, the transparent balcony window couldn’t hide the radiant smile on his face.

In a split second, Pei Zhiyi thought to himself: the person on the other end of the phone was most likely his girlfriend.

He didn’t find his roommate noisy, even though he was standing on the balcony talking on the phone. The thin window provided no significant soundproofing, and the sweet words exchanged between the young couple came through, making Pei Zhiyi want to smile.

As he looked at his new roommate, he couldn’t help but think, he wouldn’t be that foolish when talking to Shen Mian, right?

But after thinking about it, he felt that he wasn’t qualified to mock others. After all, he was not as good as his roommate, at least he had a mutually affectionate relationship.

When Pei Zhiyi was tidying up his desk, he noticed that he had accidentally brought Shen Mian’s notebook with him. It wasn’t the notebook used for class, just one with a few hastily written problems and random doodles.

Shen Mian’s handwriting wasn’t particularly nice, it was messy and casual. The Chinese teacher always left angry comments, asking him to practice calligraphy everyday.

But as Pei Zhiyi flipped through the notebook, his gaze unconsciously softened.

His roommate was still outside the door talking to his girlfriend, while he was inside looking at the messy drawings of the person he secretly admired. It was hard to say who was more absurd and love stricken.

The phone call lasted for more than half an hour before his roommate reluctantly ended it and came back inside.

Pei Zhiyi glanced at him instinctively. It was only now that he recalled his roommate’s name, a very ordinary name, Meng Yi.

The tall and thin guy felt Pei Zhiyi’s gaze and scratched his head apologetically, saying, “was I too loud? Sorry about that.”

Pei Zhiyi shook his head, indicating that he wasn’t, but there was still a slightly awkward atmosphere in the room. Meng Yi sat in his spot for a while, clearly still lost in the conversation with his girlfriend. His face red, filled with infatuation.

He seemed to want to chat with Pei Zhiyi, but he didn’t feel comfortable speaking up because they were not yet familiar with each other.

Pei Zhiyi was in a decent mood that night, so he decided to break the ice between them.

“Just now, was that your girlfriend?” he asked.

Meng Yi revealed a somewhat shy smile and couldn’t contain the excitement in his heart. He showed Pei Zhiyi the lock screen of his phone, which had a picture of his girlfriend. He said, “She’s super cute. If the training base wasn’t so far away, she would have come to see me.”

Pei Zhiyi glanced at it. Indeed, she was a good-looking girl, but he had always been indifferent to others’ appearances and couldn’t see anything special. He could only nod politely.

Meng Yi received Pei Zhiyi’s approval and contentedly put away his phone. However, after coming back to his senses, he felt a bit foolish for doing that.

He smiled at Pei Zhiyi and said, “Sorry about that. This is my first relationship, and I just started dating, so I’m not very composed.”

He looked at Pei Zhiyi’s handsome face and guessed that Pei Zhiyi must have a lot of experience in relationships. He earnestly sought advice asking, “Brother Pei, you must have dated more than once. Do you have any experiences to share, like how to deepen the bond in a new relationship?”

He changed his way of addressing Pei Zhiyi, looking at him humbly, “For example, how should we improve our relationship at the beginning?”

Since they were from the same school, Meng Yi naturally knew that Pei Zhiyi was very popular. There were several classmates in his class who had a crush on Pei Zhiyi. Every day, they would take a detour to pass by Class 2 just to catch a glimpse of him.

Meng Yi firmly believed that if someone like Pei Zhiyi didn’t have much relationship experience, it would be a waste of his good looks.

But he soon saw Pei Zhiyi saying expressionlessly, “I don’t know. I’ve never been in a relationship.”

Meng Yi: “…………”

There really are people who waste such good privileges.

He looked at Pei Zhiyi incredulously, “Really? Is it because your standards are too high? We have so many beautiful girls in our school. None of them caught your eye?”

Pei Zhiyi twirled the pen in his hand with his fingertips.

It was true that his standards were high. Shen Mian was outstanding in appearance and personality among the people Pei Zhiyi knew.

But that wasn’t the main reason.

He shrugged and told Meng Yi, “Because the other person doesn’t like me.”

After saying that, he got up and went to wash up, leaving Meng Yi alone in a state of confusion thinking to himself

‘Unbelievable, even someone like Pei Zhiyi could be rejected. For ordinary people like him, it seemed understandable’.

He felt a great sense of the world being fair in an instant. However, when he shared that gossip with his girlfriend, he was met with a bucket of cold water.

“You really believe it? I’ve known Pei Zhiyi for two years and I’ve never heard him say he likes any girl. He was just stringing you along.”

Meng Yi: “…” He felt a hint of offense.

The schedule for the training sessions in the following days was packed.

The teachers knew that those top students could handle the intense workload, so they didn’t go easy on them, only leaving them with time for meals and sleep.

Not only did Meng Yi not have time to spend with his girlfriend, but Pei Zhiyi also didn’t have time to talk to Shen Mian.

But Shen Mian considerately said it was okay.

He told Pei Zhiyi on the phone, “You don’t have to chat with me every day. The training is more important, and besides, you’ll be back in a few days.”

Before Shen Mian could finish speaking, Pei Zhiyi heard a girl’s voice on the other end of the phone, calling for Shen Mian to hurry up as they were about to leave.

Shen Mian acknowledged with a response and hastily bid farewell to Pei Zhiyi, saying, “I have to go. Chen Fei is celebrating his birthday today, and we’re going to have dinner at Little Fragrant Garden.”

Then the call abruptly ended.

Pei Zhiyi listened to the busy tone on his phone and thought to himself, “Sure enough, Shen Mian doesn’t need him that much.”

When he left for the competition a few days ago, Shen Mian was still asleep on his bed, seeking a sense of security from the items he left behind. But that was just part of his 007 mission.

Even without him, Shen Mian’s life was filled to the brim.

Since childhood, Shen Mian had always been well-liked due to his good and adorable personality. Wherever he went, he would receive affection. It was because of Pei Zhiyi that many people couldn’t get close to Shen Mian.

Now that Pei Zhiyi was no longer there, those who had long wanted to get close to Shen Mian rushed forward and befriended him.

Pei Zhiyi closed his eyes, and the wind on the balcony cleared his mind even more.

He knew his possessiveness was dark and inappropriate, but he couldn’t control it. He couldn’t hold onto Shen Mian, the boy who had grown up by his side, attracting too much attention from others which made him feel unsafe.

The hectic academic intensity continued until Saturday. They had already been at that school for five days, and on Monday, they would go to the neighboring city for a competition.

So, on Saturday morning, their teacher generously informed them, “You won’t have classes this afternoon, just self-study. If you want, you can go out for a walk. Although there’s not much to do around here.”

That statement was true.

The school deliberately chose that training base far from the city, which took at least two to three hours to reach. Apart from a small commercial street nearby, there was nowhere else to go.

Meng Yi had become somewhat close to Pei Zhiyi over those few days. Only five students from their school came, three of whom were girls. So, they sat together in the self-study classroom.

He complained disappointedly, “If I had known, I would have had my girlfriend come over so we could have a meal together.”

Pei Zhiyi couldn’t understand that kind of constant need for affection between those two lovers.

He reminded Meng Yi, “You’ll be going back in two days, so it doesn’t really matter.”

Meng Yi looked at Pei Zhiyi said, “Now I truly believe that you’ve never been in a relationship. Having a meal together is a basic thing between people in a relationship, it’s not a big deal and besides It’s been five days since we last saw each other at this point it’s essentially a long-distance relationship.”

But Meng Yi quickly consoled himself, saying, “But it’s raining today and we have to transfer, It’s better if she doesn’t come. The commute will be tiring, she definitely wouldn’t be able to handle it.”

Pei Zhiyi raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything more.

Since going out was boring, Meng Yi decided to stay in the dormitory with Pei Zhiyi, lying on his bed and playing games to pass time.

Meanwhile, Pei Zhiyi sat downstairs watching a movie.

At some point, it started raining heavily outside, with large raindrops tapping on the windows, occasionally accompanied by distant thunder.

It was at that moment that Pei Zhiyi received a call from Shen Mian. The movie screen switched to Shen Mian’s incoming call notification.

He held the phone to his ear, and as soon as the call connected, he heard Shen Mian gasping for breath, as if he had been walking for a long time and was exhausted.

After a few more seconds, he heard Shen Mian’s voice, sounding as if he was standing in the wind, with his voice being blown away.

“Brother… Are you at the training school now?”

Pei Zhiyi furrowed his brow in confusion. “I am. Where are you? Why are you breathing so heavily?”

Shen Mian glanced at the locked gate in front of him. He had been on the subway for two hours, then took a forty-minute bus ride, and finally ran for twenty minutes to find that godforsaken school. He hadn’t collapsed on the spot and relied solely on willpower, that’s why he was breathing so heavily!

Whoever chose that training location for them!

But now was not the time to complain.

He swallowed the words that had rushed to his mouth, held an umbrella, and leaned against the nearby utility pole.

He knew his bag had already been dirtied by the water on the pole, but he didn’t care anymore.

In the drizzling rain, his voice sounded light, mixed with small gasps, almost blending into the misty rain.

“Brother, can you come pick me up? I can’t run anymore. I’m at the west gate of your school, but it’s locked, and I can’t find the main entrance.”

Pei Zhiyi stood up from his chair, causing a commotion that nearly knocked over the chair, and even startled Meng Yi on the bed.

He didn’t expect Shen Mian to come looking for him.

He said through the phone, “Don’t move and stay where you are. Can you see a stationery store across from you?”

Shen Mian glanced across the street, and indeed, there was a stationery store there.

“Yes, it’s called Future Stationery.”

“Okay don’t move, just wait there.”

Pei Zhiyi didn’t have time to ask more questions. The weather that day was colder than yesterday, and he didn’t know if Shen Mian, who had come out like to find him, remembered to bring a jacket. He quickly grabbed his keys and phone, took his own jacket, and was about to leave.

Meng Yi had been looking at him strangely for a long time and finally couldn’t help but ask, “Pei Zhiyi, where are you going?”

Pei Zhiyi couldn’t say much and left with just one sentence, “My childhood friend is coming.”

Then he slammed the door shut.

The loud sound of the closing door deeply shocked Meng Yi.

He lay on the upper bunk, lost in thoughts.

Why didn’t his girlfriend come while someone else’s childhood friend did?

Were the feelings between brothers really that deep?

But it didn’t make sense, and it even hurt him a little, feeling as though his love had fallen into a ditch.

However, he looked at the increasingly heavy rain outside and silently retreated back into the warmth of his blanket.

He muttered to himself, “This damn weather, and he still came. I think that’s true love.”