After Becoming Roommates with My Flirty Ex-Girlfriend - Chapter 49

Yu Xia wasn’t awakened by hope, but by Yu Nian’s loud shouting. Irritated, Yu Xia dragged herself out of bed and reluctantly opened the door.

“This isn’t your house. If you don’t stop making a racket, get out,” Yu Xia warned coldly, her brow furrowed.

“It’s already eleven o’clock!” Yu Nian pointed to the wristwatch on her wrist. “Even if you didn’t get a birthday gift from your mother, you still have a basic sense of time, right? Who sleeps in this late?”

Before Yu Xia could respond, Ke Qian’s expression darkened.

Yu Xia merely sneered. “This is my house. I’ll wake up whenever I want. I told you last night to go to the hotel on your own today. Why are you still hanging around here?”

Ms. Ke Qian interrupted, “Xiaxia, I bought you a gift…”

“I don’t really need it,” Yu Xia cut her off coldly. “I don’t like the things you buy.”

Yu Nian muttered under her breath, “Good intentions wasted on ungrateful people. I came all the way here for your birthday, and you act like anyone even wants to be around you?”

“It’s not midnight yet,” Yu Xia retorted. “You can still check into a hotel and stay for a full day.”

“Are you insulting us?” Yu Nian snapped, pointing at Yu Xia and yelling.

“I thought you were staying because you couldn’t afford a hotel,” Yu Xia sneered. “I was even considering paying for it myself if necessary.”

Before Yu Nian could retort, Zheng Yun emerged from the kitchen, waving her phone. “Auntie, I’ve booked a hotel for you. The car to take you there is on its way. Are you ready to leave now?”

Ke Qian sighed, knowing she couldn’t intervene in her daughters’ conflict. She turned to Zheng Yun.

“Thank you, Little Zheng. I’ll transfer the hotel fee to you later.”

“No need,” Zheng Yun said with a gentle smile, stepping forward to help with their luggage. “I just don’t want Xiaxia to be upset over something so trivial. Shall we go?”

Yu Nian sidled up and grabbed Zheng Yun’s hand. “Zheng Yun-jie, I’m upset too.”

“If you’re not happy, I’ll treat you to dinner later,” Zheng Yun said, patting Yu Nian’s hand. “Let’s go.”

Yu Nian, now comforted, skipped behind Zheng Yun, casting a triumphant glance at Yu Xia before they left.

Ke Qian also picked up her bag and headed for the door. As she passed Yu Xia, she hesitated, wanting to say something, but ultimately left in silence.

The house was finally quiet.

So quiet it was almost boring.

Yu Xia pulled out her phone and texted Xiao Jiu.

As expected of someone who had immersed herself in countless novels for years, Xiao Jiu digested this bombshell news in less than an hour. By the time Yu Xia woke up, Xiao Jiu and Xiao Qi had already planned a series of activities.

Last night, when Yu Xia mentioned she had to spend her birthday with her family, Xiao Jiu had simply sent a question mark.

“?”

“Can you really tolerate your bizarre sister for more than an hour?”

Even Yu Xia wasn’t confident.

But she decided to make the best of her birthday, if only to give Ke Qian a chance.

Xiao Jiu sent an “OK” emoji, indicating she understood. They would be out having fun for a while, but if Yu Xia needed them, they’d come pick her up immediately.

Yu Xia thanked her and hung up.

After lying on the sofa for a while, Yu Xia picked up her phone, intending to go out for a meal, when Zheng Yun returned carrying a large bag of bread.

“Where would you even eat at this hour? Everywhere’s packed,” Zheng Yun said, wiping sweat from her brow as she handed the bag to Yu Xia. “I was worried you’d get hungry waiting, so I grabbed some snacks on the way back.”

Yu Xia silently took the bag and placed it on the coffee table. “Didn’t you eat with them?” she asked.

Zheng Yun looked surprised. “Why would I eat with them?”

“Didn’t you say you were treating Yu Nian to cheer her up?”

Zheng Yun shrugged. “I only said I’d treat them to a meal. Whether they enjoy it or not isn’t my responsibility.”

“Hmm.”

“Cheering you up is more important,” Zheng Yun said, setting down her bag. “Have a snack to tide you over while I make dinner.”

“…No need,” Yu Xia stopped her. “Let’s just eat something simple.”

Zheng Yun obediently sat beside her and accepted the bread Yu Xia offered.

“Thank you for your hard work these past few days,” Yu Xia said, biting into a piece of bread. The sweet, soft texture melted away the frustration in her heart.

“I couldn’t help before,” Zheng Yun murmured, staring at her fingers kneading the bread. Her nails were perfectly rounded, and she drifted into a daze. “It’s good to be able to share some of your burdens now.”

“I rarely contacted them in college,” Yu Xia said softly. “I probably made only a handful of calls all year. This time was an exception.”

The vengeful impulse churning within her had clouded her judgment, leading her to agree to this arrangement. It tormented her, and it tormented Zheng Yun.

“If it weren’t for them, we… we might never have seen each other again,” Zheng Yun said with difficulty.

“If you hadn’t disappeared back then,” Yu Xia replied, losing her appetite and setting the bread on the table. The half-eaten piece was jagged and uneven, mirroring her turbulent emotions. “We wouldn’t have needed anyone to push us together.”

She didn’t even have the energy to be angry.

Back-to-back work shifts, troublesome family members, a meek and compliant ex-girlfriend—everything in her life was going wrong.

“At the time…” Zheng Yun began, her voice strained, “I received a phone call from home.”

This was a beginning Yu Xia had never heard before. She glanced sideways at Zheng Yun.

Zheng Yun tried to continue, but a sudden wave of nausea surged through her. She rushed to the bathroom and began dry-heaving.

“Didn’t you eat breakfast?” Yu Xia asked anxiously, patting her back.

“It’s nothing,” Zheng Yun said, taking the water Yu Xia offered. “Just an old problem.”

Yu Xia fell silent.

When they broke up, Zheng Yun hadn’t had any stomach issues.

Are you suffering too?

Yu Xia didn’t voice the question.

Zheng Yun gulped down half a cup of hot water, barely suppressing the dry-heaving. Her face was pale from the strain, and she looked like she might collapse.

“If I had a choice, I wouldn’t have done it either,” she said, reaching for Yu Xia’s hand.

“I don’t know if you had a choice, but I didn’t,” Yu Xia replied coldly, pulling her hand away. “I’d rather you were dead.”

“I’d rather I were dead too,” Zheng Yun said, tears welling in her eyes.

“Why are you acting like the victim now?” Yu Xia gripped Zheng Yun’s wrist tightly. “You knew what I hated most, yet you still did it. Even if you wanted to break up, couldn’t you have just told me straight?”

“Am I your cat?” Yu Xia demanded, her face almost pressed against Zheng Yun’s. “You bring me home when you need me, then let me wander when you don’t. It wouldn’t matter if I died out there, would it?”

Yu Xia rarely confronted Zheng Yun so aggressively. Trapped with no room to evade, Zheng Yun could only endure Yu Xia’s fury.

“I don’t want to break up with you,” Zheng Yun sobbed.

“Besides crying, what else are you good for?” Yu Xia sneered. “If you’re going to cry, at least do it properly.”

Before Zheng Yun could grasp Yu Xia’s meaning, a sharp pain shot through her shoulder.

Yu Xia had bitten down hard.

She felt Zheng Yun’s body tremble violently beneath her teeth—not with pleasure, but with raw agony.

The faint metallic tang of bl00d burst in her mouth, its sickly-sweet taste mingling with Zheng Yun’s stifled sobs, like a discordant violin melody, unsatisfying and incomplete.

Yu Xia’s chest burned with rage she couldn’t release.

She resented Zheng Yun for abandoning her, and herself for a hatred that wasn’t pure, a love that wasn’t deep enough.

If she could only deceive herself, she would already be living a blissful life with Zheng Yun.

But she couldn’t deceive herself.

Just as she had always known her parents’ favoritism since childhood, she refused to lie to herself about anything.

Now, she couldn’t convince herself to forget the insurmountable chasm between her and Zheng Yun. It wasn’t just three years of time, but countless years of accumulated pain, depression, and insomnia.

Could Zheng Yun even sleep back then?

She didn’t know.

All she knew was that even if Zheng Yun was going to betray her, she wouldn’t betray her past self.

“If you can’t even cry properly, then don’t bother crying at all,” Yu Xia said, pressing down on the wound on Zheng Yun’s shoulder. The pain made Zheng Yun gasp, and in the next moment, the whimpers in her throat were choked back.

A kiss between lovers should be sweet, like when she and Zheng Yun first met, full of tentative exploration and seduction. Their love had taken root like a tree of life, sprouting and growing into a towering giant.

But what should a kiss between enemies be like?

Yu Xia offered her answer.

She gave Zheng Yun no chance to breathe, prying open her teeth and plunging in, stealing every last breath.

Pain.

Everywhere hurt.

Her shoulder, her stomach, even her mouth.

This was Yu Xia’s punishment for her dishonesty, for her silence to every question, and for the evasive gaze that concealed her emotions.

Zheng Yun endured it silently. Her oxygen-deprived cheeks flushed an unhealthy crimson, and her body gradually lost strength, sliding slowly down the wall.

Yu Xia released Zheng Yun just a second before she lost consciousness.

As Zheng Yun was about to speak, her phone rang. Frowning, she almost hung up, but saw it was Xiao Jiu.

“Yu Xia, listen, when you come over, bring Zheng Yun along! We haven’t seen her in ages, and we miss her a little.”

“…I have a grudge against her,” Yu Xia snapped irritably.

“We don’t have a grudge against her,” Xiao Jiu retorted confidently. “Besides, you two have already done that. If you’ve shared a bed, why can’t you share a meal?”

Xiao Jiu’s voice echoed clearly in the cramped bathroom, as if amplified by reverb. When Yu Xia heard the words “shared a bed,” the veins on her forehead nearly popped.

“Tell her yourself,” Yu Xia said, shoving the phone at Zheng Yun.

Zheng Yun took the phone and spoke, “Xiao Jiu.”

“Hey Zheng Yun, long time no see! What’s wrong with your voice? Why is it so hoarse?” Xiao Jiu asked.

“It’s nothing. When are we eating?” Zheng Yun tried to change the subject.

Xiao Jiu gasped dramatically. “You two didn’t just finish, did you? In this heat? You guys are really… in the mood.”

“Stop interrupting,” Yu Xia interjected. “Let’s get to the real issue.”

“The real issue is that after Yu Xia has her falling-out with her family tomorrow, we’re all going out to eat together.”

Zheng Yun glanced at Yu Xia in surprise. “If a falling-out is inevitable, Xiaxia, don’t put yourself through that.”

“If I don’t go, will you?” Xiao Jiu’s words ignited Yu Xia’s temper. “You’d go celebrate Yu Nian’s birthday?”

“…Of course not,” Zheng Yun mumbled, shrinking back as her shoulder wound throbbed.

“Even jealous over this?” Xiao Jiu stepped in to mediate. “Whether you two are friends with benefits or enemies right now, can you at least do me a favor tomorrow?”

“…?” Before Xiao Jiu hung up, Yu Xia and Zheng Yun clearly overheard her complaining to Xiao Qi: “Who sleeps with their enemies in broad daylight? It’s not like sunlight is an aphrodisiac.”

Yu Xia hung up immediately, her face impassive. “You know she always talks nonsense.”

Zheng Yun nodded, clutching her shoulder. “I know.”

Then she added, “Actually, daytime works too.”