After Breaking Up, I Shared an Apartment With My Best Friend and Her Boyfriend (H) - Chapter 24: You Like Me

Chapter 24: You Like Me

Xu Yanqi didn’t grasp the meaning of her question. He spread jam on a crispy piece of toast, elegantly cut it with a knife and fork, and took a bite. Then he sipped his steaming coffee.

“What do you mean?”

Chen Qiao said softly, “You seem in a good mood.”

Xu Yanqi heard her. As he spoke, he pulled a napkin and handed it to her to wipe her hands. “Oh, I got up early and was told I secured a project. It was almost taken by an overseas AI.”

Chen Qiao took the napkin he instinctively offered—a habit he had with Wen Sui—and her heart skipped a beat.

“Why did you win it?”

Chen Qiao wiped her hands with the napkin and deliberately took a sip of the milk beside her.

“Chen Qiao, do you know what an architect’s job really involves?”

Xu Yanqi set down his knife and fork and suddenly asked her.

Chen Qiao shook her head. Xu Yanqi explained patiently, “It’s a mix of technical output and creative thinking. It requires delivering ideas and solving problems, not just making pretty spaces.”

“For example, to put it practically, when I get a project, as an architect, I don’t just identify the issue and propose a solution. I also use architectural tools like techniques and materials to address pain points, refine the approach, and shape the design…”

Before he finished, Chen Qiao listened intently and interjected, “Clearly, AI can’t replace thinking and technical output.”

Xu Yanqi nodded. “Right, that’s something AI can’t do.”

Their eyes met. Chen Qiao raised her glass of milk and toasted him. “Congrats.”

Xu Yanqi awkwardly reined in the gaze that had somehow landed on her. He lifted his coffee to return the toast.

“Thanks.”

Being with Chen Qiao always felt strange. Normally, with Wen Sui, he never mentioned work because he knew she wouldn’t understand.

And Wen Sui’s work didn’t need his concern either. Naturally, she didn’t bring it up much.

They maintained a silent understanding. Xu Yanqi had thought that was the best way to get along—until that morning with Chen Qiao.

For some reason, he showed her his good mood. He seemed eager to share it with her and genuinely enjoyed their time together.

“What about you?”

Xu Yanqi suddenly asked Chen Qiao.

“Me what?”

Xu Yanqi glanced at her and said, “Your work.”

Chen Qiao set her milk down. She looked up and met his direct gaze head-on.

“Xu Yanqi, why do you care about my work?”

After she spoke, Xu Yanqi’s thin lips pressed together lightly. He said slowly, “Just chatting.”

Then, he added, “Do you like me?”

It came out of nowhere.

Chen Qiao’s gaze lingered on Xu Yanqi’s face. She paused deliberately.

In that instant, Xu Yanqi’s heart faltered. He didn’t know what to say. Before he could speak, Chen Qiao’s clear voice cut through.

“Obviously not, because you can’t like Wen Sui and me at the same time. A person can’t like two people at once.”

She said it to him with a tone neither light nor heavy.

Xu Yanqi heard her. His starry eyes flickered. Then he heard Chen Qiao say, “So, my work, Xu Yanqi—you don’t need to be curious about it.”

For some reason, in that moment, Xu Yanqi unexpectedly found Chen Qiao smart, gentle, and composed.

Before this, Xu Yanqi had never encountered someone like her.

“Alright, then I’ll ask something else. Chen Qiao, are you still working in your field?”

Chen Qiao had thought her blunt words might sound harsh and stop him, but he kept asking.

When she didn’t reply, Xu Yanqi paused, then said, “That morning you came into my room, I saw you staring at the violin in there.”

Xu Yanqi could tell that Chen Qiao’s eyes back then held a deep appreciation for that violin.

Her gaze was unusually tender.

After he spoke, Chen Qiao looked at Xu Yanqi. She gave a simple yet cryptic answer.

“Because that violin is something I wanted but never got.”

Then she grabbed a napkin and wiped her mouth. “I’m done eating.”

She slowly stood from her seat. “Thanks for breakfast, Xu Yanqi.”

She seemed genuinely finished, not just cutting the conversation short.

Xu Yanqi watched her walk down the hallway into her room. He cleared the plates and utensils from the table into the kitchen. Before he could wash them, he stood in silence for a moment, washed his hands, and turned toward Chen Qiao’s room.

“Knock, knock.”

It was Xu Yanqi lightly tapping on Chen Qiao’s door.

“Chen Qiao.”

As her name left his lips, the door he was knocking on swung open from the inside.

Then, Chen Qiao rose onto her tiptoes and leaned in close, catching him off guard.

It was as if time froze in that moment.

All that remained was the sound of heartbeats.

Xu Yanqi watched her draw near. Her face inched toward his. His breathing intertwined with hers against his will.

Then, at point-blank range, he saw her lips, full of heat and longing, gently press toward him.