Dear Roommate Please Stop Being Hot [BL]
Chapter 58: If We Weren’t Roommates

Chapter 58: If We Weren’t Roommates

Back at the dorm, the room was dimly lit, curtains drawn halfway against the fading sun.

Noel sat at his desk, flipping through his textbook, though his eyes hadn’t focused on a single page in the last ten minutes.

Across the room, Luca lay sprawled on his bed, one leg dangling off the edge, a pencil in his mouth and a notebook resting on his stomach.

"Why do business assignments always sound like riddles?" Luca mumbled around the pencil.

"Because you never read the instructions," Noel replied, not looking up.

Luca turned slightly, arm propped under his head. "You know, I kind of missed this today."

Noel glanced at him. "Missed what?"

"This." Luca gestured vaguely between them. "Us. Just... existing in the same space. Complaining. You scolding me. Me ignoring you." He grinned. "Balance."

Noel rolled his eyes. "We literally spent the entire day together. Grocery shopping. Cooking. Class."

"Yeah, but it was different." Luca sat up, rubbing the back of his neck. "Today felt... domestic."

Noel raised a brow. "You sound like you didn’t hate it."

Luca met his gaze, eyes softer now. "Maybe I didn’t."

A beat of silence. Then Noel cleared his throat and stood up. "I’m going to shower."

Luca leaned back, watching him disappear into the bathroom, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

As the door clicked shut, he looked over to Noel’s desk—papers neat, books aligned, and right there, a corner of something sticking out from under the leg of the desk.

He reached for it, curious.

But before he could pull it out—

The bathroom door creaked.

Luca quickly leaned back, eyes on the ceiling like he’d done nothing.

Noel stepped out, towel slung over his shoulder.

"Still alive?"

"Barely," Luca said. "But I’ve got noodles and trauma. I’ll survive."

The night had wrapped around the dorm like a blanket. A soft hum from the desk lamp lit Noel’s side of the room while Luca’s corner was dim, save for the flicker of his phone screen lighting his face.

Noel sat cross-legged on his bed, typing slowly on his laptop. Occasionally, he’d pause, stare at the screen, then erase the sentence and begin again.

Luca, now lying on his stomach, lazily scrolled through his phone. Eventually, he placed it down and looked across the room.

"You’re still working?"

Noel didn’t look up. "Just finishing a write-up."

Luca let out a soft groan, turning over and sitting upright. "You never stop, do you?"

Noel glanced at him, then back to the screen. "Some of us don’t wing life, Luca."

Luca chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. "True. But you know, sometimes I wonder if I’d be a better student if you weren’t so... competent."

That made Noel pause. His fingers stilled on the keyboard.

Then he asked, voice quieter than before, "Why’d you say that?"

Luca blinked. "I dunno. Maybe because when I’m around you, I feel like I should try harder. Like, you make me want to be better." He gave a small laugh. "It’s annoying."

Noel’s throat tightened. He closed the laptop, his fingers suddenly heavy.

"Maybe it’s not about being better. Maybe it’s just about showing up."

Luca tilted his head. "Like you always do?"

Noel glanced at him, and their eyes met.

And there it was again—

That strange quiet.

Thick with something unnamed.

Luca leaned back on his elbows, eyes never leaving Noel. "You always sit like that?"

Noel frowned. "Like what?"

Luca gestured. "On your bed, back straight, legs crossed, hands folded. It’s so... monk-like."

Noel rolled his eyes. "It’s called posture. You should try it."

Luca grinned. "I’d rather sprawl."

Noel stared at him for a beat. "Obviously."

Then a beat of silence.

Luca’s voice dropped, soft. "Noel."

"Hm?"

"Do you think... we would’ve been friends if we weren’t forced to live together?"

Noel blinked. The question caught him off guard.

He opened his mouth, then closed it again.

Then finally, "I don’t know."

Luca raised a brow, but there was a flicker of something softer behind the teasing—something almost afraid of the answer. "Why not?"

"Because you’re... you," Noel said carefully. "And I usually avoid people like you."

Luca laughed, but it was low, almost thoughtful. "Yeah. People like me... ruin your quiet life, huh?"

Noel didn’t respond. He only looked at Luca a little longer than he meant to.

Then, slowly, he slid off the bed, walked to the window, and peeked through the curtain at the empty campus.

Behind him, Luca said, "You know, it’s strange."

Noel turned slightly. "What is?"

Luca gave a crooked smile. "I used to hate being inside. Now, it doesn’t feel so bad."

Noel’s gaze softened, but he didn’t say anything.

Luca lay back down. "Good night, neat freak."

Noel exhaled quietly, closing the curtain. "Good night, chaos."

They didn’t speak after that, but something had already been said—

Without needing more words.

Morning sunlight spilled gently through the curtains.

The dorm room was quiet except for the faint hum of the city waking up outside and the occasional birdcall in the distance.

Noel sat at his desk, already dressed, sipping his coffee while scrolling through a document on his laptop.

His glasses slid slightly down his nose, the sleeves of his sweater pushed up to his elbows.

Luca stirred in his bed, groaning softly as he rolled over. Hair a mess, blanket half-kicked off, one arm dangling from the side of the bed.

"Is it morning already?" he mumbled, voice rough from sleep.

"You tell me," Noel replied without looking up.

Luca cracked one eye open. "That’s not an answer."

Noel sighed, closed his laptop with a soft click, then turned slightly. "Yes, it’s morning.

And if you plan on attending your class today, you might want to start existing soon."

Luca groaned dramatically and flopped back into the mattress. "You’re too cheery in the morning. It’s unnatural."

Noel stood and walked over to his bed. "I brought coffee."

That made Luca perk up—just a little.

"Wait... for me?"

Noel smirked slightly. "Don’t make a big deal out of it. You looked half-dead yesterday, and if you skipped breakfast again, you’d probably collapse."

Luca sat up slowly, eyeing the second mug that Noel set beside him on the nightstand. "Is this some weird way of saying you care?"

Noel paused. Then, calmly, "It’s just coffee."

Luca took a sip. "Well, just coffee tastes like concern."

Noel turned away to grab his bag, trying (and failing) not to smile.

As he swung the strap over his shoulder, Luca leaned back, blowing gently into the steam rising from the mug.

"You’re going early again?"

"Yeah," Noel said. "Group presentation prep. Want me to leave the door unlocked?"

Luca shook his head. "I’ll manage. I’m not five."

Noel raised a brow. "Could’ve fooled me."

Luca gave him a lazy grin. "And yet, you still brought me coffee."

There was a beat of silence before Noel, with that small, crooked smirk, said, "Shut up and drink it."

As Noel left the room, Luca watched the door close gently behind him.

Then he looked down at the cup in his hands... and smiled to himself.

He didn’t know why that little gesture from Noel hit harder than it should’ve.

But it did.

By the time Noel stepped into the far corner of the library, the dorm had already quieted behind him—along with something he couldn’t name.

At the far corner of the campus library, the group meeting had already begun. Four of them gathered around a long table—papers scattered, laptops open, a few half-drunk cups of coffee beside notebooks filled with graphs and bullet points.

Noel slid into the seat next to mara, who greeted him with a nod and a flick of her pen. "You’re just in time. We were about to vote on the final layout."

Across the table, Sam was typing rapidly. "If anyone changes the color scheme again, I’m jumping out the window," he said, half-joking.

"You’ve said that every time," Eli replied, stretching his arms over his head. "Still here."

Noel opened his laptop. "Alright. Let’s finalize the visual layout and then we can split the slides."

"Thank God," mara muttered. "I’ve got another group after this. The professor thinks we’re made of caffeine and magic."

They all chuckled softly and got to work. Discussion flowed—chart placements, transitions, who would speak during what slide.

It was efficient, for the most part. But Noel wasn’t fully there.

His eyes occasionally flicked to his phone screen—no new messages.

His mind drifted back to that coffee moment earlier. To the way Luca looked—sleepy, grateful, surprised. The way he said "This tastes like concern."

Noel shook the thought off and scrolled to his slides.

Focus.

"You okay?" mara asked suddenly.

He blinked, looking up. "What?"

"You’ve been staring at the same slide for two minutes."

Noel pushed his glasses up slightly. "Yeah, I’m fine. Just... mentally rearranging the flow."

Sam snorted. "You’re always rearranging something."

"Perfectionist’s curse," Eli said, grinning.

They moved on, and Noel pushed himself back into gear, typing, tweaking, coordinating. But every once in a while, he’d glance down at his phone again.

No new notifications.

He didn’t expect one.

But he sort of... hoped.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.