My Heart Breaks For The Gentle Second Male Lead Chapter 4: Hotpot
Fang Jue had been preparing to fall asleep, planning to finish reading this post and then put his phone aside. However, when he saw this reply, he suddenly became wide awake.
He turned over and continued reading.
“Indeed, the guy the OP is asking about looks aloof and handsome, but the one next to him clearly seems cheerful and easy to talk to. It should be easy to get their contact information.”
“If you can have a meal together, then you’re already acquainted, right? If I can get the WeChat of the handsome guy next to me, I wouldn’t worry about missing out on anything!”
Fang Jue couldn’t help but find it amusing and expected.
He didn’t consider himself to be at the level of a “handsome guy.” He was more of an above-average appearance, perhaps a bit cleaner and well-dressed, which added to his appeal. Unlike Yan Yunli, who needed no explanation and had a natural charm, even those who didn’t usually care about looks would acknowledge this.
Their plan might be in jeopardy now. Trying to get Yan Yunli’s WeChat through him? Impossible, absolutely impossible!
He wouldn’t betray his roommate!
—Unless Yan Yunli agreed on his own.
“Someone so handsome must be attracting attention from others. To the ladies seeking their contact information, I suggest you give it to me first. I’ll be the pioneer and check things out. As the saying goes, ‘If I don’t go to hell, who will?’ Haha.”
“The one above is scheming, I’ve already heard about this even before returning to school in K City. Facepalm.”
“Who knows about their orientations? If… hehe, I’ll make the first move… hehehe…”
“Too late! I’ve already started a new post in the adjacent thread. If anyone wants to make a move, they have to queue up!”
With this comment, someone suggested that everyone move to the adjacent thread to avoid further derailing this one. Scrolling down, Fang Jue found that the rest of the discussion focused solely on Yan Yunli.
After finishing reading, Fang Jue became curious about what they might have said about him in their post. He wanted to exit and find the post that seemed to be about him.
He thought he would have to search for a while, but to his surprise, when he refreshed the page, another post about someone had been bumped to the top.
Fang Jue accidentally clicked on it and found that the original post featured a picture of himself carrying his luggage when he arrived.
“OP: Friends, I want to share an encounter with a guy I saw today wearing a white hoodie. When he walked past me, I felt like my world suddenly lit up. I had initially planned to ask for his contact information, but he seemed to be looking for someone at the time, so I didn’t dare to disturb him. Now, I regret it.”
Looking for someone? Was he looking for Yan Yunli?
Realizing how conspicuous his actions had been to others, Fang Jue felt a sense of bewilderment and embarrassment.
Did he look like a fool, wandering around like that in the eyes of others?
There might even be a new post somewhere he hadn’t seen yet, titled “Investigating the Eccentric Behaviors of New Students.”
Fang Jue suddenly didn’t want to continue reading. He pressed his phone screen onto the pillow, stared at the wall with a blank expression, and imagined himself awkwardly banging his head against it.
It wasn’t until the light leaking through the gap between his phone and the pillow went out that Fang Jue, expressionless, lit up the screen and hurriedly exited the app. Close all tabs! Close all background apps! Close his eyes and sleep!
Out of sight, out of mind. As long as he didn’t read further, no matter how cringe-worthy the subsequent content might be, it wouldn’t be about him.
After a long day of moving luggage to the fifth floor and running around the campus, Fang Jue surprisingly didn’t have trouble falling asleep despite thinking about the embarrassing incident earlier. He quickly drifted into slumber.
A night of sweet dreams.
When Fang Jue woke up on the second day, his dorm room was empty, and he knew that Yan Yunli must have gone for a run.
In the novel, the author portrayed Yan Yunli as an excellent and disciplined character who often coincidentally met the female lead while jogging. They would engage in casual conversations, all orchestrated by the matchmaker behind the scenes.
Fang Jue also ran but usually at the gym. However, now he felt he should join Yan Yunli for a run. Running together might raise suspicions from the annoying male protagonist, but with three people, it would be purely friendship.
He wondered when the female lead would appear, as he remembered Yan Yunli’s character in the novel, a mature university student. Since he had just entered college, the plot shouldn’t unfold this quickly.
Fang Jue analyzed it all and temporarily put his concerns aside.
The freshmen orientation allowed three days, but on the third day, when Fang Jue and Yan Yunli returned after dinner, their dorm room was still dark.
While it was common for some people to skip orientation after getting into a better school, Yuda University couldn’t be considered bad, right?
Fang Jue planned to ask Yan Yunli about it later but heard noises outside the door. Two male students were talking, and their conversation faintly reached his ears.
“Room 508, hey, this should be it! Finally, we made it. Almost exhausted me.”
“Turn on the light. They should all be here. Knock on the door; I can’t free my hands.”
As they spoke, there were rustling sounds of plastic bags being put down, indicating they brought a lot of stuff. Then came a knocking sound on the door.
Fang Jue’s desk was right by the door, and as he opened it, one of the male students squeezed in.
“Thanks, buddy,” the short-haired guy said while looking momentarily surprised, then smiled and thanked Fang Jue. He casually placed his bag on the table and turned to help his roommate outside, saying, “Hurry up, move in!”
The two of them carried bags and items into the dorm room. The other guy, wearing glasses, seemed exhausted and slumped onto a chair without any strength to get up.
The short-haired guy exclaimed, “Dude, your pants are covered in dust!”
“I’ll wash them; I’m just too tired now,” the guy with glasses replied nonchalantly.
Fang Jue chuckled and comforted him, “No worries, we’ve already cleaned the desks and chairs once, so your pants are safe.”
“Hey, classmate, you’re a helpful roommate,” the guy with glasses said, pointing at the short-haired guy. “Let me introduce you. This is my little brother, Li Mingyu, and I’m Xie Yan. We went to the same high school.”
Li Mingyu patted him on the back and said, “How can you talk to Dad like that? Roommate, what’s your name?”
Fang Jue observed their interaction and saw that these two were indeed close friends who had reached the stage of calling each other “Dad.”
“I’m Fang Jue, and we have another roommate named Yan Yunli. He’s taking a shower and should be out soon,” Fang Jue introduced himself and mentioned Yan Yunli.
They chatted for a while, and when Yan Yunli emerged from the shower, Xie Yan and Li Mingyu both looked up and couldn’t help but exclaim.
Fang Jue, puzzled, asked, “What’s going on?”
Xie Yan’s gaze shifted back to Fang Jue’s face for a moment, adjusted his glasses, and said, “Nothing, just wanted to say that the people in our dorm room are really good-looking.”
Li Mingyu quickly approached, carefully examined Yan Yunli for a moment, then dramatically covered his heart and exclaimed, “Oh no, my handsome aura is going to be overshadowed again!”
Fang Jue couldn’t help but burst into laughter as he watched them.
“My heart hurts—ah! It hurts so much!”
As soon as he entered, he noticed Fang Jue’s good looks, but he reassured himself that they had different types, and having a handsome guy in the dorm was a plus!
And now, there was another one! With Fang Jue and Yan Yunli in the mix, catering to different preferences, who would even notice him?
His heart ached, oh, it hurt so much! Why did he have to realize this on the first day of school?
Fang Jue, in turn, introduced the two newcomers to Yan Yunli. On the last night of orientation, their dorm room was finally complete.
Before the first big hurdle of college, military training, the school had given them a day off, so they decided to go out for a meal together.
After discussing for a while, they settled on hotpot, thinking they could have whatever they liked.
Although the returning students hadn’t come back yet, all the freshmen had arrived, so the restaurants outside were all crowded. Since they had decided only the day before and didn’t have time to make a reservation, they could only go early and wait.
While waiting for their table, Fang Jue turned to Yan Yunli behind him and asked, “Roommate, how do you like to prepare your hotpot dipping sauce? How about we switch it up later, try different flavors?”
Fang Jue was confident that Yan Yunli’s taste wouldn’t be too different from his, at least it wouldn’t be bad.
Yan Yunli remained silent for a moment and admitted, “I don’t really eat hotpot.”
Well, he understood now. The perfect second male lead didn’t know how to prepare hotpot dipping sauce!
Was it a coincidence? He happened to be skilled at making dipping sauces, even different flavors! Anyone who tasted his “craft” was always pleased.
“Well, then you can just sit back and wait to eat. Watch me show you my skills later!” Fang Jue said confidently, patting Yan Yunli’s shoulder, indicating that he had it covered.
To capture a man’s heart, you must first capture his stomach! Let Yan Yunli taste the true essence of hotpot!
Yan Yunli looked at the hand resting on his shoulder and said nothing, just nodding slightly, “Okay.”
At this moment, the other two roommates arrived.
Xie Yan and Li Mingyu happily approached Yan Yunli, and Xie Yan volunteered, “Bro, my dipping sauce is really delicious too. Would you like to try it later?”
Fang Jue stared at the interaction between the two of them, feeling a slight pang of jealousy. He had taken several days to dare to have physical contact with Yan Yunli, while Li Mingyu had just arrived and could do this so naturally.
His chances of becoming Yan Yunli’s best buddy in the future seemed to be in jeopardy.
Darn it, he should have been bold from the beginning, just like Li Mingyu, and leaned on Yan Yunli’s shoulder, turning raw rice into cooked rice!
Gritting his teeth in frustration.jpg
Yan Yunli said okay and then subtly stepped half a step to the side, creating some distance between himself and Li Mingyu.
Xie Yan’s voice chimed in from behind, “Mine is pretty good too.”
So, after queuing behind them, three bowls of dipping sauce appeared in front of Yan Yunli.
Li Mingyu took the initiative to start a competition, “Yunli, come on, try them and tell us which one is your favorite.”
Yan Yunli looked at the three bowls in front of him but didn’t pick up his chopsticks. After a moment of hesitation, he chose the bowl Fang Jue had prepared.
Li Mingyu couldn’t accept this, “Yunli, you can’t just openly favor Fang Jue because you’re closer to him! Try all of them first!”
Xie Yan didn’t say anything but stared intently at Yan Yunli, waiting for an explanation.
Fang Jue already had the victory in hand; he smirked and explained, “Because Yunli here doesn’t eat cilantro.”
After saying that, he turned to Yan Yunli and asked, “Right?”
Yan Yunli glanced at him and, under his expectant gaze, nodded.
Li Mingyu and Xie Yan stared at the full bowl of cilantro in their own sauces and fell into silence.
After a while, Xie Yan spoke up, “Mistake. We forgot that there are people in the world who don’t eat cilantro.”
Li Mingyu, feeling disgruntled but helpless, consoled himself, thinking that Fang Jue and Yan Yunli had more time to bond, with a whole three extra days together. There was nothing he could do, so he took the bowls back and ate himself.
Fang Jue watched as Yan Yunli took his first bite and quickly asked, “How does it taste? If you don’t like this one, I can make another sauce for you. This one is my favorite, so I made it this time.”
For the first time, Yan Yunli realized that eating hotpot could have such a ritualistic aspect, with everyone having different preferences for their dipping sauce.
But indeed, it was very delicious.
Hearing Yan Yunli’s approval, Fang Jue felt relieved and got up to go back to the condiment station to prepare a new dipping sauce for himself.
He didn’t notice that, after he left, Yan Yunli was gazing intently at his departing figure.
Although they had shared a few meals together, Yan Yunli had never mentioned that he didn’t eat cilantro. He assumed that Fang Jue would eventually find other friends once they settled into college life, and they would return to their separate worlds. Even as roommates, they would only meet when returning to the dormitory.
It was just a brief encounter, no need to say too much.
That’s what Yan Yunli thought.
But when did Fang Jue figure it out?
After finishing their meal, the four of them walked back. Yan Yunli and Fang Jue lagged a few steps behind, naturally forming two pairs with Xie Yan and Li Mingyu.
Fang Jue noticed Yan Yunli’s hesitation and asked him mysteriously, “Are you wondering when I found out that you don’t eat cilantro?”
Yan Yunli nodded, curious although it wasn’t a big deal.
“Do you remember the last time we went to eat noodles?” Fang Jue chuckled. “The noodles we had originally didn’t contain cilantro, but the owner used the same ladle for scallions and cilantro. I saw you picking out some cilantro crumbs.”
Yan Yunli had forgotten about this incident until now and asked, “So, that’s when you realized I don’t eat cilantro?”
“Didn’t guess it right?” Fang Jue phrased it as a question but sounded quite sure.
Yan Yunli smiled and shook his head, “No, you’re right. I really don’t eat cilantro.”
“See?” Fang Jue looked at the shadows on the ground, his tone casual. “We’re going to be meal buddies for a long time, so knowing each other’s food preferences is one of the key principles for harmonious dining.”
Yan Yunli then asked him, “What about you?”
“What?” Fang Jue stepped on a shadow and didn’t react immediately.
“Do you have any food preferences?”
The conversation could have ended there, but Yan Yunli didn’t know why he suddenly wanted to ask this question. He knew that they might not have many opportunities to eat together in the future, so he asked.
Fang Jue replied, “Well, I need to think about it. After all, I eat whatever tastes good, and I’ve forgotten what I’m averse to…”
As they continued to walk slowly, the quiet atmosphere contrasted with the laughter of their two other roommates up ahead.
“Yeah, take your time to remember,” Yan Yunli encouraged.
“Remember it, and I’ll tell you as soon as I do?”
“Sure.”