My L̶o̶v̶e̶l̶y̶ Roommate (Mxm)

Chapter 17: Sleeping Together

A/N: November 17, 2022

WE CAN ALL AGREE THAT TOBY IS A SWEETHEART AND THE HERO BBY JIHOON NEEDS

Okay, back to the story ❤

🏠🏠🏠

I took in a deep breath and stood back up, roughly wiping away my tears with the back of my hands and clearing my voice so that it wouldn't come out broken. 

I could feel my defense mechanism kicking, the one that made me reject any sort of help before I became too dependant on that individual.

"That's really nice of you Toby, but I'm going to have to refuse," I said. "But could you please do me a favor and pretend like you didn't hear anything? It'd be great if you didn't spread any rumours either."

Toby's jaw tightened, his thick brows furrowing while stopping me from walking past him. 

"Ji Hoon, this is serious. Someone is blackmailing you," Toby pressed with a frown. "There's no way I can turn a blind eye."

"Sure you can. Just squint your eyes as small as mine and your vision will inevitably reduce, it'll almost be like you've gone blind."

Toby didn't seem to find my racist joke very funny. He stood in front of me, arms crossed over his broad chest in discontent. The image of his bare torso flashed through my mind and I looked over his shoulder to focus on something else, hoping that I could imagine the sexiness of the trash can behind him instead of how sexy Toby looked when asleep.

"Why do you want to help me anyway? We aren't even that close," I deadpanned. "Why were you even waiting for me in the first place? Don't you have any friends?"

"I do," he said. Toby then turned his head from one side to the other, looking down both sides of the empty halls before turning back towards me. "But it seems like that isn't the case for you."

I twitched, shooting him a dark glare.

"And I wanted to talk to you after class to see if you were okay. I was worried Saturday afternoon, you disappeared without a word and I couldn't call you since I didn't have your number," he said. "Did you make it home safe?"

My jaw tightened, trying not to get flustered. "You were worried?" I snorted, trying to come off as rude as I could. "What's your deal? We aren't even friends."

He blinked, but to my surprise, he didn't seem mad or upset by my harsh words. Instead, he smiled. One that wasn't force or that portrayed any sardonic twist to it. It was a simple, but real smile. 

"I like you, Ji Hoon," he said. My eyes widened at his words, lips parting in shock. But he saw my reaction and quickly let out a nervous chuckle, shaking his hands in front of his chest briskly. "I-I meant as a friend," he quickly added. "You seem like a really nice person and I want to be your friend." 

I felt slightly embarrassed, quickly clearing my voice.

"You won't gain anything from being my friend apart from having to deal with my problematical life. If I can give you any advice, it'd be to save yourself the trouble and forget about me."

"But I already promised you that I was going to help," he said, his lips drooping slightly. Was... Was he sulking?

My hands tightened at my sides and I could feel my left wrist ache when my muscles clenched.