My roommate always seems to bully me

Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 of "My Roommate Seems to Be Bullying Me"**

5

They say there’s no time like the present.

I quickly returned to the dorm. Qi Shang was playing a game with his headphones on. As I gathered my things and passed by him, he glanced up at me.

"Five minutes. Wait for me to finish this game."

"Huh?"

I was confused for a moment before realizing he was talking about going to the cafeteria together.

"I'm not going today. You can ask someone else to bring food for you."

Qi Shang's fingers moved faster. I saw the screen showing rapid kill notifications, the entire screen shaking with action. He seemed not to hear me.

I hesitated. Should I pull off his headphones and repeat myself or wait for him to finish? My phone buzzed—Fang Ji said he was nearby and would be at my dorm in five minutes.

I don't like making people wait, so when I got that message, my mind automatically started counting down.

"Hey…"

Four minutes and fifty-eight seconds… four minutes and fifty-seven seconds…

My roommate, Chen, interrupted me from behind, "Xia Qi, if you have something to do, just go. I’ll relay the message to him."

That was a big help. I thanked him and left quickly.

As I reached the first floor, I got a message from Qi Shang:

[?]

I was puzzled—what was there not to understand? Chen must have already told him.

Just then, Fang Ji's car pulled up in front of me, and I put away my phone.

The gentle big brother I remembered seemed to have grown even more compassionate after facing the realities of life.

But I felt like there was a lingering sadness in his eyes that he couldn’t shake off.

"Ji-ge, are you stressed about Auntie pushing you to find a partner? My mom says getting married later is better anyway—there's no real benefit to rushing into it. I’ll ask her to talk to Auntie about it too."

Fang Ji smiled faintly.

"If only my mom were as understanding as yours…"

My mom is pretty understanding. When I was ten, my dad ran off with another woman. Mom locked herself in her room for a day and night, but she didn’t cry or make a scene. When she came out, she just continued with life as usual.

She didn’t place many expectations on me either—just surviving was enough.

I wanted to keep talking about finding a partner, but Fang Ji changed the subject.

"Your roommate doesn’t have any bad intentions towards you, Xia Qi. You’re just being too sensitive."

Even though Fang Ji-ge is usually right, I couldn’t help feeling a bit unconvinced.

I’m sure Qi Shang treats me differently.

Does he see me as an easy-to-bully, naive country kid? Or... I looked outside the restaurant and saw a dog passing by. A passerby crouched down, laughing as they petted the dog, squeezing its face.

Hmm… maybe he’s just treating me like a pet dog?

"Don't rush to define a relationship too quickly. Let it evolve naturally, and eventually, you’ll figure out where he fits in your life."