What to Do if I Am Noticed by the Straight Guy Next Door?

Cheng Ang showed up five minutes before the meeting time, wearing a warm smile as he introduced himself to the group members. He seemed completely approachable, which confused Su Bin. He had previously appeared as someone who owed him two million, but now he seemed like a different person altogether.

After Cheng Ang finished his introduction, he asked the group members to introduce themselves and get acquainted.

Feeling a bit exasperated after being teased about his Chinese name, Su Bin decided to preempt any further inquiries by stating his English name first and then clarifying, “Just call me Michael.”

Fortunately, only Brian, who had just arrived, had the time to joke about Su Bin’s name. The rest of the group members were easy going since Su Bin was a foreigner, and they didn’t find anything strange about his name.

After fostering a sense of camaraderie among the group, Cheng Ang got straight to the point and led the discussion about the project.

The discussion wasn’t excessively long, and after half an hour, Cheng Ang decisively summarized the opinions and established a division of tasks. He also drafted a preliminary schedule to inform everyone about the next meeting time.

There were no objections to Cheng Ang’s decisions, except for a couple of people who were distracted during the discussion and asked a few simple questions. Cheng Ang patiently answered their queries.

The entire discussion meeting ended in less than an hour, and each member of the group knew what they needed to do next.

Honestly, Cheng Ang was an excAllent group leader. Su Bin could already sense it from just one meeting. Cheng Ang had a clear mind about what needed to be done, a definite purpose, and once a decision was made, he acted quickly and efficiently. No wonder he was regarded as a leader among Chinese students in the Finance Department.

As Su Bin jotted down the materials he needed to collect and review in his notebook, he thought about inviting Cheng Ang for a chat later. He didn’t like being on bad terms with “excAllent people.” If he saw someone like that disliking him, he would feel uneasy and want to know what the problem was. Besides, Chen Xiaotian had also advised Su Bin to make more friends while abroad.

Struggling for a while, Su Bin mustered the courage to look up, only to find that Cheng Ang had already left!

… Haha, what a change in character. He was clearly Edgar wearing Cheng Ang’s skin—a truly aloof person!

“Hey! Bin!” Brian shouted Su Bin’s Chinese name and warmly invited him, “Do you want to go find some materials together?”

… Find, find your sister!

“Just call me Michael!” Su Bin looked conflicted. He now understood why people with names like “Yang Wei,” “Xia Liu,” or “Li Chaojian” hated being called by their names. Just like “Bin”… after all, “trash can” was not a name worth showing off in English.

Brian laughed and said, “Let’s go, Michael!”

That evening, when Su Bin returned home, it was already dark outside. As soon as he entered, he heard Yang Chengzhe asking in the living room, “Why are you so late today?”

“Ah… I was working on a group project with my classmates, researching materials at the library,” Su Bin raised the stack of printed finance case studies in his hand.

Yang Chengzhe laughed, “Group work? Are you getting used to it?”

“It feels good,” Su Bin approached Yang Chengzhe and placed the two borrowed finance case study books on the coffee table, “I’ve noticed that students here have a lot of autonomy.”

“Yeah, the professors are only responsible for teaching. After class, it’s up to the students’ own desire for knowledge,” Yang Chengzhe flipped through the books Su Bin had borrowed and saw how enthusiastic he looked every day. He felt happy for him and said, “If you need any help, feel free to ask.”

“Okay!” Su Bin was grateful, but then he asked, “Chengzhe, what are you studying?”

“Physics,” Yang Chengzhe replied.

Su Bin was speechless. Finance and physics… weren’t they completely unrelated fields? Was Yang Chengzhe just being polite?

Yang Chengzhe seemed to guess what Su Bin was thinking and smiled, “My father is a professor in the finance department at P University.”

Su Bin exclaimed, “What?! P University! That’s the most prestigious school for finance in China. Countless students strive to get in… Unfortunately, only the top scorers from each province have a chance!” So Yang Chengzhe’s parents were definitely not ordinary intellectuals!

Yang Chengzhe chuckled, “Grades are just numbers, and the one-exam-determines-your-future system in China also depends on luck. Don’t worry too much about it.”

Su Bin was already bowing down to Yang Chengzhe’s nonchalant attitude, but he couldn’t help but wonder, “If your parents are experts in finance and economics, why did you choose to study physics?”

“I’ve flipped through their professional books since I was a kid, and I found dealing with money not very interesting…” Yang Chengzhe rubbed his chin and said, “Physics is more fun. It allows me to explore the mysteries of the universe.”

“…” Alright, you win! Su Bin didn’t want to ask how young Yang Chengzhe was when he read those books, fearing it might be too shocking for his heart to handle.

In the eyes of a studious person, high achievers, average students, and underachievers are all collectively referred to as “mortals”… The pain of mortals is something that the gods will never understand.

Speaking of which, Su Bin suddenly remembered the part-time job he applied for and asked, “Hey, Chengzhe, do you know Professor Smith from the Physics Department at M University?”

Yang Chengzhe was taken aback and asked, “Yeah, the old guy from the adjacent lab. What about him?”

“I saw a job posting by him on a student part-time recruitment website…” Su Bin hadn’t finished speaking when Yang Chengzhe guessed it.

“Dog walking?” Yang Chengzhe had an incredulous expression on his face. “Why are you looking at that? Are you looking for a job? Do you need money?”

“Do I look like a person in dire need of money…?” Su Bin wiped his sweat and said, “I just want to experience it.”

He didn’t plan to mention anything about earning money to buy a ring, fearing that Yang Chengzhe would mock him… In fact, he felt a bit embarrassed proposing at his age.

“Experience walking dogs? Haven’t you walked dogs in China before? Or do you want to experience walking foreign dogs?” Yang Chengzhe raised an eyebrow and wanted to say, “Those dogs” are the same whether they’re in foreign or domestic, equally silly.

Su Bin was at a loss and said, “I meant to experience earning money!”

“Oh…” Yang Chengzhe replied.

Su Bin continued, “I also looked at other jobs, but there weren’t any that met the criteria, so I chose dog walking. But I’m not sure yet. I submitted my resume, and I have to wait for a reply.”

Yang Chengzhe glanced at Su Bin, as if he was trying to hold back from saying something, and finally just said, “I heard the assistant of the old man next door complaining every day that they need to find a suitable dog walker as soon as possible because he’s still the one doing it…”

But Su Bin completely missed Yang Chengzhe’s point and excitedly said, “So I might have a chance, right? Are they strict in their requirements for dog walkers?”

Yang Chengzhe wanted to tell Su Bin that it wasn’t strict, but rather that no one was applying…

But he couldn’t bear to shatter Su Bin’s hope, so against his own conscience, he said, “Check your email later. If you get accepted, you can give it a try… why not?”

“Chengzhe!” After talking to Yang Chengzhe for a while, Su Bin couldn’t wait and went upstairs to check his email. With an excited look on his face, he rushed out of his room without turning on the lights and stumbled down the stairs. “They accepted me! They said I can try it out tomorrow…”

“…Ah…!”

“…………”

In the darkness, Su Bin violently bumped into someone on the stairs…

The person he collided with was leaning against the stair railing, one hand against the wall, and the other firmly gripping Su Bin’s upper arm to prevent him from falling down due to instability.

Su Bin: “…”

The two of them were extremely close, close enough that if Su Bin tilted his head, he would have his face against the other person’s chest…

With the momentum from before, he almost crashed into the other person’s arms. “Arms” wasn’t wrong because the other person was a whole head taller than Su Bin! If it wasn’t for the railing behind the person, Su Bin would have probably been toppled over…

“So hasty?” A familiar British accent sounded in his ears.

Along with the voice came a faint scent of grass shower gel, a hint of disinfectant, and the unique scent of cologne mixed with body warmth that belonged to this person…

At that moment, Su Bin’s cheeks heated up, and he didn’t know why. Maybe it was because of the embarrassment. “I’m sorry!” Su Bin quickly apologized.

He initially thought he bumped into Yang Chengzhe, who must have come up after hearing his shout…

Oh no, things are getting worse. The relationship between him and Allen was already a bit awkward, and now this collision made Su Bin feel like he wouldn’t be able to talk to the other person properly anymore… But he really didn’t do it on purpose!

Why did Allen suddenly come up? He was just downstairs?… No, it seemed like he had just come back…

The space on the stairs was already narrow. Su Bin lowered his head, turned sideways to make way, and let Allen go up first.

Allen didn’t move a step. Su Bin looked up, feeling guilty, but saw that Allen was staring at him, with a pair of gray-green eyes shining with a dangerous light under the reflection of the living room lights…

Su Bin: “…”

Oops… That’s terrifying!

However, the owner of the green eyes didn’t confront him. Instead, he showed concern and asked, “Did I hurt you?”

…Huh? What does he mean?

Su Bin took a moment to process it… So, Allen actually thought that it wasn’t Su Bin’s fault, but his own?

Su Bin knew that people in country B were not accustomed to physical contact with others. If they accidentally collided on the street, regardless of who bumped into whom, both would apologize at the same time. It was because the person who got bumped into would think that they had obstructed the other person’s path and should apologize as well.

So, was Allen thinking that if he hadn’t come up the stairs at that exact moment, Su Bin wouldn’t have bumped into him… Was that it?

Once Su Bin understood this, his emotions took a complete turn. He went from being afraid of offending the other person to… feeling deeply moved and almost on the verge of tears!

“I… I’m fine, it doesn’t hurt!” Su Bin replied.

“Be careful on the stairs,” Allen kindly reminded him before heading upstairs.

Su Bin, still in a daze, went downstairs and shared the good news with Yang Chengzhe about being accepted for the dog walking job.

“…Then give it a try,” Yang Chengzhe looked at him sympathetically.

Su Bin thought he was also concerned about the collision on the stairs and quickly said, “I’m fine, I just hope I didn’t hurt Allen.”

Yang Chengzhe couldn’t help but burst into laughter. “Alright, alright, just be careful when going downstairs in the future, don’t be so impatient.”

The next morning, Su Bin finally realized what Allen’s question on the stairs meant.

Lying in bed, half-awake, he felt a slight pain in his arm, specifically his right upper arm… He couldn’t help but touch it and press on it, “Ouch…”

The pain woke Su Bin up, and he opened his eyes to look at his arm. He saw a bruise, a dark mark on his pale arm… a handprint.

…Wait, was this the place where Allen grabbed him last night?

Damn… Was he training in iron palm technique or something?

Su Bin wasn’t weak. He had some muscles in his arms from exercising, and when a person is in a tense state, their whole body becomes tense as well… But, could an average human achieve this level of “palm strength”?

Su Bin’s mind instantly connected it to the “vampires” who could break a person’s neck with a single palm…

Xiao, Xiaotian QAQ…

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