Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Even though we'd moved out of Noah's house, I still kept in touch with him. We chatted online almost every day and had a video call every week.

Usually, I was the one chattering away on my end of the line, while he listened quietly on his.

Noah rarely talked about his own life—and honestly, high school life wasn't as exciting as college life. When I first started college, I was dazzled by all the different club activities.

I was a chatterbox, and talking to Noah on the phone satisfied my need to talk to someone.

But it also caused me some trouble—when I was a sophomore, my roommates accidentally found out that Noah and I weren't blood siblings. After that, all of them started acting... weird.

Roommate 1: "So you're not real siblings? I knew it! There's no way siblings can get along that well in real life!"

Roommate 2: "Exactly! Every time my brother comes to me, he either wants me to buy him game skins or more game skins. I want to kick him to the moon! The way you and your brother stick together—it's definitely not a normal sibling relationship!"

Roommate 3: "A 'fake sibling' romance right here in our dorm! Thanks for the entertainment—want more!"

Me: "……"

Three women could put on a play—and three gossiping women could drive me crazy.

I was so annoyed by their chatter I could barely think. "Can you guys have purer thoughts? My brother and I have a normal, regular sibling relationship!"

Roommate 1: "Normal? My boyfriend and I don't say 'good night' to each other every day."

Roommate 2: "Regular? I only have video calls with my boyfriend every week."

Roommate 3: "Well, my boyfriend and I... never mind, I don't have a boyfriend."

Me: "……"

I couldn't win against three people. I left the conversation with a cold expression and texted Noah to complain: "My roommates have gone crazy."

Noah replied after a long while: "What happened?"

Of course, I wasn't going to tell him about those women's outrageous remarks—I couldn't corrupt this innocent high schooler.

I chatted with him about some random things, then decided typing was too much trouble. I walked out of the dorm and called him on WeChat Video—since it was the weekend, he had time to talk.

The call connected immediately. But when I saw the boy's bare upper body on the screen, I almost dropped my phone.

He had a lean build, fair skin, and smooth, well-defined muscles. He must have just gotten out of the shower—there were still water droplets on his body.

I couldn't help saying: "Couldn't you put on a shirt before answering the call?"

The camera shook for a moment, then he propped up the phone. He sat at his desk, wiping his hair with a towel as he said: "The air conditioner broke. It's hot."

I said "oh" and changed the subject.

Somehow, I couldn't focus. It wasn't like I'd never seen him without a shirt before. Back when we lived together, I'd run into him before he could put his shirt on and even teased him about having a nice body. But today, I couldn't bring myself to make a single joke. My eyes also kept drifting uncontrollably to the area below his collarbone.

Noah noticed my strangeness right away. He asked: "What's wrong?"

Looking into his eyes through the phone screen, I felt a sudden surge of guilt. I said, "I still have a group project to finish. Let's talk later," then hung up the call in a hurry.

I pressed my hand to my chest, overwhelmed by a deep sense of guilt.

It was all those women's fault! Their outrageous remarks had made me start having inappropriate thoughts about Noah!

And those thoughts were completely out of my control.

The next morning, I woke up and lay in bed, recalling the dream I'd had the night before. My face turned bright red.

In the dream, the boy was lying next to me, naked. His dark eyes were fixed on me, his voice low and hoarse.

"Sister, what's wrong?"

"Sister, why aren't you looking at me?"

"Sister, stop doing your homework. Come play with me."

"……"

Help! Someone help me!

I'm not normal anymore!

My thoughts are impure!