Ficorpio
Chapter 1
Chapter 1
I went out drinking with them, and woke up to a disaster.
On the floor was a torn condom box.
Who was it?
What the hell happened last night?
I’m the youngest in our dorm.
Other than me, the other five guys in our room are all student athletes with eight-pack abs. Standing in the middle of them, I look ridiculously skinny. They’ve always taken extra care of me.
Usually they won’t let me eat spicy food, and they’re always buying me milk.
I know why, obviously. The no-spicy rule has to be because they don’t want me getting sick, and the milk is definitely because they want to help me grow taller.
Last night, I went out drinking with all five of them. I had way too much and passed out.
When I woke up again, I was alone in a cheap hotel room.
I couldn’t remember what had happened the night before, but the ache in my lower back and the torn condom box on the floor gave me a very bad feeling.
When I stood up, there was a sharp pull high on my inner thighs too.
The last bit of hope inside me died on the spot.
Who was it?
Who the hell was it last night?
I lay there under the blankets, teeth clenched, trembling with humiliation.
There was actually a gay guy hiding in our dorm.
I immediately opened an anonymous lifestyle app and made a desperate advice post.
[Guys, I think one of my roommates hooked up with me. sobbing emoji]
Suggestions flooded in almost at once. Most of them told me to post something on my close-friends feed—set it so only those five idiots could see it.
So I did exactly that.
[I think I might be gay.]
It was the perfect trap. Whoever saw it and came looking for me had to be the gay roommate who’d taken advantage of me last night.
The second I posted it, Ethan messaged me privately.
[What a coincidence. I’m gay too.]
Holy shit.
It was Ethan?
Ethan, of all people, had ruined my innocence?
I couldn’t believe it.
He was the first person I’d mentally ruled out.
Ethan was the cold, untouchable student-athlete type. Girls brought him water after games all the time, and he never accepted it. He always looked so detached, so above that kind of thing, like he had no worldly desires at all.
So he liked guys.
Fine.
But that didn’t mean he could do something like this to me!
I was straight!
This was way too much.
I was still staring at his message, not knowing how to reply, when Noah texted me.
[Leo!!! You’re gay?! Wait, do you have a crush on me? dumbfounded emoji]
One look at that tone, plus the stupidly goofy sticker he attached, and I was certain Noah was straight.
Chapter 2
Chapter 2
I needed somebody to help me think this through, and Noah was the obvious choice. He was always helpful. Back when girls got rejected by Ethan at the basketball court, Noah would go around collecting all the bottled water they’d brought so nobody had made the trip for nothing.
Clutching my phone, I replied:
[I’m coming to find you. Let’s grab food together. I need to talk to you about something.]
[Okay!!!]
Other than Ethan and Noah, the other three hadn’t messaged me at all. Since I’d already figured out Ethan was gay, I deleted the post right away.
Then I went to straighten my clothes in front of the mirror—and froze when I saw the red marks all over my neck.
I hurriedly tugged up my collar.
Ethan was brutal.
Grinding my teeth, I yanked open the cheap hotel room door—
and nearly ran straight into Mason, who was coming back carrying takeout.
“Where are you going?”
I was in too much of a rush to hide it. “To find Noah.”
He planted one hand against the doorframe, blocking my way. His gaze darkened.
“What? Am I not good enough for you?”
Mason had the kind of presence that could crush the air right out of a room. I shrank back on instinct.
He leaned against the opposite side of the doorway, broad shoulders braced there like he had all the time in the world.
“What’s the rush? Eat with me before you go.”
Normally, I wouldn’t dare push back against him. But I needed the truth more than I needed self-preservation. So I sucked in a breath, ducked under his arm, and slipped past him.
“I’m—I really need to see Noah right now. Sorry!”
Something about this felt wrong.
If Ethan had been the one last night, then why had Mason gone out of his way to bring me food?
But I didn’t have time to think it through. I hurried off before he could stop me again.
The second I spotted Noah on campus, I practically launched myself at him.
I threw my arms around his neck, and Noah, as naturally as breathing, slung an arm over my shoulders and pulled me in. He looked down at me with that same open, puppy-dumb expression of his, all bright eyes and earnest energy.
“Leo! Why were you in such a hurry to find me?”
I looked at him seriously. “I need to tell you something important.”
“Then tell me.” He nodded hard. “If you need help, I’ll definitely help.”
God, that was moving.
At this point, he was the only person I felt like I could trust.
My nose stung a little. I sniffed once, about to finally say it—only to get interrupted by a girl walking straight up to us.
“Hey, can I get your contact info?”
Chapter 3
Chapter 3
I mean, I was pale and pretty enough to appeal to everyone, apparently.
Before I could refuse, Noah lifted his left hand and blocked her with casual confidence.
“He likes guys.”
“Oh—oh, okay!”
But instead of leaving right away, her gaze dropped, weirdly intense, to my waist before she scampered off.
That was when I realized Noah’s right hand, the one that had been resting over my shoulder, had somehow slid down to my waist at some point.
This position was very, very wrong.
He usually only threw an arm over my shoulders.
Holding me around the waist like this was way too intimate, and it made my whole body tense with discomfort.
As soon as the girl was gone, Noah gave my waist a light pinch.
Then he leaned in, his face coming close—too close—until I could feel his breath brushing the tip of my nose.
“Leo,” he said, eyes shining, “your waist is so slim. And so soft. Just like last night!”
“What do you mean, last night?”
I jerked so hard I nearly slid right out of Noah’s arms, scrambling back to put some space between us.
Noah, meanwhile, looked shamelessly relaxed.
“Your waist was soft last night too.”
A chill ran straight down my spine.
No way.
Was it Noah?
I stared at him. “How would you know my waist is soft unless last night you—”
Noah scratched the back of his head, looking baffled. “You got drunk and insisted on standing on the coffee table to show us how far you could bend backward. Your flexibility was insane. You dropped right down like it was nothing. All five of us were seriously shocked.”
I let out a breath so hard my shoulders sagged.
Thank God.
Before I could fully recover, Noah wrapped an arm around my waist again like nothing had happened.
“What were you freaking out about just now?” he asked. “What happened?”
I let him keep holding me as we headed up the steps toward the campus dining hall.
“Let’s eat first,” I said. “I’ll tell you while we eat, and you can help me think it through.”
I’d been way too worn out after everything last night, so by the time I woke up, it was already noon.
There was a hot pot place in the dining hall that was actually pretty good, so we decided to eat there.
The pot had barely been set down before Noah casually asked the server to turn the spicy broth to his side and leave the tomato broth facing me.
Normally, I was so used to my roommates doing things like that I didn’t even think about it.
But now, suddenly, it felt strange.
I frowned and looked at Noah suspiciously.
“Noah,” I asked, “why do you guys never let me eat the spicy side?”
Noah froze for a second, then ladled me a bowl of tomato broth.
“Too much spicy food isn’t good for you.”
I pushed the bowl away, that weird feeling in my chest getting stronger.
“Then why do all five of you get to eat the spicy side?”
Noah instantly got awkward. He opened his mouth, closed it again, and very obviously tried to change the subject.