First Frost

To Wen Yifan, this situation was no different from a disaster falling from the sky.

And it had come completely without warning.

Wang Linlin hadn’t even asked for her opinion—Wen Yifan hadn’t heard a single word about her already finding a new roommate. This was something that affected her the most, yet now she felt like an outsider.

By the time Wen Yifan even realized what was happening, it was already a done deal.

She found it absurd.

Even someone as unflappable as Wen Yifan couldn’t help but feel a surge of anger after processing the situation. She stared at Sang Yan in front of her, suppressing the urge to kick him out immediately.

After all, judging by Sang Yan’s reaction earlier, it was clear he had no idea either.

Wen Yifan wasn’t the type to take her anger out on others. She took a deep breath to calm herself, lowered her gaze, and took off her shoes. Then, pointing to the sofa, she spoke as if hosting a guest: "You can sit for a while. I’m not clear about the situation either, so I’ll make a call to ask."

Sang Yan remained standing where he was.

Without waiting for his response, Wen Yifan walked into her room.

It was already close to eleven o’clock.

Her original plan had been to take a quick shower and go straight to bed after coming home—she hadn’t expected to have to deal with this mess. She didn’t even consider whether Wang Linlin might already be asleep and dialed her number directly.

The phone rang over ten times before it was finally answered.

Wang Linlin, as unshakable as ever, had already drifted off into dreamland, indulging in her beauty sleep. Being woken up, her tone was laced with irritation: "Who is it?! What’s wrong with you?! I’m sleeping!"

Wen Yifan: "Linlin, it’s Wen Yifan."

Wang Linlin: "Whatever it is, tell me tomorrow. I’m exhausted."

"I don’t want to disturb you either, but I just need to ask you something." Wen Yifan’s voice was calm, showing no particular emotion. "Did you give the key to someone else? There’s someone else in the apartment right now."

"Huh?" At this, Wang Linlin sounded slightly more awake. "Who’s there? It’s not my boyfriend, is it?! Don’t you dare try to sneakily seduce him!"

"No," Wen Yifan said. "It’s Sang Yan."

"Oh, that." Wang Linlin visibly relaxed and explained, "Right, I remember now. I hadn’t been able to find anyone to take over my lease, so I was really stressed. I couldn’t help but complain to my boyfriend about it a few times."

Wen Yifan listened patiently.

"He probably didn’t want to see me so upset, so he took care of it behind my back." Wang Linlin’s voice turned sugary as she began to boast. "I didn’t even know about it—he must’ve wanted to surprise me."

"..."

Wen Yifan had thought Wang Linlin might feel at least a little apologetic.

Apparently, she’d expected too much.

She truly, absolutely, deeply hated dealing with things like this.

To put it nicely, she had a good temper and a generous personality—she didn’t bother nitpicking over trivial matters. But in reality, she knew herself well enough: she simply didn’t care what other people did.

Whether others were happy or miserable, alive or dead—none of it had anything to do with her.

She just needed to live her own life well.

If someone misunderstood her, treated her poorly, or spoke to her with sarcasm—as long as it didn’t cause her any real harm, what did it matter?

It couldn’t affect her emotions.

After all, there were already too many troubles in this world. If she had to react to every little thing, how could she even live?

For years, this was how Wen Yifan had treated everyone.As long as it didn't affect her life, she wouldn't argue with people, wouldn't offend anyone, and wouldn't choose to stand on the opposite side of others.

Wang Linlin was still talking on the other end: "That Sang Yan's current place caught fire, so he needs a temporary place to stay. Oh, just live with him, it's not like—"

Wen Yifan interrupted her: "What did you tell me before?"

"..."

Perhaps unused to Wen Yifan speaking to her in such a blunt tone, Wang Linlin froze for a few seconds before replying, "Why are you so fierce? You scared me. It's not like he's some creep—Sang Yan is tall, handsome, and his family is loaded. If you think about it, you're actually getting the better deal here."

Wen Yifan repeated: "Just tell me what you said before."

"How would I know? Why are you blaming me? Honestly!" Wang Linlin, just woken up and now irritated by her accusatory tone, grew impatient. "Oh, I get it. You don't need to overthink it, worrying he still likes you or something."

Wang Linlin continued, "My boyfriend told me Sang Yan didn't date anyone all through college and was never close to any girls. He just hung out all the time with another campus heartthrob from his dorm. Everyone at their school assumed they were a couple."

Wen Yifan was so angry she laughed, curious to hear what other nonsense she could come up with.

"He still hasn't dated anyone to this day! That's definitely a red flag—maybe he's finally figured out his sexuality these past few years." Wang Linlin added, "Now that I think about it, my boyfriend might actually be in danger."

Wen Yifan knew Wang Linlin was unreliable.

But she hadn’t expected her to be this unreliable.

Wen Yifan closed her eyes, not wanting to waste another word on her.

Wang Linlin lost patience: "Relax, he's definitely gay. And even if we ignore that, what's the big deal about co-ed roommates? One of my exes was someone I met while sharing an apartment."

At this, Wen Yifan finally spoke again: "From the way you're talking, you and Su Haoan must be doing great." Her tone was slow, honeyed with hidden needles. "Then the guy who's been picking you up in a Ferrari lately must just be a friend of his."

Wang Linlin instantly fell silent: "What are you implying?"

"Oh, right. Since you think living with Sang Yan is such a great idea, why don’t you come back and room with him?"

"..."

"After all, what’s one more? Juggling two or three at once," Wen Yifan smiled, "can’t be that hard for you, right?"

At the same time, in the living room.

Sang Yan called Su Haoan, barely containing his anger: "Are you out of your damn mind?"

"What the hell?" Su Haoan’s side was noisy—he seemed to be at a bar. "Chill, man, peace, okay? What’s with the hostility right off the bat?"

Sang Yan scoffed: "Don’t tell me you didn’t know someone else was living here."

Realizing what this was about, Su Haoan relaxed instantly. "What’s the big deal? That place is way too big for just you. Splitting rent saves money for renovating your apartment."

Sang Yan: "Since when do I need a roommate?"

"You don’t, but this is our goddess Wen we’re talking about!" Su Haoan laughed. "Alright, alright, I get it. No need to thank me—what are brothers for?""Can't be bothered arguing with you," Sang Yan gave up trying to reason with him. "I'm coming to your place now."

"Fuck off, I've got things to do tonight. Don't come bothering me."

"I'm a grown man," Sang Yan said. "Living with a girl—you think that's appropriate?"

"Damn, you can actually say that with a straight face? When you mentioned 'Imperial Capital Flower City,' why didn't you think about how that sounded?" Su Haoan retorted. "Don't think I don't know how your face got beaten to a pulp. Enough, stop pretending in front of me. We both know what's really going on here..."

"..."

"And our goddess Wen is so beautiful. You think this kind of thing won't happen again?" Su Haoan continued. "Man up and be her personal knight. Who knows, maybe one day her eyes will twitch and she'll take a liking to you—"

Before he could finish, Sang Yan heard the sound of a bedroom door opening from inside.

Fuming, he hung up immediately.

The next moment.

Wen Yifan appeared before him. She looked at him calmly and said gently, "Shall we talk?"

...

They sat at opposite ends of the sofa in silence.

Wen Yifan spoke first: "This should count as a misunderstanding. It's getting late now, so how about this—I'll book you a hotel nearby."

Sang Yan leaned back lazily, watching her.

After a moment's thought, Wen Yifan added, "You can look for a suitable place later. Does that work for you?"

Hearing her neatly arrange his next steps, Sang Yan smirked. "You've got everything planned out, huh?"

"You haven't moved in yet, so there's no need to waste time unpacking. Since neither of us knew about this beforehand, let's not compound the mistake." Wen Yifan explained, "And you probably aren't used to sharing a place with someone anyway."

Mistake.

Sang Yan latched onto that word.

As she spoke, her brows were furrowed and her lips pressed into a tight line—a stark contrast to her usual unflappable demeanor.

As if she'd encountered something deeply troubling and hard to accept.

Yet couldn't bring herself to say it outright.

Afraid of angering him, afraid of being pestered.

So she carefully chose diplomatic words he might accept.

Sang Yan looked up, repeating ambiguously: "And how would you know what I'm used to?"

Wen Yifan patiently replied, "Shared living requires adjustment time, and people usually choose it due to financial constraints. Your financial situation doesn't require you to compromise by sharing with others."

"My place burned down," Sang Yan paused, "spent all my money on renovations."

Wen Yifan reminded him: "You own a bar."

Sang Yan said provocatively, "Not exactly raking it in."

"..." Wen Yifan sighed inwardly, phrasing it tactfully, "Also, journalism isn't a nine-to-five job. My schedule is irregular—frequent overtime, often leaving early and returning late. It could seriously disrupt your rest."

"Oh." Sang Yan deliberately needled her. "Then keep quiet when you come home."

"..."

Since he seemed determined not to understand, Wen Yifan got straight to the point: "We're of opposite genders. There'd be many inconveniences. You wouldn't want to have to second-guess everything you do at home, would you?""Why should I think twice?" Sang Yan stared straight at her, suddenly laughing. "Wen Yifan, your attitude is quite amusing."

Wen Yifan: "What do you mean?"

Sang Yan's voice was devoid of warmth, his words deliberately slow. "Do you think I'm still hung up on you, that I'll cling to you like before?"

"..." Wen Yifan nearly choked. "That's not what I meant."

"Didn't expect to be seen as such a sentimental person in your eyes."

"I'm just rationally explaining our current situation. There's no need to twist my words."

"My luggage is already here, and I can't be bothered to move it again. I'll stay at most three months—once the renovation's done, I'm out." The corner of Sang Yan's lips lifted. "While I'm here, don't try getting chummy with me."

Wen Yifan couldn't help retorting, "You only have one suitcase."

"Then let me ask—why are you so bothered by this?" Sang Yan tilted his head slightly, giving her a lazy once-over. "Or is it the opposite?"

"What?"

His gaze swept over her before he casually dropped the line.

"Are you the one who can't forget?"