Chapter 104: Ch 104: Different Duties

"I don’t want to do this. I want to be with Noah. It feels like ages since I last saw him and spent time with him. I miss him so much."

Alan complained with a voice filled with longing as he looked outside the window. The pile of work in front of him had not lessened a bit ever since he started working.

Daniel, who was stuck with him, let out a sigh. His actions caused everyone around him to flinch and give him space.

But Daniel ignored their gesture and instead turned to face Alan’s eyes filled with longing.

"I miss Noah as well, but that does not mean we can neglect our work. Noah will be disappointed in us. Now get back to work. We need to finish these documents by the end of the day. I, for one, want to head back to Noah as soon as I am done here."

Daniel’s words gave Alan the motivation to continue, and he started working twice as fast.

But even then, the work did not seem to lessen. There was so much bullshit in the planning committee’s accepted proposals that it was starting to give Daniel a headache just thinking about it.

He was almost about to pull all the roots out of his head when he noticed that they had a visitor. The room had gone quiet, and Alan was rubbing his eyes in disbelief.

So Daniel also looked up, only to see Noah in the finance committee’s room with papers.

"I brought you the reports from the second-year finance committee. Would you like to take a look?"

Those papers would help so much that Daniel wanted to snatch them outright. But he also felt responsible for what happened at the same time, and it made him feel sorry that someone like Noah had to bring this stuff over.

He did not know how to react, but Alan had no such problems. He quickly threw his arms around Noah and pulled him close.

"Thank you for bringing these papers over. You are a lifesaver."

Other people quickly turned their eyes away from what was happening, but it was impossible for Daniel to do that.

Instead, Daniel felt his eyes kept moving toward Alan, who had his arms around Noah. For the first time, Noah was not resisting, and Daniel was starting to feel a little irritated.

’Tsk, get your arm off Noah’s shoulder. Can’t you see that he’s uncomfortable with this? Can you even call yourself Noah’s friend if you cannot even see this much...’

But the only problem was that Alan had never called himself Noah’s friend. He had always made his interest and intentions clear.

It was Daniel who was stuck as a ’friend’ despite the fact that his feelings had evolved past friendship. He woke up each morning with a faint memory of Noah’s mouth while his tear-filled eyes looked at him with that desperate expression.

Daniel wanted to reach out and treat Noah gently so that he would relax and then grip his hair tightly and make him choke-

"Are you alright? You look a little flushed. Is all this work getting to you?"

Daniel’s eyes snapped open as soon as he felt Alan’s hand reaching toward his face. His mind still recalled that thought of touching Noah, and it ended up making him flinch.

He noticed the surprised shock that flickered across Noah’s eyes, along with the hint of hurt, before this roommate masked it all.

"You truly look sick. You should get yourself checked out by Riku. I should take my leave now. I am done for the day. Also, I think I will spend the night in the medical wing tonight. I just need to make sure I am not coming down with something. I... should get going now."

Noah almost looked hurt at Daniel’s actions, which made him panic.

"Noah, wait-!"

He tried to call out, but it was too late. Noah had acted so fast that even Alan had not been able to keep up...

’Or rather, this idiot had purposely let Noah run so that his impression of me would lessen. What a bastard!’

Alan noticed the look Daniel was giving him, and his smile widened.

"Oh my! Is something wrong, Daniel? It seems like Noah is disappointed in us. I better go and talk to him-"

"Not now. Sit down and finish your work first before you head out. We have too much stuff to finish, so you will have to cooperate."

There was no way Daniel would allow Alan to get close to Noah after what happened. He was going to hold Alan back if he needed to.

Daniel wanted to be the one to clear this misunderstanding first himself.

Alan did not argue with him, but the look in his eyes was irritation, and it made Noah want to hit him.

’No, let’s calm down and let this go~ I don’t know how Alan might spin things with Daniel if I show that I am irritated. I am doing this for Noah’s sake, so let’s try to tolerate this bastard!’

It was hard for Daniel to go against his instincts, but he did this for Noah’s sake anyway.

Daniel stared at the closed door for several seconds after Noah left, unable to shake off the uncomfortable feeling that had settled in his chest.

He knew he had handled the situation badly, but the image of Noah looking hurt before leaving kept replaying in his mind.

’Damn it, I should have stopped him.’

The thought made Daniel grit his teeth, but he knew that chasing after Noah now would only make things worse. Alan was still sitting beside him, and judging by the amused expression on his face, he had already understood exactly what Daniel was thinking.

"You know, if you keep staring at the door like that, Noah might actually think you want him to come back."

Daniel ignored the provocation and picked up another document from the pile.

"Shut up and work."

Alan chuckled but surprisingly did not argue. Instead, he started working again, although Daniel could still feel his gaze lingering on him every few moments.

Daniel tried to focus on the documents, but his thoughts kept returning to Noah and the strange dream he had experienced the previous night. There had been something about it that felt far too real, and the more he tried to remember, the stronger the headache became.

’What exactly happened to me? I feel like I am not myself anymore.’