Chapter 435 – Palpitations from That World – Just Closing a Window (02)
Wen Junnan jolted awake from his bed. The old wooden planks creaked beneath his sudden movement, and his still-drowsy mind snapped instantly into clarity.
Something was wrong.
The school dormitory building was new, and everything inside was new as well. The bedboards shouldn’t make this kind of worm-eaten, aged creaking sound. Calming himself, he looked around.
It was still the same dorm room—but the once spotless white walls had turned dull and gray. The air was filled with an indescribable, fishy stench, like rotting garbage, or the foul odor of festering wounds.
The room followed the typical loft-bed-over-desk layout, each person with their own space. Pale moonlight streamed through the window and spilled onto the floor, illuminating tiny drifting particles in the air.
Wen Junnan’s gaze fell on three small bulges under the covers—one on each bed. His instinctive urge to shout was forcibly suppressed by his rising sense of caution.
Using the moonlight, he caught a glimpse of his roommates’ indistinct faces. His lips pressed into a thin line as he carefully climbed down the bed ladder.
“Squeak squeak squeak”
In the silent night, even the faintest sound was amplified several times over.
Wen Junnan quickly stepped out of the dorm room.
Leaning against the corridor railing was a fluffy squirrel, holding a pine nut and nibbling on it. Its fur was glossy and soft, almost glowing under the moonlight. The scene was undeniably strange—yet, for some reason, instead of fear, Wen Junnan felt an inexplicable surge of fondness the moment he saw it.
“Little guy, why are you here alone? Where’s your owner?”
Pets were clearly forbidden on campus, but some students still secretly kept them in their dorms. Wen Junnan assumed the squirrel belonged to someone and had snuck out in the middle of the night.
As he approached and reached out his hand, Bai Tang handed him the peeled pine nut: Here, you must be hungry. Take it.
Wen Junnan swore he saw indulgent affection in the squirrel’s round, bright eyes—affection directed at him.
“I’m not hungry. You eat it.” Wen Junnan genuinely liked the little squirrel. He had heard that squirrels loved pine nuts, so he offered it back. Unexpectedly, the other refused and instead stomped on the railing in protest:
Are you going to eat it or not? If you don’t, it means you’re looking down on me—you’re rejecting me!
“Alright, alright, I’ll eat it. Don’t be mad.” Seeing the squirrel get angry, Wen Junnan panicked. Without even considering whether animals carried bacteria, he popped the pine nut—already shelled by the squirrel’s teeth—into his mouth.
Only after seeing him eat did Bai Tang finally calm down. He obediently allowed Wen Junnan to pick him up.
“You’re so sweet, little guy. Is your name Tang Tang?”
“Squeak squeak squeak-” We shouldn’t be talking here. The female lead will be here soon.
The squirrel pointed upward along the corridor. Wen Junnan trusted Bai Tang without question and followed his direction toward the stairs.
Not long after he left, a girl appeared beneath the camphor tree outside the dorm building.
Sensing a strange spiritual aura, she looked up toward the fifth floor. The aura was coming from above. If she could obtain that power, she would be able to escape this place.
With that thought, Ning Sitong’s expression hardened as she ran toward the dormitory building.
As she entered the dormitory building, Ning Sitong felt the spiritual energy growing stronger and stronger. Her pace quickened unconsciously.
What she didn’t know was that the “spiritual energy” she had been longing for… had already been snatched away by a little squirrel just a minute before she arrived.
To avoid the male and female leads meeting, Bai Tang had deliberately brought Wen Junnan up to the rooftop.
The night wind was strong, ruffling the squirrel’s fluffy fur into disarray. To shield himself, Bai Tang had no choice but to pull his large, bushy tail in front of his body.
Ugh, there’s sand in the wind.
The squirrel’s sudden jumping and darting about startled Wen Junnan badly.
“What’s wrong?” Wen Junnan grabbed the squirrel’s tail. “Don’t poke it.”
When the squirrel’s sharp claws were about to reach his eye, Wen Junnan was so frightened his heart nearly stopped.
“Squeak squeak squeak-” There’s sand in my eye.
“Let me take a look.” Wen Junnan held onto the squirrel’s paw to stop him from moving around. After blowing gently into his eye a few times, Bai Tang felt that the foreign object was gone.
“Squeak squeak squeak—” It’s better now. A Nan, you’re amazing.
“Your claws are so sharp—what if you scratched your eyeball? You’re not allowed to do such dangerous things again.”
Wen Junnan was extraordinarily gentle with the little squirrel. Even he himself didn’t realize he could be this patient.
“Be good.”
Holding the squirrel in his arms, he sat in the stairwell on the rooftop. The walls blocked out the wind and sand. Though it wasn’t as warm as being under the covers, it was still much better than being exposed outside.
Originally, Wen Junnan had planned to walk around and investigate what had caused this strange change. But the moment he encountered the squirrel, he suddenly didn’t want to move anymore.
If he ran into danger, wouldn’t the squirrel be dragged into it as well? And as for putting the squirrel down—he simply didn’t want to.
And so, one person and one squirrel sat quietly in the stairwell, enjoying their private little world.
Even though Bai Tang had taken the male lead out of the dorm in advance, he still couldn’t stop the force of the plot—
The female lead had arrived.
Ning Sitong made her way up to the rooftop. In the stairwell, she suddenly ran into a dark figure. Already exhausted, she was so startled that her body swayed, her balance faltered, and she fell backward.
At the critical moment, Wen Junnan reacted instinctively and reached out to pull her, saving her from tumbling down the stairs.
Once her breathing steadied, Ning Sitong stared at Wen Junnan in disbelief.
“Who are you? Why are you here?”
The girl’s face was full of innocence as she looked at him with curiosity and confusion. Her gaze slowly shifted downward, and when it landed on the little squirrel, her expression lit up with delight.
“What a cute squirrel~”
Ning Sitong reached out, intending to pet Bai Tang. But just as her hand approached, the squirrel’s demeanor changed completely.
Gone was the docility—he bared his teeth and brandished his claws aggressively. If Ning Sitong hadn’t pulled her hand back in time, several bloody scratches would have appeared on the back of her hand.
“Pretty fierce, huh,” Ning Sitong muttered.
Yet that lingering sense of familiarity in her heart refused to fade. She felt as though she had seen this little squirrel somewhere before—but where exactly?
When Ning Sitong reached out earlier, a hint of displeasure had already shown on Wen Junnan’s face.
He didn’t like others touching the little squirrel. Fortunately, the squirrel felt the same way and cleverly dodged her hand.
“And who are you?” Wen Junnan asked coldly. “This is the boys’ dormitory. Girls aren’t allowed in without permission. It’s the middle of the night—what could be so important that you’d come here?”
“I…” Ning Sitong’s usually unfailing beauty seemed to lose its effect for once. She quickly adjusted her expression, her smile unchanged. “My name is Ning Sitong. Someone was following me just now. I got scared and wanted to find a place to hide. I saw the door downstairs wasn’t locked, so I came in.”
A trace of fear appeared on her face. Wen Junnan’s heart tightened as he glanced down the stairwell—yet it was empty, with no sign of anyone.
“I was afraid he might catch up, and it didn’t feel appropriate to run into the boys’ dorm, so I thought I’d hide on the rooftop instead.”
It would have been better if she hadn’t said anything—but now that she had, Wen Junnan grew worried.
What if that person followed her up to the rooftop? Wouldn’t the little guy be dragged into danger as well?
“You stay here. I’ll go take a look.”
Carefully, Wen Junnan placed the little squirrel into his coat pocket. “Be good, Tang Tang. Let’s go check things out. If there’s no danger, I’ll let you come out and play, alright?”
His tone was extremely gentle, as if he were negotiating.
“Squeak squeak squeak—” Okay.
Bai Tang knew perfectly well that no one had been following Ning Sitong—she had made the whole thing up.
“Um… I’ll go with you,” Ning Sitong said, unwilling to let the spiritual energy slip away.
Her suggestion was immediately rejected by Wen Junnan.
“The person is after you. I don’t know how strong he is. If I can’t handle him, you going out will only give him an opportunity. You should stay here. Leave when it’s daylight.”
“Mm, okay. I’ll listen to you.” Hearing his concern, Ning Sitong felt a bit touched despite herself. “I still don’t know your name.”
Not wanting to get further entangled with her, Wen Junnan tossed out his name and hurried downstairs with Bai Tang.
They went all the way down from the rooftop—not to mention a person, they didn’t even see a single cockroach or rat.
When they reached the fifth floor, Wen Junnan stopped.
He took the little squirrel out of his pocket and gently tapped his pink nose.
“It’s pretty cold outside. Tang Tang, how about you come back to the dorm with me and sleep?”
“Squeak squeak squeak—” I’ll listen to you.
Having a sense of danger yet still daring to explore—that’s the spirit of a protagonist.
Having something precious on your mind, yet dragging it along into danger—that’s just being an idiot.
As the male lead, Wen Junnan was definitely not stupid. He could already tell that he was no longer in his original school. Perhaps he had entered a parallel space, or some other strange place.
Either way, whether in games or elsewhere, the place where one first appears is usually safe—commonly called a “safe zone.” Beyond that safe zone, danger lurks everywhere.
Now that he understood his situation, why would he take Tang Tang out to risk his life?
Wen Junnan made up his mind—he would rest and recover first.
He returned to the dorm with Bai Tang. The way his roommates had been sleeping before he left was exactly the same when he came back. Even the position of their blankets hadn’t changed in the slightest.
This only strengthened his suspicions.
Carrying the little squirrel, he climbed up to the top bunk. The moment it was free, the squirrel immediately burrowed into the blanket.
Looks like Tang Tang also wanted a comfortable nest to sleep in.
Just as Wen Junnan’s thoughts began to wander, the “little bun” under the blanket suddenly turned into a “big bun.” A fluffy head poked out, with round, bright, crystal-clear eyes.
The boy looked as exquisite as an angel fallen into the mortal world. Wen Junnan’s breath hitched, almost unable to believe what he was seeing.
This was… Tang Tang?
Seeing Wen Junnan staring at him so intently, the boy flushed in embarrassment. In a soft, sweet voice, he called out, “A Nan~”
A’Nan. Such an intimate form of address.
Wen Junnan responded gently, “Tang Tang.”
The boy nodded. “It’s me~”
The chubby little squirrel had transformed into a human. Wrapped only in the blanket, his smooth, bare shoulders and delicate collarbones were exposed. It wasn’t hard to imagine how beautiful the body beneath the blanket must be.
Bang—!
The half-closed window slammed loudly in the wind. The boy trembled and threw himself into Wen Junnan’s arms. The blanket slipped, revealing his smooth, bare back in full view.
“Don’t be scared, Tang Tang.” Wen Junnan wanted to comfort him, but when his hand reached the boy’s back, he hesitated, not daring to touch.
Would that count as taking advantage of him?
But… he’s a man. And Tang Tang is also a man…
The window kept rattling noisily, extremely annoying.
Wen Junnan gently stroked the boy’s back. “It’s okay. I’ll go close the window.”
After getting down from the bed and shutting the window properly, he turned back.
The boy, wrapped tightly in the blanket, beckoned to him with a smile.
“A Nan, come sleep~”