Ensnared by My Vampire Roommate

4

The Wu Group was a renowned family business in Jing City. It was said that several generations back, when the company was first founded, the Wu family had already amassed considerable wealth. Over the years, their fortune had only grown, though the Wu Group had become much more low-key compared to its early days.

The current CEO of the Wu Group, Wu Xiangting, had known since childhood that he was a half-vampire. The Wu family had risen to prominence thanks to the wealth and capital brought by a noble vampire many years ago.

While the Wu family had greatly benefited from vampires, they also bore the responsibility of providing essential services to their vampire benefactors. This was a duty that every head of the Wu family had to keep secret and uphold. It wasn’t just a promise to the vampires but also something ingrained in the family’s bloodline.

Even though, by the time Wu Xiangting’s generation came around, his vampire genes were barely noticeable, almost indistinguishable from a normal human’s.

However, many years ago, vampires had nearly gone extinct due to civil wars within their ranks. Even the once-powerful seven vampire clans had vanished overnight. As a result, this secret duty became more of a family legend, something passed down in whispers but never acted upon, as no one from the Wu family had encountered a vampire in generations.

Wu Xiangting had assumed it would be the same for him—until five years ago, when a high-ranking vampire suddenly showed up at his door without warning.

This vampire outranked even the one who had initially helped the Wu family rise to power. He requested Wu Xiangting’s assistance in forging a convenient and legitimate human identity and asked for regular supplies of synthetic blood. These weren’t outrageous demands, so Wu Xiangting naturally agreed without hesitation.

Vampires were notoriously secretive, appearing and disappearing without a trace. To this day, Wu Xiangting knew little about this particular vampire, only that he had been the heir to one of the seven clans, supposedly killed during the wars that nearly wiped out the vampire race. After years of slumber, he had been accidentally revived by a human five years ago. The reason he had integrated into human society was directly linked to that very human.

Ying Tiao’s vampire lineage was noble and his rank high enough that he had undergone rigorous training. As a result, ordinary human blood no longer stirred any emotions in him. But the blood of the human who had awakened him was a different story.

Among vampires, such humans were referred to as "Awakeners." For vampires revived by an Awakener, the blood of that human was irresistibly sweet, capable of boosting a vampire’s powers, and even allowing them to withstand sunlight for a short period.

One could only imagine how tempting this was for a vampire.

Wu Xiangting often felt sympathy for the human who had unwittingly awakened a vampire. To be targeted by such a being was nothing short of a curse for any ordinary person.

Now, this rarely-seen vampire had unexpectedly come to visit, informing Wu Xiangting that the young man he lived with was upset.

In the dim light of the luxurious lounge, Wu Xiangting found himself at a loss for how to entertain his guest. In the end, he simply poured a vial of synthetic blood into a coffee cup and placed it in front of the vampire.

“So, you’re saying that you made him angry?” Wu Xiangting asked as he sat down on the sofa, glancing at the vampire across from him.

For various reasons, Ying Tiao’s appearance was forever frozen at 27 years old.

When Ying had first appeared five years ago, Wu Xiangting had still been under 30 himself. Now, Wu Xiangting had changed noticeably, but Ying hadn’t aged a day.

Every time he was reminded of this, Wu Xiangting couldn’t help but wonder if this vampire before him had already lived for centuries.

That thought always made Wu Xiangting even more cautious around him.

“Yes,” Ying Tiao replied, leaning back on the sofa as he briefly explained the events that had unfolded.

He recalled how, after he had said, “I’ll keep that in mind next time,” the air had grown thick with the scent of Jiang Banxu’s blood.

Humans’ blood circulation speeds up when they get emotional, so Ying had guessed that Jiang might have been even angrier than before.

Wu Xiangting listened to the vampire’s calm recounting, momentarily speechless.

To put it bluntly, he was dumbfounded.

But then again, considering how low Ying’s emotional intelligence was, it wasn’t entirely surprising.

Wu Xiangting had read about vampires before. The seven vampire clans had strict rules, one of which was to avoid interacting with humans. Before he went into his slumber, Ying Tiao must have had little to no contact with human society.

Since he had only been awakened five years ago, he had been juggling the task of sorting out his old affairs while trying to learn how to navigate human society. To have come this far was already impressive—how could anyone expect him to be emotionally perceptive?

“Like he said, you could’ve thrown it away somewhere he wouldn’t see it.” Wu Xiangting, ever the businessman, decided to give the vampire a lesson in social etiquette. “He probably put a lot of effort into that meal. Throwing it away like that must have hurt his feelings, right?”

“In situations like this, the best approach would be to accept it, thank him for his effort, and show some appreciation. People like a bit of reciprocity,” Wu Xiangting advised carefully. “Even if you don’t like human food, you can politely mention it after expressing your gratitude. That way, he’ll bring you something else next time.”

Unable to help himself, Wu Xiangting added under his breath, “You said ‘next time,’ but if you throw it away again, I doubt there’ll be a next time…”

“...”

The sharp-eared vampire glanced up.

Wu Xiangting instantly clamped his mouth shut, swallowing the rest of his sarcastic remarks.

...

The day after Ying Tiao had said, “I’ll keep that in mind next time,” Jiang Banxu had almost laughed in disbelief.

Out of sight, out of mind. He hadn’t bothered speaking another word to Ying and had stormed back to school, staying there until late in the evening.

When he returned home that night, the apartment was pitch-black and eerily quiet. He couldn’t tell whether his roommate was home or not.

...Not that it mattered either way.

The next day was overcast, with strong winds that hinted at an impending storm.

Jiang had slept in a little, and after making plans with Ding Song via WeChat, they agreed to meet at the city library. At 9 AM, Ding arrived at Jiang’s place, and the two left together.

As Jiang was locking the door, Ding suddenly jumped and shouted, “Ah! Who’s there?!”

Startled, Jiang fumbled with the door. He quickly turned to steady his friend.

The hallway was dimly lit due to the overcast sky, and standing there in the shadows was a tall figure that did indeed look rather terrifying at first glance.

Jiang instantly recognized Ying Tiao and felt strangely calm.

Yes, because his roommate had a habit of appearing out of nowhere, Jiang had become somewhat immune to getting startled by him.

Since Ying had returned, there was no need for Jiang to lock the door. He grabbed Ding and headed for the elevator.

Jiang was still a bit upset about what had happened, so he decided not to greet Ying. After all, his cold and aloof roommate wasn’t one to start conversations either.

Just as Jiang turned to leave, however, Ying took a few quick steps toward him and handed him something.

Both Jiang and Ding froze in place.

When they got a closer look, they saw that Ying was holding a small, cartoon-themed cake in a clear blue box. It looked delicate and delicious.

Jiang couldn’t believe his eyes.

Ying met the young man’s surprised gaze with his usual expressionless face. “I’m sorry about yesterday. This is an apology,” he said.

Dumbfounded, Jiang took the cake.

Ding, hiding behind Jiang, peeked out, equally stunned. He glanced between the cake and the ominous figure of Ying Tiao, clearly confused.

Ying’s gaze lingered on Jiang’s face, but he couldn’t tell whether the young man liked the gesture or not.

After a moment of silence, Ying added, “If you don’t like it, you can throw it away.”

“...”

Jiang was easy to please. Just moments earlier, he had been quietly vowing not to speak to Ying again, but now he was completely over it.

His eyes lit up, and he replied honestly, “I like it.”

Jiang’s pale face seemed to glow as he beamed up at Ying, his joy and surprise shining through his clear, bright eyes. Ying stared for a moment before shifting his gaze elsewhere.

As soon as they left the apartment complex, Ding clung to Jiang’s arm, bouncing up and down in excitement. “Tell me everything! What happened? How did this even happen? Wasn’t your roommate supposed to be some cold-blooded killer?”

Jiang, who was ticklish, couldn’t stop laughing as he dodged Ding’s playful shaking, holding the cake out of harm’s way.

Between chuckles, Jiang recounted how Ying had helped him out, only to throw away the breakfast he had made as thanks.

When Ding heard about the discarded meal, his fists clenched in anger. “He said ‘next time’?! How could he throw away the food you made? Your cooking is amazing! What a horrible roommate!”

The two of them headed to their favorite bubble tea shop, ordering two drinks to go with the cake. As Ding took a big bite of the cake, his expression softened. “This is really good. Your roommate can’t be all bad. He’s probably just a bit emotionally clueless, maybe a little scary at times... but he’s got good taste in cake.”

“...”

Jiang took a bite of the cake as well. The creamy frosting melted in his mouth, so delicious it made his eyes squint with delight.

Though he had been won over by the cake, Jiang had to admit that Ding had a point. At first, they had both been spooked by Ying’s strange habits and eerie aura, which had led them to believe he might be dangerous.

But after a few more interactions, Jiang realized his roommate was fairly normal. He just wasn’t great at socializing.

As for Ying rarely leaving the house and keeping to himself, maybe he was just socially anxious.

It couldn’t have been easy for a socially anxious person like Ying to muster the courage to buy him a cake to apologize.

Jiang thought to himself, He probably wants to be friends.