He Hates Me In Real Life

chapter 2

“Nothing. It’s just hot in here. They need to fix their AC,” I muttered, fanning myself with the napkin again. My face still burned. With trembling fingers I typed back.

It’s okay.

Twenty minutes passed before Dorian returned from the bathroom. When he finally appeared, he looked completely refreshed, though tiny droplets of water still clung to the tips of his dark blond hair and the ends of his fingertips. The soft, flustered version of him had vanished. In its place stood the untouchable, icy campus prince again—spine bone-straight, expression blank, shoulders set like he had never once blushed in his life.

I watched him approach the table and a small voice asked inside my head, How does this man shuffle two personalities without suffering whiplash?

He stopped beside his chair and looked down at me. His eyes held pure, unfiltered disdain.

“Have you stared enough?”

I froze. That was when I realized I had been staring for far too long. Heat rushed up my neck. I quickly dropped my gaze to the tablecloth and pretended the water glass was the most interesting thing in the room.

He sat down slowly, voice flat and cold. “I have a girlfriend. Don’t even think about it.”

Before I could process the words, my phone vibrated against my thigh.

Babe, my roommate’s little sister hasn’t taken her eyes off me all night. She’s definitely into me. But don’t worry babe, I shut it down. I told her straight to her face that I have a girlfriend.

Am I a good boy babe?

Babe I’m highly requested on the market. When are you finally going to lock this down?

I stared at the endless stream of “babe” lighting up my screen, then looked at the man sitting across from me. The nuts in my brain were threatening to fall out of my ears.

Is the wildly needy, desperate golden retriever on my phone really the same person as this glacial, arrogant prick at the table?

Aiden was still talking about some lab result that had gone wrong, completely unaware that the air between his roommate and his sister had turned electric. I forced myself to nod at whatever he said while my mind raced.

As the afternoon wound down and people around us started grabbing their coats, Dorian pushed his chair back. That was when the thin gold chain slipped free from his collar again. The nameplate caught the light—my name, clear as day.

I couldn’t help staring.

He noticed. His jaw tightened.

“Just because it has your name on it doesn’t mean you should get any ideas,” he said, voice low and sharp. “This belongs to my girlfriend.”

I was so flustered I didn’t know what to say. The words sat on my tongue and refused to leave.

While everyone else headed for the door, I hung back. Aiden was already a few steps ahead, still talking. I stayed by the entrance, heart thudding, and did the one thing I knew would break him.

I clicked my tongue twice.

The exact way I always did on the phone when I wanted his attention.

On pure reflex, Dorian let out two soft, unconditional low barks.

He spun around so fast his hair moved. His eyes searched the crowd with open confusion—and something that looked a lot like hope. But there was no one behind him. Just me, half-hidden by the doorframe, biting the inside of my cheek so hard I tasted blood while I tried to muffle my laughter.

My phone buzzed in my coat pocket a second later.

Baby I think I’m hallucinating. I just heard your voice.

I almost lost it right there on the sidewalk.

Outside, the sky had turned the soft purple of early evening. Aiden stretched his arms over his head and looked between us.

“Night market’s open around the corner,” he said. “We’re going. I’m starving again and they have those dumplings you like.”

I didn’t argue. Neither did Dorian. We fell into step with the thinning crowd, the three of us moving toward the glowing lights of the trade fair.

The night market was packed shoulder to shoulder. Strings of warm bulbs hung above the stalls. The air smelled like grilled meat, sugar, and fried dough. Aiden practically put me in a headlock, one heavy arm across my shoulders like he was terrified the crowd would sweep me away.

“Stay close,” he muttered. “People get crazy when the food is this good.”

Dorian, on the other hand, maintained a careful three-yard distance from me at all times. He walked like I might contaminate him if I got too near. I smiled secretly to myself.

Look at him keeping his boundaries. I’ll have to reward him tonight.

That fond thought lasted exactly thirty seconds.

I stopped at a vendor’s table, eyes landing on a pretty pastel keychain shaped like a tiny Hello Kitty. The colors were soft and perfect. I reached for it—

Another hand shot out and snatched it first.

The moment our fingers touched, Dorian recoiled like he had just pressed his palm against a hot stove. He jumped back so hard he almost knocked into the stall behind him. His eyes furrowed in deep annoyance as he glared at me.

“Excuse me,” he said coldly. “I saw this first. My girlfriend loves Hello Kitty.”

I blinked.

He had my love for Sanrio carved into his DNA. The very first gift he ever sent me was a pink care package tied with a lace ribbon, overflowing with Hello Kitty merchandise. Stickers. Plushies. A tiny notebook with her face on every page.

Whatever, I thought reasonably. He’s buying it for me anyway. Considering how fiercely loyal he’s being, I’ll let him have it.

I was actually grinning as we walked away from the stall.

Then my phone buzzed.

Babe my roommate’s sister might actually be mentally unstable. I explicitly told her I was taken and she just tried to grope my hand at a vendor’s stall. I’m so disgusted. I wouldn’t touch a desperate fangirl like her if she were the last girl on earth.

I only have eyes for you babe.

As soon as I get to the dorm I’m sanitizing my hands.

Babe what if I wear the black silk tonight so you can look?

I saw red.

My fingers flew across the keyboard before I could stop myself.

Touch my ass. We’re done. We’re breaking up.

Ten feet ahead of me, Dorian tripped over his own feet and nearly tumbled into a dumpling stall. His spine curved. His shoulders instantly hunched. They began to shake.

He looked utterly, devastatingly pathetic.

Aiden rushed forward and grabbed his arm.

“Yo, man, you good? What the hell just happened to you?”

Dorian sniffled. His voice cracked with a very real, very audible sob.

“My girlfriend… she just dumped me.”