Dear Roommate Please Stop Being Hot [BL] Chapter 24: One Breath Closer

They sat side by side—separate beds, shared silence—passing ideas back and forth like a quiet ga.

Occasionally, Luca would joke or throw in a dumb suggestion just to make Noel roll his eyes.

But there was a quiet rhythm between them now—a strange sort of truce, steady and tentative.

It wasn’t perfect. But it was sothing

Noel’s fingers moved quickly over his keyboard, typing out a sample structure for Luca’s paper.

The soft clacking of the keys filled the room like a ticking clock, steady and efficient.

Across from him, Luca lay sprawled on his bed, pen in hand, staring at his open notebook like it had personally offended him.

"Okay," Noel said, glancing up. "Introduction first. Just explain the main the—keep it simple, clear."

Luca groaned and rolled onto his stomach, still not writing. "Why does every assignnt need a structure? I just wanna say what I think."

That is structure," Noel shot back. "Just your thoughts, but in straight lines.

"I don’t like my thoughts being organized," Luca muttered, scribbling a line then imdiately crossing it out.

Noel gave him a look. "And yet you want a decent grade?"

"I want it to magically appear in my gradebook without doing this part."

Noel sighed but hid a smile. "You’re hopeless."

"Hopelessly charming," Luca corrected, flipping his pen between his fingers.

"You’re stalling."

"I’m thinking."

Noel closed his laptop halfway and stared at him. "You’ve been thinking for twenty minutes."

Luca peeked up through his lashes. "I work better under pressure. Maybe if you yell at ?"

Noel shook his head and turned his screen back toward himself. "Fine. I’ll write the outline draft. You flesh it out later."

Luca smirked. "You’re my hero."

"You say that, but I’m still waiting for the part where you do your share."

Luca laughed and finally sat up, stretching his arms overhead. "Fine, fine. I’ll try. But if this sucks, you’re the one I’m blaming."

Noel didn’t reply, just kept typing, lips curled slightly in a knowing smile.

And beside him, Luca finally bent over his notebook, dragging the pen across the paper—slowly, lazily, but finally working.

Luca shifted upright, pen idle in his hand. His scribbles faded, attention drifting—to Noel.

The golden wash of the setting sun pooled lazily through the dorm window, painting his features with warmth.

He glanced toward Noel, who remained hunched over his laptop, earbuds in, lips moving faintly as he read a paragraph out loud to himself.

Noel didn’t notice Luca watching him. Not right away.

Luca tilted his head slightly, eyes following the way Noel’s lashes flickered with each blink, the subtle way his mouth curved when he got sothing right, or maybe just liked what he’d written. It was... weird. He wasn’t supposed to notice things like that.

"You always do that thing when you’re focused," Luca said suddenly.

Noel paused mid-sentence, one earbud slipping out. "What thing?"

"That." Luca made a small gesture with his fingers. "The mumbling to yourself, and the eyebrow twitch. It’s kind of... cute."

Noel blinked, frozen in place like soone had hit pause on his whole system. A slow heat crawled up his neck.

A breath caught in his throat. "You think I’m cute when I’m losing it over formatting?" Noel asked, voice thin, uncertain.

Luca gave a lazy shrug, the faintest hint of a smirk tugging at his lips. "You’re cute when you’re not trying to be."

Noel’s heart thumped once, sharp and loud, and he didn’t know what to say.

He glanced away quickly, focusing way too hard on his screen now, the words a blur.

Luca leaned back, satisfied with himself, and murmured, "Just saying."

Noel tried to pretend his fingers weren’t trembling slightly over the keyboard.

And for a few monts, the air between them held a quiet buzz—unspoken, new, a little dangerous.

Luca shifted closer, peering over Noel’s shoulder. "So... this is what you’ve been working on?"

"Yeah," Noel said quickly, eyes still on the screen, even though his brain wasn’t absorbing any of the words.

Luca leaned in a little more, his breath warm just behind Noel’s ear. "You type like you’re running from sothing."

"I’m not." Noel cleared his throat. "It’s called efficiency."

"You’re tense."

"I’m always tense," Noel muttered, fingers pausing on the keyboard.

Luca humd. "Maybe you should take a break."

Noel finally turned slightly, not fully, just enough to glance at him. "I can’t afford breaks. It’s due tomorrow."

Luca raised a brow. "You’ve already written more than half. Relax."

"Easy for you to say. You haven’t even opened the doc."

Luca chuckled. "Touché."

Noel turned back to the screen, but Luca didn’t move away. He stayed there, close, too close, his presence ssing with Noel’s head more than any unfinished paragraph ever could.

"...You’re still hovering," Noel said under his breath.

"I like the view," Luca replied without missing a beat.

Noel’s hands froze again on the keyboard.

Luca smirked. "Didn’t say stop."

Noel exhaled, almost a laugh, but not quite. "You’re distracting."

"That’s new," Luca said, voice softer. "You’re usually the one ignoring ."

Noel didn’t reply.

But he didn’t move away either.

Luca leaned in even closer, his chin nearly brushing Noel’s shoulder now, his voice dropping just a little lower. "You always sll like books, you know that?"

Noel blinked, lips parting. "What?"

"Books," Luca said again, softer. "Like paper and mint... or maybe that’s just you."

Noel turned his head slightly, only to find Luca’s face much closer than expected. His breath hitched—not loud, but Luca caught it.

"You okay?" Luca asked, his tone unusually gentle, teasing gone, just curiosity.

"I’m fine," Noel muttered, eyes darting away. "Just—don’t breathe on ."

Luca chuckled, but he didn’t move back. "You’re not even typing anymore."

Noel glanced down. His fingers still hovered, frozen above the keys. "Because soone’s... in my space."

Luca tilted his head, still smiling, eyes searching Noel’s expression. "You want to move?"

Noel didn’t answer right away. His throat worked, mind scrambling for sothing to say—sothing neutral—but it all slipped away under Luca’s gaze.

"I don’t know," he admitted.

That made Luca pause, really pause. The usual spark in his eyes softened, just a little. "Well... that’s honest."

Noel’s eyes flicked to Luca again, and for a mont, neither of them said anything.

The laptop dimd, forgotten—its glow fading as sothing unspoken lingered in the space between them.