Dear Roommate Please Stop Being Hot [BL]-Chapter 297: The Calm We Keep

Monday brought the first exam.

Luca woke to his alarm at six, stared at the ceiling for a solid minute before convincing himself to move.

Beside him, Noel was already awake, scrolling through something on his phone.

"Morning," Noel said without looking over.

"What time’s your exam?"

"One. International Trade Policy."

"Mine’s at nine. Corporate Strategy."

"You ready?"

"As I’ll ever be." Luca sat up, rubbed his face. "It’s multiple choice and two essay questions. I’ve been over the material enough times I could probably recite it in my sleep."

"Probably not the best exam strategy."

"Probably not."

They moved through the morning efficiently—shower, coffee, toast that Luca barely touched.

His stomach always got weird before exams, even when he knew the material cold.

"You want me to walk with you?" Noel asked.

"Nah. Your exam’s not for hours. Get some more studying in."

"I’m not studying more. I’ll just psych myself out."

"Then sleep more."

"Can’t. Too wired."

Luca grabbed his bag, checked for pens, his student ID, water bottle. "I’ll text you when I’m done."

"Good luck."

"You too."

The walk to campus was quiet, just a few early risers heading to morning exams or library sessions.

The quad was nearly empty, buildings casting long shadows in the early light.

Luca found the exam hall—large lecture room, desks spread out in rows, professor already setting up at the front.

Students trickled in, most looking various degrees of anxious or exhausted.

Emily appeared beside him, coffee in hand. "Morning."

"Hey. You look awake."

"Three cups of coffee and pure anxiety." She found seats in the middle. "George texted. He’s taking his Organizational Behavior exam in the building next door. Same time as us."

"The three of us, suffering simultaneously."

"As tradition dictates."

They sat. More students filed in. At exactly nine, the professor started distributing exam packets face-down on each desk.

"You have two hours," she announced. "Multiple choice section first, essays second. You may begin."

Luca flipped the packet over.

Fifty multiple choice questions. He worked through them methodically—some easy, some requiring actual thought. Question thirty-two made him pause: Which of the following best describes the relationship between organizational structure and strategic implementation?

He read all four options twice. B and D both seemed partially correct. He went with B, moved on.

The essay questions were more straightforward.

First one asked him to analyze a case study about a failing retail company and propose a turnaround strategy.

Second wanted him to compare and contrast two different strategic frameworks and discuss their applications.

He’d written about both topics multiple times in assignments throughout the semester.

The words came easily, structured arguments flowing onto the page.

Ninety minutes in, he finished. Checked his answers twice, caught one multiple choice mistake, fixed it.

At ten forty, he turned in his exam.

Outside, students clustered in small groups, immediately comparing answers.

Luca avoided them, pulled out his phone.

George had texted: done. that was brutal. meeting at student center?

Emily emerged from the exam hall, spotted Luca, walked over. "How bad?"

"Not terrible. You?"

"Some of those multiple choice questions were designed to cause pain."

"Question thirty-two?"

"Yes! B or D, right?"

"I put B."

"Same." Emily checked her phone, saw George’s message. "Student center?"

"Yeah."

They found George at their usual table, looking tired but relieved. "That exam was three hours of my life I’ll never get back."

"It was two hours," Emily pointed out.

"Felt like three."

Luca dropped into a chair. "What’s next for everyone?"

"Marketing Analytics tomorrow at two," Emily said. "Then Financial Management Thursday morning, and International Business Law Friday afternoon."

"I’ve got Econometrics tomorrow at ten," George said. "Then nothing until Thursday—Managerial Accounting. Friday’s my last one, Business Ethics."

"I’ve got Operations Management tomorrow afternoon," Luca said. "Then Strategic Marketing Wednesday, nothing Thursday, and Capstone Seminar exam Friday morning."

"We’re all basically dead by Friday," Emily observed.

"Basically."

Luca’s phone buzzed. Noel: How’d it go?

He typed back: Fine. Easy enough. You?

Noel: Exam’s in 30 min. Slight panic setting in.

Luca: You know the material. Deep breath. You’ve got this.

Noel: Thanks. See you after.

"Noel freaking out?" Emily asked.

"Little bit."

"He’ll be fine. Noel’s always fine."

"I know. Doesn’t stop him from panicking beforehand."

George stood. "I need food. Anyone else?"

They grabbed lunch, spent an hour not talking about exams or studying or anything academic.

Just easy conversation, the kind they’d been having since freshman year when none of them knew what they were doing and bonded over shared confusion in Introduction to Business.

Four years later, here they were. Same table, same dynamic, just older and slightly more competent.

"Remember when we thought freshman year finals were hard?" Emily said.

"I cried after my accounting midterm," George admitted.

"You got an A on that exam."

"I didn’t know that yet. I was convinced I’d failed."

"You’re always convinced you failed," Luca pointed out.

"And I’m always wrong. Doesn’t make the anxiety less real."

They lingered until one thirty, then dispersed—Emily to study for tomorrow’s exam, George heading home, Luca back to the apartment.

Noel wasn’t there yet. Luca fed the cat, changed into comfortable clothes, sprawled on the couch with his Operations Management notes.

The material was dense but familiar. Production processes, supply chain optimization, quality control methods.

He’d reviewed it all weekend, worked through practice problems until the formulas became automatic.

His eyes started drifting closed.

The door opened.

Noel walked in, looking drained but not devastated. "Hey."

"How’d it go?"

"Hard but fair. Essay questions were brutal but I think I answered them well enough." Noel dropped his bag, collapsed beside Luca on the couch. "I need to stop thinking about it before I convince myself I failed."

"You didn’t fail."

"You don’t know that."

"You never fail. You just catastrophize and then get an A."

"George’s energy is rubbing off on you."

Luca smiled, shifting so Noel could lean against him properly. "What’s your next exam?"

"Wednesday morning. Global Economics. Then Friday afternoon, International Development."

"So tomorrow you’re free."

"Technically. But I should study."

"You should rest."

"I’ll rest after finals."

"Noel—"

"I know. Balance. Self-care. All that." Noel closed his eyes. "Tomorrow. I’ll take tomorrow easier. Today I just need to decompress."

"Fair."

They stayed like that for a while, cat eventually joining them, the apartment quiet except for the radiator’s occasional hiss.

The simple comfort of having survived another day.

Luca’s phone buzzed. The group chat.

Emily: Survived day one. Four more to go. We’ve got this.

George: speak for yourself im already dead

Emily: Dramatic.

George: accurate

Luca typed: We’ve survived worse.

Emily: Have we though?

Luca: Freshman year. Remember that week we had three midterms, two presentations, and that group project from hell?

George: oh god i blocked that out

Emily: That WAS worse. Okay. Perspective restored. We can do this.

George: we can do this

George: probably

Emily: GEORGE.

George: WE CAN DO THIS

Luca smiled.

Noel shifted against him. "What are you smiling about?"

"Emily yelling at George in the group chat. Some things never change."

"Let me see."

Luca showed him the messages. Noel huffed a quiet laugh. "Four years and they still have the same dynamic."

"It works for them."

Evening settled in slowly.

Noel eventually shifted off the couch, mumbling something about needing to shower.

Luca stayed sprawled out, listening to the water run, the familiar sounds of their apartment at rest.

When Noel emerged—hair damp, wearing soft clothes—he didn’t go back to his textbooks. Instead, he headed to the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" Luca asked.

"Making dinner."

"We could order."

"I want to cook." Noel pulled vegetables from the fridge, set them on the counter. "You just lie there. I’ve got this."

Luca watched him move around the kitchen—efficient, focused, the same way he approached everything.

Chopping vegetables with precision, heating oil in the pan, adding ingredients in careful order.

"You’re staring," Noel said without turning around.

"Just appreciating the view."

"Smooth."

"I try."

The apartment filled with the smell of garlic and ginger, something savory and warm.

Luca’s stomach reminded him he’d barely eaten since breakfast.

Fifteen minutes later, Noel plated stir-fried noodles, brought them to the coffee table.

They ate sitting on the floor, backs against the couch, shoulders touching.

"This is good," Luca said.

"It’s simple."

"Still good."

They finished eating in comfortable quiet.

Luca collected the plates, washed them while Noel dried.

The routine was so familiar now it didn’t require thought—just movement, presence, the easy rhythm of two people who’d learned each other’s patterns.

"Come here," Noel said softly.

Luca turned. Noel was leaning against the counter, arms open.

Luca stepped into them, letting Noel pull him close. His head found Noel’s shoulder, fitting perfectly in the space it always did.

"Tired?" Noel asked, voice rumbling against Luca’s ear.

"Little bit."

"Me too."

They stood like that, swaying slightly, no music playing but moving anyway.

Noel’s hand traced slow patterns on Luca’s back, soothing and steady.

"I’m glad you’re here," Noel murmured.

"Where else would I be?"

"I don’t know. Just glad anyway."

Luca pulled back enough to see his face. "Me too."

Noel kissed him—slow and unhurried, the kind of kiss that wasn’t leading anywhere, just existing for its own sake.

His hands cupped Luca’s face, thumbs brushing his cheekbones.

When they broke apart, Noel’s expression was soft. "Bed?"

"Yeah."

They turned off the lights, checked that cat had water, moved to the bedroom. Changed for sleep, slipped under the covers.

Noel reached for him immediately, pulling Luca against his chest, arm secure around his waist.

"Sleepy," Noel said into the darkness.

"Yeah, sleepy," Luca echoed. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Luca laced his fingers through Noel’s, brought their joined hands to rest against his chest.

"Love you," he said quietly.

"Love you too."

Outside, the city hummed on. Inside, everything was still.

Luca’s eyes drifted closed, Noel’s heartbeat steady against his spine, and sleep came easy.

One exam down. Four more to go.

But tonight, none of that mattered.

Tonight was just them.

And that was more than enough.