When Tang Jin went home, he quietly covered his stomach and Xu Bai Chuan, who didn't notice anything, soundly went to bed. In the middle of the night, he woke up to the sight of Tang Jin bent over with his arm pressed down on the kitchen counter. The gurgling sound of the electric kettle resonated through the house. Noticing Xu Bai Chuan's emergence, Tang Jin pitifully asked, "Is there stomach medicine? My stomach kinda hurts."
He felt pained to the point that beads of sweat broke out from his forehead to his nose. And he still said "kinda"?
Not allowing any further explanation, Xu Bai Chuan took Tang Jin to the hospital. After an examination, it was found that he had acute gastritis, must be hospitalized and receive intravenous fluids.
It hasn't even been long and he was admitted for the second time. When the doctor heard that he was hospitalized because of gastric bleeding not long ago, he scolded Xu Bai Chuan as his words dripped with sarcasm.
This time, Tang Jin covered his stomach with one hand while obediently watching the needle prick the vein on the back of his hand. While he was in so much pain that a blue vein pulsated on his forehead, he pretendingly urged Xu Bai Chuan to head home and rest.
The two words "don't go" were written on Tang Jin's face and his hand was still gripping onto Xu Bai Chuan's sleeve when he told him to leave. What an act.
Since Xu Bai Chuan purposely ordered a very spicy hotpot dish tonight to make things difficult for Tang Jin, he cannot escape from the responsibility of Tang Jin being admitted into the hospital. How can he just leave? As he moved a chair over to the bedside, Tang Jin was still pretending to be sensible. "I already said that you don't have to stay..."
The doctor had advised him to drink warm water so Xu Bai Chuan, who didn't feel like dealing with Tang Jin's two-facedness, got up to fetch some. Believing that he was leaving, Tang Jin hurriedly propped himself upright and reached out, wanting to grab him. Hearing the noise, Xu Bai Chuan turned around and became frightened by the sight, then hastened to support him back onto the bed.
Tang Jin: "You're really leaving!?"
Xu Bai Chuan directed a meaningful look at him. "Fetching water."
Tang Jin let out an embarrassed "oh", then returned to the bed. He held back before finally saying, "Then come back quickly."
Xu Bai Chuan: "..."
After getting the IV until 2 a.m., the pain eased so Tang Jin relaxed and soon felt drowsy. Just before he fell asleep, Tang Jin didn't forget to considerately button-up Xu Bai Chuan's sleeves. Obviously, Xu Bai Chuan could free himself from this small trick through little effort, but as he looked at Tang Jin's somewhat wan sleepy face, he forcibly came up with a reason: This is compensation for inciting Tang Jin to eat that spicy hotpot.
Then Xu Bai Chuan turned off his phone, rested his upper body on the bed, and had a light nap. In his hazy state, he felt someone move him so he opened his eyes and found that Tang Jin was trying to carry him onto the bed.
This scene had appeared in the sweet fictional life he had once fabricated. He wrote: 【Mr. Tang bent down. One arm supported Mr. Xu's back and the other went behind Mr. Xu's knees as he spread the other's weight on himself. Then he unhurriedly lifted him. After he placed Mr. Xu on the hospital bed, he circled to the other side and also climbed onto the bed. His movements were gentle as he covered the quilt over both of their bodies. Lastly, perfectly content, he took Mr. Xu into his arms and fell asleep. Mr. Tang had no idea that the moment he closed his eyes, Mr. Xu opened his eyes.】
The reality was that Mr. Tang had no idea what "gentle" and "unhurried" meant so Xu Bai Chuan's legs were forcibly hooked. He thought: 'It'll be impossible to not wake up in such a situation.'
Within the darkness, Tang Jin tried to "spread the other's weight on himself" but met with a pair of eyes. Since the curtains were half-open, Xu Bai Chuan's eyes held some light from the moon and although his expression was unclear, it gave off a cold and indifferent feeling. Tang Jin stiffened in place and awkwardly looked at him.
After making out Tang Jin's current shame, Xu Bai Chuan turned his head away and acted as if he hadn't seen anything. He moved his legs to free himself from Tang Jin's arms and returned to resting on the bed. He mumbled, "Sleep."
Inwardly scolding himself for missing this chance, Tang Jin obediently went back on the bed and slept until dawn.
***
Cheng Xu put off a blind date and took an early flight to H city. When he pushed open the doors of the hospital room, this was the scene he saw-
As Tang Jin lay on his side on the bed, Xu Bai Chuan rested on the bed with a coat wrapped around him. The coat's collar covered him up to his chin, and slightly moved to and fro along with his breathing. His eyes were half-covered by his soft black hair, and only a part of his small white cheek was revealed...
Time rewound to seven years ago, back to a place where they first began to become familiar with one another. There were many times when they would play games until very late at night at Tang Jin's house, huddled on a large bed together, and shoved each other bodies as they slept through to the next morning. Cheng Xu had seen many of Xu Bai Chuan's sleeping faces during senior high. He believed that this was a movie of youth starring three people, and there will be countless opportunities in the future. He never expected it to have been a romance movie all along. And he was merely a supporting role.
Tang Jin was still asleep. Three empty infusion bags hung on the metal rack beside the bed, and a few remaining drops of fluid stopped midway in the tube, nearly slipping down. At that moment, Cheng Xu's heart rate picked up. He didn't know why he placed his reasoning on a trifling drop of fluid. Perhaps, it's because he saw its weakness and vulnerability.
When the fluid finally dripped down, he appeared to finally have an excuse. He slowly walked to the bedside, extended his hand, and lightly brushed Xu Bai Chuan's hair which was concealing his eyes to one side.
Seemingly sensing something in his sleep, Xu Bai Chuan's eyelashes lightly quivered.
Cheng Xu's hand on Xu Bai Chuan's hair paused for an instant. He bent his index finger and used the back of this finger to lightly brush against the quivering eyelashes. Just when he was about to take it one step further, a hand suddenly grabbed his wrist. He was under such great shock that even his shoulders subtly shook. Raising his head, he met with Tang Jin's dark eyes.
"What. Are. You. Doing?" Tang Jin lowered his voice, pausing after each word.