At dawn, Huo Youqing finally couldn’t keep himself awake and fell asleep. When he woke up, he wasn’t on the couch anymore—he was on the hospital bed.
The person who should have been on the bed was now sitting in a chair beside it. He wasn’t doing anything, just resting his face in his hands, staring at Huo Youqing. It was impossible to tell how long he’d been watching.
The bodyguards who had been keeping watch were gone, and even Gong Lang was nowhere to be seen.
When Huo Youqing tried to sit up, a pair of hands reached out to help him. “Let me help you, big brother.”
With a sharp smack, he slapped the hands away.
“Don’t touch me,” Huo Youqing frowned. He wasn’t made of clay, and seeing Dai Yuan only worsened his mood.
Dai Yuan looked both shocked and hurt, withdrawing his hands but still staying beside Huo Youqing. In a soft voice, he asked, “Brother, are you hungry? I had some food prepared—everything you like. Once you wash up, you can eat.”
Huo Youqing ignored him. He threw off the blanket, getting ready to leave, but before his feet could even touch the slippers, Dai Yuan knelt down on one knee. With pale, slender fingers, he held Huo Youqing’s ankle and gently slid the slippers on.
He did it with such familiarity, as though he’d done it countless times before.
Huo Youqing froze for a moment. By the time he snapped out of it, the soft slippers were already on his feet, and Dai Yuan had stood up again, obediently standing to the side. Huo Youqing bit his lip in frustration, unwilling to exchange another word. The slippers were already on; taking them off just to put them back on would be pointless and odd.
Forget it—just leave.
But when Huo Youqing reached the door, Dai Yuan blocked his path.
At some point, Dai Yuan’s eyes had reddened. Still in his hospital gown, he said, “I really didn’t know they’d think my injury had anything to do with you. The moment I woke up, I cleared it up with them. Please don’t be mad at me, brother. I know I was wrong…”
Seeing his expression, Huo Youqing recoiled as if he’d seen a venomous snake, quickly stepping back several paces.
Tears welled up in Dai Yuan’s eyes, and then something even more shocking happened.
He knelt down, pulling off the top of his hospital gown, revealing his upper body. “It’s my fault they hurt you. If you’re mad, just hit me.”
He trembled, as if in fear, biting his lower lip with pale teeth. His amber eyes were cast downward, staring at the floor, too scared to look at Huo Youqing.
Dai Yuan’s physique didn’t match his fragile demeanor. His body, pale as it was, was muscular and defined, with clear abdominal muscles—an eight-pack, even.
Huo Youqing cursed under his breath, calling him crazy, and hurried out of the room. It was already afternoon, and the hospital and its surroundings were bustling with people. Huo Youqing had no money, no phone, and had to figure out how to catch a taxi back to his neighborhood. He planned to borrow the security guard’s phone and call his cousin to help pay for the ride.
The street outside the hospital was packed with people trying to hail taxis. Each time someone got out, another person would jump in, leaving no chance for Huo Youqing. He scanned the area and decided to cross the street to the opposite side to try his luck there.
What he didn’t expect was for a scooter to run a red light. It darted out from the traffic, speeding across the crosswalk.
In moments of danger, people often don’t have time to react. Huo Youqing looked in the direction of the scooter but froze, unable to move.
“Bang—”
The scooter crashed to the ground with a loud thud.
Huo Youqing found himself shielded beneath someone’s body. He took a moment to realize that the person holding him was Dai Yuan.
Dai Yuan had followed him without him noticing. Just before the scooter hit, he had thrown himself over Huo Youqing, protecting him. Huo Youqing only ended up with a scraped palm, but Dai Yuan wasn’t so lucky. The scooter had run over his leg, and his hospital pants were now stained with fresh blood.
—
Having just left the hospital, they found themselves right back there.
But this time, neither Gong Lang nor Qiu Wenfei showed up. It was Huo Youqing’s cousin who arrived after receiving his call. His cousin immediately spotted Huo Youqing outside the operating room, rushed over, and draped a coat over him. “Are you hurt?” he asked in a low voice.
Huo Youqing had been staring at the “In Surgery” sign. When he heard his cousin, he turned his head, his face pale. Shaking his head, he replied, “I’m not. It’s Dai Yuan who’s hurt.”
His cousin had already heard what had happened over the phone. He’d brought along some congee and warm water. While helping Huo Youqing warm up, he reassured him, “It’s fine. I asked about it—it’s just a scooter accident, nothing too serious.”
His cousin was right, but it wasn’t a minor injury either.
Dai Yuan had a fractured bone.
A fracture—meaning at least three months of recovery, which required care.
Huo Youqing considered that Dai Yuan had gotten injured saving him and thought of paying for a caregiver. But Dai Yuan refused. Lying pale in his hospital bed, he said, “I don’t want a stranger taking care of me.”
“Then should I call Gong Lang and the others?” Huo Youqing asked.
Dai Yuan immediately rejected the idea. “What they did last time was too much. I don’t want to see them.”
Huo Youqing hesitated. “But they did it because of you.”
“That wasn’t what I wanted,” Dai Yuan said, falling silent afterward. Huo Youqing also grew quiet.
He understood what Dai Yuan was implying: Dai Yuan wanted him to take care of him. But Huo Youqing wanted nothing more than to distance himself from Dai Yuan, not look after him. However, Dai Yuan had gotten hurt because of him.
He didn’t want to owe anyone.
After a long while, Dai Yuan spoke softly, “Actually, I can take care of myself. The doctor said it’s not a serious injury, and I should be able to leave the hospital in a little over a week to recover at home.” He added casually, “My house is pretty big, the master bedroom and the guest room are the same size, both with private bathrooms.”
Huo Youqing suddenly felt like laughing. “You could make it even clearer if you like, but I’m not going to stay there anyway. Here’s the deal—I’ll take care of you while you’re in the hospital, but only for the time you’re here. Once you’re discharged, whether you want to look after yourself or hire a caregiver, that’s up to you.”
Dai Yuan made a sound of acknowledgment, looking a little aggrieved.
Huo Youqing ignored him, thinking that if either Gong Lang or Qiu Wenfei showed up, the promise he made earlier would no longer count. He had a few things to discuss with them as well.
However, during those days at the hospital, neither Gong Lang nor Qiu Wenfei appeared—it was as if they had vanished.
Actually, Dai Yuan wasn’t much trouble. Aside from needing help getting in and out of bed and having his meals set on the small table for him, Huo Youqing was relieved that he didn’t have to take care of much else. He really wasn’t good at taking care of people.
The rest of the time, Huo Youqing just sat on the sofa working on translations with his laptop.
The new job he had found had fallen through, so he took up the job his cousin had previously introduced him to.
It didn’t require office hours, as long as he completed the tasks within the deadline.
The week they spent together in the hospital passed without incident, except for Dai Yuan occasionally forgetting to use the correct form of address.
The day before Dai Yuan was discharged, Huo Youqing returned to his cousin’s house as usual. When he opened the door, he was surprised to see a woman he didn’t know.
He froze, but before he could ask who she was, the woman smiled warmly and said, “You must be Youyou, right? Come in. The food is almost ready. You can wash your hands and eat.”
Seeing that Huo Youqing didn’t move, the woman suddenly realized something. “Oh, I forgot to introduce myself! Hello, I’m Yi Rouyu, your cousin’s girlfriend.”
From the kitchen, his cousin’s voice called out, “Little Rou, has Youyou come home? Tell him to come in for dinner.”
Yi Rouyu responded, then gently invited Huo Youqing inside, asking if he wanted something to drink. “Youyou, would you like water or something else? We have tea, Coke, Sprite, coconut juice—anything you like.”
Huo Youqing replied, “No need to trouble yourself, I can get it myself.”
Yi Rouyu smiled. “Alright, then sit down for a bit. I’ll help your cousin in the kitchen.”
With that, she walked into the kitchen, leaned close to his cousin, and whispered something.
Seeing this, Huo Youqing took out his phone. His cousin had sent him a message earlier, saying he was bringing his girlfriend home for dinner, but he hadn’t seen it.
After dinner, Huo Youqing volunteered to go for a walk around the neighborhood, giving the couple some privacy. When he returned at 11 p.m., he noticed that the girl’s high heels were still at the door.
Realizing what that meant, he quietly showered and went to his room. His cousin’s door was closed, the lights were off, and it seemed they had already gone to bed.
Huo Youqing planned to read a few pages of a foreign novel before sleeping, but just as he opened the book, a strange noise reached his ears.
