Chapter 38

Chapter 38

Gu Jinglan headed downstairs first, while Qi Yanyu lazed in bed for a while before finally heading down.

There were three barbecue grills set up. Most of the girls were busy skewering food or passing out juice, while the boys were either skewering, carrying beer, firing up the grills, or mostly grilling meat.

Qi Yanyu searched for Gu Jinglan and caught him stepping out of the guesthouse.

It seemed he had specifically gone to Xia Yiyi’s room. As he emerged, Xia Yiyi, who had just come out to check on the new grill, hollered at him, asking if the newly lit grill was ready for meat. The third new grill was mostly surrounded by girls from Class 1.

Gu Jinglan didn’t avoid the situation at all, replying, “'Course it's ready.”

Qi Yuanhan butted in, “Why do you have so many girls around you? Is the grill on? Grill me some corn—I’m starving.”

“The girls haven’t even complained about being hungry yet. What’s your excuse?” Gu Jinglan fired back, eliciting occasional laughter from the group.

Amid the cheerful chatter opposite him, Qi Yanyu stared blankly before shifting his gaze downward to the lonely drink station.

He thought to himself, *Jinglan's living the dream, huh.* Absentmindedly, he jabbed at an ear of corn with his skewer, nearly crushing the kernels.

After a long wait, the barbecue still wasn’t ready, with the first batches going to the girls.

Qi Yanyu glanced at Gu Jinglan again. Xia Yiyi was chatting beside him, occasionally fanning him with her hand fan.

Later, the fan seemed to have been borrowed by someone, so Xia Yiyi fanned herself with her hand, occasionally directing a breeze toward Gu Jinglan as well.

Their closeness was so obvious it might as well have screamed, *Look at this perfect match—who’s he to object?*

Qi Yanyu fought back the discomfort in his stomach from eating too little at lunch and too late at dinner.

He found a seat and watched Gu Jinglan and Xia Yiyi.

He wondered, *Did Gu Jinglan arrange to switch rooms tonight to stay with Xia Yiyi?*

Occasionally stealing glances, he seethed inside like some dank creepy-crawly, silently cursing them.

His fingers clenched into empty fists. He made himself breathe evenly and kept his gaze steady, not letting it wander.

Otherwise, a jabbing pain would flare in his left chest. Sometimes, Qi Yanyu couldn’t tell if the pain was physical or emotional.

Maybe it was similar to the stress-induced chest knots parents got from helping their kids with homework?

But it wasn’t entirely anger affecting his liver—his chest kept seizing up. Whenever it hurt, he’d slightly curl his fingers into a fist. If he could press the pain into his palm, maybe it would ease the ache in his chest.

Finally, all three grills were roaring, cooking much more efficiently than before when the fire was weak or the grilling unskilled.

And Xia Yiyi was no longer by Gu Jinglan’s side.

Qi Yanyu made a show of grabbing a disposable paper plate for food but actually approached Gu Jinglan. After holding back for so long, he needed to take some of it out on him:

“If you’re switching rooms with me tonight, upgrade me to a penthouse. Otherwise, don’t bother.”

He thought to himself—either Gu Jinglan would leave, or he would.

Gu Jinglan blinked in confusion, hearing Qi Yanyu’s sharp-toned words. He glanced at him, his pallor making him look ghostly in the dim light. Then, deliberately, he smirked:

“What’s wrong with Room 409?”

Gu Jinglan didn’t seem to care about the meaning behind Qi Yanyu’s words—perhaps because Qi Yanyu was just some random roommate to him.

He was unshaken, his voice calm and breezy. He neither understood nor cared to figure out where Qi Yanyu's inexplicable anger was coming from.

"Tiny and run-down." If Gu Jinglan were to stay with Xia Yiyi tonight, he’d chuck all of Gu’s stuff out the window.

"Oh," Gu Jinglan seemed completely unbothered by his tantrum. "What are you doing here? Want some chicken hearts?"

Qi Yanyu’s outburst bounced right off him—Gu Jinglan hadn’t taken any of it to heart. "I can’t stand organ meat."

After the barbecue that night, Gu Jinglan lost a game, and the penalty was letting everyone use his room for cards.

Qi Yanyu had barely eaten at the barbecue and returned to his room early.

While in his room, a sudden pounding at the door startled him. When he opened it, he froze as a crowd barged in—some carrying their own chairs, others snacks and leftover barbecue, and a few hauling crates of beer. Men and women alike, rowdy and loud, munching on sunflower seeds and shouting over card games.

Qi Yanyu, still nauseous from motion sickness, watched as his room was turned into a damn game hall—until Gu Jinglan walked in last.

"You gave up your fucking room?"

Gu Jinglan glanced at him, noticing he looked less pale than when he’d been demanding water and cake earlier. "They insisted. What could I do?" He drawled, clearly egging him on.

"Kick them out." Qi Yanyu was already feeling unwell, and now his room had become a party venue.

"Go eat something, take a breather. Come back later for cards, and they’ll be gone." Gu Jinglan’s words sounded caring, but he was really just trying to get him to vacate the room.

And the mention of "leftovers"—was that supposed to be some pity offer? "When are you making them leave?" Qi Yanyu was still bitter about seeing Gu Jinglan and Xia Yiyi together during the barbecue.

"Go eat something, take a breather, come back later for cards, and they’ll be gone." Gu Jinglan made it sound effortless—probably because he wasn’t staying in Room 409 tonight.

"You’re a real piece of work." Furious, Qi Yanyu stormed downstairs, slammed the door hard. No one noticed—they were too busy drinking and playing cards.

He didn’t go downstairs to eat. Instead, he found a quiet spot at a table on the first floor to sit for a while.

After the motion sickness, he’d been dizzy all night, and now a headache was setting in.

He angrily typed out a rant on his phone about Gu Jinglan—only to delete it all later.

Meanwhile, the innkeepers were cleaning up the mess in the courtyard.

Qi Yanyu sat there, fists clenched. The innkeeper, thinking he might need something, asked if he wanted more barbecue—there was plenty left.

He shook his head, just staring down at his hands.

His hands were ghostly pale. He didn’t even know where the discomfort was coming from, but he’d dug his nails into his left hand, leaving marks.

After sitting for a while, he couldn’t take it anymore and slumped over the table, his headache feeding his rage and frustration.

But there was no one to respond to his rage, leaving him like a caged cricket with no fight left.

Not long after Qi Yanyu went downstairs, Gu Jinglan followed. Seeing no one else around except the cleaning lady, he spotted the guy alone at a wooden table, head resting on its surface.

Gu Jinglan first asked the innkeeper if there were any vacant rooms—even an hourly one—and said he’d pay extra.

She mentioned a small room her son used when he was home from school, furnished like a guest room but much smaller, with a tiny bed. Gu Jinglan said it was fine.

After getting the key, he walked over to the first-floor lounge and yanked Qi Yanyu upright.

Qi Yanyu was startled, looking up to see a familiar face, and his bottled-up rage flared up instantly. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Messing with you."

Gu Jinglan yanked him all the way to a room on the first floor.

When Qi Yanyu heard those two words, which carried a flirtatious undertone, his heart skipped a beat. But soon, he understood what it really meant.

Gu Jinglan didn’t give him a chance to react or refuse, manhandling him forward while gripping his wrist tightly, using his other hand to unlock the door with the key.

Then he pushed him inside—perhaps having anticipated long ago that Qi Yanyu would be extremely uncooperative.

Qi Yanyu was already fuming, and being dragged around like this only fueled his fury:

"Are they still gambling in my room?"

Gu Jinglan coolly eyed him. "You could go upstairs and join them. Why don’t you?"

"Are you fucking kidding me? I went back to my room to rest—what the hell would I play?" Qi Yanyu had no idea how he ended up being shoved into this cramped room.

Gu Jinglan continued, "You’re not feeling well. Crash here for a bit. They’ll clear out by ten."

Ten? He had to wait until ten?

"Gu Jinglan, did you turn my room into a damn hotel for Xia Yiyi’s friends?" Qi Yanyu’s anger finally found an outlet—Gu Jinglan was the perfect vessel to bear his rage.

Gu Jinglan studied him with a composed expression, having originally intended to provoke him but not expecting such a fierce reaction.

"Qi Yuanhan is there too." Meaning it wasn’t just the students from the neighboring class—there were also friends Qi Yanyu knew in Room 409.

"Why not throw the party in Xia Yiyi’s room? Why mine?" Qi Yanyu kept harping on this point, refusing to let it go. He and Xia Yiyi meant different things to Gu Jinglan, and even though he knew that, it only made him angrier.

Gu Jinglan looked at him, realizing how quick he was to snap. "Xia Yiyi didn’t lose the game. Besides, they’re switching rooms at random—they’ll stay in everyone’s room for a bit before leaving. Why are you so mad?"

"I don’t give a shit when they leave. Did I agree to this?"

Maybe because of his temper, the whole night had been like sitting on a powder keg, ready to explode at any moment. His words came out between gasps.

"What’s bothering you now?" Gu Jinglan, however, shifted the topic, studying his face.

Qi Yanyu almost laughed. Did he bring this on himself? Or was it Gu Jinglan who caused it?

"You’d be happy if your room got taken over?"

"Why wouldn’t I be happy?" Gu Jinglan seemed to be asking deliberately, just to provoke him.

"Fuck you—"

"Keep your mouth shut." If not for the fact that Qi Yanyu was winded, Gu Jinglan wouldn’t have bothered.

Was he faking his discomfort? Couldn’t Gu Jinglan see he was still suffering from motion sickness?

"Asthma? Or heart problems?" Gu Jinglan mocked, he was getting impatient—this guy had a terrible temper on top of poor health. Did he do this to himself?

Only when concerned about his health did Gu Jinglan’s expression become slightly more serious, dropping the smirk.

Qi Yanyu laughed. "Oh, now you care about your roommate? Worried you’ll get blamed, huh?"

Right. If Gu Jinglan was afraid of liability, he could’ve just played dumb. The only reason he bothered was because he was the only one who knew about Qi Yanyu’s health issues—otherwise, why bother?

"Exactly, I'm afraid your death would screw up my grad school plans." Gu Jinglan spared no harshness—this was how Qi Yanyu had first schooled him in talking.

Originally, if a conversation with someone wasn’t going well, you could just drop it. But now there was another option: when the conversation stalled, you could needle the other person relentlessly until both sides ended in a brawl. This was the "communication method" Qi Yanyu had first taught him.

Qi Yanyu was furious. He was the first to throw a punch.

Gu Jinglan didn’t hold back at all. The two of them tumbled onto the narrow single bed, wrestling. Gu Jinglan, a combat jiu-jitsu practitioner, could’ve flipped someone to the ground with a single leg sweep.

But he only used his arm strength—he knew the guy couldn’t handle being thrown. Twisting Qi Yanyu’s arm behind his back, he shoved him face-first on the bed.

When he tried to restrain Qi Yanyu’s thrashing left hand as well, Qi Yanyu resisted, twisting around to kick at him.

After taking a few hits, Gu Jinglan tightened his grip, pressing Qi Yanyu firmly into the mattress, one knee planted on his writhing back and thrashing waist.

"You don’t seem uncomfortable at all—you look perfectly fine to me..."

After a round of fighting, Qi Yanyu was outmatched.

Gu Jinglan was holding back. Even with Qi Yanyu’s street-fighter scrappiness, Gu Jinglan didn’t let him gain an inch of advantage.

Kneeling over Qi Yanyu, he effortlessly wrenched his spent left arm free, listening to his ragged breathing.

Both hands were now pinned behind his back, and even his kicking legs were trapped under Gu Jinglan’s knee.

"Still got the energy to fight? Doesn’t seem like you’re that unwell."

"Fuck y—"

Qi Yanyu’s face was pressed into the bed, gasping for air. He struggled but couldn’t break free, like a carp hooked through the gills—still thrashing, but without the earlier ferocity.

Gu Jinglan studied his stubborn expression, his heaving chest, the rise and fall of his breath.

His face was calm, but his eyes held a frosty gleam as he said, "Didn’t you want to switch rooms? Don’t worry, I’ll get you a bigger one later."

He hadn’t actually wanted to switch rooms—he’d just been talking shit to annoy Gu Jinglan, barking about swapping for a presidential suite in exchange for Room 409.

Gu Jinglan had him pinned so completely he couldn’t even crawl away.

If Gu Jinglan were a doctor, Qi Yanyu thought, he’d be the type to strap patients down and cut them open without hesitation.

Qi Yanyu gasped, trapped.

"How the hell did someone like you even get into school?"

"I can still score perfect grades like this. What about you—are you functionally impaired?" Qi Yanyu sneered, even while thoroughly restrained.

"Unlike you, I bet you had to break your back studying for those perfect scores, huh?" Gu Jinglan saw right through his past efforts and smirked.

"You’re just leaning on your doctor-family advantage, knowing a tiny bit more than others..."

"True, not only do I know a bit more, but I’m also better at pinning people than you."

Gu Jinglan pulled off Qi Yanyu’s jacket and used it to tie his hands behind his back.

Qi Yanyu found this humiliating, but there was also a weird, creeping dread—a strange feeling creeping in—what if Gu Jinglan was planning something worse? "Wh-what are you doing?!"

"If you can’t behave, someone’s gotta knock some sense into you."

Qi Yanyu laughed in extreme anger, "Who the hell gave you the right—" But before he could finish, the other man yanked him up by his clothes, lifting him slightly off the bed.

Then Gu Jinglan flipped him over, forcing him onto his back in an awkward position, staring up at Gu Jinglan.

"Now that’s more like it. Nice and quiet."

"Screw your dad—"

"My dad’s pushing sixty—good luck with that. But I could wreck you easy."

"You bastard—"

Gu Jinglan set him down on the bed. Qi Yanyu tried to get up, but with his hands bound behind his back by his own jacket, he couldn’t roll over. He was stranded like a flipped turtle, watching helplessly as Gu Jinglan dug around for something.

His eyes followed as Gu Jinglan pulled something out from either his backpack or jacket—Qi Yanyu wasn’t sure when he’d brought it down.

For a moment, Qi Yanyu feared he might suddenly pull out a belt to whip him. The idea sent a jolt of both thrill and rage through him.

Thrill because Gu Jinglan had so many tricks up his sleeve. Rage because who did this guy think he was?

But instead, Gu Jinglan retrieved a medicine box from his own clothes, opened it, and walked over. He seized Qi Yanyu’s collar, hauling him up even as he lay awkwardly bound.

"What?"

Qi Yanyu caught a glimpse of the nitroglycerin packaging.

It was from that time Gu Jinglan had begged for heart meds in the dorm chat—leftovers from some pity handout.

He didn’t want to take it.

So Gu Jinglan gripped his chin, wrenching his jaw open, no mercy at all.

"I won’t take it. My heart doesn’t hurt," Qi Yanyu protested. Was this psycho for real? Not even his own brother had shoved pills down his throat.

"Doesn’t hurt? Then why’re you gasping like a fish?"

Qi Yanyu wanted to snarl—he was so angry he almost laughed—except he couldn’t.

Since when did panting mean his heart hurt?

Try fighting and see if you don’t pant, you bastard!

"You fucking—"

His mouth never stayed clean, but Gu Jinglan had his jaw locked in a vise grip. The pill got shoved in.

Nitroglycerin’s supposed to dissolve under the tongue, not get gulped down.

But since Qi Yanyu showed no sign of cooperation, Gu Jinglan forced a paper cup to his mouth.

Forced to take a couple of sips, Qi Yanyu shot him a glare sharp enough to draw blood.

"So this is your method? Should’ve guessed." Gu Jinglan mocked with a faint smirk, only letting go once he’d swallowed.

Qi Yanyu had clearly heard Gu Jinglan say earlier that him dying would screw up his grad school plans—and that was probably true.

Gu Jinglan alone knew how bad it was. If he dropped dead, Qi Muyao’s first target would be Gu Jinglan.

That’s why Gu Jinglan gave a damn whether he lived or croaked. Otherwise? Gu Jinglan wouldn’t piss on him if he was on fire.

He wished he could shove the medicine down his throat the moment he had an attack, keeping watch just to see that he hadn’t stopped breathing, then lightly pat his face and say, "Guess you’ll live another day."

"Go to hell."

Watching him pant, his eyes burning red with anger, his originally pale face now flushed with rage, the color returning instantly, rosy and glowing—better than any damn pill.

But his mouth was clamped shut again, scrutinizing his pampered face: "Drop another ‘mother’ insult, and I'll parade you outside for everyone to see what you look like."

fell silent, his eyes wet with rage and panic, all ’s doing—pushing him, scaring him.

He rarely cursed like this. It was entirely due to 's shocking, infuriating, and humiliating actions.

This wasn’t the he knew—except it totally was.

On the surface, icy and refined, all princely manners, but in private, he’d cuss him out and wrestle him down.

Seeing he’d stopped cursing and was somewhat obedient now, let out a mean little grin at his defiance: "What, no more words?"

Where’s all that big talk now?

He wanted to dig up ’s ancestors and curse them.

His hands were still bound by the jacket, his strength drained from the earlier fight, and he was genuinely afraid would make good on his threat to drag him out in this state.

So he lay there silently, gasping, shooting daggers at : "You’re unbelievable..."

And hadn’t expected to stumble upon a way to break the brat, stripping away all his arrogance.

Seeing him subdued, needled him: "I’m nothing special. How else could I end up sharing a dorm with you?"

The implication was clear—if you’re a freak, what does that make me?

’s face alternated between pale and red, blending together like poisoned petals.

"Your fangirls oughta get a load of what you're really like."

glared at him, his chest heaving relentlessly, still squirming under the knife.

Using cheap street-fighter tricks, pinning him down in this tiny room to shove pills down his throat.

"Wouldn’t they like me even more like this? Doesn’t it excite you—and them?" spoke with a sleazy kind of elegance, his words filthy yet perfectly striking ’s mix of shame and fury.

Look at him, heaving like a racehorse, yet ghost-pale but burning up.

’s urge to tease him hadn’t faded. He added, "Don’t tell me you don’t like it?"

Yeah, right. Like he’d ever admit that.

But... he didn’t exactly dislike it either.

had never been treated like this before—pinned down by a man he was so hopelessly infatuated with, his emotions in turmoil, completely overturning his previous fantasies about him.

He’d always imagined as some ethereal, compassionate figure, an untouchable flower.

In reality, rotten to the core, a bully through and through.

Like a cat toying with a mouse, he was playing with him.

"I'd sooner jump off a cliff than like this," Qi Yanyu panted, saying the opposite of what he meant.

Gu Jinglan only laughed. "Is that a compliment?"

He tested the tightness of the jacket binding Qi Yanyu’s hands behind his back before loosening them. Qi Yanyu could only sprawl face-down on the bed, panting.

"Let go!"

"Wait for the meds to kick in."

Was he using him as a damn lab rat? Waiting for the meds to take effect? Did he really think he had heart pain? What a moron!

Gu Jinglan sat on a chair closest to the bed, casually flipping through a book as if nothing had happened.

The two were trapped in a cramped ten-square-meter room, yet Gu Jinglan didn’t join the card games outside, opting to cram into this tiny room with him instead.

Qi Yanyu had no strength left to struggle free from the jacket binding his hands.

He sprawled face-down on the bed, his tied-up hands twitching restlessly behind him.

Gu Jinglan hadn’t even finished a chapter before walking back to the bedside to check on him again.

He turned Qi Yanyu onto his back to face him directly.

Qi Yanyu glared at him furiously. "Are you some kind of lab junkie? Haven’t you tortured enough lab rabbits?"

Gu Jinglan didn’t bother hiding his amusement as he nodded. "Just looking at you makes me itch to stick you with a needle."

"You’re fucking insane."

"Wrong. Take a look—who’s the one in control here? Who’s saving you?"

Gu Jinglan worked his fingers along Qi Yanyu’s bound arm, even pressing and kneading his palm and fingers a few times.

Without untying the jacket, he flipped Qi Yanyu onto his other side—originally on his right, now on his left.

This time, Qi Yanyu lay with his back to Gu Jinglan, unable to see what he was doing.

Impatient, he started swearing up a storm again soon after.

Gu Jinglan occasionally glanced over, but most of the time, he was studying surgical videos on his phone.

When Qi Yanyu’s curses grew louder, Gu Jinglan returned after a while, propping him up just to give him water from a disposable cup.

Qi Yanyu had no choice but to swallow a few sips, still glaring at Gu Jinglan. "Let me go."

Gu Jinglan ignored him completely, instead admiring him. "You behave so much better like this."

His ghostly pallor reminded Gu Jinglan of lab rabbits.

And this bastard wasn’t half as compliant as a rabbit.

By the time Qi Yanyu’s hands began to go numb, Gu Jinglan finally cut him loose. The moment he was freed, Qi Yanyu wanted to punch him.

But he had no strength left, slumping bonelessly onto the narrow bed.

Gu Jinglan pinned him firmly to the bed, then used the jacket to tie one of his hands to the headboard.

"I'm already out of strength." Why go through the trouble?

Gu Jinglan heard him but ignored him.

After a while, Gu Jinglan seemed to receive a message on his phone and got up to go.

"Where are you going?"

"Upstairs." Gu Jinglan didn’t elaborate before walking out.

Qi Yanyu thought he was going to find Xia Yiyi. His mood shifted from the oddly comforting feeling of being stuck in this small room with Gu Jinglan to complete misery.

With one hand tied to the headboard, he couldn't even muster the energy to use his free hand to untie himself.

He just wondered why he had to go and fall for a straight guy.

This man wasn't anything like the person he had imagined.

Why did he like him?

Thinking that Gu Jinglan was probably playing with Xia Yiyi and the others in Room 409, Qi Yanyu’s barely cooled anger flared up again—only this time, it burned with pure heartache.

But not even five minutes later, Gu Jinglan returned.

He was holding something, though what exactly wasn't clear. As soon as he entered, he scanned what little furniture remained in the room before finally placing it on the bedside table.

From the moment Gu Jinglan walked in, Qi Yanyu had been staring at him. Only then did he realize, to his surprise, that Gu Jinglan had brought back a large slice of cream cake.

Qi Yanyu froze for a moment. The hundred curses he had ready for Gu Jinglan instantly vanished.

Gu Jinglan looked at him—his pale, stunned face—and asked, "Weren't you just complaining about wanting cake?"

Gu Jinglan was handsome. Lying there, Qi Yanyu could see his sharp jawline, not an ounce of fat or unevenness. His cold, detached aura was exactly Qi Yanyu’s type.

"Where did the cake come from?" Qi Yanyu asked, equal parts shocked and suspicious.

"Someone in Class 1 had a birthday."

"Who?" Please don't say it's Xia Yiyi.

"Xue Qian."

"Oh." His wariness gave way to surprised delight, twisting Qi Yanyu’s expression into something complicated.

He could eat the cake with one hand, but he didn’t have much strength left—even scooping it up might make his hand tremble.

A mischievous idea occurred to Qi Yanyu. Hesitantly, he ordered Gu Jinglan, "Feed me."

"Haven't you had enough of acting like a spoiled brat?" Gu Jinglan glared at him, thinking he was being ridiculous. But Qi Yanyu really did look like he needed someone to feed him.

Gu Jinglan sat on the edge of the bed, held the paper plate in one hand, and grabbed a spoon with the other.

He scooped up a bite of cream and cake, then brought it to Qi Yanyu’s lips.

Half-sitting up, Qi Yanyu took the cake from the spoon and chewed. It was made with vegetable cream—sickeningly sweet. Though it wasn't his ideal, getting to eat cream cake under these circumstances, out in the countryside, was more than he expected.

Somehow, his anger subsided another third.

Gu Jinglan shot him another cold glance, his slow, deliberate words laced with sarcasm—though his voice was so smooth it almost softened the blow. "You're so spoiled, you'd be completely useless without servants around, wouldn't you?"

Qi Yanyu couldn’t care less to argue with Gu Jinglan, who was acting like a servant. He was starving and extremely picky, so it was rare for him to actually crave something.

"I don’t want the pineapple filling," he commanded.

"What pineapple filling?" There was no one more spoiled than Qi Yanyu in this world, Gu Jinglan thought.

"The layer with the filling. And I don’t want any fruit either."

"..."

Under Qi Yanyu’s "strict" demands, Gu Jinglan picked out the pineapple and yellow peaches—all canned—hardly fresh. The only non-canned fruit was the honeydew, but it wasn’t sweet at all.

After a few bites of cake, Qi Yanyu finally regained some strength and snapped, "I want water."

"If you’re going to act like an entitled brat, you’d definitely be the obnoxious type, wouldn’t you?" Gu Jinglan said, but he still brought water. Qi Yanyu only took two small sips before retorting, "You talk too much."

"Cake," Qi Yanyu demanded again.

Gu Jinglan rolled his eyes but relented at Qi Yanyu’s pitiful state and fed him the cake.

While Gu Jinglan scooped and delivered the cake to his mouth, Qi Yanyu peeked a few times at him.

Gu Jinglan was focused, his gaze flickering as he checked the cake for any fruit Qi Yanyu might dislike. "Is the fruit really that bad?"

"Not sweet, not fresh."

Gu Jinglan sneered. "Then does the cake pass your royal taste test?"

"Why do people still use vegetable cream for cakes these days?" Qi Yanyu grumbled.

"...How many people in this world can’t even afford cake?" Gu Jinglan wanted to ask him why he didn’t just eat meat if he was so picky.

But Qi Yanyu muttered gloomily, "Don’t pull that guilt-trip crap. I’m still eating the cake, aren’t I?"

Gu Jinglan looked at him—he was sharp-minded but acted like a mess.

After feeding him for a while, Qi Yanyu finally called it quits.

Later, when Gu Jinglan went to wash his hands or shower in the small attached bathroom, Qi Yanyu lay in bed listening to the sound of running water, in a daze.

It almost felt like they were in a hotel room together.

Both of them so strapped they’d rented a dingy little room.

And soon, Gu Jinglan would come out after his shower and take him apart, all while hushing him—the walls were paper-thin.

Qi Yanyu’s left hand had regained some strength, but instead of untying his bound hand, he just kept staring.

When Gu Jinglan came out, he immediately flipped Qi Yanyu—who was a lifelong stomach-sleeper—onto his back to look at him.

Qi Yanyu felt like some experiment, but he didn’t exactly fight it. On the contrary, he kinda liked it.

The hair at Gu Jinglan’s forehead was damp, a few strands falling out of place. He’d probably washed his face.

Looking at him like this, there's a certain vibe of a wolf in scholar's clothing.

Gu Jinglan watched his breathing, thinking that if this were really an autumn outing, he’d want to bring a stethoscope to check if Qi Yanyu was having an asthma attack or heart palpitations.

Qi Yanyu didn’t want to look at him, feeling embarrassed.

But Gu Jinglan didn’t seem to care about that. He studied Qi Yanyu like livestock at auction, trying to determine whether he was having another attack.

The most basic assessment could only be made by checking his lip color, breathing, chest movement, how numb his left hand was, and the degree to which his fingers curled.

"Figured a shower would help me sleep," Qi Yanyu said, feeling tired.

"? What do you mean, shower?"

"?"

"If you collapse in there, I don’t want to fish you out."

Dick.

Gu Jinglan wanted him to stay put and calm his breathing first.

"Not eating?" Gu Jinglan had brought back a huge slab of cake, enough to stuff a grown man. But he noticed a lot of cake still left on the bedside table.

"Full."

"Save it for tomorrow morning."

"I don’t eat leftovers."

Fussy as hell.

Gu Jinglan looked at the cake he'd barely touched, thinking it was such a waste.

At first, he hadn’t noticed, but later Qi Yanyu did a double-take when he saw Gu Jinglan using his used spoon to scoop more cake.

The setup in the room was weird.

Qi Yanyu lay on the bed, his right hand cuffed to the headboard with a jacket. Gu Jinglan sat by the edge of the bed, taking his sweet time with the cake.

Did it not bother him to use utensils someone else had eaten from?

Or maybe… he wasn’t actually that disgusted by gay people after all?

Gu Jinglan ate neatly enough, though he wasn't exactly crazy about cream cake either.

He had asked Xue Qian for such a big piece, yet Qi Yanyu didn’t finish it.

Meanwhile, Room 409 was still playing cards and drinking, but Gu Jinglan was MIA.

Xue Qian even asked Xia Yiyi, "Where’s Gu Jinglan?"

Xia Yiyi didn’t know either.

Later, seeing that Gu Jinglan still hadn’t returned, they got bored. After finishing only half a crate of beer, they headed to another room.

In the small room on the first floor, Qi Yanyu said, "My arm's asleep."

Gu Jinglan went to free him but was still on guard in case he bolted.

Qi Yanyu gazed at the man's handsome face and asked, "You're the butcher from the lab, right? Are you hog-tying someone?"

"Something like that."

Later, Gu Jinglan remained seated beside him, occasionally glancing at him lying there, while frequently flipping pages and comparing surgical videos. Qi Yanyu then said, "I want some ice-cold Coke."

Unexpectedly, Gu Jinglan didn’t even hesitate before replying, not looking up, "No way you’re getting ice-cold Coke."

"Why not?"

"Is your heart condition just for show?"

Qi Yanyu just wanted something sweet: "I want something fizzy, like soda or something." He neither argued nor gave a reason, just repeated and elaborated on his request.

He was still weak—this was the result of not eating properly.

Later, Gu Jinglan left, walking over ten minutes to another inn before finally getting some Coke.

But it was fresh out of the fridge—a whole 2-liter bottle. When he returned, Gu Jinglan poured the icy Coke into a paper cup, letting it warm up a little before drinking.

Staring at the still-icy Coke, Qi Yanyu felt his heart racing a bit.

To distract himself from his racing heartbeat, he asked Gu Jinglan, "I thought you said there wasn’t any? Where’d you buy it?"

Gu Jinglan played it up dramatically: "Someone took a sip and tossed it on the roadside. I picked it up."

Qi Yanyu: "..."

Gu Jinglan laughed, glancing at the germaphobe Qi Yanyu, who indeed looked speechless at his remark.

"Is it ready?" Qi Yanyu urged a few times.

Gu Jinglan touched the paper cup, propped him up, and brought the cup of soda to Qi Yanyu’s lips.

Qi Yanyu sipped at it like a cat. The Coke wasn’t cold anymore, and the fizz was gone. It tasted like bootleg Coke watered down.

But after just a few tiny sips, Qi Yanyu felt better, his dizziness fading.

He sipped at it like a cat lapping water—barely touching it.

"Want more?"

The 2-liter bottle barely looked touched.

"I’ll drink more later."

Gu Jinglan turned the cup to the other side, poured a bit more soda, and took a few sips himself.

Is this guy not a germaphobe?

Qi Yanyu stared blankly at him.

But what was even stranger was that Gu Jinglan didn’t go back to play cards either, just staying here the whole time. Qi Yanyu was totally confused as to why he wasn’t off having fun with Xia Yiyi.

"Why give up your room for them? Stuck here with me—that’s what you get, huh?"

Gu Jinglan said, "It’s the birthday boy’s big day. Let them have fun. They’re just making the rounds to everyone’s rooms for ten or thirty minutes each."

In their southern hometown, there was a custom about "soaking up good luck"—people with bad luck or illnesses would attend weddings to absorb some of the newlyweds’ good fortune.

He wondered if birthday boys got lucky too.

Qi Yanyu’s mind wandered.

Later, when Gu Jinglan found out the birthday group had moved to someone else’s room, he tried to rouse Qi Yanyu.