Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Moreover, though his elder brother had never married in his previous life, he had a beloved, for whom he had even penned love poems.

He must have been mistaken! Shang Xueyan bit his lip hard, and his heartbeat gradually returned to normal.

His gaze shifted from the ceiling to his elder brother’s face. His brother finished trimming the hangnails on his hand, wiped the nail clippers clean with a wet wipe, and placed them in the bedside table drawer.

Shang Xueyan stared at him.

Shang Xianwang closed the drawer, turned his head, and asked gently, "What’s wrong, A Yan?"

Shang Xueyan pushed back the blanket and said, "I need to use the restroom."

His fever-weakened limbs felt sore and heavy. The moment Shang Xueyan’s feet touched the ground, his legs gave way, and he stumbled forward. A strong, steady arm shot out, swiftly encircling his waist.

Shang Xianwang steadied him, whispering, "I’ll help you over."

Shang Xueyan was wearing a soft, loose black cotton T-shirt with lettering. Despite the fever, his body temperature wasn't high, only his cheeks felt burning hot. Yet, at that instant, with his brother’s distinctly bony palm pressed against his right hip, Shang Xueyan suddenly felt that the point of skin-to-skin contact was the hottest.

Of course, he thought calmly, there was a perfectly reasonable explanation for this.

The hospital room’s air conditioning was set at a comfortable 28 degrees Celsius, but it was still the height of summer. How could two people not feel warm when close together?

The hospital room had its own restroom. Shang Xianwang helped Shang Xueyan inside, lifted the white toilet lid with his long fingers, and, seeing that Shang Xueyan could stand steadily, said, "I’ll step out."

"Mm-hmm," Shang Xueyan nodded.

After Shang Xianwang left, Shang Xueyan undid his pants, used the toilet, and flushed. He moved to the sink to wash his hands. Standing there, a tiny spark of thought flickered in his mind, and he froze for two seconds before suddenly turning to look outside the restroom door.

Then he glanced back at the toilet bowl, and an unbidden thought surfaced.

His elder brother cared so much about him—flying back overnight from abroad upon hearing he was sick, even meticulously trimming his hangnails. When he mentioned how beautiful the scenery outside was, his brother would say that after filming wrapped, they could go on vacation together to the places he wanted to visit.

His elder brother was undoubtedly the kind of big brother every younger brother dreamed of—so caring, attentive, and protective.

But he was still running a high fever, his limbs were weak, and he had an IV needle in the back of his hand. If his brother was so concerned, why didn't he stay in the restroom? Why wasn't he worried that Shang Xueyan might faint or have an accident in there?

He was, after all, a patient.

Moreover, they were brothers, both men. It wouldn’t be inappropriate for his brother to help him with, well, that. After all, if his brother were unsteady on his feet, Shang Xueyan wouldn’t mind staying in the restroom to watch over him.

So why did his brother leave instead of staying with him??

Countless thoughts raced through his mind. Shang Xueyan took a deep breath, turned on the faucet again, and washed the hand without the IV needle.

He was overthinking it again. His elder brother had liked a girl before—all of this was just his wild imagination!!

But that troublemaker Lu Han, who abused his power, didn’t just target male celebrities; he also went after young actresses.

Damn, how could he compare his elder brother to scum like Lu Han?

That was an insult to his brother.

A soft knock, knock sounded at the door, followed by his elder brother’s deep voice, "A Yan, are you done?"

"Done, done," Shang Xueyan replied, his mind in turmoil.

He pulled out a tissue with his right hand. Since his left hand, with the IV needle, was hard to move, he awkwardly dried his right hand.

It wasn’t like his hands were broken or his legs crippled. He was perfectly capable, just a bit feverish. His brother helping him to the restroom was just his brother worrying too much—he could have easily walked those few steps on his own.

His brother, noticing during those few steps that he wasn’t as weak as imagined and didn’t need assistance, not staying to help him undo his pants was completely normal, right?

Telling himself this, Shang Xueyan opened the frosted glass door of the restroom. When his eyes met Shang Xianwang’s, his heart was calm and steady once again.

He must still be feeling unwell. Usually, when Shang Xueyan was with Shang Xianwang, he had a lot to say—about colleagues on set, funny videos, or disturbing news stories. But today, lying in bed, he stared blankly at the ceiling, listless.

Thinking he was still uncomfortable, Shang Xianwang didn’t disturb him. After a while, a nurse came in with several IV bottles to hook Shang Xueyan up to the IV.

The IV drip was painless. Shang Xueyan rested his left hand on the edge of the bed, staring at the ceiling. Before he knew it, his head grew heavier, and he fell asleep.

When Shang Xueyan woke up again, it wasn’t his brother by his bedside. Fei Yu was sitting in the visitor's chair, playing on his phone. Hearing movement, he put his phone away and said, "Bro Yan, you’re awake."

Shang Xueyan blinked several times until his vision cleared. He stretched and asked, "Where’s my brother?"

"President Shang seems to have a video conference. He stepped out to take a call," Fei Yu explained.

Shang Xueyan let out a dry "Mm."

He had slept for nearly three hours. After waking up, he felt much better physically and more energetic. Bored from being in bed, he asked Fei Yu to raise the backrest, pulled out his phone, and opened an anime he had been watching recently.

The anime was recommended to him and Shen Mengkun by Wang Xiantao—a sports series about a figure-skating girl. A new episode had been released the night before.

The latest episode surprisingly focused heavily on romance. Weimei was injured during training and had to be hospitalized. Upon hearing the news, Sukedo flew from Japan to Russia to visit her.

Weimei was the anime’s heroine, a girl who started figure skating at fifteen but possessed remarkable talent. Sukedo was her boyfriend and her biggest supporter in pursuing skating.

Sukedo was also an athlete—a swimmer, standing 193 cm tall. When shown alongside others, his frame was noticeably larger than average.

Because he bought his ticket in a hurry and it was an international flight, he couldn’t get a spacious first-class seat in the anime, only an economy seat on a budget airline. For Sukedo, the economy seat was too cramped—his legs couldn’t stretch out and had to be awkwardly splayed.

Was the seat spacious when his brother flew from Japan to Gansu? The thought crossed his mind, followed by an image of his brother’s physique. At nearly 190 cm tall, he didn’t look overly muscular, but his legs were long. A regular airline’s economy seat might barely accommodate his long legs, but if he ended up on a budget airline, his legs would have to be uncomfortably spread out, just like Sukedo’s.

A few images flashed through his mind. Seeing Sukedo appear in Weimei’s hospital room, Shang Xueyan irritably exited the video. He opened the three-person group chat. Earlier that morning, while he was asleep, the other two had chatted a bit without him.

Shen Mengkun had even @mentioned him, saying he wanted to borrow Ju Qingqing’s DSLR to take photos of the northwestern night sky for them to see. "It’s been two days—where are the photos?" he asked.

Shang Xueyan typed lightly, "I’m sick and hospitalized. No time to take photos."

Wang Xiantao: "Sick? What’s wrong?"

Shen Mengkun: "Is it serious? What illness?"

Shang Xueyan: "It’s fine, bacterial flu. I should be discharged tomorrow."

Shen Mengkun: "Drink more hot water, Yan."

Wang Xiantao: "You’re hospitalized in Gansu?"

Shang Xueyan: "Of course. It’s just a cold—no need to go back to Beijing."

Wang Xiantao suddenly said, "Did your brother go to Gansu?"

Shang Xueyan was still calm at this point. "Yeah, he came. He was worried about me."

Wang Xiantao: "Yan, have you watched the latest episode of *Ice Peak Girl*? Weimei got injured and was hospitalized. Sukedo flew to Russia overnight to see her."

Wang Xiantao: "Weimei’s brother didn’t fly to see her—her boyfriend did!!"

Author's Note:

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Goodnight [kiss][kiss]