Chapter 62: Even Breathing Feels Painful

Chapter 62: Even Breathing Feels Painful

After being hung up on by his buddy, Lu Jin'an held his phone, staring blankly at the darkened screen.

What could a few words do? It wasn't like Du Yang would commit suicide over it.

Fu Yan is love-struck; it was no big deal, and he even threatened me.

He only told Fu Yan because Du Yang was his man.

Luckily, he made a call to report; if Fu Yan found out later, he believed Fu Yan would really cut ties with him.

Was Du Yang really that good? Even Grandma was so obsessed with him.

Although he admitted this kid was extremely good-looking, with eyebrows and eyes vaguely resembling his own,

he couldn't let Du Yang replace his brother in front of Grandma.

Grandma's love could only belong to his brother, no one else.

Lu Jin'an got out of the car and entered the villa.

The villa he had just moved into belonged to a friend.

Their family had finished decorating the villa but never moved in; last year, the whole family immigrated to America for business.

The new villa had a great location and environment, not far from the Lu Group, a quiet oasis in the midst of the hustle and bustle.

The security level was higher than the Lu family's villa, and Grandma Lu had installed plenty of surveillance cameras and alarms.

Lu Jin'an felt that Grandma had changed a lot recently. Although their family was wealthy, there was no need for such strict precautions; even the Fu family's old residence wasn't this strict.

"Did you see the child? Has he gained any weight?" Grandma Lu came up, grabbing her eldest grandson's hand and asking eagerly, "That child is very thin, probably malnourished; he needs to eat well."

"Grandma... Du Yang... he's fine." Lu Jin'an felt uneasy; between hiding the truth to reassure his grandmother and telling her the truth, he chose to conceal the truth.

"Then I'm relieved. From now on, you should be good to that child." Grandma Lu told her eldest grandson with concern.

She didn't go to see Du Yang openly, but let Lu Jin'an deliver food to him.

Lu Jin'an and Fu Yan had been good friends since childhood, and Lu Jin'an going would be least likely to arouse suspicion from Qin Yue and her son, and would not harm Du Yang.

She had already installed many surveillance cameras in the Lu family's villa; once she got direct evidence of Qin Yue's crimes or evidence of the mother and son conspiring to take over Lu family shares, she could bring these villains to justice.

Before that, she couldn't be seen too close to Du Yang, to avoid the mother and son harming him.

Lu Jin'an agreed guiltily, but his heart grew even more uneasy.

Fu Yan sped down the road, wishing he could immediately reach the apartment to see how Du Yang was.

-

He could see that Du Yang's feelings for Grandma Lu were different, even though they had only met twice.

That day, Du Yang had eaten more of the dishes Grandma Lu sent than usual. Fu Yan knew clearly that it wasn't because Du Yang's appetite had suddenly improved, but only because it was Grandma Lu's cooking.

The car arrived at the apartment building. Fu Yan swung the car around, quickly parked the car, got out, and almost ran into the building.

The elevator door opened. Fu Yan got out, stood in front of Du Yang's apartment door, hesitated for a moment, then finally took out his phone and called Du Yang.

He called many times; the phone rang but no one answered. Fu Yan pressed his ear to the door, but couldn't hear the phone ringing inside.

Du Yang's phone never seemed to ring, only vibration.

Fu Yan pursed his lips, pocketed his phone, and raised his hand but hesitated about whether to just use his fingerprint to open the door.

The house was bought by Fu Yan, who had Chen Miao arrange it at double the market price. Before bringing Du Yang here, Fu Yan had already come to see it once and had registered his own fingerprint.

If Du Yang was fine, barging in like this would only annoy Du Yang further.

It might be hard to see him again in the future.

But he only hesitated for a moment. Fu Yan pressed his thumb firmly on the fingerprint lock.

Even if there was a one-in-a-million chance of danger, he had to see for himself to be at ease.

The lights were on in the room. Fu Yan came in and closed the door behind him. Du Yang was not in the living room.

On the dining table were several takeout containers, each with a few bites taken.

When he saw a dining chair lying on the floor, a crack finally appeared in Fu Yan's calm expression.

He quickly turned and entered the main bedroom. The bed was neatly made, things were arranged neatly, but there was no Du Yang.

Fu Yan then checked the other two rooms, still no one. As he passed the closed bathroom, he heard a faint noise coming from inside.

Fu Yan pulled the bathroom door open and pushed the door open. The scene inside made his heart ache so much that it was hard to breathe for a moment.

In the corner of the bathroom with white tiles, Du Yang was curled up sitting on the floor, eyes closed, leaning against the wall. The tiles beneath him were stained with glaring bright red, and several red streaks were spreading.

The bright red flowed from Du Yang's dangling wrist, with three glaring red cuts on his wrist.

"Du Yang!" Fu Yan stepped in, crouched beside the boy, his voice trembling badly, as if all the blood in his body had stopped flowing.

"Du Yang!"

Fu Yan took the boy by the shoulders, leaning him against his chest, and his fingers checked under the boy's nose.

He was breathing.

The moment he felt his breath, Fu Yan felt his blood start flowing again.

Seeing this scene, he thought... he thought...

"Du Yang?" Fu Yan gently patted the boy's cheek, trying to wake him.

His cheek was burning hot. Fu Yan felt his forehead; it was very hot.

Du Yang had a fever, and it was pretty high.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gone on the business trip and left you alone."

"Du Yang, I regret it. Even if you don't like me, it's okay. I like you, that's enough."

Fu Yan held him, his heart aching as if it were bleeding. In just three days, his kid had lost so much weight.

The little weight he had managed to put on before was all gone.

"Fu... Yan."

Perhaps through telepathy, Du Yang mumbled Fu Yan's name in his sleep.

“Du Yang, I’m here.” Fu Yan gazed joyfully down at the young man in his arms.

Du Yang didn’t wake up. He was frowning and murmuring in his sleep, looking very distressed, as if having another nightmare.

“Yangyang, don’t be afraid, I’m here.”

Fu Yan held the young man cautiously, wanting to hug him tightly but afraid of hurting him.

After quickly tending to the wound, Fu Yan carried Du Yang downstairs, carefully placed him in the passenger seat, and fastened the seatbelt.

The nearest hospital was twenty minutes away. The nighttime ER was still busy with people. Fu Yan rushed him into the ER.

The hospital handled things as quickly as possible, and Du Yang was assigned to a ward with an IV drip.

In the doctor’s office.

Fu Yan looked at the test results in his hand, his frown deepening even more.

“Excuse me, what is your relationship with the patient?” the doctor asked.

Fu Yan paused for a moment and said, “I’m his brother.”

The doctor pointed at the test results. “The patient is malnourished and has depression. The initial diagnosis suggests it’s likely not yet moderate, but we’ll need the patient’s cooperation for a psychological screening to confirm.”

“Was he triggered by something tonight? Usually, self-harm in patients occurs after a major shock.”

Fu Yan murmured an “mm” in acknowledgment, his face giving nothing away, but his heart ached beyond measure.

After so many years of being cold, calm, and composed, this was the first time Fu Yan truly felt his heart being torn apart, to the point that even breathing felt agonizing.

“Keep a close eye on his mental health,” the doctor continued. “As for the fever, no other abnormalities were found; it’s a stomach flu.”

When Fu Yan came out of the doctor’s office, Lu Jin’an was calling again.

Standing outside the ward, Fu Yan answered the call.

“Old Fu, did you go see Du Yang? Is he okay? Did he have a good cry?”

----------------------------------------