Song Linchu’s mother passed away just over three months ago. Although he had prepared himself for his mother’s departure, it still saddened him to see her suddenly succumb to illness, despite her improvement towards the end of the year.
Furthermore, he still had to live his life, earn his tuition fees, and repay a large debt. He didn’t even have time to grieve. After laying his mother to rest, he immediately immersed himself in making money.
Only when he fell ill did glimpses of his suppressed emotions reveal themselves.
Song Linchu had lost his father when he was young and had no siblings or close relatives. In his memories, only his mother would be so devoted, staying by his side to care for him when he fell ill.
But his mother was gone now.
As the realization dawned on Song Linchu, tears of grief welled up in the corners of his eyes. However, he couldn’t bear to let go of the warm and secure hand held firmly in his own.
Tan Yue noticed the tear rolling down the corners of the Song Linchu’s eyes and from his earlier unconscious mention of “mom”, he immediately understood that Song Linchu was longing for his mother.
He reached out with his other hand and wiped away the tears, whispering softly, “Little Lin, don’t be sad. I’m here.”
The youth seemed to hear his words, and presses his entire face against Tan Yue’s palm. His hand still held onto Tan Yue’s wrist, and when Tan Yue tried to change their position, the boy vehemently resisted, gripping his hand even tighter.
Tan Yue had never seen this clingy side of Song Linchu before. Amidst his distress, he also enjoyed the feeling of being so intimately close to him.
Drop by drop, the fluid from the IV bag steadily flowed through the long infusion tube and into the youth’s body. Perhaps it was the effect of the medication or the sense of security provided by Tan Yue’s hand, but Song Linchu, with his face against Tan Yue’s hand, gradually drifted into a deep sleep.
When he woke up again, it was already the next day.
Due to his high fever, he was a bit disoriented upon waking up. He felt sore, weak, and as he stretched, he sensed something was amiss.
He seemed to be holding onto something in his hand.
Not only in his hand but also beneath his face, there was something warm and cozy…
Song Linchu squeezed his hand a few times to confirm. It was… a person’s hand.
As the realization dawned on him, Song Linchu suddenly let go of the hand in his grasp and sat up in bed, catching sight of the man lying next to the bed.
It was Tan Yue.
Ah, this…
The memories from the hazy night after his fever broke flooded into his mind like a dam bursting, overwhelming his thoughts.
Tan Yue had taken him to the hospital, accompanied him to see the doctor, arranged for his admission and the IV drip. While he was still ill, he had mistaken Tan Yue’s hand for his mother’s and even called him “mom.”
That wasn’t all, though. Later, he realized it wasn’t his mother, but he still didn’t let go. He even forcefully held onto the person’s hand and pressed against it…
His memories abruptly stopped at this point because he had fallen into a deep sleep. And now, with this scene, it meant that he had clung to Tan Yue’s hand the entire night!
Ah! Someone give him a knife so he could end his life by disembowelment. He had no face to live anymore.
Tan Yue had stayed with Song Linchu throughout the whole night, only falling into a drowsy sleep after his fever subsided. Now, he was awakened by Song Linchu’s movements. On opening his eyes, he met Song Linchu’s gaze filled with avoidance.
“You’re awake,” Tan Yue sat up straight, showing concern for Song Linchu’s well-being. “How are you feeling? Are you still uncomfortable?”
“I’m fine, I’m good. I have a young and healthy body, so I’ll be fine after sleeping for one night. You don’t have to worry, hahaha.”
“…” Tan Yue grew anxious once again as Song Linchu began to ramble incoherently.
Tan Yue wanted to touch his forehead again, but when he raised his hand, his brows frowned, and gave a “hiss”.
Song Linchu, who was originally in an awkward state, feeling like he wanted to die on the spot, became a little nervous upon hearing this. He asked, “What’s wrong with you?”
“My hand is numb,” Tan Yue said.
Song Linchu: “.…”
Let’s not mention this topic. We can still be good friends!
“Can you massage it for me?” Tan Yue asked.
Tan Yue raised his gaze and looked at the embarrassed person, a hint of amusement flickering in his eyes.
Seems like he’s not confused; he remembers what happened last night.
Song Linchu: “….”
Song Linchu wanted to say, “Can’t you do it yourself?” But Tan Yue had accompanied him to the hospital and stayed by his side all night. Although the reason he stayed might have been because he was gripping his hand and forced him, Song Linchu felt even more embarrassed.
He lowered his gaze and said, “Okay.”
Without any embarrassment at bullying a sick person, Tan Yue stretched out his hand to Song Linchu.
After being pillowed like that for the whole night, his hand was indeed on the verge of being useless.
Tan Yue was wearing a long sleeved shirt, and the warmth from the man’s body seeped through the thin shirt and reached Song Linchu’s fingertips. For some reason, he felt a hint of ambiguity in the atmosphere of the hospital room, and his ears uncontrollably turned warm.
He had to say something to break the embarrassment at this moment.
“Thank you for last night,” Song Linchu forced himself to say, “I was delirious from the fever and said some strange things and did some outrageous things. Please don’t take it to heart.”
Tan Yue: “No.”
Song Linchu: ?
Song Linchu was taken aback by Tan Yue’s straightforward refusal and was momentarily at a loss for words.
Tan Yue spoke earnestly, “It was the first time I had such a prolonged close contact with someone, especially the intimate act of touching the face.”
Song Linchu: ??
Touching what?
“So,” President Tan concluded, “you have to take responsibility for it.”
Song Linchu: ???
The innocent college student was shocked by this rogue statement. Those who knew what happened would know that he had only used Tan Yue’s hand as a pillow. Those who didn’t know might think he had slept with Tan Yue.
Song Linchu blinked, staring blankly as he asked, “How am I supposed to take responsibility?”
Tan Yue lowered his gaze, looking at him.
“.…”
Song Linchu felt a tingling sensation on his scalp under Tan Yue’s gaze.
Why did he feel like Tan Yue’s gaze was saying, “You slept with me, now how are you going to take responsibility?”
This was a great injustice. The heavens could testify that he had only used Tan Yue’s palm as a pillow for one night… nothing more.
Song Linchu chuckled dryly, “Mr. Tang, I was wrong last night. I was really delirious from the fever. I’m truly sorry. I accept any compensation or apology you want.”
Tan Yue said, “So, you held my hand, snuggled up to me, and clung to me, not letting me go, all because you were delirious from the fever?”
Song Linchu blinked. No, he was just emotionally fragile while he was sick. He sought some comfort by holding onto Tan Yue. Why did it sound so ambiguous when Tan Yue said it?
But Song Linchu couldn’t argue, so he could only say “Mm” reluctantly.
Tan Yue’s cold voice came from above, “It’s too late, I have already misunderstood.”
“Ah?” Song Linchu paused in his massaging action, not knowing what the other party had misunderstood.
Tan Yue said, “I thought you were interested in me when you acted that way. I spent the night with you, reminiscing about all the good things about you, and now I’m interested in you. So, you have to take responsibility for me.”
Song Linchu: “……??”
What the heck does it mean to be interested?
Song Linchu didn’t know how to respond to this, so he could only say, “Don’t joke around.”
“I’m serious,” Tan Yue’s gaze fell on the youth’s slightly trembling eyelashes, “I’ve never been more serious.”
Song Linchu: “…”
Just then, there was a knock on the door of the ward, and the doctor came to check on the patient. This topic was temporarily set aside.
The doctor asked about Song Linchu’s condition, took his temperature again, and confirmed that the fever had subsided, reminding him to remember to take his medication so that the inflammation of his tonsils could subside.
Song Linchu agreed one by one and asked, “Doctor, when can I be discharged from the hospital?”
This ward was as luxurious as a hotel suite. Song Linchu didn’t dare to think about how much the medical expenses for this hospitalization would cost.
The top priority was to get discharged from the hospital.
Otherwise, it would only cost more money.
The doctor said, “Your fever has subsided, and there’s nothing major. You can go through the discharge procedures whenever you want.”
“Oh, okay, thank you, doctor.”
The doctor nodded at him and went to the next ward.
There were only two people left in the ward once again.
Song Linchu originally wanted to say that he wanted to go through the discharge procedures and escape from this embarrassment, but Tan Yue seemed to know what he was thinking. He made a phone call to someone, gave a few brief instructions, and someone else took care of it for him.
But Tan Yue didn’t bring up the previous topic again, he just said, “It will take some time to complete the discharge procedures. Go and freshen up, then come out and have something to eat.”
Song Linchu was eager to run away, so he went immediately.
Tan Yue watched the youth’s fleeing figure and his lips curved into a smile.
Heh, do you really think you can escape by running away?
Originally, he had planned to take a gentle approach and take it slowly, but last night’s events made Tan Yue change his mind.
He couldn’t imagine what would have happened to Song Linchu if it weren’t for the coincidence of it being Mid-Autumn Festival and him being there.
So, he gave up the tactic of slowly boiling a frog in warm water. With his cooking skills, he would only boil the frog away.
He decided to use a more assertive approach, which was his area of expertise.
After Song Linchu finished freshening up and came out, some light porridge had already been set on the dining table in the small living room of the ward. He had no appetite yesterday because of the fever and barely ate anything. After a night of exhaustion, he was already famished. Thinking that he already owed Tan Yue a favor that he couldn’t repay, Song Linchu broke the jar and sat down to eat without any refusal.
After breakfast, Tan Yue’s personal secretary Cheng Bin came over and said that the discharge procedures had been completed and they could leave at any time.
Song Linchu asked for the invoice, and almost died on the spot when he saw the amount on it.
He just stayed in a hospital and got an IV drip, why did it cost over 3,000!
This was definitely a rip-off, right?
Song Linchu felt like filing a complaint with consumer rights protection.
Tan Yue went to the restroom and saw Song Linchu holding the invoice, hands trembling. He walked over, took the paper away, and said, “Don’t worry, you don’t have to repay me.”
Song Linchu, being a poor guy with abundant aspirations, immediately said, “I will repay you. It’s just that I don’t have that much money right now. Give me some time.”
Tan Yue looked at the determination in the youth’s eyes and said, “Okay, I’ll wait for you.”
Then, just when Song Linchu was about to breathe a sigh of relief, Tan Yue said again, “I was serious just now.”
“…” Song Linchu’s previously relieved mood was once again stifled.
No, why did the topic come up again?
Tan Yue continued, “Linchu, my heart is in chaos, and you have to take responsibility.”
Ah, this…
Song Linchu could actually sense that Tan Yue’s sudden kindness had ulterior motives. If he genuinely appreciated his work, he wouldn’t have this attitude.
Yesterday, he didn’t want to come to the hospital, and the other party even mentioned wanting to carry him.
Is this something normal between business partners?
However…
Song Linchu looked down at his shoes and murmured, “I’m sorry, Mr. Tan, but I really don’t have that intention right now. I currently only want to focus on studying and making money. Even if I rashly agree to you, I won’t have the mental space to like someone. That would also be irresponsible of me.”
“You don’t need to worry about that. You don’t have to put in any effort or consider my feelings. You can treat it as a period of me being kind to you without asking for anything in return. All you need to do is not avoid me. I’ll take care of everything else. If you feel uncomfortable, you have the right to dislike or refuse, and you can stop at any time. I won’t force you to do anything or not do anything.”
Song Linchu was slightly stunned, raising his head and meeting Tan Yue’s gaze.
Tan Yue’s gaze was earnest, and his usually cold eyes had a tender and affectionate glimmer. After entangling with him for a moment, Tan Yue asked softly, “Is it possible?”
Whether it was the man’s captivating voice, the result of his fever from last night frying his brain, or the secure feeling of having that hand against him all night, Song Linchu didn’t know. But by the time he came back to his senses, he realized that he had already nodded.
