Back when Huo Chengye’s parents divorced, his mother left without a word and went abroad, even changing all her contact information so that no matter what, she couldn’t be reached.
The current situation was just like back then, which made Huo Chengye extremely unhappy.
Huo Chengye tried his best to suppress his rising anger, his teeth grinding audibly as he roared into the phone, “Ji Xingjian, what the hell is your game? Giving me the silent treatment without a single word? I fucking hate that kind of crap. Open the door right now, let’s talk face to face.”
Xiao Ye didn’t understand what he had said before, but it understood the phrase “open the door.” Although its master had instructed it never to open the door for strangers, it knew the person outside and didn’t consider him a stranger. Besides, the last time Huo Chengye came back from buying food, it was also the one who opened the door for him.
Xiao Ye raised its head to look at Ji Xingjian, who was sleeping rather restlessly. Hesitating for two seconds, it decisively sprinted over to the door, jumped up, and clawed at the door handle with both paws, using its body weight to press the handle down. With a crisp click, the door swung open.
Huo Chengye sneered, lowered his phone, and rested his hand against the doorframe. “You really are home. Why the fuck didn’t you…”
“Woof.”
Meeting Xiao Ye’s eyes, Huo Chengye’s expression darkened. “How is it you? Where is your master?”
The moment those words dropped, Xiao Ye grabbed the hem of his pants in its teeth and tugged him inward.
Ji Xingjian was lying sideways on the sofa with his eyes tightly shut, seemingly fast asleep.
Xiao Ye let go of Huo Chengye, ran over to Ji Xingjian, and nudged its head against his forehead, rubbing affectionately.
“Achoo, achoo, achoo.” Ji Xingjian pushed Xiao Ye away.
“Awooo.” Xiao Ye nudged closer again.
Ji Xingjian covered his face with his arm, his voice hoarse beyond recognition. “Stop messing around. Go play by yourself.”
Huo Chengye furrowed his brows and walked over to the sofa. Seeing that Ji Xingjian’s lips were pale and his complexion lacked its previous flush, the man looked thoroughly exhausted and haggard.
“Professor, did you catch a cold?”
The person on the sofa made no movement.
Huo Chengye bent down, wrapped his hand around Ji Xingjian’s wrist to pull away the arm covering his forehead, and leaned in close. Pressing their foreheads together, a curse slipped past his lips, “Holy shit, you’re burning up this bad?”
Feeling the coolness radiating from the forehead against his own, the person on the sofa frowned and laboriously cracked open one eye.
When he caught sight of the person in front of him, Ji Xingjian instantly snapped awake. He bolted upright from the sofa, looking shocked and flustered. “Huo Chengye? How did you get here, and how did you get inside?”
His speech carried a thick nasal twang, his tone was soft and listless, and his face retained an unhealthy white pallor from the fever, making him look exceptionally pitiful.
Huo Chengye had originally been boiling with rage, but seeing him in this state instantly killed his temper. He pointed at Xiao Ye and said, “Your doorbell is broken. I hammered on the door for ages outside, and Xiao Ye took pity on me and helped open it.”
Under Ji Xingjian’s gaze, Xiao Ye guiltily hid behind the Alpha.
“I’m sorry, I fell asleep and didn’t hear it.” Once he finished speaking, Ji Xingjian couldn’t suppress a fit of coughing.
Huo Chengye poured a glass of water and handed it to him. “It’s this bad? Do you have any medicine at home?”
Ji Xingjian took a tiny sip, barely mustering any energy. “No. I’ll go to the hospital for an IV drip later.”
“We’re going right now. I’ll take you.”
Ji Xingjian instinctively refused. “No need, I can manage on my own.”
Huo Chengye’s brows drew into a tight knot as he looked down at him from above. “You’re already like this, what are you trying to tough it out for? What happens if you pass out halfway there?”
With a listless expression, Ji Xingjian muttered a soft rebuttal. “It’s not that serious. I went to the hospital by myself yesterday too.”
“Yesterday?” Huo Chengye instantly zeroed in on the key detail. “When did you start feeling unwell?”
“Last Saturday.” Ji Xingjian half-closed his eyes. Just thinking about this made him angry; if Huo Chengye had tucked the duvet properly over him when he left, he wouldn’t have ended up catching a cold.
As a bed partner, Huo Chengye was completely unqualified, neither considerate nor gentle, acting rashly and doing whatever he pleased. The key point was that since he was the one paying, why was Huo Chengye holding the dominant position in their relationship?
Wondering about something, Huo Chengye asked tentatively, “Could it be because of me?”
Ji Xingjian felt burning hot all over, his head dizzy and heavy. He cast a feeble glance at the man and protested too much, “It has nothing to do with you, not even a little bit. I just stayed in the air conditioning too long.”
Huo Chengye was left speechless. It was indeed his oversight. Back then, the two of them had gone through an intense round, covered in sweat, so he had turned the AC temperature down and forgotten to change it back when he left.
He pulled out his phone to check the time. “Let’s go. I’m coming with you to the hospital.”
“No need, hurry back to school for your classes.”
“I don’t have classes this afternoon.”
“Still not necessary.”
“Ji Xingjian,” Huo Chengye snatched the water glass from his hand and set it back on the coffee table, calling him by his full name directly to his face for the very first time, “Are you throwing a temper tantrum with me?”
Ji Xingjian was stunned. Was he throwing a tantrum? Surely not. Why would he throw a temper tantrum with someone he wasn’t even close to? He was just in a foul mood because he was sick. “No, I don’t want to bother other people.”
Huo Chengye was stung by those words and blurted out, “Am I other people?”
Ji Xingjian looked at him with an expression that clearly said, “Aren’t you?”
Huo Chengye found himself uncharacteristically lacking a retort; their current relationship didn’t even truly qualify as friendship.
He had approached Ji Xingjian to keep his rut stable and prevent his pheromones from suddenly collapsing, while Ji Xingjian had sought him out to satisfy physical needs. Neither of them was irreplaceable to the other.
Yet if the person that night hadn’t been Ji Xingjian, but any other random Beta, Huo Chengye figured he probably wouldn’t have kept tangling with them.
Regardless of everything else, Ji Xingjian’s fever was caused by him, and he couldn’t just sit back and ignore it.
After a brief silence, the Alpha asked him out of nowhere, “Would you just let any casual stranger into your house, let alone sleep with you?”
Ji Xingjian found those words deeply uncomfortable. Though he didn’t quite catch what the man was implying, he answered honestly nonetheless. “No.”
The Alpha let out an ambiguous chuckle. “Well, there you have it. I can get into your house, and I can touch you and sleep with you, so I’m not just some other person. I’m your lover.”
Ji Xingjian: “…”
Huo Chengye bent down and hooked a finger under his chin to tilt it up. “What kind of look is that? Am I wrong? The phrasing might be a bit crude, but the underlying logic is spot on.”
Ji Xingjian awkwardly averted his gaze and mumbled under his breath, “That’s twisted logic. You talk way too much.”
“Stop sitting there, let’s go. I’m taking you to the hospital.”
Huo Chengye gave Ji Xingjian no chance to refuse, directly wrapping his hand around the man’s wrist and hauling him up from the sofa. Because too much force was used and Ji Xingjian’s feet were still tangled on the sofa, it was hard for him to find his center of gravity, leaving him with no choice but to lurch forward toward Huo Chengye on momentum.
Their eyes locked, and Ji Xingjian unhelpfully blushed. “What did you yank me up so suddenly for?”
The fresh scent of the man’s clothes drifted into his nasal cavity, making Huo Chengye’s Adam’s apple bob as he looked at him with a half-smile. “Startled? I’ll give you advance notice next time.”
Ji Xingjian: “…” I don’t think that’s what I meant.
While Ji Xingjian was inwardly complaining, Huo Chengye suddenly hooked an arm around his waist and scooped him right off the sofa with a single arm.