“Brother, sleep with me. I’m scared…”
That night, Huo Kairan suddenly developed a high fever without warning.
He lay buried in the soft bedding, his limbs weak and weightless, as if floating. Only his head felt heavy and swollen, as though an invisible hammer was relentlessly pounding against his temples.
A steady, rhythmic beeping sound reached his ears.
With great effort, he pried open his eyelids, which felt glued together. His vision remained blurry for a while before gradually clearing.
He saw a piece of medical tape on the back of his hand, connected to a thin IV tube. Cold medicine dripped steadily into his veins.
Not far away, the family doctor was speaking in a low voice. Huo Lin stood there, his back ramrod straight, his expression more grave and serious than Huo Kairan had ever seen. His brow was deeply furrowed as he nodded slightly at the doctor’s words.
Huo Guoxun and Zhuang Jing had rushed back upon receiving the news.
The bedroom was brightly lit, yet it was filled with a heavy, oppressive anxiety.
Zhuang Jing sat on a velvet armchair by the bed, her eyes rimmed red as she gently stroked Huo Kairan’s burning forehead and cheek.
Huo Guoxun paced anxiously back and forth in the spacious room, his brows knitted tightly together.
“Am I dying?” Huo Kairan opened his mouth, his voice hoarse.
“Don’t talk nonsense!” Zhuang Jing immediately tightened her grip on his hand that wasn’t connected to the IV, her voice choked with obvious tears, yet she forced herself to comfort him. “No… baby, it’s just a little cold, you caught a chill. The doctor said once the fever breaks, you’ll be fine. Everything will be okay.”
Even as she said this, tears she couldn’t control fell, landing on the back of Huo Kairan’s hand warm at first, then quickly turning cold.
This illness might not be serious for any healthy child, but for Huo Kairan, even the slightest disturbance was enough to make the whole family’s hearts leap into their throats.
Wiping her tears, she complained with lingering fear, her tone full of heartache, “You silly child, on such a cold day, you still had to go out and play in the snow.”
Standing a little further away, Huo Lin lowered his head slightly. The light cast deep shadows under his profound eye sockets and straight nose bridge. He seemed enveloped in a low-pressure atmosphere. Hearing her words, he rasped, “It’s my fault.”
“It was me! I wanted to go out myself!” Huo Kairan, delirious with fever, his mind a muddled mess, caught the note of self-blame in Huo Lin’s voice. Instinctively, he tried to lift his shoulders, as if to rise and shield Huo Lin.
This action stunned everyone in the room.
“Hey! Lie down!” Zhuang Jing and Huo Guoxun exclaimed almost simultaneously, flustered as they pressed him back into the soft pillows.
Sinking back into that cloud-like softness, a violent headache assaulted him again. Huo Kairan closed his eyes, and a vague sense of familiarity brushed his heart.
It felt as if there had been a time before when he had also shielded Huo Lin like this.
As soon as this thought arose, Huo Kairan found it absurd.
How could that be? Huo Lin was so capable, why would he ever need his protection?
As his thoughts settled, he actually became a bit more lucid.
“I wanted to go out. I’ll take responsibility for it myself.” One must bear the consequences of their own actions. Huo Kairan spoke hoarsely, enunciating each word clearly. “It has nothing to do with Brother.”
Not far away, Huo Lin’s steady breathing hitched almost imperceptibly, and his deep blue eyes trembled slightly.
“Alright, alright, I understand.” Zhuang Jing quickly soothed him, gently rubbing his shoulders. “Don’t think about anything right now, just get some good sleep. It’s just a minor issue after the IV and medicine, a good night’s rest might have you feeling better by tomorrow morning.”
The spot by the bed had long been occupied by Zhuang Jing, leaving Huo Guoxun with no chance to get close.
Seeing the topic shift slightly, he immediately seized the opportunity to make a good impression, puffing out his chest. “I’ll stay up tonight. You two go get some sleep.”
“You?” Zhuang Jing shot him a glare, her tone dripping with disbelief. “You’re so unreliable you’d start snoring within ten minutes of sitting here! All you ever do is go fishing, fishing for those worthless fish! Only when your son is sick do you remember to care? Usually, we can’t even see your shadow! Ranran needs me the most, so of course, I’ll take care of him.”
“How can you say I don’t care?” Huo Guoxun, unjustly scolded, felt his pride wounded, his face flushing red. “And what about you, running off to dance every day? You have the nerve to criticize me? You’re all sweaty go take a shower!”
“Huo Guoxun! Say one more word and see what happens!” Zhuang Jing’s voice suddenly rose sharply.
Huo Kairan didn’t understand why his parents had started arguing again. The sound of their quarreling buzzed in his ears, making his already aching head feel even more muddled.
He frowned in discomfort, his gaze drifting unconsciously toward the quiet corner of the room.
The man’s back was rigidly straight, silent like an outsider, his fingertips pale from the force of his grip, like a string on the verge of snapping yet he seemed exceptionally reliable and strong.
“Brother…” Huo Kairan struggled to free his hand from the blanket, reaching out to grasp Huo Lin’s hand hanging by his side. “I want my brother to stay with me.”
The soft, utterly dependent tone was something even Huo Guoxun and Zhuang Jing had never heard before.
The argument paused.
Everyone froze.
Huo Lin’s gaze fixed firmly on the pale, slender hand reaching toward him. Three seconds later, he finally took a step forward and approached the bed.
He knelt on one knee on the carpet, completely enveloping the slightly cool, trembling fingers in his palm, holding them tightly. The darkness in his eyes churned as he spoke without looking back. “Mm, I’ll take care of my brother. Father, Mother, you two should go back to your room and rest.”
Zhuang Jing stared blankly at the scene by the bed
It was her eldest son, always independent and rarely showing emotion, and her youngest son, withdrawn and spoiled.
The two had never gotten along, so… this sudden display of brotherly affection left her stunned for a long moment.
“Oh… okay, that works too. A-Lin, thank you for your trouble.”
She stumbled over her words, eventually nodding and pulling Huo Guoxun, who was still frowning, trying to figure out what felt off out of the room, glancing back repeatedly as they left.
Huo Lin stayed with Huo Kairan late into the night.
Again and again, he soaked a towel in warm water, wrung it out, and gently wiped the cold sweat from Huo Kairan’s forehead meticulous yet restrained.
In the early hours of the morning, the IV drip finally finished, and the nurse removed the needle.
The thermometer showed that the fever had finally broken.
But Huo Kairan still had a headache and felt dizzy.
When a person is ill, their body is fragile, and their heart seems to shed all its defenses. The unease and fear he had forcibly ignored while awake now surged like a rising tide, overwhelmingly intense, threatening to drown him.
Huo Kairan clutched Huo Lin’s hand, tilting his face upward. His fever-dampened eyes gazed pitifully at Huo Lin, his voice thick with congestion and dependence:
“Brother, sleep with me… I’m scared.”
Huo Lin had just carefully wiped his hand, where the needle had left a tiny mark with a warm towel and gently tucked it back under the covers.
At those words, his movements paused. Without looking up, his voice tightened slightly. “No.”
“Why not!” Huo Kairan was clingier than ever. Denied what he wanted, his grievances surged instantly, reddening the rims of his eyes even more.
Huo Lin remained silent for a long while before slowly replying, “It’s not proper.”
“What stupid rules!” Huo Kairan threw a small tantrum, squirming restlessly under the covers, then hissed in pain as his headache flared. His voice grew even more pitiful. “But I feel awful… Having to look up at you like this hurts my neck…”
Huo Lin stopped and looked at him. In the end, the dam of reason crumbled completely under the gaze of those watery eyes.
Huo Kairan got his wish after all.
He was carefully shifted to the inner side of the bed by Huo Lin. Then he felt the mattress dip slightly beside him as a warm, solid body carrying a familiar, clean scent lay down next to him, keeping a slight distance.
But like a small animal seeking warmth, Huo Kairan drowsily snuggled closer. He found the most comfortable spot in Huo Lin’s arms, pressing his feverish cheek against the soft cotton of Huo Lin’s pajamas and breathing in the soothing scent of clean soap.
His heart truly seemed to settle slowly.
But then the young master’s whims struck again.
With his eyes closed, his fingers unconsciously clutching the front of Huo Lin’s pajamas, he pushed his luck further:
“I can’t sleep. Sing for me.”
The air fell silent for a moment before he got his wish once more the off-key melody.
Huo Kairan buried his face deeper into Huo Lin’s chest, secretly curling a smile.
Gradually, amid the clumsy humming, the intense headache seemed to ease, becoming bearable.
Heavy drowsiness washed over him like a tide. Just as he was about to drift off, he faintly felt the tune was familiar, as if Huo Lin had sung it to him many times before.
But why couldn’t he remember?
“Brother, I lied to you. Actually, I’m not easy to take care of at all.” Huo Kairan murmured drowsily.
Huo Lin, half-leaning against the headboard, his entire posture unusually stiff, felt a sharp mix of guilt and heartache seize his heart at those words.
He lowered his head until his chin nearly touched Huo Kairan’s soft hair, his voice trembling with restraint. “That’s because the one taking care of you wasn’t attentive enough.”
Huo Kairan’s eyelids grew too heavy to open. Just before his last shred of consciousness faded, he mumbled, “Am I just no good at anything, only a burden to others…”
“No, Ranran.”
“You’ve saved many people.”
The person in his arms had already fallen into a deep sleep, his breathing even and steady.
Huo Lin lowered his gaze, staring long at the obedient sleeping face so close to him. The emotions in his deep blue eyes finally spilled over, unrestrained and turbulent.
In the end, the defenses of reason crumbled completely in the silence of the night and the unreserved dependence of the person in his arms.
With a sense of guilt that bordered on reverence, he lowered his head.
Warm lips gently pressed against Huo Kairan’s smooth, slightly cool forehead.
A stolen kiss in the enveloping night.
In the man’s eyes was a look of infatuation never before revealed.
“You are a hero.”