Today was the midterm exam, and everyone was quietly working on their exercises, everyone except Qi Shun, who was fast asleep as usual.
It had been half a month since that night. The very next day after returning home, Fei Qinan had been beaten until his body was once again covered in injuries, while Qi Shun had vanished for half a month before reappearing today.
Fei Qinan desperately tried to concentrate on the exam, but the itching sensation from his gradually healing wounds beneath his shirt made him instinctively want to scratch.
“Are you fucking shifting around on purpose? Didn’t anyone ever tell you to keep it quiet when I’m sleeping? If you can’t do that, get the hell out!” Qi Shun’s prominent dark circles clearly broadcasted just how thoroughly annoyed he was.
Terrified of drawing his wrath, the rest of the students hurriedly put their heads down and continued scribbling furiously. The proctor merely muttered a couple of perfunctory “quiet down” warnings before holding his tongue.
Fei Qinan didn’t reply; he simply froze and stopped moving, fighting through the discomfort to keep writing. Although he desperately wanted to do well, and had reviewed all the material covered by the questions, the physical distress had sapped most of his concentration. For all practical purposes, this exam was already botched.
When the exam ended and everyone else cleared out, Fei Qinan, to his complete surprise didn’t linger to pack up his bag and leave.
“You stay right here. I’ve got something to ask you,” Qi Shun said, having woken up early.
“What is it? If it’s not urgent, let’s talk about it tomorrow. Tonight really won’t work.” Fei Qinan grabbed his school bag, ready to bolt.
“Get your ass back here! Otherwise, don’t blame me for being impolite.” Is he pissed off just because I yelled at him a second ago?
“Mad at me? You can’t blame me for this..I haven’t been sleeping properly lately…”
“I’m not that petty. I really do have something to deal with tonight! I’m heading out first..”
“Will you stop your fucking moving around and stand still!! Did I say you could leave?”
“What on earth do you want?!” Irritated, Fei Qinan had no choice but to halt his retreat.
“Get over here!”
“What kind of business could you possibly have?”
“Take off your shirt.”
“…… Are you out of your mind? This is a classroom!” Fei Qinan instinctively clutched his school bag tighter against his chest.
“I told you to take it off, so take it off! Why do you talk so much?”
“I won’t! If you’re looking to mess around, forget it. I don’t have time to play with you.”
“So you’re forcing me to do it myself, huh? Don’t say I didn’t give you a chance when the time comes…” The guy always considered himself quite the gentleman.
“You!! You’re a lunatic!” Pushed to his absolute limit by this hooligan behavior, Fei Qinan simply swung his bag aside and began stripping off his clothes just to escape his clutches as fast as possible.
“There, I’m naked. Now spill it..what the hell do you want?” Fei Qinan stood bare-chested before Qi Shun.
“Tsk tsk!! Looks like you’ve added a whole bunch of brand-new masterpieces to the collection… Just look at these, look at them!! Were you fished out of a garbage dump or something? How on earth could a parent beat their own biological son like this? How do those bastards even bring themselves to do it?! Even tigers don’t eat their own cubs, but these people are worse than animals!” Inspecting the full canvas of scars spanning his body, Qi Shun’s eyes turned sharp and chillingly cold.
“This is none of your business. I’m going back.” Fei Qinan began putting his clothes back on, his expression completely numb and apathetic, which only made Qi Shun’s mood plummet further.
“Did I say you could leave? Tonight, you aren’t going a single damn place without my permission and you certainly aren’t going home. Otherwise, you’ll find out firsthand what I’m capable of doing.” It had been a long time since Qi Shun had been in such a foul mood, and his tone was aggressively overbearing and unreasonable.
“What do you actually want? All I want is to finish high school quietly right here, take the college entrance exams, and leave all of this behind once and for all. Why do you keep coming and provoking me?!” Fei Qinan’s emotions frayed past the breaking point. If he didn’t return tonight, the consequences were too terrifying to even imagine.
“You want to leave all of this behind? Who? Your parents, or me? If you’re trying to shake me off, let me tell you right now…in your dreams, goddamnit!” With that, Qi Shun grabbed Fei Qinan by the arm and hauled him straight out of the classroom.
Reaching his motorcycle, he slapped his own helmet onto Fei Qinan’s head, wore a thunderous expression all the way, and whisked him away from the school.
Back at the same villa, back to the two of them, the only difference this time was that it wasn’t raining.
The moment they walked through the door, Qi Shun headed straight for a room to hunt something down. A moment later, he emerged carrying a first-aid kit, a grim look on his face as he stripped off Fei Qinan’s shirt and expertly set to work applying ointment.
“Old Chen gave me this medicine; it works wonders. Every time my injuries start scabbing over, just applying this stops the itching instantly and speeds up the healing process.” Moving from his chest around to his back, Qi Shun’s movements were remarkably gentle, accompanied by soft puffs of breath that sent a wave of goosebumps rippling across Fei Qinan’s skin.
“What? Cat got your tongue?”
“Sounds like you get hurt quite a bit yourself. I remember you had a scar on your forehead before…”
“Hmph, a real man grows through his scars. Not like you, all fragile and delicate.”
“Some things are easier to bear if you just grit your teeth. I’m not like you, I don’t go around looking for fights.”
“Losing a bit of steam on guys who look like an eyesore still does wonders for a bad mood.” Finishing the application, Qi Shun carefully wrapped layers of gauze around Fei Qinan’s torso until his upper body was entirely bound up. During the process, their breathing occasionally brushed against one another in an ambiguous exchange, prompting both of them to instinctively turn their heads away with a light cough.
“No showers for the next few days. I’ll change your dressing again in a bit, and you’ll be right as rain.” Qi Shun muttered instructions as he packed up the kit.
“Actually, there’s no need to go through all this trouble. Even if it’s wrapped up this nicely, it’ll basically be ruined the moment I go back tomorrow anyway.”
“What? You mean they’re going to beat you up again? Even a cornered rabbit will bite, you know! Why the hell don’t you ever fight back?!” This submissive, take-it-lying-down attitude of his was enough to drive anyone insane.
“Fight back? Heh! The price of fighting back is just harsher, more brutal methods every single time. Besides, apart from being harsh about this sort of thing, they treat me pretty well otherwise…”
“The hell they do!! You’re practically getting beaten to a pulp, do you even realize that?! Just look at these wounds it takes years of abuse to leave something like this behind! Why haven’t you called the police? Why haven’t you told anyone? Isn’t there some ‘Law on the Protection of Minors’ or whatever?!”
“Call the police? What good would that do? It’s just a domestic matter of parents disciplining their child… Forget it, you wouldn’t understand. If you really want to do me a favor, just send me back. They’re going to want to ask about my exam results tonight. If I’m late getting back…” Fei Qinan tried to stand up, only for Qi Shun to shove him right back down onto the bed.
“Did you not understand human speech? I said that with my permission, you aren’t going anywhere. Tonight, you’re staying right here and sleeping like a good boy, hear me?!” Having dropped this absolute decree, Qi Shun made sure Fei Qinan had no lingering thoughts of escape before turning on his heel and heading to the kitchen to whip up a couple of bowls of instant noodles.
Fei Qinan let out a resigned sigh, accepting his fate. Whatever. I’ll deal with it when I go back tomorrow. It’s not like it’s the first time, anyway.