DCISBS chapter 36

For several days, Xie Quan truly shut himself up in his room and hardly came out.

In contrast, Lu Nanyang was much busier. One day a friend asked him out for a meal, the next day someone else wanted to play basketball, and the day after, a random middle-aged woman — who somehow added him on WeChat — tearfully begged him to investigate whether her son-in-law was cheating.

Lu Nanyang spent half the day explaining that he studied law, not detective work.

At 9 a.m., Lu Nanyang left home, and Xie Quan’s door was closed. At 10 p.m., when Lu Nanyang returned, Xie Quan’s door was still closed.

If not for occasionally hearing coughing from the room, Lu Nanyang would have suspected Xie Quan had finally overdosed himself to death in there.

That evening, the weather turned sour. On their way to the KTV, a heavy rain suddenly started pouring down. Chen Zige and the others had initially planned to call a few girls over for an all-nighter, but everyone got soaked halfway there. Before long, thunder started rumbling, and a bolt of lightning struck frighteningly close. A girl screamed on the spot.

With that, their night of fun was completely ruined. Everyone squatted by the roadside calling for rides, dejectedly heading home.

“Summer rain comes and goes so quickly,” Chen Zige grumbled, shaking the water from his hair. “Finally managed to plan a gathering and now it’s ruined.”

“There’ll be more chances later,” Lu Nanyang said, lowering his head to check on his phone, looking for any nearby restaurants they could stop at.

Earlier during dinner, he had sent Xie Quan a “Have you eaten?” message, but there had been no reply. He suspected Xie Quan’s eating and sleeping schedule had completely collapsed.

“More chances? Hah, like you’d have the time. Young master’s time is precious,” Chen Zige snorted.

Lu Nanyang paused, then looked up blankly. “Huh?”

“You’re acting clueless? Every time I ask you out during the holidays, you say you’re busy!” Chen Zige elbowed him. “And even now, when you do show up, you’re ignoring the girls and just using your phone. You weren’t like this before.”

“What was I like before?” Lu Nanyang asked, half amused.

Chen Zige thought for a moment. “If not the considerate, gentlemanly type, at least sunny, cheerful, and lively.”

The description reminded Lu Nanyang of a recently popular song. His mouth twitched slightly. “Sunny and cheerful doesn’t always sound like a compliment.”

Chen Zige suddenly lowered his voice. “I bet you’re hiding someone, aren’t you?”

“What nonsense,” Lu Nanyang frowned awkwardly.

“Is it a guy or a girl?” Chen Zige asked, voice still low. “You’re being so secretive… don’t tell me it’s a guy?”

Lu Nanyang elbowed him hard. “Keep talking nonsense and I’ll punch you.”

Just then, a taxi pulled up by the curb and honked.

Lu Nanyang put away his phone. “My ride’s here. Catch you later.”

Chen Zige repeated his words in a mocking tone and commented, “Betraying friends for love.”

Lu Nanyang ignored him and slammed the car door shut against the rain.

……

On the way back, the rain didn’t just persist — it grew even heavier. By the time Lu Nanyang fished out his keys to open the door,  the rain had turned into a full-on downpour, with lightning and deafening thunder setting off several car alarms in the complex.

After stepping inside and closing the door, Lu Nanyang glanced at the time — it was already past midnight.

Not an all-nighter, but it felt like one.

The apartment was pitch dark, every light off. Lu Nanyang sighed and put the takeout box into the fridge.

He hadn’t expected the rain to delay him this long. Whether Xie Quan had eaten or not, he had to be asleep by now.

Without turning on the lights, Lu Nanyang quietly washed up using the light from his phone. But just as he spat out the last mouthful of water, a blinding flash of lightning struck nearby, lighting up the whole apartment like daylight, immediately followed by a loud crack of thunder.

Almost simultaneously, from the direction of the north bedroom, he heard a clear “crash” — something breaking.

Lu Nanyang quickly walked over and knocked on the door. “Xie Quan?”

There was no response.

He frowned, his hand hesitating on the doorknob for a couple of seconds, then turned it to the left.

Surprisingly, the door wasn’t locked — it clicked open easily.

“…Xie Quan?”

The room was dark. Lu Nanyang tiptoed in, feeling along the wall until he found the light switch and turned it on.

He saw Xie Quan sitting at the edge of the bed, wearing a light purple robe, the front half undone, exposing most of his chest. Sweat beaded heavily on his forehead, his chest rising and falling with labored breaths. Around his bare ankles, shattered pieces of what looked like a ceramic object were scattered all over the floor.

Just as Lu Nanyang was about to say something, another bright flash of lightning streaked across the sky, followed closely by the rumble of thunder. In that instant, Lu Nanyang clearly saw Xie Quan’s body tremble.

A somewhat unbelievable thought surfaced in Lu Nanyang’s mind:
Xie Quan is afraid of thunder?

As the rumble of thunder faded, Lu Nanyang slowed his steps and approached the bed. Unexpectedly, Xie Quan suddenly noticed him and, like a startled rabbit, jumped up from the bed and backed away.

But he was barefoot, and right behind him was a pile of sharp ceramic shards.

“Careful!”
Lu Nanyang reacted quickly, grabbing Xie Quan’s wrist and pulling him forward.

Xie Quan lost his balance and collapsed onto the bed, instinctively struggling violently, his knee landing hard against Lu Nanyang’s abdomen.

The blow was so forceful that Lu Nanyang’s face twisted in pain.
But his two years in the army hadn’t been for nothing — while enduring the pain, he pinned down one of Xie Quan’s legs and firmly twisted his wrists downward, fully subduing him in less than two seconds.

Then he saw Xie Quan’s beautiful light gray eyes darting around in panic, brimming with fear and on the verge of breakdown.

“Xie Quan!”
Lu Nanyang grabbed his chin with his free hand, forcing him to look at him.
“It’s me, Lu Nanyang.”

Xie Quan gasped heavily, his bare chest rising and falling violently, his eyes unfocused and dazed.

“Lu Nanyang,” Xie Quan repeated, his gaze slowly regaining focus. “You—”

Just as he was about to say something, another bolt of lightning struck outside the window, and Xie Quan’s face instantly turned pale again — even his lips lost all color in an instant.

Maybe because the clouds were low that night, the lightning and thunder were striking very close by, and the thunder always followed immediately after.

“You better not kick me again,” Lu Nanyang sighed.

Before Xie Quan’s chaotic mind could react, Lu Nanyang released his restraint, cupped the back of Xie Quan’s head, and pressed him firmly into his own chest.

Xie Quan’s mind went completely blank.

Through the thin fabric, Lu Nanyang’s body heat seeped over.

Their breaths overlapped and filled the room.

Xie Quan could smell the dampness in Lu Nanyang’s hair—the scent of dust and rain—and a faint hint of tobacco, mingled with the fresh aroma of lemon, a smell he vaguely remembered.

A loud clap of thunder exploded, and Xie Quan jerked violently again.
Lu Nanyang immediately tightened his embrace, rubbing Xie Quan’s back with his palm.

“It’s okay. It’s just thunder. It won’t strike you. Don’t be scared, it’ll be over soon.”

But even after the thunder passed, Xie Quan’s body continued to tremble uncontrollably.
Lu Nanyang realized he was drenched in cold sweat, his chest heaving as if he was on the brink of suffocation.

“Xie Quan?”
Lu Nanyang brushed aside his damp bangs and placed his palm on Xie Quan’s forehead.

It was burning hot.

Chest tightness, suffocation, sweating, trembling, numb limbs, and a sense of impending doom…
A concept he had read about recently suddenly floated into Lu Nanyang’s mind:
This wasn’t just fear. This was a panic attack.

What Xie Quan needed wasn’t comfort — he needed medication.

Lu Nanyang quickly turned around and spotted a small bottle of diazepam on the desk.
He reached for it.

At that moment, Xie Quan suddenly clutched his arm tightly.
Lu Nanyang was startled. “What’s wrong?”

Xie Quan shook his head, his voice so hoarse it was almost inaudible, but filled with stubbornness:
“No.”

Lu Nanyang froze, almost thinking he misheard, and confirmed,
“You don’t want the medicine?”

Xie Quan still shook his head, clutching the edge of the bedsheet tightly, his hoarse voice barely making it out:
“I already took it today.”

It took Lu Nanyang a long moment to process what he meant.

“…You’re trying to reduce your medication?”

Xie Quan didn’t answer. He just gasped painfully, sweat running down from his forehead along the curve of his jaw, dripping onto the bedsheet and spreading into wet stains.

“Leave,” Xie Quan rasped.

“No way,” Lu Nanyang raised his voice a little.
“What can I do to help you feel better? Maybe you should lie down first — I’ll get you some hot water, or, or maybe I can call 120 and have a doctor—”

But before he could finish, Xie Quan suddenly yanked down Lu Nanyang’s head by his hair and pressed their lips together.