When they reached the door, Lu Nanyang didn’t even have a free hand—he had to shoulder it open.
The security door slammed with a loud bang, and he suspected the neighbors probably heard it loud and clear. He almost didn’t manage to get a foot free to close the door, because Xie Quan practically pounced on him immediately, overwhelming all his senses without warning.
Two six-foot-tall men kissing and grappling wasn’t exactly graceful. In the entranceway, Lu Nanyang reached out blindly and accidentally knocked over a decorative item on the shoe cabinet.
But neither of them cared. They were like two wild beasts of different breeds locked in combat—before long, their tongues were already tasting blood.
Xie Quan tore Lu Nanyang’s shirt off with force and flung it to the floor. Lu Nanyang removed Xie Quan’s glasses, yanked the hem of his shirt free, and let his fingers roam over his lean waist and abs.
Xie Quan was really thin—so much so that his ribs could be felt rising beneath the skin.
“Your room or mine?” Lu Nanyang asked between kisses, panting.
“I don’t sleep on unwashed sheets,” Xie Quan said, biting at his earlobe.
“Fuck.” Lu Nanyang grumbled and shoved Xie Quan northward. “You’re gonna be the death of me, I swear.”
The bed in the north bedroom no longer had Xie Quan’s own sheets, but they had just been washed. The faint scent of laundry detergent still lingered in the fabric.
Lu Nanyang pushed Xie Quan down onto the bed and deftly unbuttoned his pants. In the dark, their breaths intertwined, their skin burned with heat, and desire sprouted in the spaces between them, quickly becoming unstoppable.
But suddenly, Xie Quan grabbed Lu Nanyang’s wrist. “Turn on the light.”
Lu Nanyang froze, surprised by the request. “Are you serious?”
“Don’t you want to look at me?” Xie Quan asked hoarsely.
The words were like Medusa’s temptation—Lu Nanyang’s whole body flushed with heat. He straightened slightly and turned on the bedroom light.
The light flooded the room, revealing every detail—Xie Quan’s tousled hair, the sweat beading on his forehead, and every inch of exposed skin. He lay back on the soft bedding, relaxed, eyes slightly narrowed. Probably because he wasn’t wearing his glasses, his light gray pupils looked unfocused and dazed. The buckwheat pillow rustled under his head like a lazy cat.
Even though this wasn’t their first time, it was the first time they’d seen each other’s desire filled faces this clearly.
Under the stark white incandescent light, nothing could hide. They were transparent, like being underwater—becoming a tiny dot on each other’s retinas, unable to conceal anything.
Xie Quan pulled Lu Nanyang down by the back of the neck, reached down, and grabbed them both together.
“What are you doing?” Lu Nanyang chuckled, muffled. “Aren’t we a little old to be comparing sizes?”
“Who’s comparing sizes?” Xie Quan narrowed his eyes and gave a light squeeze. “Just checking if you’re actually impotent.”
“Fuck you—I’m not.” Lu Nanyang swatted his hand away, annoyed. “You freaked out so bad last time, I was too worried to even think about getting hard.”
“You make it sound so convincing.” Xie Quan let out a quiet laugh and leaned in for a kiss.
Pinned under him, Lu Nanyang could only tilt his head back and follow his lead. Their lips and tongues tangled in chaotic, heated rhythm.
Xie Quan lifted himself slightly, intending to give Lu Nanyang a moment to breathe—only for Lu Nanyang to suddenly press on his shoulder, flipping them over and pinning him underneath.
“I meant what I said,” Lu Nanyang held down Xie Quan’s struggling wrists and spoke seriously. “No matter how many misunderstandings we’ve had, I’ve always seen you as a friend. You don’t need a reason or excuse to worry about a friend.”
Xie Quan sighed. “Lu Nanyang, normal people don’t talk about friendship in bed.”
“There’s a first time for everything,” Lu Nanyang murmured, reaching down and starting to stroke slowly.
Thin beads of sweat formed on Xie Quan’s forehead, and their breathing filled the entire room. He instinctively bit the cut on the corner of his lip, but the pain didn’t help him clear his mind—instead, it only pulled him in deeper.
The bright lighting was almost too harsh. From this angle, Lu Nanyang’s strong upper body was completely visible—his faintly defined abs and the sweat trailing along his muscular lines made him look like a work of art.
If only that artwork would stop talking, it would be perfect.
But obviously, nothing in the world is perfect. That living statue tightened his fingers, mimicking a more pressurized environment, and persistently leaned in to whisper in Xie Quan’s ear,
“What about you, Xie Quan? Am I worthy of being your friend now?”
Xie Quan really wanted to lift his leg and kick him off the bed, but unfortunately, his weak spot was being fully controlled. His entire body was limp, and he couldn’t even muster the strength to curse him out.
“Are we friends now?” Lu Nanyang pressed his thumb to the tip and insisted.
Xie Quan felt like a pigeon being roasted alive—unable to live, unable to die. His eyes reddened, lashes damp. Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore and kicked Lu Nanyang, shouting,
“Who the fuck said you weren’t?! Dumbass!”
Only then did Lu Nanyang show a satisfied smile. After a few faster strokes, he let go.
Xie Quan’s nails dug deeply into Lu Nanyang’s back, and he cried out in a high-pitched voice amid the thick metallic sweetness in the air, while Lu Nanyang was drenched in sweat, struggling to catch his breath.
And then, something unexpected happened.
“Xie Quan? Xie Quan?” Lu Nanyang patted his face, completely panicked.
“Wake up, Xie Quan?”
…..
Luckily, there weren’t too many patients in the emergency room at Sixth Hospital at this hour, so Lu Nanyang didn’t wait long to register.
Just as he turned around with the registration slip in hand, he saw several adults struggling to restrain a girl. She looked like she was at most a high schooler, fighting desperately while screaming at the top of her lungs,
“Let me go! I’m gonna kill that bastard! That fucker raped me—I’ll cut his filthy dick off!”
Lu Nanyang stood there, stunned. Before he could react and ask what was happening, a group of male nurses in white coats rushed over, forcibly pinning the girl down and twisting her arms as they dragged her toward the elevator. The girl, unable to break free, screamed louder and louder, her voice piercing the entire hall like a curse.
The nurses forced her into the elevator. As the doors closed, her screams were cut off, leaving only her exhausted family members repeatedly apologizing to everyone around,
“Sorry, she has schizophrenia. She had a sudden episode. We couldn’t control it—sorry…”
But most of the people being apologized to just looked indifferent. After all, who comes to the Sixth Hospital without some sort of mental issue? Everyone was used to scenes like this.
Only Lu Nanyang remained frozen in place until a nurse tapped his shoulder, snapping him out of it.
“You’re done registering, right?” the nurse said. “Then go see the doctor. Don’t stand here holding up the line.”
“Sorry,” Lu Nanyang mumbled and headed upstairs, number slip still in hand.
Thankfully, the doctor on duty this time was the same one who had seen Xie Quan before—Dr. Liu, a kindly old man with graying hair and deep wrinkles next to his glasses. When he saw Lu Nanyang, those wrinkles deepened even further.
“How is he?” Lu Nanyang asked cautiously.
“We pushed him into a room and put him on a glucose drip. He’ll need to be admitted,” Dr. Liu replied, looking up.
“You’re his friend, right? Where are his family members?”
“He… he’s alone,” Lu Nanyang said, “No family around.”
“So there’s no one to look after him these days?” Dr. Liu frowned.
“Didn’t I tell you before? In his condition, someone has to stay with him constantly to prevent accidents! Since you brought him here in the first place, it’s your responsibility, right? Days have passed, and you didn’t even check on his condition. How can that be okay?”
“It’s not okay. That’s my fault,” Lu Nanyang lowered his head and admitted. “Doctor, what exactly happened to him?”
Dr. Liu adjusted his glasses, picked up a thick stack of test results, and laid them out in front of Lu Nanyang.
“His blood sugar is below the safe level. His stomach ulcer has relapsed. That means he hasn’t been eating, and he’s been vomiting repeatedly. There are also problems with his heart and endocrine system. Just look at those dark circles—he’s clearly not sleeping well. And have you seen his bloodwork?”
He pointed to one of the figures.
“Last time he came in, the amount of medication in his blood was only half of this. At this rate, it’s no longer just dependency—we’re talking overdose. Taking too much diazepam can lead to poisoning. It suppresses breathing and heart rate. It’s life-threatening!”
Lu Nanyang’s eyes widened in shock, stumbling over his words.
“B-but last time we were together, he said he was lowering the dose on his own…”
“It’s good that he’s aware and trying to reduce it,” Dr. Liu sighed.
“But quitting addiction isn’t that simple. It’s nearly impossible for someone to do it alone. Relapses during the process are very common, but patients tend to become hopeless and lose confidence, which only makes the rebound worse.”
Lu Nanyang said nothing. He could imagine it—someone like Xie Quan, who pushed himself to the edge in everything he did, would take all the blame on himself the moment something went wrong.
“That’s why we keep stressing that someone has to stay with him,” Dr. Liu continued.
“And in this state, you didn’t even let him rest—you were even active with him, weren’t you? No wonder he passed out.”
Lu Nanyang always thought he had thick skin, but hearing Dr. Liu righteously scold him like that made his face flush red all the way to his ears. He wished he could melt into a puddle and disappear through the cracks in the floor.
Dr. Liu gave him a few more instructions and finally let him go after ten minutes.
The inpatient wing was just across from the outpatient building. When Lu Nanyang opened the hospital room door, Xie Quan was already awake. The moment he saw Lu Nanyang, he sighed and lifted an arm to cover his eyes.
“Have some congee,” Lu Nanyang said as he shut the door and placed the food container on the bedside table.
“Don’t come any closer. I don’t want to see you right now,” Xie Quan said weakly.
Lu Nanyang clicked his tongue. “What, put on your pants and suddenly you don’t know me anymore?”
“It’s not that.” Xie Quan dropped his arm in resignation. “It’s just too humiliating to have gotten myself into the hospital because of, well… that. I don’t want to admit it.”
Lu Nanyang couldn’t help it—he burst into uncontrollable laughter.
