DCISBS chapter 66

“Do you know what I’m thinking right now?”

Lu Nanyang suddenly said, gazing at the shimmering surface of the lake.

“What?”

“I’m thinking you’re really a bastard,” Lu Nanyang said. “You barged into my life out of nowhere, with values and worldviews completely opposite to mine, and brought me a whole bunch of trouble…”

“But,” he suddenly laughed, his expression softening, “looking back now, meeting you at that bar was the best thing that could’ve happened.”

Xie Quan looked at him. “Do you know what I’m thinking?”

“What?” Lu Nanyang turned his head. Under the moonlight, Xie Quan’s eyes looked especially deep and intense.

“I’m thinking,” Xie Quan said, “right now, I really, really want to make love with you here.”

In that instant, Lu Nanyang felt like his soul had been pierced straight through. Without thinking, he cupped Xie Quan’s face and kissed him. Their lips pressed together in a desperate, impatient kiss, melting into one another almost instantly.

Xie Quan once again tasted the sweetness of fruit candy in Lu Nanyang’s mouth. The two of them were like anxious wild beasts, desperate and unrestrained, eager to explore every inch of each other’s mouths.

Desire quietly ignited under the cold moonlight. Xie Quan was the first to tug off Lu Nanyang’s hoodie, then reached for his belt. Their heavy breathing mixed with short, urgent sounds—impossible to tell whose voice they belonged to.

The intimacy of bare skin against bare skin was enough to drive anyone mad. Lu Nanyang’s exposed back was pricked by dewy wild grass, a stinging reminder that they were in the open wilderness. The shame of it only made everything more thrilling.

Xie Quan straddled Lu Nanyang’s waist from above, the bulge between his legs tightly pressed against him, shamelessly grinding with raw need.

The cool night wind tousled his hair into disarray, and his glasses slipped crookedly down the bridge of his nose. Squinting slightly, Xie Quan opened his mouth, took two of his fingers between his lips, and sensually sucked on them—his tongue teasing and swirling, leaving a slick sheen of saliva along his fingertips.

“Nanyang,” Xie Quan murmured lowly, “fuck me.”

Lu Nanyang felt like something exploded in his brain. Without thinking, he flipped over and pinned Xie Quan beneath him in one swift move. The rustling grass beneath them gave a loud shuffle, startling a few birds into flight—their chirping almost like loud, scandalized gossip.

But just as they were on the brink, Lu Nanyang’s phone rang in his pocket—loud, persistent, and annoyingly insistent.

He hung up the phone, but it rang again within two seconds. He hung up once more, and it rang again.

Xie Quan frowned, pressed down on Lu Nanyang’s shoulder to push him away, and gestured with his chin. “If it’s an important call, just answer it.”

“It’s not important,” Lu Nanyang replied without thinking, but the phone rang for the third time.

“Would someone unimportant call this many times?” Xie Quan frowned and gave him a shove. “Answer it.”

He didn’t want to be the reason someone missed something important.

Lu Nanyang sighed and climbed off Xie Quan. What surprised Xie Quan was that Lu Nanyang didn’t answer the phone right away. Instead, he took the phone and walked out of the lake area. He only picked up when he reached the road.

Xie Quan sat up on the grass, suddenly feeling a chill on his back.

He thought Lu Nanyang would return quickly, but that “unimportant call” ended up lasting more than ten minutes.

Xie Quan sat on a rock by the lakeside. The desire that had just been sparked was quickly blown away by the night wind. The stars were bright tonight, the sky was clear—perfect for stargazing and celestial observation.

But even after he silently recited the names of all the stars, Lu Nanyang still hadn’t come back.

Who could have called?

Xie Quan frowned, stood up from the rock, and walked toward the road.

Lu Nanyang was standing beside the car, the dim streetlight casting a short shadow beneath him. Just as Xie Quan was about to call out, he heard Lu Nanyang suddenly raise his voice and yell into the phone:

“You think I don’t want to? That I don’t want things to go back to how they were?”

Xie Quan stopped in his tracks.

He didn’t know what the other person said, but Lu Nanyang suddenly slumped against the car, deflated. “That’s not what I meant. I was wrong just now. I meant…”

The words were abruptly cut off—it seemed the other person had hung up. Lu Nanyang stared at the phone screen in a daze for a long time, then turned around and leaned his elbow on the car hood, burying his face in his arms.

Xie Quan cleared his throat behind him.

Lu Nanyang spun around in surprise, visibly startled. When he saw it was Xie Quan, he finally let out a breath, looking a little embarrassed. “Sorry, did I keep you waiting long?”

Xie Quan didn’t reply, simply walked over. Lu Nanyang naturally took his hand. “Do you still want to…”

Xie Quan pulled his hand away and placed the other on his forehead. “Don’t you feel how hot your head is? You have a fever.”

“What?” Lu Nanyang was stunned.

“You have a fever,” Xie Quan repeated firmly.

Back by the lake, when they were getting intimate, Xie Quan had already felt something was off. But he assumed it was just the heat of the moment, and Lu Nanyang always ran a bit warm, so he wasn’t sure.

But now, after all this time, Lu Nanyang’s body temperature hadn’t gone down—it had gotten even hotter.

“No way,” Lu Nanyang said, confused, touching his forehead. “I feel fine…”

“Fine, my ass.” Xie Quan shoved him under the streetlight. “Do you even realize what you look like right now?”

“I’m fine. Maybe I just caught a chill.” Lu Nanyang pinched the bridge of his nose and insisted, “I’ll be okay after a good sleep. Let’s just get in the car.”

He reached for the driver’s side door.

Xie Quan grabbed his wrist. “Don’t drive. Call a chauffeur.”

“No need. It’s only a 30-minute drive…”

“Call. A. Chauffeur,” Xie Quan said slowly and firmly, leaving no room for negotiation.

And as it turned out, Xie Quan was right.

Five minutes after the driver started the car, Lu Nanyang’s forehead was so hot it was almost too much to touch.

Xie Quan didn’t have a better solution. Luckily, he still had a few alcohol wipes in his pocket. He shifted slightly to the side so Lu Nanyang could rest his head on his shoulder.

“I’m really fine, you don’t have to bother…”

“Shut your mouth, or I’ll stuff a wipe in it,” Xie Quan said bluntly.

Lu Nanyang was stunned into silence and obediently closed his mouth, leaning against Xie Quan’s shoulder.

There wasn’t much scent on Xie Quan’s clothes, just a faint smell of disinfectant—clean and soothing. Then suddenly, a cold sensation touched Lu Nanyang’s burning forehead, making him shiver.

“Don’t move.”

Xie Quan’s tone was impatient, but his movements were gentle as he adjusted the wipe’s position.

Back at the apartment, Lu Nanyang’s temperature had climbed to 38.7°C.

Xie Quan quickly fetched fever medicine and helped him take it, then soaked a towel in ice water and began wiping his forehead.

“If the fever doesn’t go down in two hours, we’re going to the hospital,” Xie Quan said, standing up to re-cool the towel.

“Xie Quan,” Lu Nanyang grabbed his wrist, frowning, his voice hoarse from the fever, “You don’t have to go through all this trouble. I’ll be fine after some sleep. Really.”

Xie Quan turned back, placing the towel in the basin. His gaze was like ice. “When did it start?”

“What?” Lu Nanyang’s fevered brain couldn’t keep up.

“You don’t get a high fever like this from just catching a cold, and it’s not even flu season.” Xie Quan suppressed his anger as he looked at Lu Nanyang. “When did you start feeling sick? On the way to the beach? When you came to pick me up from school? Or earlier—when you were running around bringing me meals three times a day?”

Xie Quan had thought that if anyone was going to get sick during this time, it should’ve been him.

Since the start of the semester, he had been dealing with withdrawal symptoms, poor sleep, and the demands of the medical research group project. Even so, when it finally ended, all he wanted was to curse out the professor who dragged him into the mess.

But what he hadn’t considered was that the reason he was able to maintain his current state was because Lu Nanyang had been rushing from the School of Political Science and Law three times a day just to bring him meals.

Xie Quan was a pure and thorough egoist. He naturally believed that everyone should put their own interests first, and only consider others once they had the energy and space to do so.

But he forgot that Lu Nanyang was an extreme altruistic fool—someone who could sacrifice his time, energy, and money just to make someone else smile.

And now, it had reached the point where even his health was being sacrificed.

“I didn’t… really,” Lu Nanyang pulled Xie Quan’s hand. From this angle, his big, watery puppy eyes looked even more innocent, with a hint of playful pleading. “I was fine the past few days. Maybe I just caught a chill from the wind this afternoon. It’s nothing.”

Xie Quan hated when Lu Nanyang looked at him like that.

So pure, so sincere, without a trace of malice—leaving no room for blame—and yet, somehow, it made an inexplicable anger rise in his chest.

He shook off Lu Nanyang’s hand, the look in his eyes showing a trace of hurt. “Lu Nanyang, I’m not an idiot. I know you’re hiding something from me. Why are you like this? No one’s allowed to lie to you, but you can lie to me however you want? Is that it?”