When he returned to the hospital room, Lin Wangye stood outside the door for ages, nervously rubbing his face with the back of his hand like that might magically erase the evidence. He kept thinking about just turning around and running for it.
In the end, he mustered up his courage and went inside.
Shi Yuan didn’t look surprised at all that he’d been gone so long. When Lin Wangye stepped through the door, Shi Yuan calmly set his book aside and took off his glasses.
“You’re back,” he said.
“Mm…”
Lin Wangye mumbled a reply, hurried to fix the overturned chair, then flopped onto the bed, burying his face in the blanket like an ostrich hiding in the sand.
Shi Yuan’s smile deepened as he reached over and ruffled Lin Wangye’s hair.
“Sad little puppy,” he teased.
A muffled voice came from under the covers.
“…Shut up.”
“This is so embarrassing…”
“You really scared me,” Shi Yuan said softly, still stroking Lin Wangye’s hair like he was calming a small, frightened animal. His voice was warm and gentle. “But… I don’t think this is just about me, right? Did it remind you of something else that’s been bothering you?”
Hearing that, Lin Wangye shifted slightly, turning his head just enough to reveal one red, puffy eye.
“Yeah…” he mumbled.
Shi Yuan hesitated, then asked carefully, “I heard you grew up in an orphanage?”
The warmth of Shi Yuan’s palm seemed to spread from Lin Wangye’s scalp down through his whole body, wrapping him in a comforting sense of safety.
Still resting on his folded arm, Lin Wangye stretched his other arm out under the blanket, half-hugging Shi Yuan’s waist as he quietly said, “I’m not an orphan… I have a dad who loves me very much.”
Orphanages usually wouldn’t accept kids if they had legal guardians.
Shi Yuan didn’t know if Lin Wangye was clinging to some distant memory of fatherly love or just trying to avoid reopening old wounds, so he didn’t press for details. Instead, he changed the subject.
“What’s your connection with Lu Chengxuan? There are all kinds of rumors… I’m not sure what’s true.”
Lin Wangye didn’t feel like hiding anything from Shi Yuan. He answered honestly, “To get me into No. 7 High School, Brother Lu had one of his close relatives adopt me — just on paper, for legal reasons.”
“Do you live with him?” Shi Yuan asked.
Lin Wangye nodded. “Yeah… I didn’t really have anywhere else to go.”
At Ningchang No. 7 High School, Lu Chengxuan’s family background was no secret — people had been talking about it since his first day.
Considering that, it wasn’t surprising that someone like Lin Wangye, bright and full of life, would be connected to someone like Lu Chengxuan..
Shi Yuan’s eyes darkened slightly. After a moment, he said, “Then things shouldn’t be too hard for you, right? His family’s pretty well-off.”
“It’s… pretty good, yeah…” Lin Wangye let out a small sigh. “But it’s still not the same. Being under someone else’s roof… you always feel like you’re in their way, like you owe them something, or you’re just one wrong move away from being a burden.”
After speaking, he shifted a little, nuzzling his face into the blanket before closing his eyes.
“But I like being with you,” he added softly.
Shi Yuan didn’t quite understand how, after only really getting to know each other today, there was already this strange closeness between them — something warm and familiar, like they’d known each other far longer than they actually had.
Whenever Lin Wangye was near, that quiet reliance — soft, natural, and almost instinctive — seemed to come just as easily as breathing.
Somehow, none of it felt strange to Shi Yuan — like this was exactly how things were supposed to be, as natural as breathing.
He didn’t know what kind of magic this was, but whatever it was, it seemed to come from Lin Wangye himself — something about him just had that effect.
After a long day of classes followed by all the emotional ups and downs, Lin Wangye was exhausted. Now that he was beside Shi Yuan, his mind finally relaxed. The moment he closed his eyes, fatigue swept over him like a crashing wave.
The hospital room was warm, the air from the central heating soft and comforting.
Outside, the golden hues of sunset slowly faded, giving way to the deepening shades of dusk.
Before long, Lin Wangye had drifted off, his head resting on his folded arm. His hair fell naturally across his forehead, and his long, dark lashes cast delicate, fan-shaped shadows under his eyes. With each quiet breath, they trembled ever so slightly.
Shi Yuan’s gaze lingered on his face — on those barely parted lips, soft and slightly glossy with moisture, shifting faintly with each gentle breath.
He wasn’t sure how long he’d been watching when a quiet knock on the door broke the silence.
Not wanting to wake him, Shi Yuan reached for his glasses and quietly called out, “Come in,” keeping his voice as soft as possible.
The door creaked open, and Lu Chengxuan stepped inside.
He paused for a moment at the sight before him — his eyes first landing on Lin Wangye, still asleep with his head on the bed. Then his gaze shifted to Shi Yuan’s hand, still gently resting in Lin Wangye’s hair. After a few lingering seconds, Lu Chengxuan finally looked up to meet Shi Yuan’s eyes.
“When did he fall asleep?” Lu Chengxuan asked, lowering his voice in consideration.
Despite his effort to speak quietly, something about his voice — maybe the unfamiliar tone or just the timing — startled Lin Wangye awake. His eyes blinked open, drowsy and unfocused, before landing on Lu Chengxuan.
“Brother Lu… what are you doing here?” he asked groggily.
“I’m keeping order,” Lu Chengxuan replied. “Can’t skip evening self-study. Are you coming back with me?”
Without a second thought, Lin Wangye shook his head.
“I’m not going,” he muttered, voice still thick with sleep.
Lu Chengxuan gave a brief nod and added, “Lin Shen asked you to go back and play games with him.”
Lin Wangye stretched out his limbs lazily, then flopped back onto the bed.
“Tell him I’m not going back.”
“…Alright,” Lu Chengxuan replied, not bothering to argue. He’d done his part, and with that, he turned and left, closing the door behind him.
Shi Yuan absentmindedly twirled a small lock of Lin Wangye’s hair around his finger, twisting it in slow circles as if lost in thought — though judging by the faint smile tugging at his lips, whatever was on his mind seemed to be putting him in a good mood.
“Why aren’t you going back for evening study?” he asked.
Lin Wangye grinned brightly, answering without hesitation.
“Because I want to stay with you.”
His voice carried a hint of playful sweetness, like honey dripping from a spoon — warm, sticky, and impossible to resist. Even the air seemed to grow softer, tinged with that sugary warmth.
Shi Yuan’s smile deepened. “Hungry?”
At the mention of food, Lin Wangye’s stomach seemed to remember its emptiness, and he stretched his arms above his head with a satisfied groan.
“A little,” he admitted. “What about you?”
“I’m alright,” Shi Yuan replied. “I had my hospital meal kind of late this afternoon, so I’m not too hungry.”
Lin Wangye rummaged through the snacks he had grabbed earlier but found they were all just junk food — nothing that could really fill him up. He figured his dad probably had someone bring food over, so he decided to head over and snag some.
Just as he stood up, someone knocked on the hospital room door.
“Who is it?” Lin Wangye asked first.
After hearing a response, the person outside pushed the door open without waiting.
Lin Shen walked in, one arm wrapped in a sling resting against his chest, while the other hand held a food container. The moment he spotted Lin Wangye, he scolded him furiously, “Unbelievable! I call you and you don’t come — I actually have to come fetch you myself?”
“Ahaha!” Lin Wangye dashed over to grab the food container, grinning cheekily. “You’re the best, Dad!”
“You sure know how to sweet-talk!”
No matter how annoyed he was, Lin Shen couldn’t stay mad after hearing that. His frustration vanished instantly, replaced by an undeniable sense of pride.
This was the first time they’d crossed paths since that whole mess landed Shi Yuan in the hospital.
Lin Shen walked up to him, his eyes landing on Shi Yuan’s injured leg. Seeing how bad it looked made him feel even guiltier. With an apologetic tone, he said sincerely, “Sorry, man. I lost my head back there. I really didn’t mean for things to go that far. My bad.”
From the moment Lin Shen entered the room, Shi Yuan had felt a slight irritation bubbling inside him — not because of Lin Shen, but because of the way Lin Wangye’s gaze had lingered on him, holding a warmth that seemed to go beyond just friendship.
Still, Shi Yuan didn’t let any of it show. He kept his tone calm and polite, nodding with quiet grace.
“It’s fine. Given the situation, I get why you reacted the way you did.”
Honestly, the whole thing had been pretty straightforward.
It all started because Lin Qianqian’s friend, Qu Liuliu, had once visited the pottery shop where Shi Yuan worked. As a beginner, she was captivated by Shi Yuan’s professional yet patient guidance. Before she knew it, she’d fallen for him. After that, she often showed up at the shop on weekends, and over time, the two became familiar.
It took guts for Qu Liuliu to confess her feelings — even more so since she was two years older than Shi Yuan.
But after building up all that courage, she was heartbroken when Shi Yuan turned her down flat. Unable to hold back her emotions, she ended up crying — right as Lin Shen happened to pass by.
Seeing only the aftermath and none of the context, Lin Shen instantly assumed his sister’s friend had been bullied by some street punk. Without a second thought, he’d stormed over, grabbed Shi Yuan by the collar, and shoved him against the wall.
Next thing they knew, both of them were tumbling into a ditch.
Lin Wangye, pleased with his dad’s willingness to own up to his mistake, casually opened his lunchbox and added, “Good thing he’s not holding a grudge. Next time, though, don’t pull that again. If you mess with the wrong person, they’ll report you to the school, and you’ll end up with a disciplinary record.”
Lin Shen had enough of the lecture, waving his hand like he was swatting away a mosquito.
“Alright, alright, cut the dad talk. You’re driving me nuts.”
From the moment Lin Wangye had walked into the hospital room, everything he did seemed just a little… eager — like he was trying too hard to please.
Shi Yuan had managed to shake off that feeling earlier, but after Lin Wangye’s words just now, it was hard not to second-guess things.
He didn’t want to doubt him — didn’t want to believe there was some hidden motive behind Lin Wangye’s kindness.
Yet his emotions kept sinking, slow and uncontrollable.
Hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). I hope you enjoyed the story! If you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! Check out the link below for early chapters. (๑>ᴗ<๑)
