The next day was a weekend. Lu Nanyang originally thought he’d sleep in until noon, but instead he was woken up around 8 a.m. by the sound of a ringing phone. Groggy, he fumbled around for a bit before realizing—it wasn’t his ringtone.
Next to him, Xie Quan answered the phone, his deep, cool voice echoing in Lu Nanyang’s ear.
“What is it?… Now?… Okay, I’ll head over right away.”
Upon hearing that last sentence, Lu Nanyang sobered up considerably and opened his eyes. “…What happened?”
“There’s a staff shortage at the hospital. They asked me to come in and help.” Xie Quan turned off the phone screen. “You go back to sleep.”
As if he could sleep now.
Lu Nanyang forced himself to keep his eyes open and sat up in bed with his hair completely tousled like a bird’s nest. Last night, Xie Quan must have squeezed onto the same bed with him. It was only a 1.2-meter-wide single bed—how they both fit on it, he had no idea. There was a huge empty space on the right side, while the left side was so cramped that Xie Quan had nearly fallen off.
The act of sitting up tugged at some of his scrapes, and his dazed brain belatedly recalled what had happened the night before. A flush crept up his face.
Xie Quan, however, got up calmly and began getting dressed in an orderly manner. “I won’t be back at noon. There’s still some leftovers in the fridge. Make sure to heat them thoroughly before eating.”
“You won’t be back?” Lu Nanyang froze, a strong sense of disappointment welling up inside.
He had thought they could spend some more time together over the weekend, and now suddenly he wouldn’t even see him for the whole day?
The puppy’s face visibly fell, and without even thinking, he reached out and wrapped his arms around Xie Quan’s waist.
Xie Quan couldn’t help but ruffle the top of his messy hair. “So clingy this early in the morning… that’s not like you.”
Xie Quan was right—it really wasn’t like him.
But the person who had turned him into someone unlike himself was right in front of him. Lu Nanyang couldn’t help being attached. He simply couldn’t let go.
“All right, it’s a real emergency. I don’t have a choice,” Xie Quan said, gently patting Lu Nanyang’s head. “If you don’t let go now, I’ll be late.”
Reluctantly, Lu Nanyang let go. “Do they really have to call you? Can’t they find someone else?”
“If they could’ve found someone else, they wouldn’t have called me,” Xie Quan replied with a soft laugh, fastening the last button of his shirt.
Lu Nanyang had a feeling there was some deeper meaning behind those words, but before he could think it through, Xie Quan cut in again.
“You really don’t want to part with me, huh? Wanna come with me?” he asked. “The hospital affiliated with the university isn’t far.”
Lu Nanyang’s eyes lit up. “Really?”
“Yeah, but you can only sit in the lobby or hallway. I’ll probably be very busy and won’t be able to check on you. At best, you’ll catch a glimpse of me now and then.”
“No problem,” Lu Nanyang said without hesitation. He jumped out of bed and started getting dressed. “Give me five minutes… no, three minutes! I’ll be ready!”
….
To students at Yuncheng university, the affiliated hospital wasn’t unfamiliar. It was located near the university town. The school’s clinic, the medical school’s equipment—all were connected to it.
Lu Nanyang had been there once during his freshman year to treat a minor injury, but thanks to his excellent physical condition, that had been his only visit.
It was a top-tier hospital and very large. If he weren’t following Xie Quan, he’d probably get lost after just a few steps.
Xie Quan navigated the hospital like a pro, taking various side entrances and weaving through corridors, eventually bringing them to the surgical consultation room. He then led Lu Nanyang to a bench in the hallway, sat him down, and even handed him a disposable paper cup.
“Wait here for me. If you get bored, go over there to the water dispenser for a drink,” Xie Quan instructed. “You barely drank any water this morning, and you expended a lot of energy last night. You need to stay hydrated. And sit still—don’t move around too much. Be careful not to bump your wounds and risk infection…”
“Alright, alright!” Lu Nanyang quickly cut him off, feeling that if he let Xie Quan keep talking, he’d probably end up recounting every detail of last night without missing a beat. “I got it, you go do your thing. Don’t worry about me.”
Xie Quan straightened up and looked him over once more before nodding. He gave a gentle pinch to Lu Nanyang’s thigh and said softly, “Wait for me.”
That one sentence sent a tingle through Lu Nanyang’s ears, and he watched as Xie Quan walked toward the deeper part of the hallway, greeted a few people at the door, and entered the office.
Soon after, he saw Xie Quan come back out wearing a white coat. His movements and demeanor didn’t resemble a student at all, but rather someone who had been working there for years—a full-fledged doctor.
It had been a while since Lu Nanyang last saw Xie Quan in a lab coat. The crisp white coat perfectly concealed some of his figure while also highlighting his overall aura. It made him look even more gentle and refined than usual, clean and composed.
His boyfriend was seriously handsome.
Though he always looked good, there was something especially dazzling about seeing someone in their element—radiating confidence and calm.
Lu Nanyang found it a little unbelievable—he had spent the whole morning just sitting in the hallway outside the surgical clinic, drinking plain water while watching his boyfriend go in and out, clearly busy. Over an hour passed like that, and he hadn’t felt bored at all.
Whenever Xie Quan had a free moment, he’d come over to say a few words. Even when he was busy, he’d still shoot Lu Nanyang a glance—sometimes one that seemed to say, “Have you been waiting long? Maybe go stretch your legs,” or, “This coworker’s an idiot, I’m exhausted,” or even, “Did you see that? I just handled that with mature, professional finesse.”
That look made Lu Nanyang’s heart itch with a tender ache, and he wished he could rush in and snatch his boyfriend away from those patients right then and there.
He was even thinking about what to treat Xie Quan to for lunch. After scrolling through nearby food options on his phone, he suddenly realized that with how busy Xie Quan was, he might not even have time to go out and eat.
Maybe he should go buy lunch and bring it up to him?
Just as this thought crossed his mind, Lu Nanyang suddenly heard a commotion from across the hallway. He lifted his head from his phone and saw a large crowd had gathered at the surgical clinic’s entrance, all pushing and shoving—he couldn’t see what was happening inside.
“What’s going on?” he asked in surprise.
“No idea,” said an older woman nearby, craning her neck to get a better look. “Looks like a patient’s causing trouble.”
Lu Nanyang’s eyes widened, and he sprang up from his seat.
The moment he stood up, someone was violently shoved out of the crowd and fell to the ground.
The onlookers gasped, but none stepped forward to help. Instead, they all backed away, leaving an open space, and just watched the person fall.
It was Xie Quan.
His white coat was covered in dust from the floor, his glasses had been knocked askew, and there was a dark bruise near his eye. A smear of red stained the corner of his mouth.
The attacker followed him out of the room—it was a scruffy man in his forties who clearly didn’t look like someone to mess with.
Lu Nanyang’s mind buzzed, and the name “Xie Quan” got stuck in his throat. Just as he was about to shout, the man’s furious shout drowned him out.
“Did you let him participate in the surgery?! Just admit it—did you or didn’t you?!”
A young nurse rushed over to stop him, practically in tears. “Our director already explained to you several times—interns don’t participate in surgeries. They only observe and learn from the sidelines… And you signed the surgical risk consent form, which means you acknowledged the possibility of failure—”
“I signed to accept surgical risks, not to let trash like him take part in it!” the man shouted, pushing the nurse aside and pointing at Xie Quan, who was still on the ground. “Don’t you know who he is? An intern? Bullshit! He’s a filthy queer who sells himself to rich brats! Haven’t you seen the news from a few days ago?!”
At that, many people in the crowd started looking at Xie Quan with interest. Even though he kept his head down and his face was partly shadowed, people began whispering and pointing, recognizing him.
“He was involved in my son’s surgery! You all tell me—is that fair? Is it?!” the man yelled. “Letting someone like him operate on my son—of course it failed! And you call him a university student? Why hasn’t the school expelled him yet?!”
Xie Quan wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. He just sat there on the floor, saying nothing.
Lu Nanyang felt like a hand was twisting his heart—it was hard to breathe. He couldn’t take it anymore. He pushed his way through the crowd and shouted, “Xie Quan!”
Everyone’s eyes turned toward Lu Nanyang. His face was even more recognizable than Xie Quan’s, and many quickly identified him, including the raging man.
Lu Nanyang knelt and helped Xie Quan up by the shoulder. He looked up and glared at the man. “Are you deaf? Didn’t you hear what the nurse just said? You—”
But before he could finish, he felt a sharp, painful squeeze on his palm—Xie Quan had pinched him hard.
