⌈Why are you running when you see your boyfriend changing his clothes?⌋
Ji Yue walked out of the tea room and happened to see Lu Ran coming down the stairs.
The young man’s face carried only the excitement of having finished his homework.
He had no idea what kind of wealth he now possessed.
Ji Yue paused mid-step but ultimately said nothing.
The Ji family was relentless in the pursuit of profit, but at least they kept their wits about them.
Ji Min had protected this kid to such an extent that no one dared cause him trouble.
After exchanging a few polite words with Lu Ran, Ji Yue left.
Lu Ran paused on the steps, somewhat surprised by Ji Yue’s attitude.
Not long after, Ji Min also emerged from the tea room.
Lu Ran walked over, stretched lazily, and instinctively leaned on the back of Ji Min’s wheelchair.
Yawning, he asked, “What were you guys talking about? Why did your aunt look at me so strangely when she left?”
“Nothing important,” Ji Min replied with a small smile, “just a minor matter.”
But soon, Ji Min could no longer describe it as “a minor matter”.
A message from Keimler arrived, notifying him of the time for his surgery.
The timing wasn’t a specific date but rather a period, including preoperative care, the surgery itself, and the recovery phase.
Since Ji Min intended to keep news of the surgery under wraps, once preparations began, all involved personnel would sign confidentiality agreements, and the designated surgical wing would be sealed off.
The day Ji Min received the surgery notice, he was already thinking during dinner about how to inform Lu Ran of the news.
The man ate at a leisurely pace, occasionally pausing to watch the boy across from him struggle with a crab leg.
“Want me to help?” Ji Min extended a hand toward the boy.
But Lu Ran, with hands dripping in sauce, decisively refused.
“No need! Things like this are tastier when you do them yourself!”
He pushed all the crab-cracking tools aside and simply went in with his teeth, gnawing enthusiastically.
Ji Min chuckled.
He watched the boy for a while, inexplicably feeling hungry himself. He ended up picking out some crab meat to eat as well.
Looking up, he had to admit that Lu Ran’s method of eating indeed seemed more flavorful.
After eating one crab, Ji Min stopped.
He wiped his hands clean and quietly watched as Lu Ran polished off the remaining crabs.
Only when the boy was finally full and slumped motionless in his chair did Ji Min sip from his glass of water, pondering for a moment.
He then spoke slowly and nonchalantly, “I’ve decided to go ahead with the surgery.”
“Hmm?”
Lu Ran looked up, his eyes lighting up. “Really?”
Ji Min nodded. “Mm.”
“That’s great news.”
Lu Ran removed his gloves, wiped his hands, and dragged his chair to sit beside Ji Min.
The boy’s eyes sparkled brightly, happy simply and straightforwardly because of Ji Min’s decision.
Seeing his carefree demeanor, Ji Min unexpectedly felt a sense of relief.
“When are you planning to have the surgery? This kind of surgery must take a lot of preparation, right?” Lu Ran asked.
Ji Min hesitated for a moment but eventually revealed the upcoming date.
Upon hearing it, Lu Ran was stunned for two seconds.
“That soon?”
The boy was clearly unprepared for this and was momentarily dazed, falling silent.
After a long pause, he lowered his gaze to Ji Min’s knees and asked in a low voice, “Once you have the surgery, you’ll be better, right?”
“Mm,” Ji Min nodded, reaching out to pat the boy’s head, his voice gentle. “Don’t worry.”
That night.
Lu Ran lay in his room, tossing and turning.
Maybe it was because he had eaten too much at dinner, but no matter how he tried, he couldn’t fall asleep.
No wonder Ji Min had been so busy lately.
Unable to sleep, Lu Ran eventually got up, grabbed his phone, and began searching for information about the surgery Ji Min was about to undergo.
However, as a first-year college student, many of the advanced coursework and concepts were still beyond him.
The complexity and technicality of this surgery made the material hard to digest.
He flopped back onto the bed and rolled around for a while.
After some thought, he still felt uneasy.
With a sudden burst of energy, he jumped out of bed.
Da Huang, who is sleeping on the carpet, was startled by his abrupt movement and raised its head, staring at him curiously.
“Go back to sleep, Da Huang. I’ve got something to do,” Lu Ran said, slipping on his slippers and leaving the room.
He walked into the hallway and stood there for a while as if making up his mind.
Finally, he turned his gaze to another room at the end of the corridor.
Taking determined steps, he headed toward it.
He passed the elevator and crossed the boundary he had never crossed before, stepping onto the other side of the second floor.
When he reached Ji Min’s door, Lu Ran stood still, staring at the dark gray door that looked exactly like his own.
He bent down, peering through the small gap beneath it.
The light was still on, meaning the person inside wasn’t asleep yet.
Perfect.
Without a second thought, Lu Ran pushed the door open and walked in.
The moment the door swung open, he saw the man in the wheelchair changing his clothes.
The tie had already been removed and was draped over the back of a nearby sofa.
The buttons of his white shirt were undone all the way down to the last few, leaving his pale but astonishingly well-defined chest and abs completely exposed, from his collarbone to his abdomen.
Not expecting someone to barge in so casually, the man in the wheelchair froze and looked toward the door.
Lu Ran: “…”
“Sorry to disturb you, boss.”
Caught off guard, the word “boss” slipped out of his mouth again.
He quickly slammed the door shut with a loud bang and stood in the hallway, frowning in thought.
This was truly an inauspicious start.
But before long, the door behind him opened again.
Ji Min stood in the doorway, looked at him, and sighed softly, “Come in.”
Lu Ran sheepishly rubbed his nose and snuck a glance at Ji Min, noticing that he had already buttoned up his shirt.
Though not buttoned all the way up to the collar like earlier in the day, it was at least properly fastened now.
Only then did Lu Ran let out a quiet breath of relief.
Following Lu Ran’s gaze, Ji Min looked down at his shirt, then raised an eyebrow and asked, “Who were you just calling ‘boss’?”
Lu Ran: “…”
He awkwardly corrected himself, “Ahem, boyfriend.”
“Oh? Then why run off when you see your boyfriend changing clothes?” Ji Min teased him.
Lu Ran: “…”
Without responding, he gave Ji Min a firm push back into the room and put his hands on his hips. “I came here tonight because I have something to say.”
But before he could finish, he hesitated slightly after stepping fully into Ji Min’s room.
Ji Min’s office had always been completely normal and ordinary—so ordinary that it didn’t hint at his leg injury.
It wasn’t until Lu Ran visited Ji Min’s home that he noticed some accessible features.
Now, standing in Ji Min’s private room, Lu Ran could see that the space was filled with handrails for support.
The floor was covered with thick, soft padding.
His gaze swept from the living area to the walk-in closet, then to the adjoining bedroom.
The dense layout of these accessible features spoke volumes—despite being in a wheelchair, the man clearly disliked relying on others for his personal affairs.
Lu Ran stared, completely mesmerized.
He silently observed for a long while, even forgetting what he had come to say.
Eventually, he withdrew his gaze but couldn’t resist reaching out to gently pinch Ji Min’s arm.
Beneath his fingers was the undeniable firmness of well-built muscles.
His gaze then shifted to the buttons Ji Min had fastened—most of the way, but not all the way up.
However, instead of commenting on that, he asked, “Boss, do you do all this by yourself?”
“If something can be done alone, why not do it?” Ji Min looked up at him.
He then reached out to take the boy’s hand, pulling him a bit closer.
Afterward, he glanced around the room, noticing the suit jacket and tie scattered on the sofa. He cleared his throat slightly and said, “I haven’t had time to clean up yet; it’s a bit messy.”
“I mean… I mean…” Lu Ran looked around, unsure if he was crossing any boundaries with his words.
After hesitating for a while, he finally said, “But you could ask me to do these things for you. We’re close now, after all…”
Ji Min saw the boy’s distracted gaze and couldn’t help but laugh.
He gently squeezed the boy’s hand, which had slight calluses, and said, “But what if your boyfriend doesn’t want you doing these things? What should we do then?”
“But I’m really strong. You don’t have to hold back,” Lu Ran replied.
Ji Min applied a bit of force, pulling Lu Ran into his embrace.
Lu Ran had been held like this many times before, so he naturally shifted into a more comfortable position, straddling Ji Min’s lap.
He wrapped his arms around Ji Min’s waist and rested his head against his chest.
After sitting like that for a while, he couldn’t help but look up and ask, “Will it be uncomfortable for you if I sit like this?”
“No.”
Ji Min lowered his chin onto the boy’s head.
In a soft voice, he murmured, “It’s a grounding, comfortable weight.”
Lu Ran nestled in his arms for a while longer.
Then Ji Min led him to the door, closing it behind them.
He guided him into the inner bedroom.
However, the boy in his arms seemed to have lost the desire to look around.
Instead, he murmured with a muffled voice, “But I still want to help you.”
Ji Min chuckled softly in his ear.
“Help with what?”
“I can help with lots of things! For example…”
Lu Ran lifted his head from Ji Min’s chest, glancing around for a moment before pointing to the bed. “For example, I could carry you to the bed!”
“Carry me?” Ji Min raised an eyebrow.
It seemed like he was waiting to see if Lu Ran could prove it.
Lu Ran immediately jumped out of his arms, standing in front of him and reaching out to lift him.
He first tried a princess carry.
But their body sizes were so different that it was practically impossible to execute.
Next, he tried to carry Ji Min in a more conventional way.
He squeezed his face, turning bright red, but the result wasn’t much better. In fact, he ended up loosening the buttons Ji Min had just fastened.
However, Lu Ran didn’t even notice these details. He frowned in thought, saying, “That doesn’t make sense. Didn’t I carry your wheelchair and manage to walk quite a distance before?”
Ji Min: “…”
Could it be because the wheelchair has wheels?
“Then I’ll carry you on my back!”
Lu Ran bent down in front of Ji Min, grabbing both of his arms.
This time, he finally managed to get Ji Min on his back—just barely.
After struggling, he made it to the edge of the bed. But then, his foot caught the bedframe and he fell forward, crashing completely onto the bed, pinned under Ji Min.
Ji Min was tall, with wide shoulders, and now Lu Ran was completely covered by him.
“Ugh!” Lu Ran barely managed to free his head.
He felt the weight pressing down on his back and paused for a moment, then muttered, “Boyfriend, you must weigh around 200 pounds, huh?”
The situation was quite comical.
Ji Min couldn’t help it. He wrapped his arms around Lu Ran and buried his face in the boy’s neck, laughing softly.
The man seemed to have found something particularly funny, chuckling deeply.
His laughter shook his chest, sending vibrations down to Lu Ran’s back.
“Stop laughing!” Lu Ran tried to shout, but with Ji Min pinning him down, it came out completely powerless.
“Realized the weight now, huh?” Ji Min whispered in his ear.
Though he could have easily flipped over and freed the boy, Ji Min didn’t.
He was very focused on body conditioning, which meant his muscles were dense and strong.
Even though his legs couldn’t move on their own, he trained them daily to keep them active, making them far from weak.
Now, completely relaxed and using no strength, he still had enough weight to keep Lu Ran trapped beneath him.
“Remember now? Beg me,” Ji Min teased him again.
Lu Ran refused to admit defeat. He stubbornly, with flushed cheeks, tried to crawl out from under him.
He struggled for a while, but the man who had been teasing him leisurely suddenly changed his expression slightly.
Ji Min reached out and pressed him down, whispering, “Stop crawling.”
“I won’t! I’m almost out!”
Lu Ran stubbornly continued to push forward.
This time, Ji Min furrowed his brows sharply.
He closed his eyes for a moment, clicked his tongue softly, and with both hands, restrained him.
Lu Ran finally sensed that something wasn’t right.
He stretched out his hand and muttered, “Did your belt come undone? Why is it sticking up…”
As he spoke, his words suddenly stopped.
The room fell silent.
The previously comical atmosphere lingered, but some clear, undeniable changes were happening.
Lu Ran’s hand was still stretched behind him.
Ji Min, lying on top of him, let out an uncontrollable breath near his ear.
Lu Ran: “…” Damn.
He was so shocked that he felt completely dazed, with no scattered thoughts at all.
The first thing that came to mind, instead, was…
How big were the king oyster mushrooms in the supermarket again?
Images of king oyster mushrooms flashed in his mind, only to be immediately crossed out.
Then, various vegetable images began flickering in his mind like a slideshow.
He was so lost in thought that he stayed frozen for a while.
The man leaned close to his ear, whispering, “What are you thinking about?”
Lu Ran obediently answered, “Eggplant… and zucchini?”
Ji Min: “…”
As expected, it was you.
After a brief moment of silence, Ji Min finally flipped over.
The buttons on his shirt had all come undone and his shirt was hanging open.
Lu Ran quickly scrambled to get up.
He looked at Ji Min in this state, feeling a little guilty.
He was a bit curious and couldn’t help but glance over.
In the end, he asked with some responsibility, “Do you want me to… help?”
“Do you need me to help?”
That sentence from his memory echoed again.
But this time, it was clear that Ji Min wasn’t overthinking.
He closed his eyes.
He had just calmed down for a while, but now it was all for nothing.
Ji Min, for once, looked a little irritated. His dark eyes glanced at the person next to him.
Lu Ran was now sitting obediently on his bed.
After the earlier mishap, his clothes were wrinkled and his hair a bit messy.
His ears were even a little red.
“Oh, then you can help.” Ji Min said deliberately.
Who would have thought that the obedient one would actually slowly reach out in response to this, ready to… help.
Ji Min: “…”
He reached out and grabbed Lu Ran’s wrist, letting out a sigh.
Then, Lu Ran saw it: the person he had struggled so hard to carry onto the bed was now effortlessly extending his long arm to pull his wheelchair close to the bed, then using his arm to brace against the bed’s armrest. With a simple motion, he transferred himself into the wheelchair.
He tossed him a quick line: “Stay put here.”
And then he went into the bathroom.
When Ji Min finished washing up, he thought Lu Ran would have sneaked away by now.
But when he opened the bathroom door, he found the boy still obediently waiting.
As Ji Min walked closer and saw Lu Ran’s expression, he realized the boy had indeed been waiting, but obedient?
Not necessarily.
Lu Ran was sitting cross-legged on the bed, arms crossed, looking extremely serious.
When he saw Ji Min come out, he threw a line at him: “Ji Min, you lied to me.”
Ji Min: “…”
He protested innocently, “Clearly, it was you who misunderstood. I couldn’t…”
Ji Min paused, his expression complicated, “I couldn’t chase after you to prove that I’m capable, could I?”
Lu Ran pointed at him, looking angry for quite a while.
Then he lowered his head again, fell silent for a moment, and whispered, “Let’s forget about this. But why did you wait until now to tell me about the surgery?”
Ji Min froze for a moment, then quickly controlled the wheelchair to move a bit closer.
He braced himself against the bed’s armrest and transferred to the bed.
He then held the boy’s hand, pressed it to his cheek, and asked, “Are you mad?”
“No, not really.” Lu Ran replied, “If you want to have the surgery, that’s a good thing.”
“It’s just…”
After thinking for a while, the boy raised his head again, serious, and said, “What you’re doing isn’t right. We’re already together, other things are fine. But something as important as surgery, how could you hide it from me?”
Lu Ran’s voice was very serious, very pure.
For a moment, Ji Min didn’t know how to respond: “Sorry, I just…”
The boy usually seemed carefree, but he was very smart.
When the news about the surgery reached him, at first, he might have been happy for Ji Min, but inevitably, later on, he would start worrying.
Ji Min didn’t want Lu Ran to face these concerns.
Whether it was worrying about his health or the possible anxiety over a future separation as lovers.
If possible, he even wanted to put the boy in a tour group or have their instructor take him to another city for an academic conference.
Then he could return once everything had settled.
Ji Min knew this wasn’t right.
He shouldn’t treat Lu Ran like a child to protect.
But he couldn’t help it.
“I wasn’t angry this time, but if you do this again, I’ll definitely be angry,” Lu Ran said.
“Sorry.”
Ji Min said in a low voice.
Lu Ran slowly snuggled into his embrace.
The two of them quietly hugged for a while.
Lu Ran’s eyes began to wander around Ji Min’s room again.
He pointed at the soft mat on the floor and curiously asked, “Why are there so many soft mats? Do you fall down too?”
“Normally, I don’t,” Ji Min replied.
After that, the man had a slightly embarrassed expression.
“Because… in the beginning, I couldn’t accept that I couldn’t stand up, so I kept trying to stand.”
Ji Min rarely showed this kind of expression.
It was surprisingly a little cute.
Lu Ran couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
“Are you mocking me?” Ji Min raised an eyebrow.
“No!” Lu Ran shook his head, but the expression on his face clearly said “Yes”.
They continued to joke around for a while.
Lu Ran couldn’t resist getting sleepy and yawned.
He considered just sleeping in Ji Min’s room.
But the man quietly watched him for a moment before reaching out to pat his waist and said, “Go back to your room and sleep.”
Lu Ran rubbed his eyes, reluctant to leave.
Ji Min gently coaxed him, “Da Huang will be scared to sleep alone.”
“Da Huang won’t be scared.” Lu Ran replied.
Ji Min glanced at the person lying beside him. He sighed softly and hugged Lu Ran, murmuring,
“Please. Or I’ll send you back.”
The man’s voice was low and deep.
Lu Ran silently rubbed his red ears, climbed out of bed, and shuffled back to his own room in his slippers.
As the surgery date approached, Ji Min started acting a bit unusually.
He began to take the initiative to get closer to Lu Ran more often.
But he didn’t go overboard.
He would occasionally reach out to hold the boy’s fingers or speak first, asking him to stay by his side.
The most intimate moments were simply when Ji Min would quietly pull the boy into his arms when he wasn’t paying attention.
And in empty corners, they would quietly kiss.
But his kisses were intense.
His teeth made Lu Ran feel a little pain.
Lu Ran couldn’t help but complain, “If I stop being your boyfriend, maybe I should just be your subordinate.”
Ji Min wasn’t annoyed. He nodded in agreement.
Then, when he turned to kiss him again, he said,
“Since you don’t do office romance, let’s consider every kiss as a holiday.”
He raised an eyebrow and asked Lu Ran, “So, what do you think? Want to kiss?”
Lu Ran: “…”
Every kiss counted as a holiday? Who wouldn’t want a holiday?
He really knows how to handle the corporate worker.
It wasn’t until he accompanied Ji Min to see Dr. Keimler that it all became clearer.
Dr. Keimler went over the precautions for the surgery and reminded them of the potential consequences of failure once again.
The best outcome would be maintaining the current state.
The more serious risks included complete paralysis or even death.
Lu Ran had already researched these risks.
But hearing the doctor explain them in detail now made him suddenly realize that Ji Min’s recent unusual behavior might be due to his anxiety.
Lu Ran left the hospital with Ji Min.
In the elevator, Lu Ran suddenly said: “Actually… paralysis is just paralysis. Anyway, you’re going to be in a wheelchair regardless, so it’s basically the same.”
Ji Min: “…”
That was truly an incredible way of comforting someone.
Even though the surgery wasn’t public knowledge, people on Ji Min’s team were bound to find out.
Recently, quite a few people had come by to comfort him.
Lu Ran’s line, “Anyway, you’re going to be in a wheelchair,” was definitely one-of-a-kind.
What was even stranger, though, was that after hearing those words, Ji Min no longer felt nervous.
He was just left speechless.
It was surprisingly effective.
Especially when the person behind him cheerfully came up and said: “Don’t worry, I know how to take care of a paralyzed person. If your surgery fails, I’ll take good care of you!”
Ji Min couldn’t help but laugh: “Well, that’s reassuring.”
When they left the hospital and saw the crowd on the street, the man hesitated for a moment before saying, “What if…”
He only managed to say two words before Lu Ran reached behind and grabbed his neck.
And threatened, “You’re not allowed to say it!”
Lu Ran’s voice sounded a little hoarse.
Ji Min had no choice but to pat his hand in surrender.
For such a major surgery, the doctor would explain the possible consequences multiple times.
The second time, Lu Ran accompanied Ji Min out of the hospital again.
As the elevator’s floor numbers kept decreasing, they both silently watched.
He suddenly said, “Ji Min, how about… we don’t do the surgery?”
Ji Min turned to look at him in surprise.
Lu Ran had always been supportive of his surgery.
When he found out the surgery was scheduled, he was mostly happy about it.
At first, to motivate him for the surgery, he even brought up the special groups as a reason.
But now, the usually optimistic and cheerful boy was looking at him with concern, saying, “Can we not do the surgery?”
Ji Min sighed softly.
This was exactly why he hadn’t wanted to tell Lu Ran.
“What are you saying?”
He grabbed Lu Ran’s hand. “I’ve already made the decision. How can I change my mind now?”
Back in the car, Lu Ran curled up in Ji Min’s arms.
He wrapped his arms around the man’s waist and muttered: “But I think you’re already great as you are. You, you’re amazing, you’ve managed everything so well on your own.”
There was a hint of uncontrollable anxiety, and the boy babbled, “And you’re so capable, really capable, you don’t need to… mmm!”
Ji Min glanced at the front seat and helplessly covered the boy’s mouth.
He looked down into those eyes full of concern.
Then he lowered his head and gently kissed the boy’s eyelid.
“Don’t be afraid.”
Ji Min whispered, “Just focus on your classes, everything will be fine soon. When I get out of the hospital, we can go to the beach for the summer vacation, how about that?”
“No,” Lu Ran said.
After thinking for a moment, he added, “I’ll come with you for the surgery. I know it will take a long time and it’s closed off, but I can take time off to be with you!”
Ji Min chuckled.
“How can that be? It’s such a long time and it might affect your exams. You’ve worked so hard to earn those credits, how could you let it all go to waste?”
“I don’t care.”
Lu Ran buried his face in Ji Min’s neck, “Please ask the counselor for leave for me. Just say you’re my guardian…”
Before he could finish his sentence, Ji Min gently tilted his chin and kissed him.
The kiss was light, yet incredibly deep.
It felt like a wordless comfort.
After the kiss, Ji Min smiled in his ear, “So now, your boyfriend is also your guardian?”
The next day, they were set to head to the hospital.
That evening, Ji Min made some final arrangements.
No matter how well everything was arranged, thinking about Lu Ran’s state today, Ji Min couldn’t help but feel a little concerned.
When Ji Min came out of the study, the lights in the hallway had already been turned off.
He went to check Lu Ran’s room.
The light inside was off and it seemed the boy had already fallen asleep.
Ji Min decided not to disturb him.
He returned to his own room and reviewed in his mind the things he needed to pay attention to during the surgery.
Afterward, he went to the bathroom to freshen up.
When he returned to the bedroom, Ji Min had just transferred himself to the bed.
However, the blanket beside him shifted.
A fluffy little head peeked out from underneath.
The boy opened his eyes, which showed no sign of sleepiness, and quietly stared at him.
Lol a rat seems to have snuck in~